数月前对话，如今失联被捕：22岁“挺藏“思想犯张雅笛的故事｜往事要再提06
Tara Freesoul on X/Twitter
Zhang Yadi is 22 years old. Friends describe her as bright, curious, and determined to understand the world beyond the censorship and information controls imposed by the Chinese authorities on its citizens. During her studies in Paris, she developed a strong interest in questions of freedom of expression, equality between peoples, and human rights, especially concerning Tibet. Nothing about her profile resembles that of a political agitator. She was, above all, someone who listened, learned, and cared. It is precisely this openness – this willingness to think freely and empathize with those silenced at home – that made her, in the eyes of Beijing, someone to fear.
While living abroad, Zhang Yadi contributed occasional texts to a small blog run by young Chinese expatriates. It was not a political platform but a space for reflection, where she wrote about culture, daily life, and the ideas she discovered in Europe. One of her collaborators, Ginger, later insisted that she “never expressed radical or separatist positions.” Her engagement was modest, guided by curiosity and empathy, particularly for Tibetans whose voices she felt were seldom heard in China. Yet, it appears to have been enough for her to become a target of the Chinese authorities’ repression.
Zhang Yadi was preparing to start a new chapter of her life – having been accepted to SOAS in London for the autumn term – when everything was suddenly cut short. On July 31, 2025, after visiting Tibetan areas in Yunnan and returning to her hometown of Changsha to see her family, she suddenly disappeared. She stopped answering calls but managed to send a short audio message to a friend, in which she sounded weak and said she was in a hospital. Soon afterward, her relatives confirmed that she had been arrested and transferred to a detention center in Changsha. Since then, according to her family, she has been held in complete isolation for more than three months – without access to a lawyer, without contact with her partner or friends, and with no information about her health or the conditions of her detention.
This isolation violates fundamental international standards, including the right to liberty and security, the prohibition of enforced disappearance, the right to communicate with family and counsel. China is bound by the Convention against Torture, and such prolonged incommunicado detention is widely recognized as a condition that facilitates abuse.
The authorities reportedly accuse her of “inciting secession,” a charge often used to target peaceful discussions about Tibet, East Turkestan, or ethnic issues more broadly. The offence carries a sentence of up to five years in prison, potentially more under vague “aggravating circumstances.” No evidence has been presented, and no transparent legal proceedings appear to be under way. Her case fits a disturbing pattern: using national security legislation to criminalize thought, speech, or association.
Her partner, Yak (nickname) – a French national of Tibetan origin – has expressed deep worry. “I don’t know what to do. I want to know whether she is safe,” he told AFP (Agence France Presse). His distress mirrors that felt by all who know her. Their appeals to the authorities have been met with silence or denial.
In recent weeks, her situation has sparked increasing international concern. Le Monde devoted an article to her disappearance and detention. Human Rights in China (HRIC) documented her writings and raised an alarm. Amnesty International launched a global campaign calling for her release. Several European countries, including France and Germany, have formally expressed their concern following her arrest. The EU delegation in Beijing has also raised her case including in its statement released on the occasion of the International Human rights Day. ICT also urged President Macron to raise her case during his visit to Beijing, which was widely reported in French-speaking media worldwide.
Her story is not an isolated case. Pierre-Antoine Donnet, writing in Asialyst, captured the broader reality with clarity: “Several recent examples confirm that the regime’s relentless hunt for any form of dissent or ideological deviance remains one of its priorities. This illustrates a paranoia that reveals its fragility, even as it seeks to project omnipotence on the international stage.”
Zhang Yadi – a young Chinese woman who refuses to see Tibetans through the lens imposed by the state – embodies exactly this fear.
Chinese authorities should immediately and unconditionally release Zhang Yadi. Her imprisonment does not strengthen China; on the contrary, it exposes the deep insecurity of a system unable to tolerate empathy, diversity, or intellectual curiosity. Her life, her dignity, and her future should not be sacrificed to political paranoia.
Among her writings preserved by HRIC is a short, moving text she shared shortly before returning to China. Today it reads like a message travelling across the silence imposed on her:
“I am a brave person.
I want to understand the world,
and I want the world to understand me.
Even if fear follows me like a shadow,
I will keep walking.
If my voice becomes small,
I hope someone will remember
that I once tried to speak.”
