Zhang Jianhong

Who was Zhang Jianhong?

Zhang Jianhong, pen name Li Hong, was a freelance writer, playwright, poet, and also a democracy activist. He was born on March 6, 1958 in Ningbo city of Zhejiang Province, China.

Zhang was previously illegally imprisoned from 1989-1991 for his pro-democracy activities. In August 2005 Zhang and his friends founded the literary and news website Aegean Sea Aiqinhai.org, of which he was editor-in-chief. Aegean Sea was renowned for its daring articles but was shut down by the authorities on March 9, 2006. After that Zhang became a regular contributor to the overseas Chinese sites The Epoch Times, and often published articles depicting current fraud and corruption and criticizing the China Communist Party.

Just days after Zhang posted an essay online about China's human rights record and, in particular, the treatment of journalists and their sources in the run-up to the 2008 Olympic games, on the evening of September 6, 2006 over 20 CCP policemen raided Zhang’s home in Ningbo and arrested Zhang, according to his wife Dong Min.

Zhang was accused of writing 60 articles that "slandered the government and China's socialist system" and “incitement to subversion of state power” . His articles written in 2006 includes: