Five Young Feminists Still Missing in China

Five young women have been missing for more than a week. Photo from Free Chinese Feminists Facebook group.

Five young women have been missing for more than a week. Photo from Free Chinese Feminists Facebook group.

The five young women who were arrested by Chinese police ahead of the International Women's Day have now been missing for more than one week. On 12 March they were criminally detained on suspicion of “picking quarrels and provoking troubles” but the police refused to reveal further information.

Civic groups in Hong Kong will protest to representatives of the mainland Chinese government in the city on March 21 demanding their release.

The five women's rights activists are Wu Rongrong, Wei Tingting , Wang Man, Zheng Churan and Li Tingting, also known as Li Maizi. Their families and lawyers have been unable to reach them since their detention and police are refusing to provide any details on their arrest.

Both the United States and the European Union have expressed concern on the Five. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, criticized the Chinese authorities for arresting the Five under the premise that they planned  to cause disturbances:

A spokesman for EU Foreign Affairs and Security Policy also made a statement urging China to release the young feminists immediately and to give them access to legal assistance.

A woman worker from mainland China holding a placard and calling for the release of the Five. Photo from Free Chinese Feminists.

A woman worker from mainland China holding a placard and calling for the release of the Five. Photo from Free Chinese Feminists.

Despite hostile political conditions, women, students and workers’ organizations from mainland Chinese continue to speak out for the release of the five by uploading photos on social media and signing petitions.

And Chinese authorities are keeping track of the names on the petitions. @swye105 reported on Twitter:

Outside China, feminist and civic groups from all over the world have condemned the Chinese authorities’ brutal crackdown. Amnesty International has launched a campaign page on Tumblr and a Twitter tag #FreeTheFive to collect supporting messages and pictures from all over the world.

Ad hoc feminist group, Free Chinese Feminists, launched a signature campaign and a postcard campaign. The group urged supporters to send the postcard to Beijing police demanding the release of the Five.

Send a postcard to Beijing Police demanding the release of the Five. Photo from Free Chinese Feminists.

Send a postcard to Beijing Police demanding the release of the Five. Photo from Free Chinese Feminists.

In Malaysia, a country with a large Chinese population, 26 organizations from local civil society co-signed a statement condemning the Chinese authorities and expressing concern over the safety of the young feminists.

Taiwan feminist groups expressed their outrage over the arrest and urged their President Ma Ying Jeou to include issues related to human rights and gender equity onto the agenda of the cross-strait dialogue.

Since Chinese authorities continue to play dumb amid criticism, a number of civic groups in Hong Kong have decided to protest in front of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government and present a statement signed by 50 local civic groups and 2,500 individuals on March 21.

Currently the 59th session of the Commission on the Status of Women is taking place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York to review the challenges that affect the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, which stands for gender equality and female empowerment. The detention of the five feminists in Beijing has now become a case study on the barriers to achieving those aims.

6 comments

  • Why CCP is so stupid and so evil?

    Ai Weiwei Mr. compassion search Sichuan earthquake death the number of school children who have high taxed
    http://youtu.be/duiziK7p11s

    Mr. Chen Guangcheng discovered the plan inside story of the birth control prisoners
    http://youtu.be/ilproXiA01A

    Mr. Gao Zhisheng a letter to stop the persecution of Falun Gong is missing
    http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/t/gao-zhisheng

    The Miss Gao Yaojie care Henan Village AIDS bitter flee afar
    http://youtu.be/fJmkaFEFjm8

    Let the the goodness righteous people suffering should not longer be subject to torture!
    http://organharvestinvestigation.net/
    People across the country look in the eyes, everybody feels, Xintongcili,, anyone know very well: the Chinese Communist Party’s said to serve the people, in fact, is for the rich and powerful interests. Demolition more people become enemies and the brutal rule of hegemonic mentality is difficult to agree with the Xinjiang, Tibet, Taiwan compatriots lost much popular support, Communist China is now facing the embattled enemies more.
    Who do not want to see social chaos, as long as the CCP regime rectifies it changed, no longer confuse right and wrong governing the country, no longer compete with the people, to really serve the people, change the brutal rule of hegemonic mentality and stop the persecution of goodness and justice, announced overseas governments the ins and outs of high officials deposits, so popular allegiance, the country will not have to spend large sums of financial stability maintenance. What network monitoring, network control, 610 office, labor camps dungeon, notorious in the world, shame ah! Communist China has had admitted the mistake to confuse right and wrong governing the country does not change the direction of a mistake, network monitoring, network control, 610 office, labor camp dungeon, go with a wicked The IPPF plan persecuted peasant woman abortion profit to be used in the persecution of organ harvesting trafficking the Demons to profit, to go all over the country (now) in Henan villagers sold their blood to profit from the vampire, go with the shabby profit culprit, go with corrupt collusion between government officials indiscriminate demolition compete with the people, is not it?
    I crap too much, the Beijing bigwigs senior decision makers has all the above drawbacks of the biggest gainers, rectifies it no longer confuse right and wrong governing the country no longer compete with the people, to really serve the people may? As long as can the ins and outs of the continental corrupt officials and property to check social justice, talent will reduce suffering. If the countries of the powerful Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) is responsible for investigating corrupt officials, Gaddafi will not brutal corruption killed, but also the expense of so many people in the international. Appealed to the world human rights lawyer recommended quickly at the United Nations to set up a powerful Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), responsible for investigating the problem of corruption officials, and such, but the only way to avoid the occurrence of many innocent people will be buried with corrupt officials and those brutal tragedy.
    CPC vested interests can never be self-reform, so the above is the most peaceful way! Loud and clear to the right! Vigorously forwarding it!

