Imprisoned Chinese activist will have to spend his next birthday alone in a cell, his wife says

WASHINGTON– Ding Jiaxi knew he would spend his 57th birthday alone in a Chinese prison cell, without a call from his family or the chance to stretch in the sunlight.

It was the fifth year that the activist had lived in these conditions. Although his family in the US received letters assuring him that he was healthy, his wife Sophie Luo was not convinced.

“I'm really worried about his health because he has been tortured before,” Luo told the Associated Press from Washington.

Luo gave a detailed account of her husband's plight ahead of his birthday on Saturday, shedding light on the harsh treatment endured by the country's imprisoned political prisoners. Families and human rights groups say they are often denied rights such as outdoor exercise and contact with loved ones.

Beijing said the prisoners' rights were protected under Chinese law. The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Ding, a key member of the now-defunct New Citizens' Movement, which sought to promote democracy and civil society in China, was arrested in December 2019 after attending an informal meeting in the southeastern Chinese city of Xiamen to discuss current affairs. In April 2023, he was sentenced to 12 years in prison for subverting state power.

Maya Wang, acting China director of the human rights organization Human Rights Watch, described the harsh treatment of political prisoners in China as “commonplace.”

“Unfortunately, abuses are widespread and have become even worse under Chinese President Xi Jinping,” Wang said. Political prisoners are tortured, have no access to lawyers and “very little” contact with their families, she said, adding that the secrecy makes it easier to continue the abuse of prisoners and affect their health.

Representative Adam Schiff, who sits on a bipartisan congressional human rights commission, called for Ding's release.

“Once again, he will be alone in a prison in China's Hubei province. He will be separated from his loved ones – his wife and children. He will spend another birthday in isolation – his fifth in prison,” Schiff, Democrat of California, said in a statement released Friday.

Luo said she has not been allowed to talk to her husband on the phone since he was taken away by authorities in 2019. Since then, “I haven't heard his voice,” said Luo, who moved to the U.S. with the couple's two children shortly after Ding was first arrested in 2013.

It was not until March of this year that she received his first letter. Ding was not allowed to write letters about his case, his treatment in prison or other topics considered sensitive by the Chinese government, Luo said.

She said she couldn't believe Ding was banned from leaving his cell to exercise. “This is really bad for his health,” Luo said. “Every prisoner in China should have the right to exercise. Why can't he?”

And she lamented Ding's absence from her two daughters' lives. “He can't be with the girls when they need a father the most,” she said. “It's really a big loss.”