Picking quarrels and provoking trouble · Full chronicle and history

The human rights organization Safeguard Defenders has released a new edition of the book 'The People's Republic of the Disappeared.' It includes first-hand accounts of secret detention under the 'Residential Surveillance at a Designated Location' (RSDL) system from Chinese rights lawyers, journalists, NGO workers, as well as Michael Kovrig, Cheng Lei, and Lee Ming-che, and offers a free PDF download.

The trial of Shenyang petitioner Fu Youling, charged with the crime of picking quarrels and provoking trouble, has opened; the prosecution recommended a fixed-term prison sentence of two years.

The Ministry of Justice, the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the Ministry of Public Security, the National Health Commission, and the National Disease Control and Prevention Administration jointly issued standards defining the scope of serious illnesses and criteria for identifying inability to care for oneself for temporary execution of sentences outside prison.

According to a tip-off from X user @LeiYang8964, a mainland Chinese netizen was sentenced by the authorities to three years and six months in prison for the crime of "picking quarrels and provoking trouble" after posting remarks on an overseas social platform that defamed and attacked the country's leaders and the national system. This incident reflects the Chinese government's severe control over and punishment of domestic netizens' speech on overseas platforms.

On September 19, Hong Guangyu, a former reporter for the Beijing Science and Technology Report and a popular science author on food safety, was taken away across provinces in Xiamen by the Zhongshan Branch of the Dalian Public Security Bureau. He was criminally detained on suspicion of picking quarrels and provoking trouble and is currently being held at the Dalian Detention Center. Netizens exposed the incident on September 24, and his family confirmed it.

On September 17, it was circulated online that the Justice Bureau of Puan County, Guizhou Province, issued a notice requiring local lawyers, when handling cases related to cracking down on organized crime, to report to the county justice bureau for study and obtain approval before they can present defense arguments that involve changing the characterization of a crime, and demanding that all law firms strictly enforce this.

On September 16, Dalian fruit grower Yu Kewei, who participated in the rights-defense campaign over the death of cherry trees, was approved for arrest on suspicion of the crime of picking quarrels and provoking trouble; the charges are related to his online speech. Ji Xiaowei and several other fruit growers engaged in rights defense had previously been arrested as well.

Yin Jiangen, a self-media person from Zhuzhou, was arrested across provinces in August 2025 for posting criticisms of officials, including Liu Ying, the Party Secretary of Liyang Town, Hexian County, Anhui Province. On August 6, 2026, the Hexian Court sentenced him to two years and three months in prison in the first instance for the crime of picking quarrels and provoking trouble. Yin Jiangen disagreed and filed an appeal.

On September 11, the Chengguan District Court in Lanzhou delivered its first-instance verdict: migrant worker Jing Shuren was found guilty of nine counts of picking quarrels and provoking trouble for reposting posts demanding unpaid wages and debt collection, and was sentenced to 4 years; Zhou Lubao, a co-defendant, received 14 years for picking quarrels and provoking trouble and extortion. Jing Shuren was the only one of the seven defendants who had not taken a single cent. Prosecutors had recommended a sentence of 7 years and 6 months; after the charge of leading an evil force was dropped and he was reclassified as an accomplice, he was still sentenced to 4 years. All seven stated in court that they would appeal.

On September 5, 2026, several migrant workers in Guangxi hung banners outside the gate of the Southwest Company of CCCC First Harbor Engineering Bureau and blocked the entrance with vehicles to demand unpaid wages; after rights defenders posted videos online, they were intimidated and threatened with charges such as "picking quarrels and provoking trouble."

In August 2026, prominent criminal defense lawyer Chen Youxi publicly pointed out that in multiple cases involving fallen officials, the case-handling authorities appointed legal aid lawyers to crowd out the lawyers retained by family members, effectively depriving the parties of their right to defense.

On July 8, 2026, the public interest organization Asia Lawyers Network released a report disclosing that the crackdown on lawyers in China has extended to the civil and commercial sectors, with lawyers frequently facing criminal prosecution by authorities using criminal charges to replace civil litigation when handling civil and commercial disputes.

Zhang Naixian, an independent film director in Beijing, was taken away from his home by multiple police (Public Security) officers on the evening of July 1 for posting satirical comments about the authorities on the X platform. His family later received a criminal detention notice for the crime of picking quarrels and provoking trouble issued by the Haidian Branch.

After the case was accepted, it remained unhandled for a long time; Lin attempted suicide by slashing his or her wrist shortly afterward, and his or her lawyer says Lin was subsequently diagnosed with severe depression by a hospital.

In late June 2026, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress released the draft amendment to the Lawyers Law, with new clauses explicitly requiring practicing lawyers to support the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party and the socialist rule of law, and mandating that law firms establish grassroots Party organizations in accordance with the Party Constitution.

On June 10, 2026, Chinese independent feminist and human rights activist Li Qiaochu sent an inquiry letter, legally filing an administrative reconsideration against the Shandong Provincial Prison Administration for its inaction on the marriage application of Xu Zhiyong, who is incarcerated.

On May 25, 2026, Wu Qiang, a citizen of Lianyungang, Jiangsu, posted a video accusing the authorities of sentencing him to one year in prison for 'picking quarrels and provoking trouble' after he monitored water pollution. Following his release, the Lianyungang Intermediate Court placed him under residential surveillance for another six months. He also disclosed that he was subjected to torture and abuse while in custody.

China's Ministry of Justice announced the results of a crackdown on local law enforcement violations, saying it identified and corrected more than 66,000 problems and recovered economic losses of 30.7 billion yuan for businesses.

The Lanzhou procuratorate recently brought a public prosecution against Jing Shuren, accusing him of using his influence to repost Zhou Lubao's so-called false negative posts, with a sentencing recommendation of 7 years and 6 months.

In December 2024, Xinhua News Agency revoked the retirement benefits of Gu Wanming, former head of its Guangdong branch. Prior to this, he had been criminally detained for issuing an open letter over the death of Li Keqiang, and was sentenced by a court to one year in prison on the charge of picking quarrels and provoking trouble.

In November 2024, the Minhang District Court in Shanghai sentenced Gu Wanming, former head of the Xinhua News Agency's Guangdong branch, to one year in prison on the charge of picking quarrels and provoking trouble. He was criminally detained after issuing an open letter in October 2023 raising five demands over the death of Li Keqiang.

From July 9, 2015, Chinese police (Public Security) carried out large-scale arrests, summons and detentions of over a hundred rights lawyers, rights defenders and their relatives across 23 provinces, an event known as the 709 crackdown.

In May 2011, the Xia Junfeng case entered the Supreme People's Court's death penalty review; afterward, academics and netizens launched a "stay the execution" solidarity campaign, though the exact launch date and the scale of hundreds of thousands of participants could not be verified.

On June 16, 2009, the court of Badong County, Hubei, found Deng Yujiao guilty of intentional injury in the first-instance ruling, but, taking into account such circumstances as excessive self-defense and voluntary surrender, exempted her from criminal penalty.

The night after the Yang Jia case occurred, his mother Wang Jingmei was first taken to the Datun Police Station in Chaoyang District, and was then sent by Shanghai and Beijing police to the Ankang Psychiatric Hospital of the Beijing Public Security Bureau in Shunyi District and forcibly detained. Her family only learned of her whereabouts four months later, and legal professionals pointed out that there was no regulatory basis whatsoever for sending her to a psychiatric hospital.