Chinese artist Gao Zhen was recently sentenced in China to three years in prison over artworks he created nearly two decades ago, which insiders say illustrates how Beijing is expanding its efforts to criminalize criticism of the regime and its leaders.
Gao, 70, was sentenced on Aug. 25 by a court in Sanhe, a city in China’s Hebei Province, for insulting “heroes and martyrs.” He was arrested by Chinese police in August 2024 while returning from New York to visit family in China. He has been held in Chinese custody since then.
Gao is a U.S. permanent resident and has a young son who is a U.S. citizen. He moved to the United States in 2022.
The case involved artworks he created between 2005 and 2009 in China, including “Mao’s Guilt,” a statue portraying former Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Mao Zedong kneeling.
According to Amnesty International, Gao has decided to appeal the conviction and the prison terms.
The case has sparked fresh concerns about Beijing’s use of exit bans as the artist’s wife, also a U.S. permanent resident, and their son, a U.S. citizen, have been barred from leaving China since mid-2024.
Insiders familiar with the case said the prosecution of Gao appears intended not only to punish his earlier work but also to send a broader warning that criticism or mockery of China’s top leaders is increasingly being treated as a political matter, even when the conduct occurred years before the relevant criminal provisions were enacted.
The insiders spoke to The Epoch Times on condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisal.
“[The case] is a warning to some people that no matter which country you are in, once you return to China, you will also be held accountable,” an insider in the Hebei procuratorate system, who uses the pseudonym Wu Huanran, told the publication.
Retroactive Application
China adopted the Law on the Protection of Heroes and Martyrs in 2018.
Three years later, an amendment to the Criminal Code created the offense of insulting “heroes and martyrs,” punishable by up to three years in prison.
The legal provisions therefore did not exist when Gao created the works at issue.
Wu described Gao’s prosecution as a form of retroactive criminal investigation, saying such cases had been relatively uncommon in the past.
He said the CCP is increasingly investigating conduct dating back as far as two decades, particularly in cases involving alleged insults against Party leaders.
Wu also said cases involving alleged insults directed at current Chinese leader Xi Jinping could result in even longer sentences and may require local procuratorates to report them to higher-level authorities.
A source within the CCP’s political system surnamed Yang told The Epoch Times that public servants have also been repeatedly warned in recent years to be careful about what they say.
For CCP members and government employees, remarks involving top leaders can be treated as political violations and potentially lead to expulsion from the party or dismissal from their jobs.
“It is simply that you cannot criticize [Xi Jinping],” he said. “If you talk about him, it is a political problem. They can directly characterize it that way.”
Yang cited a case of a person in Hebei who allegedly discussed unemployment while eating in a workplace cafeteria and said, “The reform and opening-up was ruined by one person.”
The remarks were reported through the workplace security department and subsequently escalated from the local police station to higher authorities.
“He has been detained for more than three months,” he said.
The Epoch Times could not independently verify the detention described by the CCP insider.
From Private Conversations to Political Offenses
A Hebei-based attorney, surnamed Zhu, told The Epoch Times that discussion of Xi has increasingly moved beyond online communities outside the government and into private conversations among people working inside the CCP’s state apparatus.
Zhu said the regime has been increasingly attentive to expressions of dissatisfaction within the government and has used offenses involving the alleged insult of national heroes or state leaders to punish some individuals.
The tightening environment surrounding political speech has coincided with a broader consolidation of political authority under Xi.
In 2018, China amended its constitution to remove the two-term limit on the presidency, allowing Xi to remain in power beyond the previous 10-year norm.
Since then, the regime has continued to emphasize political loyalty to the CCP and its leadership.
Dorothy Li and Ye Zilong contributed to this report.
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