Overview

Humanitarian China was founded as a non-profit organization focused on providing relief for political prisoners and their families recently released from captivity, raising awareness for human rights issues and assisting activists in Mainland China in 2007 by Zhou Fengsuo, Zhao Jing, and Xu Gang. All three had been student survivors of the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre. In 2007, Humanitarian China was established in San Francisco, and registered as a tax-exempt charity. HC focused on fostering the growth of civil society in China and helping a number of victims in special circumstances relocate to the U.S., including Fang Zheng, the Tiananmen Massacre survivor whose legs were crushed under a tank. Humanitarian China also made donations to victims of the Sichuan and Qinghai earthquakes in 2008 and 2010. Humanitarian China has provides lifelines to over 100 people annually. The organization’s special donation drives have included fundraisers for the independent journalist Gao Yu, the Uyghur intellectual Ilham Tohti, the 709 Incident rights lawyers, the wife of political prisoner Zhao Changqing, or the recently-deceased Yu Zhijian and his wife. From its founding to today, management and administrative tasks at Humanitarian China have always been carried out by volunteers. The operating costs are extremely low, comprising about 1 percent of the budget. Our story is short and simple, but our faith grows only stronger. We are committed to our colleagues in China struggling for freedom and liberty; we’ll pay them every attention, and at their hour of most dire need, we’ll extend them a helping hand. We hope that more overseas Chinese will join the ranks of our activists and donors. We hope that they will take a stand against moral indifference and tyranny during this crucial time, and that they’ll be proud to do so.