After Chinese dissident author Du Daobin was released from three years in jail in December 2010 for “inciting subversion of state power,” he has been harassed and monitored by the authorities on an on-going basis. Upon his release, a local police officer in Yingcheng, Hebei Province, required him to do three things: report back every week, sweep the main street each week, and not to leave Yingcheng. Du Daobin refused. The police officer also told him he could not write for overseas media or publish anything “sensitive.” In Spring 2013, he went to work in Beijing upon invitation from a friend but in June of that year, was taken into custody for one month by the Beijing Public Security Bureau due to a Weibo post. Afterwards, the police forcefully escorted him back to Yingcheng and arranged for him to work at a library, with a monthly salary of only RMB 1960.

A source informed about Du’s case who wishes to remain anonymous told HRIC that Yingcheng’s Ministry of Finance each year pays RMB 700,000 in “stability maintenance fees” to control Du Daobin. Additionally, because the Southern Metropolis newspaper published a well-known Du Daobin essay, “Changing China Requires Stability—A Report Deciphering the Third Plenum of the 18th Party Congress,” the editor was transferred out of Beijing, and was fined RMB 1,000. In addition, two other editors, including the editor-in-chief, were fined. This month, Du Daobin’s salary was docked RMB 420, but he was not told why.