He was in prison for 41 years: from her daughter's illness to five years of separation

8 October, Hefon Mei, the vaccine rights defender, spent his 41st birthday in Lauyang Women's Prison. She was sentenced to five years and six months in prison for bigamy and sedition, which is expected to expire on 1 January

1. Eight years ago, she started to seek medical treatment and to complain for her daughter who had fallen ill after being vaccinated; She and her husband, Li Xin, were subsequently imprisoned and three children were placed in separate homes. Today, the husband and the children are reunited and Fong Mei is still in prison.

March 20, 2003, Li Xin and his three children were brought to Zhengzhou Women's Prison. The meeting was held for only half an hour. After Li Xin, the children were fighting to speak to their mother and daughter Li Chi complained that she had not spoken. The right hand of the man who fell in the prison was still not strong. She was pleased to see the children and also offered her husband her non-guilty plea. Li Xin had not received a contact letter from the prison at that time, and was unable to save money for her, but had to be frugal.

From a sick child to the Baby's Vaccination Home

The United States of America was facing a medical crisis. In March 2018, Li, who was less than two years old, suffered from severe nervous system disorders following vaccination against white and white diarrhea, which severely damaged her mobility. Families consider the vaccine to be problematic and have repeatedly sought treatment, investigation and compensation from the health sector. The United States subsequently contacted other parents who had experienced similar problems and launched the “Victim Baby House”, expanding individual complaints to public inquiries into vaccine supervision and the system of relief for children who had suffered damage. later included by United Nations human rights experts in her official communication to the Government of China.

February 2019, she protested outside the Beijing National Health Board with other parents of sick children. In March, henan police brought her back to Fai County, where she was first sentenced to 15 days of administrative detention, followed by criminal detention for the crime of stalking. The prosecution cited as a number of acts, including collection of funds for sick children, display of banners, slogans and the dissemination of protest photographs. In November, the Fai County Court opened and the United States pleaded not guilty. On 10 January 2020, the prosecution withdrew the charges and she was released.

That withdrawal did not stop her. 2 October 2020, when Ho Fong-mi threw ink at the entrance of the Fai County Municipality to protest the restrictions on travel by local authorities, which affected her taking her daughter to Beijing for treatment. The police decided to place her in administrative detention for 10 days, which was not carried out because she was five months pregnant. On 9 October, she was again painted in front of the Government and later taken away by the police. Five days later, his husband, Li Xin, was also taken from Beijing. The dispute over medical assistance for children had evolved into a criminal case in which both spouses had lost their liberty.

Mother was taken away and the child left home

After her removal, her family kept asking the Public Security and Prosecution Service about her whereabouts. > UN Human Rights Expert wrote in a letter dated 3 January 2025 that </a" and that family had not received a definitive response until March

1. She was in the new village with two young children during the period under control, where she had a little daughter in February
2. The eldest son was later placed in foster care with the rural family and the two daughters remained in hospital.

May 2023, and whomey wrote to her sister to look after three children but the relatives failed to take them as she wished. In or around April 2024, the two daughters were taken from the hospital and the family was unable to find out exactly where they were going on several occasions. The oldest daughter was suffering from serious illness and the youngest daughter was born without a long time to be associated with normal family life. The treatment, education, custody and contact with relatives of the child are all involved in the criminal treatment of parents.

, written response </a" dated 28 February 2025, by the Chinese Government to the United Nations, denying the existence of enforced disappearance, prolonged detention and denial of the right to defence, stating that it had hired a dedicated person to care for three children and to guarantee their education and medical care I'm sorry. The reply recorded that Fanmi was under residential surveillance on 7 October 2021 and arrested on 23 March 2022; The date of removal by the police, as documented in the United Nations communication, was 9 October

1. The official reply did not explain where she was and who controlled her between the two dates. The official term “specialized care” does not change the situation of relatives who were excluded from guardianship arrangements at the time, for whom the children were permanently unavailable.

, 23 October 2024, the Phui County People's Court sentenced Ho Fongmi to one year and nine months for bigamy, four years for plagiarism and decided to execute five years and six months. On appeal, the Intermediate People ' s Court of the New Village confirmed the sentence on 7 January

1. In its reply to the United Nations, China stated that the Court had found that she knew that she was still living with another in the name of the couple and had disturbed order and destroyed property in public places. He never confessed. The United Nations human rights expert raised serious concerns about her criminal prosecution for her advocacy activities and the difficulty of lawyers meeting with clients before the trial.

Husband's out of prison, three kids finally come home

13 October 2025, when Lee Xin was released after five years' imprisonment and three children were returned to their father on the same day. Human life observers revealed that the home was subsequently equipped with cameras and that new activities by Li were still being followed. After years of separation, the family had finally recovered from living together, but the mother was still in prison. Li Xin has since visited the prison and prison to meet her wife, and for the first time since March, she was reunited with her three children at Zhengzhou Women ' s Prison.

, and learned that he had moved to Lauyang. He then met his wife successfully in Loyang, claiming that she was thinner than before, but remained optimistic. Li Xin also confirmed the assistance of the Loyang prison staff in the meeting. She was still serving her sentence in Luoyang by the time of Ho Fong-mi ' s 41st birthday.

The case of the United States of America is not simply a protest over criminal punishment. In 2019, a protest to collect donations and raise cards for sick children had held her in detention for almost a year and the prosecution eventually withdrew her case; After a further protest in 2020, she was permanently under control, her husband was sentenced and custody arrangements for three children fell into the hands of the administrative forces. The cost of a family seeking medical relief goes far beyond the initial vaccine dispute itself.

The local governance system in China has demonstrated a marked power imbalance in this case: visits and protests to parents, and the involvement of the public security, prosecutor ' s office, courts and prisons; Public information on complaints about the illness of children, the willingness of family custody and the damage to vaccines has not shown the same relief results. The “silent” approach to protests, the administrative arrangements to take over the lives of children, has gradually made the person who asked the question the subject of management and punishment, and the public health responsibilities that would otherwise have to be addressed have been squeezed out of the centre. This is the most important institutional warning point in the United States case.

Recalling that visit in March, the children were not able to speak for half an hour. He had to persuade her to talk to her next time. The prison sentence is expected to be less than three months away. The most urgent thing for the family is not to hear the official interpretation of the sentence once more, but to allow the sick daughter and the other two children to regain their mother's day-to-day presence.