Trial of China's #MeToo & labour rights activists begins in secret after 2-yr in detention

The trial of two Chinese activists who have been held in detention in China since 2021 for starting the #MeToo movement by reporting sexual harassment cases has 'secretly' begun this week in the city of Guangzhou. Huang Xueqin, an independent journalist and labor rights activist Wang Jianbing were arrested in September 2021 by the Chinese Police for igniting the #MeToo movement across Beijing in 2018.

The Chinese journalist encouraged a graduate student to report sexual assault that she suffered at the hands of her Ph.D. supervisor. Xueqin was detained for sparking the movement just days before she was supposed to go to the UK for higher education at the University of Sussex.

Jianbing was detained for encouraging women to speak up about the sexual harassment in the workplace. While he's more known for his labour rights activity, it remains unclear exactly what activity led to the suspicion and ultimately detention of Jianbing. He, however, is also charged with the subversion of state power. 

The jailed duo together were charged with “inciting subversion of state power” by the CCP just a month later. The charge in China carries imprisonment for up to five years which is subject to change depending on the severity of the case.

'Secret interrogations, torture and ill-treatment'

On Friday, the roads around the court were blocked and no public access was permitted as Huang Xueqin went under the trial. The pair are reported to have been held for years 'incommunicado.' Attorneys say that the detained journalist was subjected to "secret interrogations, torture and ill-treatment," according to the Guardian newspaper. 

Since detention, the Chinese military police in Guangzhou have used intimidation tactics against the two, and have interrogated as many as 70 of their acquaintances, the paper reported citing the Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD), a US-based human rights NGO. Huang, 35, was also reported to be sleep deprived and malnourished by her friends in an interview with Radio Free Asia.

The global #MeToo movement started after the unveiling of the  sex-trafficking charges against wealthy US financier Jeffrey Epstein. It gained traction and support for the women worldwide to speak up on the sexual assaults that they were subjected to, but China believed that such a social movement was a threat to its government. The movement posed risks of destablizing the Communist Party’s grip on power.