This video uncovers the hidden practice in China of detaining protesters and government critics in psychiatric hospitals under the pretext of mental illness. Central to the story is Nima, a journalist who tracks reports of activists like Ginger, who were forcibly hospitalized after voicing dissent during the White Paper protests against the zero COVID policy. Through first-hand accounts and medical documentation, the investigation brings to light how police, medical professionals, and even families have been complicit, often under state pressure, in silencing dissenters through involuntary psychiatric treatment.

The evidence gathered challenges both the effectiveness of China’s 2012 mental health law and the accountability of the nation's medical and legal institutions. Survivors detail abuses such as involuntary medication and electroconvulsive therapy, and legal records confirm at least 112 cases where individuals have challenged their unlawful detentions in court—usually with little chance of success. Interviews with doctors reveal that posting politically sensitive comments is seen as sufficient reason for forced hospitalization, indicating ongoing systemic abuse and limited protection for patients’ rights.

Main takeaways from the video:

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Forced psychiatric hospitalization remains a tool used to silence political dissent in China despite laws meant to prevent such abuses.
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Families and medical staff are often pressured or coerced by authorities to participate in detaining protesters.
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Legal recourse for victims is severely limited, and medical complicity—sometimes explicit—undermines the protection of civil liberties.
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Key Vocabularies and Common Phrases:

1. complicit [kəmˈplɪsɪt] - (adjective) - Involved with others in an illegal activity or wrongdoing. - Synonyms: (involved, implicated, associated)

I want to understand to what extent the doctors will were complicit in this abuse of psychiatric treatment.

2. defiance [dɪˈfaɪəns] - (noun) - Open resistance or bold disobedience. - Synonyms: (rebellion, resistance, opposition)

People held up blank pieces of paper in defiance of strict censorship rules.

3. censorship [ˈsɛnsərʃɪp] - (noun) - The suppression or prohibition of speech or writing considered to be objectionable. - Synonyms: (suppression, banning, restriction)

People held up blank pieces of paper in defiance of strict censorship rules.

4. epicenter [ˈɛpɪˌsɛntər] - (noun) - The central point of something, often of difficult or important activity. - Synonyms: (focus, hub, core)

This is Woolamoochi Road, the epicenter for the White Paper protests in Shanghai.

5. involuntary [ɪnˈvɑːlənˌtɛri] - (adjective) - Done without will or conscious control; forced. - Synonyms: (forced, compulsory, coerced)

He was admitted to our hospital for involuntary treatment.

6. prescribed [prɪˈskraɪbd] - verb (past participle) - Officially recommended or ordered; in medicine, advised by a doctor for treatment. - Synonyms: (recommended, ordered, instructed)

Jinjae's medical records show he was hospitalized for two weeks and prescribed antipsychotic drugs.

7. antipsychotic [ˌæntaɪsaɪˈkɑːtɪk] - (adjective / noun) - Relating to drugs used to treat psychotic disorders. - Synonyms: psychosis-treating, sedative, tranquilizer (when used as a noun)

Jinjae's medical records show he was hospitalized for two weeks and prescribed antipsychotic drugs.

8. regulations [ˌrɛɡjəˈleɪʃənz] - noun (plural) - Rules or directives made and maintained by an authority. - Synonyms: (rules, laws, directives)

China introduced legislation to protect patients rights in 2012. The new regulations meant people could only be forcibly detained for treatment if they were a risk to themselves or others to police.

9. accountability [əˌkaʊntəˈbɪləti] - (noun) - The fact or condition of being responsible; answerability. - Synonyms: (responsibility, answerability, liability)

Now I've seen it written in this official document. It feels like the police are trying to sidestep the courts, which means there's no effective oversight or accountability.

10. oversight [ˈoʊvərˌsaɪt] - (noun) - Supervision or management; monitoring to ensure things are done correctly. - Synonyms: (supervision, monitoring, surveillance)

Now I've seen it written in this official document. It feels like the police are trying to sidestep the courts, which means there's no effective oversight or accountability.

