Tiananmen Square ‘Tank Man liquor label’ protester sentenced to 3½ years in prison

Chen Bing, last of four defendants to face trial, found guilty of ‘picking quarrels and provoking trouble’

Supporters say he pleaded not guilty in court and judge rejected lawyers’ efforts to use accounts from parents of victims of 1989 crackdown in his defence

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The four activists were arrested in 2016 after putting labels on bottles of baijiu that paid tribute to the Tiananmen Square protest. Photo: Handout

Published: 10:12pm, 4 Apr 2019Updated: 5:28am, 5 Jun 2019

A Chinese activist who took part in a 2016 campaign that used labels on liquor bottles to encourage people to remember the 1989 military crackdown in Tiananmen Square has been sentenced to 3½ years in prison.

Chen Bing on Thursday became the last of four defendants to face trial at Chengdu Intermediate People’s Court of Sichuan province in southwest China.

He was found guilty of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”. Given his time served, Chen will be eligible for release in about eight months’ time.

His fellow defendants – Fu Hailu, Zhang Junyong and Luo Fuyu – were each given three-year suspended sentences on the same charge.

Chen Bing was the last of four defendants to face trial over the liquor bottle label protest. Photo: Handout

Supporters of the group posted news of their sentences on Twitter on Thursday, saying that the three people released and their relatives were under close observation by state security officials and unable to speak freely.

All four were arrested in 2016 after putting labels on bottles of baijiu – a traditional Chinese spirit – that paid tribute to the student-led movement.