Zhang ‘Tara’ Yadi disappeared on July 30. Advocacy groups fear she will face national security charges on sensitive issues of Tibet and China’s ethnic minority policies.
By RFA staff
A Chinese international student and activist has gone missing during a trip to China to visit family. Rights and advocacy groups are saying it’s the latest case of transnational repression.
On July 5, Zhang Yadi, 22, who has been studying in France, returned to Changsha, Hunan province, to visit family. On July 30, she disappeared in Shangri-La, Yunnan province.
Zhang is an editor for the digital platform Chinese Youth Stand for Tibet (CYST) that emerged after the “white paper protests” in 2022. According to the group, it aims to “share the hidden truth about Tibet among the Chinese-speaking community.”
CYST says Zhang may have been taken by state security on suspicion of “endangering national security.”
Also known as Tara and online as @TaraFreesoul, Zhang focused on promoting dialogue between ethnic groups in China, particularly between Han and Tibetan communities. In September, she was scheduled to begin her studies at the School of Oriental and Asian Studies in London.
“This is a case of transnational repression,” Maya Wang, associate Asia director at Human Rights Watch, told RFA. “The fear is that students’ activism abroad is being closely watched. The impact here is to make everyone very worried about everything they say and do, including outside of China.”
Before her disappearance, Zhang kept close contact with friends and family, but communication was abruptly cut off after July 30, according to CYST. Afterwards, contradictory statements appeared on her WeChat account, raising further concern.
Prominent Chinese human rights lawyer Jiang Tianyong traveled to Changsha to provide legal assistance to Zhang’s mother. According to CYST, while Jiang was meeting her mother at a cafe on Sept. 16, he was taken away by three unidentified men and brought to the police station. He has since been released.
“Her activism took place in France,” Wang told RFA. “It is important for the French government also to protect the rights and freedom of expression of its residents in France and press the Chinese government to release her.”
Ginger Duan, Chinese Youth Stand for Tibet (CYST) founder and Zhang’s best friend, told RFA that in their last direct contact after July 30, Zhang said she was in the hospital, but when asked by Duan, she could not confirm it with a selfie or a doctor’s note. “I didn’t believe her,” Duan told RFA.
Duan said CYST represents a new generation of young Chinese committed to peacefully mediating ethnic conflicts.
“Yet, when these youths attempt to foster grassroots exchanges and dispel longstanding misunderstandings about Tibet among the Mandarin-speaking public, the Chinese Communist Party responds with arrests,” Duan told RFA.
Duan said CYST represents a new generation of young Chinese committed to peacefully mediating ethnic conflicts.
“Yet, when these youths attempt to foster grassroots exchanges and dispel longstanding misunderstandings about Tibet among the Mandarin-speaking public, the Chinese Communist Party responds with arrests,” Duan told RFA.
“This action clearly exposes the true nature of Beijing’s Tibet policy: they neither want genuine mutual understanding between Han and Tibetan people, nor do they want a real resolution to the Tibetan issue.”
“We therefore urge the international community to pay close attention to this case. Only through sustained global awareness and pressure can the CCP be compelled to release Tara and finally confront the Tibet question,” Duan said.
According to Duan, Zhang now faces a heavy sentence, with charges tied to national security, particularly concerning the highly sensitive issue of Tibet and China’s ethnic minority policies. “The case is further framed under allegations of ‘organized crime.’”
“It’s quite alarming that her arrest is a sign of the Chinese government’s increasing repression, tightening of ideological control, which means that there is increasingly heavy repression in places like Tibet and Xinjiang, where even expressing solidarity for the rights of Tibetans and Uyghurs is often now treated quite harshly,” Maya Wang of Human Rights Watch said.
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