Chinese activist, who voiced support to 'ink girl', charged with inciting subversion

A Chinese activist, who retweeted a video of 'ink girl' Dong Yaoqiang, has been charged with "inciting subversion of state power", an offence punishable by life imprisonment, Hong Kong Free Press reported citing his wife.

Ou Biaofeng was detained by police on December 3 after he voiced his support on Twitter for Dong. In 2018, Dong had live-streamed a video of herself splashing ink on a poster of President Xi Jinping, while accusing the Communist Party of "thought control".

Police in Zhuzhou city in Hunan province held Ou Biaofeng in administrative detention for 15 days for "picking quarrels and provoking trouble".

On December 18, the day before Ou's scheduled release, his wife Wei Huanhuan was told by police that he had been placed in residential surveillance at an undisclosed location, according to her Twitter account. Their home was then searched by police.

Wei said on Twitter last Friday she had received a letter from police in Zhuzhou city in Hunan province notifying her that Ou had been charged with "inciting subversion of state power."

"Ou is only a powerless person, how could subvert a country? Yet, just as the notice letter said, Ou's track record of actions have earned him this 'certificate'," Wei's tweet read.

In the latest video released last month, Dong said she was on "the brink of breaking down" due to intensive surveillance after being released from a psychiatric facility.

Friends said she had been forcibly admitted to a psychiatric unit twice since the 2018 incident, Japan times reported.

In the video, Dong said her freedom of movement and freedom to contact other people, including her father, were restricted. Ou told Apple Daily on Tuesday that Dong had only finally been able to contact her father that day.

Dong's video and tweets were deleted later that day and there have been no updates on her whereabouts.

Ou, who was detained on December 3, voiced his support for Dong by tweeting on her behalf and retweeting the now-deleted video. He also was the one who told Dong about her father's escape in a mining accident in Hunan.

( With inputs from ANI )