Unwavering Moral Courage

By Michael Leh, Member of the Board of the International Society for Human Rights German Section (ISHR)

Chinese citizen journalist Zhang Zhan, who is currently imprisoned in China, and Protestant pastor Roland Kühne were honoured with the newly established Liu Xiaobo Human Rights Prize before an international audience in Leipzig.

Named after Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo, who died in Chinese custody on 13 July 2017, the prize is endowed with 10,000 US dollars. The prize money was divided between the two recipients. The award was presented by SinoEuroVoices, based in Cologne, and China Studies, based in London.

As Huang Hua of the Chinese Democracy Party explained in Leipzig, donations from members of the party played a central role in making the presentation of the prize and the accompanying two-day symposium possible.

Tienchi Martin-Liao of SinoEuroVoices said:

“Today marks the ninth anniversary of Liu Xiaobo’s death. As his friends, colleagues and fellow activists in the democracy movement, we organise memorial events abroad every year in his honour. In China, his name, his ideas and his writings are taboo.”

Charter 08 Remains Groundbreaking

Liu Xiaobo was a leading initiator and co-author of Charter 08, a manifesto that remains groundbreaking today. Inspired by the Czechoslovak Charter 77, it called for freedom, democracy, human rights, free elections, the separation of powers, an independent judiciary, freedom of religion and freedom of expression.

Tienchi Martin-Liao also recalled that people in China continue to face imprisonment simply for commemorating Liu Xiaobo:

“While we are holding a memorial service for Liu Xiaobo here in Leipzig today, others have been imprisoned for doing exactly the same thing.”

On 13 July 2025, seven members of the Independent Chinese PEN Center were detained by police after holding a memorial service for Liu Xiaobo on the Qiantang River in the Chinese province of Zhejiang. Among them, Zan Aizong and Wei Zou were subsequently sentenced to prison terms of between three and three and a half years.

Zhang Zhan’s Extraordinary Courage

Award recipient Zhang Zhan has been a committed Protestant Christian since 2015. In his laudatory address, Huang Hua explained that she was receiving the Liu Xiaobo Human Rights Prize in recognition of the extraordinary courage she had shown through her consistent documentation of public events.

The award also honours her persistent advocacy for the peaceful expression of opinions and the immense personal sacrifices she has made as a result.

Huang Hua said:

“Zhang Zhan has consistently focused on the plight of ordinary people, documented social realities, cared for vulnerable groups and worked to ensure that more voices are heard. Despite years of imprisonment, physical and mental torment and relentless pressure, she has never abandoned her convictions.”

Zhang Zhan has assumed public responsibility at the expense of her own freedom and demonstrated unwavering moral courage.

Courageous Reporting from Wuhan

Born on 2 September 1983, Zhang Zhan studied at the Southwestern University of Finance and Economics in Chengdu and later worked as a lawyer.

During the 2019 protests in Hong Kong against the proposed extradition bill, she shared images and published articles in support of the pro-democracy movement. According to Huang Hua, she was subsequently held in pre-trial detention in Shanghai for two months.

At the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, Zhang Zhan travelled to Wuhan to document conditions during the lockdown. She published online reports about overcrowded hospitals, patients being turned away, overwhelmed citizens and the censorship and silencing of independent media.

In total, she produced 122 short videos documenting conditions in Wuhan. She was arrested in May 2020 and returned to Shanghai.

Zhang Zhan’s Health Is at Serious Risk

On 28 December 2020, Zhang Zhan was sentenced to four years in prison on the charge of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”.

She began a hunger strike in protest against her imprisonment. According to reports at the time, prison authorities inserted a feeding tube and force-fed her. Her hands were reportedly restrained to prevent her from removing the tube.

Her lawyer Ren Quanniu described her as so emaciated that she was “nothing but skin and bones” and barely recognisable.

Zhang Zhan told him:

“I believe in Christ and often pray to God that He will forgive the wicked. I pray that He will save those who endure pain and suffering.”

