Former Chinese Bookseller’s Wife Held Under “Exit Ban”

by Alexander Boyd | Feb 02, 2023

The wife of a prominent former Chinese bookseller is being prevented from leaving China until her husband returns to the country to answer questions about his alleged political writings. Yu Miao ran Shanghai’s famed liberal Jifeng Bookstore until authorities forced it to close in 2018. He emigrated to the United States with his wife and three children, and now lives in Orlando, Florida. His wife, Xie Fang, returned to China in early 2022 to take care of her ailing mother and has since allegedly been barred from returning to the United States under an “exit ban” until Yu returns to Shanghai...

Civilized modern society rejects collective punishment and hostage-taking. I would never wish this fate on any family. If these practices are revived, nobody will be able to escape them."

— From a letter from Xie Fang protesting the "exit ban" she has been placed under by Shanghai authorities, who are trying to use her as leverage to force her husband Yu Miao (who managed Shanghai’s Jifeng Bookstore until it was closed in 2018) to leave their home and children in the U.S. and return to China for questioning about his alleged political writings

PHOTO OF THE DAY