Wang Bingzhang
Detained Since: June 27, 2002.
Charges: Espionage on behalf of the Taiwanese government and terrorism.
Sentence: Life in prison.
Biography: Dr. Wang Bingzhang was born in 1947 in Shenyang, Liaoning Province. He is a is a permanent resident of the United States. In 1971, Dr. Wang graduated from Beijing Medical University with a medical degree. He practiced cardiothoracic surgery, before becoming a researcher on cardiovascular disease. Following his growing concern for the future of his country while studying for his Ph.D. in Canada, Dr. Wang renounced his medical career and committed himself to promoting democracy in China, upon graduating.
In November 1982, Dr. Wang moved to New York City, where he launched a magazine called China Spring, which Time Magazine described as “the voice of a movement among Chinese inside and outside the country to restore democracy...” Later, Dr. Wang founded the Chinese Alliance for Democracy (“CAD”). These activities gained the attention of the Chinese Communist Party and in 1984, when Dr. Wang tried to renew his passport he was told that his PRC citizenship had been revoked. He was subsequently granted political asylum by the United States.
On June 27, 2002, Dr. Wang was kidnapped from the border city of Mong Cai, Vietnam into the PRC. There, a group of men forced him and his traveling companions into a van and brought them by boat to the PRC. On July 3, the kidnappers brought Dr. Wang and the two others to an abandoned temple in a suburb of Guangxi and left them there. Shortly thereafter, the Guangxi Public Security arrived and took custody of Dr. Wang.
Dr. Wang was formally arrested on December 5, 2002, on two charges relating to espionage on behalf of the Taiwanese government and terrorism, as he was accused of planning to terrorize the Chinese Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand. He was tried in the Shenzhen Municipal Intermediate People’s Court on January 22, 2003, in a closed-door trial that lasted half a day. A guilty verdict was announced on February 10, 2003 and Dr. Wang was sentenced to life in prison. Dr. Wang’s appeal was heard and rejected less than a few weeks later. Dr. Wang was subsequently taken to Beijiang Prison in Shaoguan, Guangdong Province where he served his sentence until 2013, when he was transferred to Shaoguan Prison.
Dr. Wang has served his entire prison sentence in solitary confinement. He is not allowed to speak to any other inmates. Dr. Wang is allowed one visit per month with an immediate family. Each visit lasts only 30-40 minutes and is held in a visiting booth while heavily monitored by prison guards. However, family members are no longer able to obtain visas to enter the PRC because of their advocacy on his behalf. As of August 2024, Dr. Wang is visited one or twice a year.
Dr. Wang suffered several strokes during his imprisonment and has also undergone surgery. He suffers from phlebitis, high blood pressure, severe mental health issues, among other ailments. Dr. Wang was visited by his youngest sister, Mei Wang, in May 2024. She reported that he was in very poor physical and mental health, including that he’d lost several teeth.
Advocate: Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA)
Advocacy Partner: Freedom House
Updates:
- Recently released documentary, Inside These Walls, captures the fight of Wang Bingzhang's family for his release (April, 6, 2017, CBC News).
- Veteran democracy activist Wang Bingzhang warned his daughter, who visited him on Christmas Day, that his life is in danger in prison (December 31, 2018, Radio Free Asia).
- Chinese authorities blocked Ti-Anna Wang, a daughter of Wang Bingzhang, from entering the country to visit her imprisoned father, keeping her under close surveillance in the Hangzhou airport until she was booked on a flight to South Korea (January 9, 2018, The Globe and Mail).
- Canadian family and friends of Wang Bingzhang are seeking international support to nominate the activist for the Nobel Peace Prize in an effort to ensure his safety in prison (April 11, 2019, The Globe and Mail).
- In July 2022, it was reported that members of Wang Bingzhang's family had been "unofficially banned" from visiting China to see him. The family members also stated that authorities have denied him access to reading materials and "better food" (July 4, 2022, The Print).
- Wang Bingzhang's sister, Wang Yuhua, who resides in Canada, announced that their family would relaunch China Spring, the pro-democracy magazine founded by Wang Bingzhang, published from 1982 to 2004 (December 16, 2022, Radio Free Asia).
- During the 38th EU-China Human Rights Dialogue the European Union called on China to immediately release multiple prisoners of conscience including Wang Bingzhang, John Cao, Ilham Tohti, Gao Zhisheng, Wang Yi, and Xu Zhiyong (February 17, 2023, European External Action Service).
- In September 2023, Wang Bingzhang's family expressed concern for his health, as he suffers from severe high blood pressure and appeared "very weak and very thin" when his daughter visited him on September 18, 2023. There is concern that the medication he recieves for his blood pressure is inadequate. His family also stated that he writes to them once per month, though letters can take upto three months to arrive due to review by the prison authorities (September 21, 2023, Radio Free Asia).
- On October 17, 2024, advocate Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) sent a letter to Wang Bingzhang, providing words of encouragement and describing some of the global advocacy done on his behalf (October 17, 2024, Office of Congressman Adam Schiff).
- On July 17, 2025, 17 NGO’s sent a letter to Mr. Antonio Costa and Ms. Ursula von der Leyen ahead of the EU-China Summit urging them to call for the immediate and unconditional release of human right defenders who have been detained for their work, including Wang Bingzhang (July 17, 2025, Human Rights Watch).