Yuan Shigeon has only one sentence left: Can she really get out of surveillance after five years in prison?

September 17 was the last full day of the five-year prison sentence.

According to the judgment, the journalist and a key participant in China’s #MeToo campaign are expected to be sentenced to death on September 18th. Five years ago, on September 19th, 2021, she was preparing to go to the University of Sussex to pursue a master’s degree, but lost her freedom in Guangzhou with worker rights advocate Wang Jian. The unsuccessful journey later turned into a five-year criminal case.

Only one day from the end of the sentence, international freedom of the press and human rights organizations are concerned that not only the prison doors will not open.On September 15, about 60 organizations such as the Committee for the Protection of Journalists, Amnesty International and Front Guards jointly demanded that the Chinese authorities ensure the release of Yuan Zheng.She is guaranteed that she will not be subjected to surveillance, harassment, retaliation or other arbitrary restrictions in her future journalistic and human rights work.

September 19, 2021

Huang Zheng has previously been concerned about reporting sexual harassment, gender-based violence and promoting China’s #MeToo campaign.She also about Hong Kong protests in 2019 and had been restricted by the authorities due to related experiences.When she was taken away in 2021, she had obtained a British Ambition scholarship and prepared to study abroad.

She and Wang were detained for a long time after they were arrested. In 2023, the two were tried in Guangzhou for a closed-door trial. In June 2024, the Guangzhou People's Court of Guangzhou sentenced Wang to five years in prison for "incitement to subversion of the state regime" and Wang was sentenced to three years and six months.

Public reports referring to Solidarity’s translation of the judgment stated that authorities included their organization of friends’ gatherings, discussion of social issues, participation in online non-violent action courses, and parts of the articles and remarks published by Zhang Zhang in the case. Because the trial is not open to the public, the outside world has limited space to independently observe the controversial evidence and the questioning process.

June 14, 2024

At the time of the sentence, Yushchenko had been detained for three years.Therefore, the five-year sentence period did not begin again from the day of the sentence, but took into account the period of previous detention. By September 2026, her sentence ended.

The five-year figure is clear, but the “punishment” does not always answer the actual situation of a person in Chinese political cases.A number of international organizations specifically pointed out in the latest joint statement that after his release, Zhang should be able to freely engage in journalism, human rights activities, communicate with friends and colleagues, and enjoy freedom of action and travel.

This concern does not come out in vain. Some human rights lawyers, activists and political parties in China have continued to be monitored by police, travel restrictions, communication interference or blocked contact with the outside world after their sentencing.

September 18, 2026

This will be a day when new facts will appear in the case.

If she leaves prison on time, five years of criminal detention will end in the legal sense; the next thing to be observed will be another set of more specific questions: can she have normal contact with family and friends, can she resume journalistic work, can she move freely, can she apply again to leave, and can she publicly talk about the past five years of experience.

What she could and couldn’t do after September 18 will show more directly than any official phrase the actual meaning of “punishment release” in this case.

Five years ago, she was losing her freedom when she was preparing to leave China for school. Five years later, the time nodes were so unusual: not abstractly discussing the situation of an activist, but waiting for a date already written on the penitentiary table to arrive.

By tomorrow, the prison sentence will be reduced to zero.Each day afterwards, it will begin to answer whether freedom will also be returned at the same time.