Chinese Rights Activist Transferred to State Security Police After 12-Day Detention

Chen Yunfei, a small businessman in Sichuan Province. The Epoch TimesChinese human rights activist Chen Yunfei was taken into custody by police in the northwestern province of Gansu earlier this month and, after completing a 12-day administrative detention, was transferred to authorities in his home city of Chengdu on allegations involving national security, according to his lawyer and a person familiar with the case.Chen was detained on Aug. 5 and placed under 12 days of administrative detention on suspicion of “indecency,” according to a notice obtained by his friend and lawyer Jiang Yongji. Chen was due to be released on Aug. 17.Instead, he was transferred that afternoon to Chengdu police, according to an individual familiar with the case surnamed Li who spoke to The Epoch Times. His whereabouts have since been unclear.The transfer occurred after Jiang went to Dunhuang Detention Center to pick up Chen when his detention period expired. Jiang said he had previously been told by a police officer that Chen would be released at 3:30 p.m. on Aug. 17. However, upon Jiang’s arrival, the detention center officers told him that the agency handling Chen’s case would take him away.Li later learned that Chen had been taken by Chengdu state security personnel, on allegations involving “endangering national security.”Chen’s latest detention follows a previous criminal case in which he was convicted of sexual offenses.He is described by Chinese rights groups as a longtime rights activist and political dissident. He has served prison terms twice and was released from prison in March 2025 after serving a four-year sentence.In March 2021, police detained Chen in Chengdu. He was initially accused of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble.” The charges were later changed to forcible indecency and indecency involving a minor.A Chengdu court sentenced Chen in December 2021 to four years in prison, imposing separate sentences of 18 months for forcible indecency and three years for indecency involving a minor.Chen has denied all the allegations and condemned the Chinese regime’s court system for imposing bogus convictions against him in order to silence his activism.Chen was released on March 25, 2025. Rights groups say he remained under police surveillance and was repeatedly summoned by authorities after his release.His latest detention began while he was traveling in Gansu.Chen had traveled from Chengdu to the northwestern city of Jiayuguan in early August and then planned to visit Jiang in Subei County, according to Li. He was stopped by police and subsequently detained by county authorities.Jiang said he first learned that Chen had been detained on the evening of Aug. 4. On Aug. 5, an officer at the Dangcheng police station confirmed by telephone that Chen had been placed under 12 days of administrative detention for “indecency.”Chen’s transfer to Chengdu after completing that detention has raised questions about whether authorities are pursuing a separate case against him. Rights-monitoring groups have reported that he was taken away on allegations related to national security, but details of the case have not been made public.As of Aug. 22, Chen’s whereabouts and legal status remained unclear. Under the Chinese Communist Party, arbitrary detention and ambiguous charges are often used against political dissidents.Li Xi contributed to this report.