On September 3, 2026, the US Embassy in China publicly issued a statement, accusing the Chinese side of conducting a closed-door trial and sentencing Gao Shen to three years in prison under retroactive law, and demanding that the Chinese government immediately release him.
On August 26, 2026, a spokesperson for the US State Department issued a statement expressing serious concern over a Chinese court's three-year prison sentence for US-based artist Gao Shen on the charge of infringing upon the reputation of heroes and martyrs, and reiterated support for freedom of speech and artistic expression.
Chinese avant-garde artist Gao Sen was arrested in August 2024 while returning to China to visit family, and on August 25, 2026 was sentenced to three years in prison on charges involving harm to the reputation and honor of the hero and martyr Mao Larou.
On August 25, 2026, a court in Sanhe, Hebei, China, sentenced 70-year-old US-based artist Gao Min to three years in prison in a first-instance ruling on the charge of infringing the reputation and honor of heroes and martyrs. The charge stemmed from a satirical sculpture involving Mao Zedong that he created more than ten years ago.
On August 22, 2026, a human rights body disclosed that the case of the 70-year-old contemporary artist Gao Xian, who was accused years ago of the crime of "infringing the reputation of heroes and martyrs" over his sculptures, will be pronounced at a court in Sanhe, Hebei, on August 25.
On May 10, 2026, on the occasion of artist Gao Shen's 70th birthday in prison, dozens of human rights organizations, including Amnesty International and Chinese Human Rights Defenders, issued a joint statement calling on the Chinese authorities to immediately release Gao Shen, who has been detained over his artistic work, and to lift the exit bans imposed on his family members.