Mr. Li Yanjun (June 22, 1975 – June 4, 2025), a native of Nanning, Guangxi, was a long-standing advocate for China’s democratization. He was among the earliest citizen activists in mainland China who persistently engaged in nonviolent resistance and exposed the truth about the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) human rights abuses. For many years, he stood at the forefront of the struggle for freedom, justice, and humanity, enduring repeated suppression, imprisonment, torture, and psychological torment by the CCP. Ultimately, he succumbed to illness brought on by prolonged suffering. He passed away at the age of 49.
Mr. Li Yanjun believed in democratic constitutionalism and advocated peaceful, rational resistance. He was deeply concerned with grassroots petitioners, the breakdown of the rule of law, and judicial persecution. During his lifetime, he repeatedly expressed a strong desire to join the China Democracy Party and, through concrete actions, upheld the Party’s beliefs and principles.
In 2012, he traveled to Hong Kong to support petitioners sent to labor camps. In 2014, he supported the “Ten Gentlemen Case” in Zhengzhou, participated in Hong Kong’s July 1st protest march, and closely followed key rights defense incidents such as the Jiansanjiang Lawyers Case, the Qufu Xue Fushun Case, and the Jiaozuo Zhang Xiaoyu couple’s case. These actions led to his repeated detention.
On June 15, 2015, along with Liu Xing and more than ten other citizens, he traveled to Weifang, Shandong to attend and support the trial of the “Xu Yonghe Case.” He was subsequently arrested and sentenced to two years and five months in prison on charges of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble.” This case is widely seen as a prelude to the major “709 crackdown” of that year, making Li Yanjun one of its most significant early victims.
After his release, Li Yanjun’s health continued to deteriorate. Despite multiple requests to seek medical treatment abroad, he was repeatedly denied by the authorities. In 2019, he petitioned in Nanning to demand permission for overseas treatment. He publicly shouted “Down with the Communist Party” and was again detained. He protested through a hunger strike and was eventually released. In 2021, he was detained once more for organizing efforts to hold authorities accountable for the death of Guo Hongwei. Again, he resisted through a hunger strike. Even in the depths of imprisonment, Li Yanjun never gave in; though imprisoned repeatedly, he never repented; though gravely ill, he never gave up his fight for truth and freedom.
His passing marks a profound loss for China’s human rights movement. He quietly burned himself like a candle, bringing a faint light of hope to those under oppression. As lawyer Wang Quanzhang wrote in his tribute:
“He entered this world without a sound, was stripped of freedom without a sound, and left this world without a sound… Brother, for whom did you light that flickering candle?”
To honor Mr. Li Yanjun’s final wishes and to recognize his outstanding contribution to the cause of democracy in China, the National Committee of the China Democracy Party has resolved:
Mr. Li Yanjun is hereby posthumously recognized as a full member of the China Democracy Party.
We are acutely aware of the heavy price of freedom. It is precisely because of courageous fighters like Mr. Li Yanjun that the flame of democracy continues to burn in the darkness. We will carry forward the unfinished mission, march on with determination, and remain true to our fallen comrades, to the people, and to the future.
Rest in peace, Mr. Li Yanjun.
Solemnly announced by
The National Committee of the China Democracy Party
Signed by Chairman Wang Juntao
June 25, 2025