Friends and rights groups worry for Chinese #MeToo activist’s life after jail

BEIJING – Rio once joined his friend, jailed Chinese #MeToo activist Sophia Huang Xueqin, for weekly group discussions on social issues and shared struggles. He now worries about how she will navigate life after prison. Huang, a journalist, has been behind bars since 2021, when she and labor activist Wang Jianbing were detained for co-organizing those meetings, among other charges.

A Chinese court sentenced Huang to five years in prison, saying in 2024 that the pair had “incited participants’ dissatisfaction with Chinese state power under the pretext of discussing social issues.”