Yi Haihua, a 45-year-old Guangzhou entrepreneur and dissident writer, spent over a decade building a modest online presence across Weibo, X (formerly Twitter), and Douyin, the Chinese equivalent of TikTok, promoting democratic values and human rights. The Chinese Communist Party’s security apparatus responded with sustained pressure.
By Yi’s own account, between 2013 and 2025, he received one telephone threat, was summoned verbally by police five times, issued written summonses twice, detained once, and forced to sign written “guarantee letters” on five occasions. These letters are used by China’s domestic security police to compel activists to pledge an end to dissent. Signing one typically brings continued surveillance and repeated police contact.
Two incidents described in Yi’s distress letter mark the final phase of this pressure.
Police detained him for eight hours
On Nov. 6, 2024, officers from the Shatou Police Station in Guangzhou’s Panyu District summoned Yi without presenting a written warrant. They seized his phone, demanded his passcode, and attempted to access his X account.
He was handcuffed, placed in a detention uniform, had blood drawn, and was required to record his voice by reading from a telecom fraud script, a procedure used by police to collect biometric data.
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Yi remained restrained in a metal interrogation chair for eight hours while officers presented dozens of printed screenshots from his social media accounts and demanded his signature.
He spent the night in a two-square-meter holding cell under continuous lighting. He was later held for five days in a shared cell, where he reported limited food and sleep and daily exposure to state television broadcasts.
Upon release on Nov. 12, officers retained his Apple phone. Yi wrote that he threatened self-harm before the device was returned, after he signed another guarantee letter.
Officers raided his home and deleted accounts
On May 4, 2025, about ten plainclothes officers entered Yi’s residence. Several forced him to the floor and held him face down for several minutes. Yi wrote that he bled from the mouth and suffered injuries to his knee.
Officers searched the premises and transported him to a local case-handling center. He was again subjected to blood collection and voice recording procedures.
He reported being interrogated for several hours and denied food while officers pressed him to sign a document waiving his right to file complaints. He was released less than a day later.
Before releasing him, officers had remotely deleted multiple accounts, including personal and business profiles on Douyin, an account on Kuaishou, and a personal WeChat account.
Pressure extended to his family
According to Yi’s account, officers contacted members of his family during the May incident. His younger sister was questioned in Foshan, and officers also approached his son.
Following the visit, Yi’s son cut off contact and blocked him on WeChat. Yi described the separation as emotionally devastating.
On May 5, 2025, a video described as a public apology attributed to Yi appeared on X. The letter does not specify the conditions under which it was recorded.
He fled China under surveillance
Between May and November 2025, Yi reported continued monitoring by local police, including regular visits and pressure on his landlord.
On Nov. 19, 2025, he left Guangzhou for Hong Kong. Days later, he boarded a flight bound for Serbia, transiting through Dubai.
At Dubai International Airport, he was unable to board his onward flight. The letter does not state the reason. He remained in Dubai and attempted to establish a business while his visa approached expiration in April 2026.
In late March, Yi reported receiving online threats from accounts linked to mainland China, including messages targeting his family.
An automated distress letter was sent
Facing the risk of forced return to China, Yi prepared an automated distress letter designed to be sent if he lost contact with the outside world.
The letter states: “By the time you receive this letter, I may already be on a plane being forcibly repatriated to China, or detained, or have disappeared.”
Yi included contact details, including his X account, messaging numbers, and email address, and indicated that failure to maintain access to these channels should be taken as a sign of danger.
On April 16, 2026, the letter was circulated online by Zhou Junhong, a former lawyer from Shenzhen now based in the United States.
No contact since April 16
As of April 18, 2026, no further public communication from Yi has been confirmed.
Chen Liqun, a vice chairman of the Chinese Democracy Party, wrote on X that Yi had disappeared in Dubai.
Yi’s letter describes his experience as one of prolonged surveillance, detention, and separation from his family following years of expressing political views online.
Vision Times has not independently verified the authenticity of the letter.
By Li Deyan
