Chinese student known for pro-Tibet activism overseas is detained while visiting China

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WASHINGTON (AP) — A Chinese student who became a vocal advocate for Tibet while living in Europe has been detained by Chinese authorities, according to two of her close friends, as Beijing is becoming more aggressive in its efforts to silence dissenting voices not only at home but also abroad.

State security officers from the central-southern Chinese city of Changsha detained Zhang Yadi, 22, on suspicion of "inciting separatism" after she traveled to her hometown this past summer to visit her family, her friends told The Associated Press.

In recent years, China has cracked down on protest and activism, especially when it relates to border regions like Tibet and Xinjiang that Beijing fears could seek independence. If Zhang is charged with inciting separatism and convicted, she could be jailed for years.

China claims Tibet has been part of its territory for centuries, although it only established firm control over the Himalayan region after the Communist Party swept to power during a civil war in 1949.

The detention of Zhang is the latest case in which a Chinese national has been detained over speech made overseas. Critics say the practice is part of a broader effort to police speech by overseas Chinese students and scholars even when they reside in western democracies that also includes harassing their families in China.

Rei Xia, a close friend, saw Zhang off in Amsterdam on July 4 and said she dropped out of contact after July 30. Several weeks later, Xia learned that Zhang had been detained on July 31.

Zhang had attended college in France, and planned to visit China for two months before beginning a graduate program at SOAS University of London, Xia said.

Ginger Duan, another friend, said Zhang was planning to go on a group tour to visit temples in Tibe but never made it there. The last message she received from Zhang indicated she was in Shangri-La, a city in the southwestern Chinese province of Yunnan bordering the administrative region of Tibet.

Zhang's friends learned about her detention from people familiar with the case who did not want to be identified for fear of retribution.

Local public security departments in Shangri-la did not immediately respond to an AP inquiry regarding Zhang’s case.

The advocacy group Human Rights Watch has urged the Chinese government to drop the charges and “immediately and unconditionally" release Zhang. It also called on western governments, including France and the United Kingdom, to press Beijing to free the woman.

While living abroad, Zhang, a Buddhist fluent in Chinese, Tibetan, and English language, became passionate about promoting Tibetan rights, according to her friends. She joined the group Chinese Youth Stand for Tibet, and under a pen name wrote critically about Beijing's policies and practices in the region. Duan said the group does not advocate independence for Tibet.

Her friends say they were worried that she exposed her identity by accepting a June podcast interview about her activism, and warned her against traveling to China.

Other Chinese nationals have been jailed for social media posts made while living overseas.

In 2023, Li Yanhe, a Chinese national working as the editor-in-chief of a publishing house in Taiwan, was detained by Chinese authorities when he was visiting Shanghai. Two years later, Li was sentenced to three years in prison for inciting separatism.