China is putting a US-based artist on trial for a sculpture he made 15 years ago, and the world is learning about it | Fanboy Attack

The charges are particularly troubling because the law he is being charged with was only introduced in 2021. In other words, the artwork in question is more than 10 years old. Controversy over the retroactive application of laws to punish past conduct has surfaced elsewhere, including the U.S. Justice Department’s move to expunge a Jan. 6 conviction. Human Rights Watch publicly called on China to drop what it called “baseless accusations” that prosecutors had violated Gao’s fundamental right to freedom of expression. Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said criticism of Mao’s legacy, once acceptable, is now off-limits as President Xi Jinping tightens ideological control.

Mao Zedong remains a complex figure in China’s national story. He founded Communist China in 1949 and presided over a period that included famine that killed tens of millions of people and the Cultural Revolution, a violent purge of those considered enemies of the state. The Gao brothers’ own father was labeled a class enemy and detained during this period, and was later reported to have died by suicide. In the eyes of the state, challenging Mao’s legacy amounts to challenging the legitimacy of the Chinese Communist Party itself.

Since Xi Jinping came to power in 2012, the opportunities for creative expression in China have significantly shrunk. In 2023, stand-up comedian Li Haoshi faced political fire after making a joke about the People’s Liberation Army, resulting in his employer being fined 14.7 million yuan (approximately $2.1 million). Prominent figures such as artist Ai Weiwei and Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo have also faced serious repercussions for challenging state discourse.

After Gao Zhen’s arrest in mid-2024, authorities seized 118 works of art from his studio on November 17, 2024. His wife and 7-year-old son, a US citizen, are both prohibited from leaving the country. There are also serious concerns about Gao’s health. Gao, 69, suffers from chronic lower back disease, arthritis, eye problems and chronic hives. He met his lawyer multiple times in a wheelchair, showed signs of malnutrition, and passed out in September 2025. A doctor at the jail suggested he may have arteriosclerosis, which can be a precursor to a stroke, but his request for medical bail again was denied.

China watchers say the incident reflects the Chinese Communist Party’s retroactive crackdown on its people across borders. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ian Johnson said this was “probably the darkest period in decades” for freedom of expression under the Chinese Communist Party, even surpassing the crackdown that followed the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown. Sophie Richardson of the China Human Rights Defenders Network said authorities were “expanding beyond physical borders” through exit bans and pressure on foreign arts organizations, a tactic she compared to government surveillance of activists. The same applies in other contexts.

The secrecy surrounding the trials is kept from family members, citizens and diplomats and is usually limited to national security cases. Gao Qiang argued that the closed-door proceedings revealed the weaknesses of the prosecution, saying, “If exposed to the public, the prosecution’s legal weaknesses, political vindictiveness, and symbolism will no longer be hidden.” Melbourne-based cartoonist Yabucao, known for his criticism of Beijing, said he no longer felt safe and believed the Chinese government “no longer cares about its international reputation”.

The United Nations Human Rights Office, Human Rights Watch, and 181 artists, writers, activists, and academics are all calling for Gao Zhen’s immediate release. Gao Qiang warned that if his brother’s prosecution is left unaddressed, it will send a message that “the state may retroactively redefine the meaning of art, turning satire, reflection, and memory itself into a crime.”