Ruan Xiaohuan

Ruan Xiaohuan (; born 10 June 1977) is a Chinese dissident, blogger, and information security specialist. In 2009, Ruan started an anonymous blog named ProgramThink on Blogger, covering various topics from network security, methods to bypass the internet blockade in mainland China, to his own political commentaries (including criticism of the Chinese Communist Party) and book recommendations.

Ruan was captured on 10 May 2021 by the Shanghai police for his aforementioned blog. On 10 February 2023, he was convicted of "inciting subversion of state power" by the Shanghai No 2 Intermediate People's Court, and sentenced to seven years of imprisonment with two years of deprivation of political rights and a confiscation of property of 20,000 Chinese yuan. On 13 December 2024, his appeal was dismissed by the Shanghai High People's Court.

Early life and work

Ruan was born on 10 June 1977, in Quanzhou, Fujian, to Zhuang Xiuzhu and Ruan Wenling. Ruan Xiaohuan's mother, Zhuang Xiuzhu , is a member of the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang (RCCK) and worked at the Quanzhou Flour Mill. Ruan's father, Ruan Wenling , is a Chinese literature Professor at Huaqiao University and a member of the China Democratic League (CDL).

Ruan's maternal grandparents migrated to Taipei in 1949 along with the mainland exodus and the relocation of the central government of the Republic of China to Taiwan, leaving Ruan's mother, Zhuang Xiuzhu, who was only eight months old at the time, under the care of her maternal grandmother in Quanzhou. Ruan's maternal grandmother, Chuang Yen-ching , later established a company in Taipei and engaged in the indoor and women's accessories business. In 1988, as the cross-strait relations continued to thaw, Ruan's mother, Zhuang Xiuzhu, travelled to Taipei with her husband (Ruan's father) to briefly reunite with her mother (Ruan's maternal grandmother), whom she had not seen for almost 40 years, and to pay tribute to her late father.

Ruan went on to study chemical engineering at the East China University of Science and Technology in 1996 but continued to be infatuated with computer science and used most of his time to further his studies in the field, which resulted in his failure to pass exams of his major courses and the College English Test level 4, and led to his later decision to drop out in the fourth year and pursue his career in IT industries. A decision he made much to the dismay of his parents, particularly to his father, who held a professorship. At university, Ruan met his future wife, Bei Zhenying , his then classmate.

At work, Ruan practised in various information security industries, including managing intrusion detection systems and security operations centres and engaging in information security audits.

Several social incidents in 2010 and 2011, such as the death of Qian Yunhui and the 2011 Chinese pro-democracy protests, inspired Ruan to write more about subjects beyond just technology.

In an email interview conducted by Deutsche Welle after his blog was nominated for the 2013 Deutsche Welle International Best of Blogs (BOBs) Awards, Ruan told Deutsche Welle that nonviolent revolution was the only way to solve China's problems and could only be achieved when the general public possessed a higher level of political literacy and psychological resilience. He said that advancing the public's political literacy and psychological resilience, so that people would be more willing to engage in political affairs and less susceptible to brainwashing, was his motivation for writing the blog. He kept the promise even in November 2017 when he had an allergic asthma attack requiring treatment with corticosteroid injections, resulting in severe erythroderma and causing him to be confined to bed.

The project

In February 2016, Ruan started Project Zhao (also known as the Princeling Network Map) on GitHub, collecting information on over 700 high-level Chinese officials (the so-called Princelings) that was publicly reported by credible media and compiling them into a 'network' to demonstrate that these high-level officials are inter-connected and corrupt. GitHub, however, chose to make this letter public and not to remove the project. It was the first notice and take down request GitHub had ever received from Beijing.

Arrest and secret trial

According to Ruan's wife's account, the police did not present a search warrant while conducting the search on 10 May 2021, Ruan's mother, Zhuang Xiuzhu, wrote a separate letter on 5 May 2023 to the General Office of the Central Committee of the RCCK to seek help. Furthermore, the two lawyers' communication with the outside world was also interfered with, with Shang Baojun claiming not to be able to send messages even using an instant messaging software with encryption.

On 31 May 2023, Ruan's wife, Bei Zhenying, was said to have lost all contact with the outside world and was understood to have been taken away by the local police, according to Radio Free Asia journalist Su Yutong. Before this happened, she had been appealing for awareness of Ruan's case vociferously on the internet via her Twitter account and through interviews with the media. On 6 June 2023, her Twitter account was deleted.

Final judgement

Ruan’s appeal was dismissed by the Shanghai High People’s Court on 13 December 2024 with a short hearing that only lasted seven minutes. The first-instance judgement is upheld. In accordance with the judicial system of mainland China and pursuant to Article 244 of its Criminal Procedure Law, the second-instance judgement is final.

On 3 April 2023, Cédric Alviani, the East Asia Bureau Director of Reporters Without Borders (RSF), called on the international community to put pressure on the Chinese authorities to release Ruan and other detained journalists and press freedom defenders.

On 4 April 2023, the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) compiled Ruan's profile into its political prisoner database and released it on its official website. The Commission later called for Ruan's unconditional release on its official Twitter account on 11 April.

On 7 June 2023, PEN America reported the new developments of Bei Zhenying on Twitter, expressed their concerns and continued to call for Ruan's immediate and unconditional release.