Xu Zhiyong

In 2003, he was elected to the Haidian District People's Congress as an independent. He won the re-election in 2006.[4] However, in the 2011 election, Xu's name was pulled off the candidate list, but he still gathered more than 3,500 votes out of 22,000 voters in his district.

Unlike other human rights activists, Xu firmly and carefully pushed his calls for political change and social justice in existing laws, and his group has been regarded as relatively cautious and conservative.[5][6] In his recent interview before his arrest, he described his dream

I wish our country could be a free and happy one. Every citizen need not go against their conscience and can find their own place by their virtue and talents; a simple and happy society, where the goodness of humanity is expanded to the maximum, and the evilness of humanity is constrained to the minimum; honesty, trust, kindness, and helping each other are everyday occurrences in life; there is not so much anger and anxiety, a pure smile on everyone's face.

— Xu Zhiyong[7]

In 2009, July 29, he was arrested at his home, and detained by Chinese authorities on charges of tax evasion.[8][9] At the same time Xu's colleague Zhuang Lu was also arrested by authorities.[10]

The Open Constitution Initiative, which Xu co-founded, was fined 1.46 million RMB on July 14, 2009 for 'dodging taxes' and was shut down by the authorities by declaring it "illegal".[11]

Xu Zhiyong was released on bail on August 23, 2009.[10] The Australian newspaper The Age reported that the release of Xu, Zhuang and another Chinese dissident, Ilham Tohti, was in part due to pressure on Beijing from the administration of American President Barack Obama.[12]

After Gong Meng was shut down, Xu Zhiyong and supporters adopted the name "Citizens" to continue their cause. In May 2012, Xu formally established the "New Citizens' Movement" and "New Citizens' Spirit" as the high-level concept of their activism.

In 2013, Xu Zhiyong was placed under house arrest for more than three months, before being formally arrested on August 22.[13] His trial started on Jan 22, 2014. Xu and his lawyer Zhang Qingfang remained silent throughout the trial (except for his closing statement) to protest the violation of basic legal procedure. Xu's closing statement was cut short by the judge, but the text was circulated on the internet and raised tremendous support.[14] On January 26, 2014, Xu was sentenced to four years in prison for "gathering crowds to disrupt public order".[1]

In February 2020, through postings on social media, Xu publicly asked Chinese Communist Party general secretary Xi Jinping to resign, for what he described as an obvious inability to handle the COVID-19 pandemic.[15] He was then arrested.[16]

Xu is listed in 2013's Top 100 Global Thinkers by Foreign Policy.[17]