Zhang Zhan, portrayed by artist Susanne Köhler. © Truth Fighters

According to her mother, Zhang Zhan’s weight fell to approximately 40 kilograms, despite her height of 1.77 metres.

After completing her first four-year sentence in May 2024, Zhang Zhan resumed her public activities and continued to express solidarity with other human rights defenders.

She was detained again on 28 August 2024. On 19 September 2025, following a closed trial in Shanghai, she was sentenced to another four years in prison on the same broadly formulated charge of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”, which is frequently used against critics of the Chinese Communist Party.

The new case reportedly concerned comments and material Zhang Zhan had published on foreign websites and social media platforms.

Zhang Zhan remains imprisoned in Shanghai. Her health has deteriorated alarmingly. She reportedly suffers from a serious gastric illness, has lost considerable weight and has become extremely weak. Human rights organisations have also reported that she has continued a hunger strike in protest against her detention.

International organisations, governments and media-freedom groups have repeatedly called for her immediate and unconditional release.

Geling Yan Accepted the Award on Zhang Zhan’s Behalf

The award certificate was accepted on Zhang Zhan’s behalf in Leipzig by the renowned Chinese-American author and screenwriter Geling Yan.

After Geling Yan criticised the Chinese authorities’ handling of the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan and the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, her works were banned in China. She now lives in Berlin with her husband, former United States diplomat Lawrence Walker.

Pastor Roland Kühne’s Commitment to Human Rights

The Liu Xiaobo Human Rights Prize was also awarded to Roland Kühne, the long-serving pastor of the Protestant parish in Kempen, North Rhine-Westphalia.

Kühne also worked as a school chaplain at the Rhein-Maas Vocational College in Kempen and is due to retire in August 2026.

For many years, he repeatedly succeeded in bringing busloads of students from North Rhine-Westphalia to demonstrations in front of the Chinese Embassy in Berlin.

The demonstrations initially called for the release of Liu Xiaobo. After Liu Xiaobo’s death in 2017, they focused on securing freedom of movement for his widow, Liu Xia.

Kühne spoke passionately about these issues and demonstrated a particular ability to raise awareness of human rights among generations of students.

Helping Earthquake Victims in Haiti

Roland Kühne has also been deeply committed to supporting people affected by the devastating earthquake that struck Haiti on 12 January 2010.

The idea of helping people in Haiti emerged during a religious education class for students training as bricklayers at the Rhein-Maas Vocational College.

Since then, students from the college have travelled to Haiti to work alongside local communities in constructing buildings where young people can live, study and receive vocational training.

Theologian and Toolmaker

Roland Kühne was particularly well prepared for this practical work. Before studying theology, he completed vocational training as a technical draughtsman and toolmaker.

On the website of his parish, he writes:

“It is a matter close to my heart to inspire young people in particular to embrace the faith and to invite them to stand up for threatened and forgotten people as fellow human beings. This mindset gave rise to the ‘Students Build for Haiti’ project.”

He considers respect for human rights an essential part of his political and church-related commitment.

His favourite Bible verse is Proverbs 31:8:

“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute.”

Prayer for Peace at St Nicholas Church

The laudatory address for Roland Kühne was delivered by Costakis Evangelou, the Cyprus-born archbishop of an evangelical free church in London.

Evangelou said:

“What makes Roland particularly remarkable is that his compassion is not limited to words. It is also evident in his service to others. After the devastating earthquake in Haiti, he and his students travelled there at their own expense—not as tourists, not as observers, but as helpers. Brick by brick, they built schools so that children could have hope.”

At the conclusion of the China symposium in Leipzig, Pastor Kühne led a prayer for peace in St Nicholas Church.

During the memorial service, Ren Ziyan, a former political prisoner who spent ten years in prison in China, described his harrowing experiences. Large photographs of Zhang Zhan and Liu Xiaobo were displayed in front of the church’s altar.