The Public Appeal for the Release of Beijing Artist Liu Qiming: Event Dossier

In the late autumn of 2014, as several contemporary artists and people who had spoken out in Beijing’s Songzhuang were taken away by police one after another, wives, children and elderly relatives were left without income and in dire straits. Faced with this sudden crisis affecting many families, unease and silence spread through the art community.

At that moment, Liu Qiming, an artist based in Beijing’s Heiqiao Art District with a sense of public responsibility and a willingness to act, chose not to keep his head down. As a central figure and initiator of this humanitarian effort, Liu acted quickly. He formed a six-person core aid group called “Most Handsome Artists!” and joined art critic Li Xianting, scholar Ai Xiaoming, human-rights activist Wang Lihong, Cheng Guang, Yao Yu and others in launching “Songzhuang Artists’ Winter Mutual Aid” for the families of the detained artists.

In this relief effort, Liu took on the most dangerous and crucial work of organizing and coordination. He helped plan the group and decisively offered his personal Alipay account as a public donation channel. More than 34,000 yuan was raised in a very short time, in an attempt to bring some warmth to women and children facing hardship in winter.

Yet this act of conscience and empathy soon drew a forceful crackdown from those handling the case. On the afternoon of October 20, 2014, police raided Liu’s studio, questioned him harshly and took a written statement. Around dinnertime, before he was taken away, Liu left one last message in the core group: “They’ve come again. They’re taking me to the bureau.” Contact with him was then cut off.

After his arrest, Liu was quickly taken to the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau. Over the following days and nights, those handling the case questioned him in rotating shifts without respite. Under immense psychological and physical pressure, he was personally interrogated by officers from the Beijing bureau and even a deputy director of a state security bureau. The authorities used coercion, inducements, threats of severe punishment and political characterizations in an attempt to force Liu to acknowledge a political link between the fundraising effort and the social movement in Hong Kong.

Faced with pressure on this scale from the state apparatus, Liu showed remarkable resolve and courage. He bore the weight of the interrogation and held to his principles, consistently maintaining that the effort was simply a compassionate “winter aid donation” unrelated to any outside political movement. Through the prolonged rounds of questioning, the police obtained neither a verbal concession nor a written confession from him.

Meanwhile, news of Liu’s arrest prompted a major rescue effort within the core group. With Liu’s wife close to giving birth and the family depending on him, Li Xianting, Ai Xiaoming, Wang Lihong and others quickly reached an understanding. Overnight they drafted and jointly issued the “Open Letter Demanding the Immediate Release of Beijing Artist Liu Qiming,” deliberately taking responsibility upon themselves: “If anyone must be held responsible for this winter mutual-aid effort, we are willing to take full responsibility.”

The open letter quickly drew extensive reporting and attention from overseas human-rights media and international public opinion, creating considerable diplomatic and public pressure.

It was Liu’s unwavering defense of his position in the interrogation room, together with the strong public pressure generated by the open letter issued by Li Xianting and others, that turned the tide. Under this combined pressure, and unable to produce any evidence, the authorities ultimately yielded and were forced to release Liu.