Less than three months after being released from prison, Chengdu dissident Chen Yunfei has been caught up in a renewed campaign of repression. Police have repeatedly summoned him for questioning and restricted his freedom of movement. His 91-year-old mother was forcibly evicted and injured while he was incarcerated, and her belongings mysteriously disappeared from their home. With no recourse for his rights, Chen Yunfei is preparing to file a civil lawsuit.
On March 24th of this year, Chen Yunfei was released from prison after serving a four-year sentence. However, according to multiple friends, he was not freed, but instead placed under another round of ongoing stability maintenance surveillance. Between April 30th and May 30th, Chen was repeatedly taken into custody for questioning for posting or reposting sensitive comments on social media platforms, including articles from the Minsheng Watch website and policy warnings to top CCP officials.
Chen Yunfei's comrade, Mr. Guan, told Radio Free Asia on Wednesday (the 18th) that Chen Yunfei was again taken away by officers from the National Security Bureau and Xipu Police Station in Chengdu's Pidu District at 3 p.m. on June 3rd. "During a five-hour interrogation, Chen Yunfei was forced to sit on the 'tiger bench.' Police accused him of 'picking quarrels and provoking trouble,' citing evidence including his retweeting of Pastor Wang Yi, scholar Ming Juzheng, and dissident Cai Chu. Police presented no legal documentation, and his cell phone and Wi-Fi equipment were confiscated for three days. After Chen repeatedly protested, they were returned that evening."
According to his friend Mr. Guan, the police summoned Chen Yunfei to produce a subpoena: "This is a completely illegal summons. The police can't produce a subpoena and dare not file a case. Instead, they repeatedly use interrogations and intimidation to create a chilling effect."
Elderly mother's property mysteriously disappeared after being violently evicted
Mr. Guan, who declined to disclose his full name for security reasons, explained that while Chen Yunfei was serving his sentence, his 91-year-old mother lived alone in a rental apartment in Chengdu. In March 2021, community workers forcibly removed his mother from her home without going through court procedures. She sustained a head injury and was hospitalized for over a month, suffering from residual symptoms to this day.
Mr. Guan said that what was even more shocking was the disappearance of a large amount of cash and daily necessities from the Chen family. Chen Yunfei said that these belongings included $30,000 in pension funds his mother had saved for her granddaughter's study abroad, $5,800 in cash, and approximately 40,000 RMB.
A friend, Mr. Yang, also expressed outrage. He told reporters that on April 3rd of this year, after Chen Yunfei was released from prison, he went to his former rental apartment to retrieve his belongings, only to find it completely empty. He immediately called the police, but they refused to issue a report receipt and never opened an investigation. "They won't let you have any evidence to sue them. The government says it's not their responsibility, and the police say to contact the community. They just keep pushing the issue back and forth."
The nursery was looted, the family was labeled a "deadbeat", and their livelihood was cut off.
In addition to the restrictions on his personal freedom and the robbery of his property, Chen Yunfei's finances collapsed. Mr. Yang explained that upon his release from prison, Chen discovered that the nursery he had run for many years had been emptied out by unknown individuals, and his assets were gone. Without any notice, the court designated him as a "dishonest debtor," placing him on the list of "deadbeats," preventing him from accessing his bank accounts or resuming work.
Chen Yunfei has lost his source of income and is now living on handouts. His friend Fang Liang revealed, "He's now struggling to even rent an apartment and can only survive on donations from friends and loans. A few days ago, lawyer Wang Yu visited Chen Yunfei and his mother in Chengdu to express his condolences."
On the eve of the 36th anniversary of June 4th, Chen Yunfei lost his freedom again. Fang Liang said, "After the interrogation on the evening of June 3rd, Chen Yunfei and his mother were forcibly taken by police to the Lingyun Thatched Cottage villa complex, 20 kilometers outside the city center, and placed under 24-hour house arrest. The police refused to provide toiletries until the afternoon of the next day, when they hastily provided disposable toothbrushes and wet wipes."
The crackdown on dissidents has extended to their families and after their release from prison.
Hong Chaoyang, a scholar living in Japan, believes that Chinese authorities have long extended their repression of dissidents to their families and even after their release from prison. While their sentences may appear to have expired, in reality, these stability maintenance measures are omnipresent, creating a kind of "invisible cage." He told this station, "Chen Yunfei's experience shows that Chinese human rights defenders cannot escape 'social death' even after being released from prison."
Mr. Lu, a Shandong legal scholar familiar with China's judicial system, said: "This is a typical 'secondary punishment' model, aimed at maintaining control over dissidents through non-judicial means. Administrative review inaction, police deliberately withholding receipts, and forcing an elderly mother into homelessness... This isn't law enforcement, it's political coercion."
He pointed out that in the Chen Yunfei case, the police's actions were clearly illegal, such as seizing property without legal procedures, using the "tiger bench" for interrogation, and implementing house arrest with indefinite restrictions on freedom, without even any criminal charges to support it. "This in itself is a mockery of legal procedures."
Continue to fight for freedom at all costs
This isn't the first time Chen Yunfei has been convicted for his speech since the 1989 student movement. In 2007, he was placed under house arrest for six months for publishing an advertisement in the Chengdu Evening News titled "A Tribute to the Mothers of June Fourth." He has been imprisoned repeatedly since 2015. Several friends have revealed that Chen Yunfei is preparing to file a lawsuit to recover his mother's lost property and to accuse police of abuse of power.
