Chinese Poet and Wife Arrested for ‘Inciting Subversion’

As the sensitive day of June 4 approaches, on May 30, a mainland poet, Wang Zang, and his wife were arrested from home by the police and their house was raided. Wang Zang's wife was released in the early hours of the following day, while Wang Zang's whereabouts remained unknown. Before his capture, Wangzang's family was under 24-hour strict surveillance and was followed by undercover police when they went out. Born after the 1980s and considered China's youngest critic poet, Wang Zang, whose real name is Wang Yuwen, is the author of several poetry collections. He was arrested in October 2014 for voicing his support online to the Hong Kong "Umbrella Movement” and was released in July 2015. Wang Zang was threatened and expelled by the police while living in Beijing, and was forced to move his house multiple times. In 2017, his wife, Wang Li, developed a mental disorder due to stress, and the family moved back to their hometown in Yunnan. On the 31st, Wang Li (real name: Wang Liqin), wife of the mainland poet Wang Zang, sent a message asking people to help Wang Zang, saying that at 4:30 p.m. on the 30th, more than 20 people came into their house, and probably another 20 to 30 people waited outside. Police took her away along with Wang Zang. She was taken to the police station in Chuxiong, and was not released home until the early morning of the 31st. As for Wang Zang, his whereabouts are still unknown. She returned home and found her family's bank cards, ID cards, Wang Zang's passport, various other important documents, as well as her and Wang Zang's cell phones were all taken. “There's four people at home guarding us right now, and there’s also a police car at the gate of my residential neighborhood.”