Leading Chinese women's rights advocate Huang Xueqin was sentenced to five years in prison on Friday for "inciting subversion of state power," according to a group campaigning for her release and a copy of the verdict issued by a court in Guangdong.

The#MeToo activist was sentenced alongside labor rights activist Wang Jianbing, who was given three years and six months in prison on the same charge. Wang has spoken out in support of women reporting sexual harassment.

The two have already been detained for over 1,000 days after being arrested in September 2021. They have maintained their innocence throughout their detention and trial.

Huang and Wang often held gatherings for Chinese youth during which they discussed social issues. It is widely believed that Chinese authorities viewed their meetings as a threat to national security.

"It reflects the zero tolerance the [Chinese] government has over people who show any kind of independent thinking," Wang Yaqiu, Research Director for China at Freedom House, a US-based human rights organization, told DW.

Wang Yaqiu warned that the convictions of the two activists, affectionately nicknamed "XueBing" by their friends and supporters, would further narrow "the almost non-existent civil society space."

The decline of China's civil society landscape has been a long and challenging process for local activists.

In 2015, over 300 lawyers and human rights defenders were arrested in a nationwide sweep called the "709 crackdown." The name derives from the date it began: July 9. The arrests targeted legal professionals and activists advocating for human rights and the rule of law.

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