In the "Snow Cake Case", those who incited subversion were sentenced to prison. Supporting friends: If their actions continue, China's civil society will not be eliminated.

On the 999th day since Huang Xueqin and Wang Jianbing lost their freedom, the Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court sentenced them to five and three and a half years in prison for "inciting subversion of state power" in the first instance, which means they will continue to suffer two years and nine months in prison respectively.

The authorities dragged out the case timeline for an unusually long time, and they also suffered both mental and physical torture for a long time. In September 2021, Huang Xueqin and Wang Jianbing were criminally detained. Two years later, the first trial of the case was held, and another nine months passed before the verdict was announced, far exceeding the general period stipulated in the Criminal Procedure Law. Human rights organizations and support groups said that the two were detained separately in unknown locations for nearly half a year; dozens of sudden night interrogations and irregular diets caused them to lose weight suddenly, disrupt their physiological rhythms, and Huang Xueqin's menstruation stopped for more than five months; support members reported that Huang Xueqin had stabbing pain in her waist, and suspected that sitting on the "tiger bench" caused a serious herniation of the lumbar intervertebral disc.

Huang Xueqin, who pushed the "first MeToo case in China" into the public eye, was labeled a "#MeToo Journalist" by the media. It was not until the indictment was released that more people knew about her actions outside of independent journalism and MeToo. Young people who care about society are mostly unfamiliar with labor and disability issues, which made Wang Jianbing, who is "low-key and introverted", lack attention in the "Snow Cake Case". However, scattered public information and narratives pieced together an activist who has been quietly working in the public welfare field for 20 years.

The "criminal facts" that were "uncovered" by the procuratorate included the gatherings at Wang Jianbing's home, the "Ten Lessons" in civic education taught by Huang Xueqin, and the online training on "non-violent movement", all of which were followed by a characterization: "inciting participants to be dissatisfied with our country's national regime."

But in the eyes of other activists, these actions are more moderate in both discourse and behavior compared to the street protests more than a decade ago. The gatherings are small spaces for sharing experiences and keeping each other warm; the "Ten Lessons" train young activists on how to deal with political depression, deal with broken relationships with friends and family, and learn self-care; the "Nonviolent Movement" training, in addition to explaining the global nonviolent movement, also applies it to communities, intimate relationships and original families, advocating peaceful and effective communication methods.

Many human rights workers believe that if the actions of Huang Xueqin and Wang Jianbing had taken place more than a decade ago, they might have been sentenced to one or two years in prison for "picking quarrels and provoking trouble." However, in the era of Xi Jinping's suppression of civil society, silencing of dissidents, and generalization and strengthening of "national security," the authorities have used the more serious and longer-term charge of "inciting subversion" to harshly suppress citizen activists and action networks with the ability to mobilize and organize, driving community members back into an atomized, isolated state.

But China’s civil society is not dead.

Simone, a friend of Huang Xueqin, said that although the community established by Huang Xueqin and Wang Jianbing in Guangzhou was disbanded, the community she advocated, which cared for individuals, understood trauma, and provided emotional support, had been budding at home and abroad, until it blossomed everywhere after the White Paper Movement; the feminist perspective and diverse and equal movement approach that she insisted on have always been practiced by like-minded people.

"We are facing a very serious situation, and it will only get worse, but we are not sitting still," said Kate, another friend of Huang Xueqin. "As long as we continue to pay attention to the snow cake case and continue to do what they once promoted, China's civil society will not be eliminated."

[Note: New News is familiar with and trusts the two interviewees, Simone and Kate, in the report, and confirms that their experiences and statements are true and credible under reasonable proof obligations. Due to the security risks of the interviewees being detained by the police, New News does not present their real names, and determines that the use of pseudonyms will not have a substantial impact on the authenticity of the information. ]

Gentle activists: caring about specific people in the movement

Kate, a citizen activist, has attended gatherings at Wang Jianbing's home. In the living room of a small rental house, more than 20 partners sat or stood, discussing public events (mostly labor and gender issues), sharing confusions in life and work, or playing mahjong and Three Kingdoms. During the gathering, organizer Wang Jianbing rarely spoke, always encouraging each participant to express his or her own views. He cut fruit and brewed tea for everyone, and cleaned up after the gathering.

"Coming here, we can temporarily escape the reality of political repression, gather together in this small world, discuss public issues freely, inspire each other, and give each other hope," Kate said. At that time, China was experiencing a dynamic zero-out, and many partners in the stratosphere were in isolation, isolation, and political depression. Therefore, Wang Jianbing wanted to establish a community network to reconnect individuals. He named this community "Night Boat", sailing in the dark at night, holding each other tightly in the wind and waves.

Simone, a citizen activist, has also participated in the gathering. She said that compared with the citizen gatherings more than a decade ago, the topics here are closer to the community and life, and everyone will try to understand the experiences and pains of specific people around them.

The democracy movement is often concerned with grand ideologies, which results in activists who have experienced trauma in the movement being considered "vulnerable" and subject to invisible discrimination. Huang Xueqin and a group of activists are aware of the importance of psychological support, self-care, and community mutual assistance.

