BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - The United States has condemned the sentencing of Chinese independent journalist and women's rights activist Huang Xueqin and labor rights activist Wang Jianbing.
A statement issued by U.S. State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller has urged the Chinese authorities to immediately release them as well as other individuals unjustly detained for exercising their fundamental freedoms.
'We continue to call on the PRC to live up to its international commitments and to respect the human rights of all persons, including freedom of expression and fair trial guarantees,' the statement says.
The State Department also urged China to accept the many recommendations made this year during its Universal Periodic Review of human rights record.
The Chinese government sentenced Huang to five years and Wang to three and a half years of imprisonment after a lengthy pre-trial detention and a secret trial closed to journalists or the public.
Huang Xueqin, also known as Sophia Huang Xueqin, is a Chinese MeToo activist and women's rights activist who reported on China's MeToo movement and Hong Kong pro-democracy protests.
Wang Jianbing is a labor rights and disability rights defender from Gansu province.
In September 2021, both Xueqin and Jianbing disappeared and were believed to have been detained on charges of subversion of state power. In 2022, Xueqin received the Wallis Annenberg Justice for Women Journalists Award from the International Women's Media Foundation, given to a journalist who is unjustly imprisoned.
On Friday, Huang and Wang were jailed after having been found guilty of subverting state power.
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