Ran Yunfei
Traditional Chinese冉雲飛
Simplified Chinese冉云飞

Ran Yunfei (born 1965) is a Chinese writer and a high-profile democracy activist and blogger. He was arrested in late March 2011, shortly after the start of the 2011 Chinese pro-democracy protests, on charges of inciting subversion of state power.[1] He was released in August 2011 and remains under residential surveillance.[2] Ran expressed through social media that he converted to Christianity on 31 October 2015. He has been attending a Bible study since 2013.[3]

Biography

Ran is a member of the ethnic Tujia minority and was born in Youyang County, Chongqing. After graduating from Sichuan University, where he studied Chinese literature, in 1987, he was engaged in supporting the students who participated in the Tiananmen Square Protests. Because of the sweeping crackdown from the authorities, he went to Aba autonomous prefecture for a time. He works for the magazine Sichuan Literature and is a resident of Chengdu, Sichuan Province.

Although he became a scholarly writer of Chinese classical culture hereafter, he was increasingly active in online writing. He is a prolific writer of social and political commentary. His blog is well known in China and his Twitter account has more than 44,000 followers. Ran was also among those who signed Charter 08.

Arrest

In the backdrop of the 2011 Chinese pro-democracy protests, Ran was summoned to "tea" by public security on the morning of 20 February 2011 and detained. Officers later searched his home and confiscated his computer. On 24 February 2011, he was officially detained for "subversion of state power", according to a formal detention notice received by his wife. On 25 or 28[4] March 2011, he was formally arrested for inciting subversion of state power in China.[1][5] [6] [7][8] [9] He was released from arrest on 10 August 2011, and placed under residential surveillance.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b "jasmine-revolution"/ "Individuals Affected by the Crackdown Following Call for "Jasmine Revolution"". Chinese Human Rights Defenders. 15 April 2011. Archived from the original on 17 April 2011. Retrieved 16 April 2011.
  2. ^ a b "Chinese Blogger Released after Six-month Detention," The Associated Press, 10 August 2011.
  3. ^ "著名作家冉云飞神迹般决志信主引关注 有基督徒知识分子分享要淡然看待公知与文化人信主现象 - 基督时报—基督教资讯平台". www.christiantimes.cn. Retrieved 31 December 2015.
  4. ^ "Prominent Chinese blogger charged as crackdown deepens". Reuters. 28 March 2011.
  5. ^ Smalls, David (15–22 February 2011). "China Human Rights Briefing February 15–22, 2011". Chinese Human Rights Defenders. Retrieved 15 April 2011.
  6. ^ "China: More than 200 arrests to quell the "jasmine revolution" in China". AsiaNews. 2 April 2011. Retrieved 13 April 2011.
  7. ^ "News Flash: Suining, Sichuan Rights Activist Chen Wei Criminally Detained (快讯：四川 遂宁维权人士陈卫被刑事拘留)". boxun.com. 22 February 2011. Retrieved 15 April 2011.
  8. ^ "No News on Tang Jitian, Jiang Tianyong, or Teng Biao, Missing for Many Days (唐吉田、江 天勇、滕彪律师失踪多日仍无消息)". boxun.com. 22 February 2011. Retrieved 15 April 2011.
  9. ^ Schmelzer, Paul (11 April 2011). "Chinese artist Guo Gai also detained by Beijing police". Daily Planet. Retrieved 15 April 2011.

External links

Christianity in Sichuan
Authority control databases
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