The "Ten Lessons" hosted by Huang Xueqin are similar. In addition to feminist theory, they also teach activists how to face friends and family with different opinions, how to face broken relationships with their original families, how to deal with the trauma caused by public power violence, and how to review their own life experiences and find the driving force to keep moving forward when they are disappointed with society and the movement.

Simone recalled that Huang Xueqin often discussed the situation of women in social movements in community activities, advocating for a more equal view of the contributions of everyone in the movement from a gender perspective. Simone explained that these discussions stemmed from the fact that women in civil movements were often seen as foils for their husbands, or praised as "great wives who sacrificed for their husbands." For example, the wives of the human rights lawyers in the 709 case sacrificed their entire lives to support their husbands' ideals. Before they were supported and stood in the public eye, no one knew their names. Simone and Huang Xueqin had the same reflection: "What kind of movement do we want?"

Huang Xueqin's article "Revolution and Love of Protester Li Qiaochu" , which won the SOPA (Society of Asian Publishers) Gold Award for "Excellence in Reporting on Women's Issues", uses two chapters to narrate the process of female protester Li Qiaochu's fight against patriarchy and misogynistic culture in the civic circle, and her discovery and defense of the value of female protesters in civic actions.

Like Huang Xueqin, Li Qiaochu was also convicted of inciting subversion of state power and remains in prison.

Generalized national security: Suppressing civic social networks

On September 19, 2021, Huang Xueqin was taken away from her home by Guangzhou police along with Wang Jianbing the night before she boarded a flight to study in the UK. The group was then disbanded, and more than 70 friends who had attended the gathering were summoned by the police. Some stayed in other places for a long time before daring to return to Guangzhou, some were restricted from entering and leaving the country, and some fled the country and have not returned for a long time.

At that time, there were more than just the Guangzhou semi-underground community in China, and no one knew why this community became a thorn in the eyes of the authorities. "Holding some gatherings at home, chatting together, or playing mahjong and cards, is considered subverting the national regime. Don't you think it's ridiculous?" Kate said.

Simone explained that the national security department designated the Snow Bing case as an important national security case in 2021. It may be that it was determined that the two had stronger mobilization and association capabilities than other younger community organizers, but it was also related to whether the organizers' style of behavior was high-profile and their security awareness. In addition, the authorities would also comprehensively consider which case was better for "making materials", which included a lot of "luck" elements.

Supporters familiar with the case concluded that Huang Xueqin and Wang Jianbing's "long-term, determined, and sustainable" practice of citizen action is an important reason why they became official targets. They have been deeply involved in the fields of MeToo and occupational disease workers' rights, and have gathered community networks through their own actions. The action, mobilization, and organizational capabilities they reflect are the elements that are most likely to challenge their dominance from the official perspective. Supporters believe that although the gatherings and overseas training directly triggered the suppression, this is also a retaliation against Huang Xueqin and Wang Jianbing's long-term systematic and continuous actions and community organizations.

In addition, Simone and other friends of Huang Xueqin criticized her for not having a high sense of security, including handling sensitive information and even transferring money on WeChat, which put herself in a dangerous situation. "I am really sad about this," Simone said.

Before the government systematically suppressed NGOs in 2015, Guangzhou was the holy land of "civil society" in the hearts of countless activists and public welfare workers. Countless grassroots NGOs and communities took root around Sun Yat-sen University students. Huang Xueqin and Wang Jianbing were both young people nurtured by Guangzhou at that time. So after going through campaign-style and institutionalized suppression, they still longed to rebuild civic space under the dynamic zero-clearing.

This crackdown casts a shadow on the reconstruction of offline civic social networks. Many supporters said that this is a suppression of the two activists Huang Xueqin and Wang Jianbing, and also a suppression of the social network they established: arresting the core organizers, and summoning a large number of Huang Xueqin and Wang Jianbing’s friends to force them to testify, constantly dividing and isolating the activists, and disintegrating the social network.

In addition, many supporters said that the sentencing of two "moderate activists" for "inciting subversion of state power" reflects the official generalization of the concept of "national security." Previously, the authorities convicted activists with NGO backgrounds and no strong "anti-regime" ideological expression of "picking quarrels and provoking trouble" or "disturbing social order." But now, Huang Xueqin and Wang Jianbing's "moderate resistance" such as community organization, civic education, and psychological support has also been classified as "inciting subversion."

This is not the first time that the crime of "inciting subversion" has been generalized. In 2021, the public welfare group "Changsha Public Welfare Three" was sentenced to a maximum of five years in prison for "inciting subversion"; in 2023, Li Qiaochu was also sentenced to three years and eight months in prison for "inciting subversion" for publicly criticizing Xu Zhiyong's treatment in prison.

"Doing charity work before might be considered 'picking quarrels and provoking trouble', but now it is 'inciting subversion'; saying a few words on Twitter before might be considered 'picking quarrels and provoking trouble', but now it is also 'inciting subversion'," said Simone.