Chinese artist Gao Zhen sentenced to three years for Mao Zedong sculptures

A Chinese court has sentenced prominent 70-year-old artist Gao Zhen to three years in prison for slandering national heroes and martyrs. The conviction stems from satirical sculptures of Mao Zedong created between 2005 and 2009, long before the 2018 law under which he was charged was enacted. Gao, a U.S. permanent resident, was detained in 2024 during a family visit. His wife and young son, a U.S. citizen, remain trapped in China under exit bans, drawing widespread international condemnation from human rights groups.

Gao Zhen three-year sentence

• ▪Gao Zhen, a 70-year-old Chinese citizen and United States permanent resident, was detained by Chinese authorities on August 26, 2024, while visiting China with his family.
• ▪Gao Zhen plans to appeal the three-year prison sentence handed down by the Sanhe City People's Court on August 25, 2026.
• ▪The Sanhe City People's Court in Hebei Province sentenced Chinese artist Gao Zhen to three years in prison on August 25, 2026, for slandering China's heroes and martyrs.
• ▪Gao Zhen was tried during a secret, one-day hearing in March 2026, which his family, United States diplomats, and multiple Western diplomats were barred from attending.

Retroactive slander law prosecution

• ▪Gao Zhen was prosecuted under China's Law on the Protection of Heroes and Martyrs, which took effect in March 2018 and was strengthened in 2021.
• ▪People familiar with the case stated that Gao Zhen was accused of disseminating images of his Mao Zedong sculptures online as recently as 2024.
• ▪The prosecution of Gao Zhen applied China's 2018 slander law retroactively to artworks he created between 2005 and 2009, more than a decade before the law existed.

Satirical Mao Zedong sculptures

• ▪Gao Zhen and his brother Gao Qiang, working as the Gao Brothers, created satirical sculptures of Mao Zedong that critiqued the 1966-1976 Cultural Revolution.
• ▪The prosecution's evidence against Gao Zhen targeted three specific artworks: 'Mao's Guilt', a sculpture of Mao with breasts and a Pinocchio nose, and a depiction of Mao statues pointing rifles at Jesus.

Family detention exit bans

• ▪Gao Zhen's wife, Zhao Yaliang, and their young son, a United States citizen, have been barred from leaving China on national security grounds since Gao Zhen's detention in August 2024.
• ▪Zhao Yaliang stated that Gao Zhen has suffered from back, knee, and respiratory issues in detention, and was subjected to food deprivation and communication bans.

Artistic expression crackdown

• ▪Human rights groups and campaigners, including Amnesty International and Chinese Human Rights Defenders, condemned the sentencing of Gao Zhen as an attack on independent artistic expression.
• ▪Shane Yi of Chinese Human Rights Defenders stated that targeting Gao Zhen serves as a warning to overseas Chinese citizens that the state maintains power over them.

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