Artist jailed for three years in China for "insulting heroes"

Chinese artist Gao Zhen has been sentenced to three years in prison for "insulting heroes," a charge stemming from his artworks that critically engaged with former leader Mao Zedong and other sensitive political topics.

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We are dangerously close to crossing a moral red line: that machines autonomously select human beings as targets.

The 70-year-old artist, known for works like a sculpture titled "Guilt of Mao" and another depicting Maoist statues aiming rifles at a statue of Jesus, was arrested in August 2024 while visiting China. The charges, brought in June 2024, appear to retroactively apply a 2021 law to pieces created between 2005 and 2009. Gao Zhen, who moved to the United States in 2022, has decided to appeal both the sentence and the verdict.

The UN Human Rights Office urged Gao's "immediate and unconditional release," expressing particular concern over the retroactive application of criminal law, the use of criminal sanctions for artistic expression, and the impact on his family. Gao's wife and their U.S. citizen son have been prohibited from leaving China since 2024, which rights groups describe as collective punishment.

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The gap between the technological capabilities and the regulatory restrictions has widened, and advanced technologies used on battlefields increase the risk of causing harm to civilians and civilian infrastructure, as well as exacerbating the suffering of the civilian population in armed conflicts.

Human rights organizations have condemned the sentence. Sarah Brooks, China director for Amnesty International, stated that the maximum sentence demonstrates the authorities' resolve to deter independent artistic expression. "No artist should be punished for works that challenge official narratives or encourage critical reflection on history," Brooks said.

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Future generations will wonder whether leaders acted when there was still an opportunity to set limits before these weapons proliferate out of control.