    On the evil of silencing is the kind of violence.
    Please vigorously forward
    Many mainland tourists said many unfortunate people in China are now in dire straits, inner hate the Communist Party was powerless to do anything, because the labor camp torture rampant, so the overriding judicial injustice and unrighteousness evil Politics and Law Committee 610 Office the evil officer guards the wicked day is not removed , then the mainland many kind of justice people living peace. Do not you see:
    Hu and Wen have not yet been answered Mr. Chen Guangcheng questioned
    By Wang Lijun exposes corruption and evil background Politics and Law Committee, Mr. Chen Guangcheng escaped the clutches of confirmed people all the poor living conditions is caused by public security system of the Politics and Law Committee. Today, truth, urban management, 610 offices, labor camps, dungeon notorious the Organ Harvesting things the world know, as long as the Politics and Law Committee the culprit Jiang magic week ghost trial system of Politics and Law Committee was dissolved, all rights just warriors, Tibet, Xinjiang, petitioners injustice China, evicted and Falun Gong would not longer be brutally suppressed in persecution. Only let the wicked in power, openness and fairness of judicial independence, countless goodness and justice compatriots will not live repeatedly tormented suffering day.
    Trial Jiangluo weeks, to bring to justice the 610, the disintegration of the CCP!
    Good people torture prisoners to commit suicide by the the psychosis is missing is questioned ‧ ‧ ‧ ‧ ‧ ‧ endless,
    History will record all the Dark Ages, the end is not correct unjust
    Maintenance of stability put it bluntly, the black heart of money is to stabilize the high government officials of corruption.

    On the evil of silencing is the kind of violence.
    http://blog.sina.com.tw/mother429/article.php?pbgid=64777&entryid=648042

  • A Proletariat

    Greetings of the day to all.
    I fail to understand very simple thing, if there is no so called ‘Freedom-Human Rights and Democracy’ then how come people organise protest in Hong Kong SAR(Special Administrative Region)? How come people organise online protests in cities like Beijing and Shanghai?

    Of course NGO’s are banned in PRC, sites like Facebook.com/Google Chrome. Why it would not be? Don’t we know from the Edward Snowden or Jullian Assange whistle blowing, how the imperial-western-colonial-capitalist governments carry on their subversive and spying activities, in the garb of so called ‘Freedom-Democracy and Human Rights’ promoting activities.

    Let us not believe the deceitful version of brainwashing media outlets like ABC, BBC, CNN, NBC, FOX (Saddam Hussein’s government in Iraaq did have WMD’s).

    How many times more, did we learn from the false cry of ‘wolf, wolf’ and stop believing these hypocrites.

    In support of the free and logical mind.

  • Joan

    Pressuring the authorities will make it worse for these women.

    If you show that they are linked to other NGO then almost impossible for them to be let go so easily.

    I suggest not to make it political or it will be worse. They were arrested for breaking the law.

  • […] police attempted to press for the charges of “picking quarrels and provoking troubles”, the maximum penalty of which is five-year-imprisonment. The release of the five is unprecedented […]

  • […] a încercat să le acuze pentru “tulburarea liniștii publice”, pentru care pedeapsa maximă este de 5 ani în închisoare. Cercurile feministe […]

  • […] 警察は5人を「喧嘩を仕掛け、トラブルを誘発した」として起訴を試みた。これは最長で5年間の禁固刑となりうる。これに対し、世界中のフェミニストが一丸となり1ヶ月以上に渡って5人の釈放を訴える運動を行ってきた。 […]

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