Police detain Chinese #MeToo activist Sophia Huang Xueqin on public order charge

A leading Chinese feminist has been arrested in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou for allegedly disturbing public order, sources familiar with the case said on Thursday.

Two sources said Sophia Huang Xueqin, a key figure in the #MeToo movement in China, was formally arrested a week ago on charges of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” – an offence often used by police to detain dissidents and social activists, and that can attract a prison sentence of up to five years.

The 30-year-old activist has been held at the Baiyun District Detention Centre, barred from visits from family and friends.

There were signs that the authorities have kept a close watch on Huang. Her passport was confiscated in August after she returned to China from a six-month academic trip in the United States, Hong Kong and Taiwan. She had originally planned to be in Hong Kong in September to study law but was not allowed to leave the mainland.

She was summoned to the Guangzhou Public Security Bureau on October 17 and formally arrested.