Chinese court tries US-based artist Gao Zhen

A New York-based Chinese dissident artist, Gao Zhen, has been tried in China on charges of “defaming national heroes and martyrs” over satirical sculptures of Mao Zedong, according to Reuters. Gao, 69, was detained in August 2024 while visiting China with family and faces up to three years in prison; the one-day trial in Hebei ended without a verdict.

The case is a reminder that the Chinese state does not need extradition treaties to reach critics abroad. It can wait for a family visit, a funeral, or a narrow window when a target is physically inside Chinese jurisdiction, and then convert that trip into a legal trap. Reuters reports that Gao had travelled to China several times without incident after moving to the US in 2022, suggesting the timing was a choice rather than an automatic enforcement action.

Beijing’s tool is not only the charge itself but the uncertainty it creates for a wider diaspora. When an artist can be prosecuted in 2026 for works made between 2005 and 2009—years before the “heroes and martyrs” law was introduced in 2018 and later strengthened—the message is that the rulebook is optional and retroactive. That changes behaviour even among people who are not politically active: travel becomes a risk calculation, and “going home” starts to look like entering a system where past speech can be reclassified as present-day criminality.

The pressure extends beyond the defendant. Reuters reports that Gao’s wife, Zhao Yaliang, said she was barred from the courtroom and that she and their seven-year-old son, a US citizen, are under exit bans. In practice, that turns family members into collateral—people who can be held in place to shape what the defendant does, says, or signs. The EU’s mission to China said diplomats attempted to attend the trial but were blocked from entering the court, adding a layer of opacity that makes it harder for outside actors to verify conditions or process.

Gao’s best-known works include “Miss Mao”, depicting Mao with a Pinocchio nose and breasts, and “Mao’s Guilt”, a kneeling statue. The sculptures were made for audiences outside the Chinese political system; the trial shows the system is willing to wait for the artist to come within reach.

The hearing lasted one day behind closed doors and ended without a verdict. Gao’s family says he has been unable to receive letters for months.