Chen Yanbin, Tielu
Imprisoned: Late 1990

Chen, a former University student, was arrested in late 1990 and sentenced to 15 years in prison and four years without political rights after his release. Together with Zhang Yafei, he had produced an unofficial magazine called Tielu (Iron Currents) about the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. Several hundred mimeographed copies of the magazine were distributed. The government termed the publication "reactionary" and charged Chen with dissemination of counter-revolutionary propaganda and incitement.

Zhang Yafei, Tielu
Imprisoned: September 1990

Zhang, a former student at Beifang Communications University, was arrested and charged with dissemination of counterrevolutionary propaganda and incitement. In March 1991, he was sentenced to 11 years in prison and two years without political rights after his release. Zhang edited an unofficial magazine called Tielu (Iron Currents) about the 1989 crackdown at Tiananmen Square.

Wu Shishen, Xinhua News Agency
Imprisoned: October or  November 1992

Arrested in the fall of 1992, Wu, a Xinhua News Agency reporter, received a life sentence in August 1993 for allegedly providing a Hong Kong journalist with a "state-classified" advance copy of President Jiang Zemin’s 14th Party Congress address.

Gao Yu, free-lancer
Imprisoned: October 2, 1993

Gao was detained two days before she was to depart for the United States to start a one-year research fellowship at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. On November 10, 1994, she was tried without counsel and sentenced to six years in prison for "leaking state secrets" about China’s structural reforms in articles for the pro-Beijing Hong Kong magazine Mirror Monthly. Gao had previously been jailed for 14 months following the June 1989 Tiananmen Square demonstrations and released in August 1990 after showing symptoms of a heart condition. In January 1997, Chinese authorities rejected an appeal for bail on medical grounds. On May 3, 1997, Gao Yu was awarded the World Press Freedom Prize by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The Chinese government attacked UNESCO and condemned its director general, Federico Mayor, for supporting the presentation of the award to Gao Yu.

Ma Tao, China Health  Education News
Sentenced: August 1993

Ma, editor of China Health Education News, received a six-year prison term for allegedly helping Xinhua News Agency reporter Wu Shishen provide a Hong Kong journalist with President Jiang Zemin’s "state-classified" 14th Party Congress address. According to the Associated Press, Ma is believed to be Wu’s wife.

Wang Dan
Imprisoned: May 21, 1995

[Released April 19, 1998]
Wang, a former student leader, pro-democracy activist, and frequent contributor to overseas publications, was detained at an undisclosed location. On October 30, 1996, he was sentenced to 11 years in prison for conspiring to subvert the government. Wang’s offenses consisted of publishing articles in the overseas press that were deemed objectionable by Beijing and receiving donations from overseas human rights groups. Foreign reporters were barred from the courtroom during his trial, and the domestic press was prohibited from reporting on the trial. Following the denial of his appeal on November 10, Wang was sent to a prison in remote Jinnzhou, in Liaoning province, 500 kilometers northeast of Beijing. Wang had previously been jailed for three-and-a-half years after he lead pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Bai Weiji, Zhao Lei
Arrested: April 1993
Sentenced: May 1993

Bai, who once worked for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, monitoring foreign news and writing news summaries, was sentenced in May 1993 to ten years in prison for passing information and leaking national secrets to Lena Sun, a correspondent for the Washington Post. His appeal was rejected in July 1993. His wife, Zhao Lei, and two friends were also arrested for involvement in this case. Bai organized a march of Foreign Ministry colleagues in June 1989 and reportedly lost his job as a result. Zhao was working as a translator for Lena Sun when she was tried in secret and sentenced to six years in prison for "illegally providing national secrets to a foreigner," said to be Lena Sun.

Khang Yuchun
Sentenced: December 1994

Khang was tried with 16 others on charges of being members of counter-revolutionary organizations, most notably the Chinese Progressive Alliance, the Liberal Democratic Party of China and the Free Labor Union of China. Among the accusations against him was that he commissioned people to write articles and set up Freedom Forum, the magazine of the Chinese Progressive Alliance. He was sentenced in December 1994, to 12 years in prison for "organizing and leading a counter-revolutionary group" and an additional seven year imprisonment for "counter-revolutionary propaganda."

Liu Jingsheng, Tansuo
Tried: 1994

Liu, a former writer and co-editor for the pro-democracy journal Tansuo, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for "counterrevolutionary" activities after being tried secretly in July 1994. Liu was arrested in May 1992 and charged with being a member of labor and pro-democracy groups, including the Liberal Democratic Party of China, Free Labor Union of China, and the Chinese Progressive Alliance. Court documents stated Liu was involved in organizing and leading anti-government and pro-democracy activities. Prosecutors also accused him and other dissidents who were tried on similar charges of writing and printing political leaflets that were distributed in June 1992, during the third anniversary of the Tiananmen Square demonstrations.

Wang Ming
Arrested: November 1996

Wang was sentenced to three years re-education through labor for writing "Declarations on Citizens’ Freedom of Speech," an open letter which called on the government to release dissidents Wei Jingsheng and Wang Dan. He is being held in Xishanping Reeducation Brigade in Sichuan Province.