The girlfriend of the prominent Chinese legal activist Xu Zhiyong is facing trial for “inciting the subversion of state power”, according to an indictment issued by prosecutors. Xu, a former lawyer, is one of China’s most well known and vocal legal activists and is being held in Linyi, a city in the eastern province of Shandong, awaiting trial for “subversion of state power” . His girlfriend Li Qiaochu has also been in detention since February last year. An indictment issued last month alleged that under Xu’s instruction, Li published a large number of Xu’s subversive articles online in September 2019 with the intention of “overthrowing the socialist system”. It went on to say the “facts and evidence” of Li’s crimes have been verified and she should bear her criminal responsibilities. Police detain fugitive rights activist Xu Zhiyong during ‘coronavirus check’ The indictment also said that Xu’s case will be handled separately. Xu, 49, was arrested in February 2020 in the southern city of Guangzhou, after he organised a meeting with fellow civil rights lawyers and activists in the southeastern coastal city of Xiamen about three months earlier to discuss democracy in China. Two lawyers, Ding Jiaxi and Chang Weiping, were also arrested and are awaiting trial on subversion charges. Before her arrest in 2021, Li published a series of articles on Twitter that said Xu and Ding had been tortured in detention. According to an informed source, who requested anonymity for safety reasons, Li has told her lawyers that she had been suffering from hallucinations and abnormal menstrual bleeding while in detention. Teresa Zhao, a close friend who now lives abroad, said Li was prosecuted because of her relationship with Xu. “Li would never have done anything illegal to incite the subversion of state power,” Zhao said. “I and her other friends call for a fair and objective trial. Wife of missing Chinese activist dies in US after reunion appeal fails “We are particularly worried about her physical and mental health, and if she is being abused in detention. We hope that she can be released on medical parole as her family has requested many times.” Li, 31, a Renmin University alumni, later gained a master's degree in public administration at York University in England before she returned to Beijing to carry out research on migrant workers and other vulnerable groups in the society. She was also outspoken on women’s issues. b