Tenzin Nyidon
DHARAMSHALA, Aug. 18: The son of imprisoned Chinese pro-democracy activist Zhang Yi has questioned the legal basis of the “inciting separatism” charge brought against his father, saying he cannot understand how the simple act of showing a photograph of the Tibetan spiritual leader, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, could be construed as a political offence.
In a testimony submitted to the New York-based human rights organisation Human Rights in China (HRIC), Zhang Hongyuan said the arrest of his father did not come as a surprise, but marked the culmination of a long-standing fear he had carried since leaving China. He now lives in the Netherlands.
Zhang Yi, a retired resident of Wuhan, was detained by police in Lhasa on July 1 after showing a photograph of the Dalai Lama to a Tibetan woman at Sera Monastery. He was later placed under criminal detention and formally arrested on suspicion of “inciting separatism” under Article 103 of China’s Criminal Law.
On July 18, he was transferred from administrative detention to criminal detention at the Lhasa Detention Centre. Roughly twelve days later, authorities approved his formal arrest. The charge of “inciting separatism” is based on Article 103, which criminalises actions interpreted by the state as encouraging the separation of Chinese territory. However, according to his family, Zhang Yi’s conduct bore no resemblance to political activism.
Zhang Hongyuan said his father did not organise any protest, deliver political speeches, distribute material, or call for Tibetan independence. Instead, he said, his father merely showed an old photograph while attempting to communicate with a woman who did not speak Mandarin.
The photo of the Dalai Lama, however, is politically sensitive in Tibet. Chinese authorities have long labelled the Dalai Lama a separatist figure, despite his attempts to seek dialogue with Beijing for genuine autonomy under the Chinese framework as prescribed in its constitution. In occupied Tibet, even possessing or displaying his photograph can be treated as a politically charged act, attracting imprisonment.
Zhang Hongyuan argued that this context still does not explain the charge. “A tourist in Lhasa showed a photo of the Dalai Lama to someone who didn’t even share his language, someone who was too frightened even to look at it—and they say he incited separatism,” he said. “What did he incite? And what did he secede?” He said the central question remains unanswered: what, precisely, the authorities believe was incited in the encounter.
Zhang Hongyuan said the case highlights how political meaning can be attached to even ordinary objects. In Tibet, he said, a photograph alone can be interpreted as a political act, depending on the broader framework in which it is viewed. He added that the woman at Sera Monastery appeared too fearful to engage with the image, yet the incident was still treated as serious enough to warrant criminal detention and arrest.
Reflecting on the case, Zhang Hongyuan said: “Usually, it’s fathers who go to the police station to collect their sons. For me, it was a son going to the police station to collect his father.” Zhang Hongyuan has called on international observers to continue speaking about his father’s case. He said that while public attention may not immediately secure his release, it has already prompted Chinese authorities to question relatives about external reporting, indicating that scrutiny is being noticed.
“I am campaigning, I am not running away, and I will absolutely not back down,” he said.
