Student allegedly jailed in China for six years after taking part in pro-democracy protests in Australia | Australia news

The Australian government has been urged to take stronger action to protect Chinese international students from political repression by authorities upon their return after a Chinese student was reportedly sentenced to six years in prison for joining pro-democracy protests in Australia.

The student, who the Guardian chose not to name, lost contact with his friends in Sydney after he returned China in December 2024.

He was known to have plans to stay in Australia after graduation. Two employers also confirmed with Guardian Australia that they had lost contact with the student since January 2025.

A representative of the student’s family in Australia told the Guardian the student was arrested and charged with secession for taking part in pro-democracy protests in Sydney, including two solidarity protests for China’s ethnic minorities.

The family representative claimed the family was not offered a copy of the verdict after the hearing.

The student allegedly appeared before the court China’s introduction of the law on ethnic unitywhich human rights advocates argued exacerbated existing restrictions on minority groups’ use of their languages.

A number of people who previously took part in rallies in Sydney criticizing the Chinese government said they knew the student through the events.

The University of Sydney, where he was enrolled, declined to comment, citing privacy.

Maya Wang, the deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said his arrest could be part of a broader political crackdown targeting Chinese international students who arrived in the west after the 2022 “white paper” protests.

In December 2022, hundreds of young Chinese people gathered in several cities in China and held white papers to protest amid anger over strict Covid lockdown measures.

The protest, which was one of the largest youth-led rallies in China since the Tiananmen protests in 1989, forced Beijing to end Covid lockdown measures while authorities began arresting protesters.

Wang said that while China has traditionally focused on suppressing activism within the country, its focus has shifted overseas following waves of migration in recent years.

“They kind of intimidated enough people inside China, and then people move abroad and continue activism, or experience new activism — because many of these students are new activists — then your focus of enforcement naturally shifts abroad,” Wang said.

“The young students today, as a group, are more problematic from the Chinese government point of view (point of view).”

She said many people who care about democracies will move to a democratic country where they feel it will be safer to continue their activism, but many democratic countries have failed to understand the situation.

She also said governments should take a stronger stance in leading universities to protect international students from political repression over their participation in pro-democracy activities.

“If you leave it up to the universities to deal with it, they really don’t have capacity because we’re talking about a higher education institution. They really need the money brought in by international students. They’re already very cash-strapped,” she said.

“The existing university framework is generally focused on, let’s say research integrity, informed consent, but there is rarely ever a concern about human rights, which is a very big blind spot.”

In 2021, a report by Human Rights Watch revealed that Chinese pro-democracy students faced intimidation and harassment and fear of reprisals.

In September, the Guardian reported this The 22-year-old Chinese student Yadi Zhang was detained in China allegedly over her involvement in activism for Tibet.

Former Universities Australia chief executive Catriona Jackson said at the time that universities were considering best-practice examples from overseas to counter harassment against foreign government-related harassment.

Universities Australia declined to comment on the matter.

In 2019, the federal government introduced guidelines to counter foreign interference in universities, as well as a task force focused on the issue.

The guidelines ask universities to provide training to staff and students involved in foreign collaboration or partnership activities about the risks of foreign interference. However, they do not provide guidance on what universities should do to support international students who face political repression at home for participating in pro-democracy events that are legal in Australia.

Both the university’s task force on foreign interference and the Department of Education declined to comment on whether the guidelines would be updated to cover political repression against students.

Shadow Home Affairs and Immigration Minister Jonno Duniam said the case of the missing student was “deeply concerning” and said universities had “a clear responsibility to ensure that all students can speak freely without intimidation.”

“The Albanian government and universities must have strong safeguards against foreign interference and ensure robust protections for students exercising free speech. This includes clear reporting mechanisms and consequences for intimidation or coercion,” he said.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the Department of Home Affairs said it would not comment on individual cases for privacy reasons, but “it is unacceptable for any foreign government to target members of our community in ways that prevent individuals from exercising their fundamental rights and freedoms in Australia.”

The Chinese embassy in Canberra said it was not aware of the matter.