China detains student for Tibet activism, rights group says

23/9/2025 18:57

A Chinese student activist who supported Tibetan rights has been detained for almost two months on suspicion of "inciting separatism" while temporarily visiting China from France, her friends and a human rights group say.



Zhang Yadi, 22, also known as Tara, went missing in the southwestern province of Yunnan on July 31, and since then she has not been reachable by friends or family, her friends and New York-based Human Rights Watch said.



She is believed to be held at a detention centre in her hometown of Changsha in the southern province of Hunan, Human Rights Watch said.



Zhang's relatives could not be reached for comment. Changsha police did not immediately respond to a request for comment.



Two friends, both Chinese human rights activists based overseas, said she was detained on suspicion of "inciting separatism", according to a formal detention notice received by her family.



The charge, which carries a maximum prison sentence of 15 years, is rarely used against members of the Han Chinese ethnic majority like Zhang, activists say, but is now being used to target people who champion minority rights.