11. detained [dɪˈteɪnd] - verb (past participle) - Kept in official custody, typically for questioning or as punishment. - Synonyms: (imprisoned, confined, held)

The new regulations meant people could only be forcibly detained for treatment if they were a risk to themselves or others to police

Investigation into China's use of psychiatric hospitals - BBC News

There was two men. They forced me to get in the car. They sent me to the mental hospital and doctors told me that I was in a very serious mental disease.

I'm investigating rumors that protesters in China are being locked up in psychiatric hospitals by police. I'm trying to understand why doctors would work with police to hospitalize someone just for speaking out against the authorities. I'm working with an underground network to uncover a story that China's censors are trying to hide. This abuse of psychiatric detention is illegal in China. I'm trying to find out why this is still happening.

My name is Nima. I lived and worked in Shanghai for nearly a decade. This is Woolamoochi Road, the epicenter for the White Paper protests in Shanghai. People held up blank pieces of paper in defiance of strict censorship rules. They were chanting against the zero COVID policy, against the Chinese Communist Party and against Xi Jinping. There is little tolerance for public protest in China. So the authorities cracked down. Police started to make arrests.

I found a Twitter thread by a White Paper protester who had fled China. He claimed he had been sent to a psychiatric hospital and had posted videos of his calls with police showing how he was still being intimidated.

I'm flying to New Zealand to meet Ginger to find out more. Hi, Ginger. At that time, I was so angry. Covid19 hurt people a lot. And we hoped that Xi Jinping, he could stop the harmful policing. So I plan to protest next day. Morning, I went to stand in front of the teaching building, but only then for five minutes. Because some professors and some workers in the university, they noticed me and they forced me to a meeting room. The university asked my father to bring me back to my hometown. After we went back home, my father, he just called the police and he asked me to hand him my phone, my iPad and my laptop. December 1st, morning, my father, he was talking to someone on the phone. And I saw a black car. There was two men. They forced me to get in the car. They sent me to the mental hospital and the doctors told me that I was in a very serious mental disease. I have to stay here for the treatment. Then they tied me on a bed.

Jinjae's medical records show he was hospitalized for two weeks and prescribed antipsychotic drugs. What do you think your parents thought about this diagnosis? Do you think they agreed? I think my father, he was forced by policemen because he is a member of CCP and he works for the government. So he had to make a choice.

I wonder how many other people protestors experience the same Type of treatment and detention in psychiatric units that faced. Getting information out of China is difficult, but I did find some clues in old news reports from 15 years ago. One sensational story shows how a woman was hospitalized by her mother after an argument over money. The media even came up with a name for it Beijing Shengbing, or being mentally ill.

To stop this abuse, China introduced legislation to protect patients rights in 2012. The new regulations meant people could only be forcibly detained for treatment if they were a risk to themselves or others to police. How effectively the new law worked, A group of citizen journalists called Civil Rights and Livelihood Watch documented ongoing abuses between 2013 and 2017. More than 200 people reported that they'd been wrongfully hospitalised by by the authorities. Some activists risked filming in hospitals. They were investigating the disappearance of a veteran democracy activist called Song Si Mine. Song Daemin, the activist they were looking for, suddenly appeared at the do. The activists accused the staff of breaking the law. Following his release, they interviewed Song to find out why he was detained.

In 2024, Tong Tsaemin was hospitalized for the fifth time. His hospital records detail why the patient once again made false statements on the Internet, criticized the Communist Party, shouted slogans and organized illegal meetings. He was admitted to our hospital for involuntary treatment.

Lawyer Huang Xuetao was involved in drafting China's mental health law and famous for fighting for patients rights. Back home, I find a lead in China's guidelines on how to manage mentally unwell people who disturb public order, referred to as troublemakers in official documents. For patients posing a serious risk to public security. If the family do not cooperate, the emergency team should try to persuade them do a good job of persuading the patient's relatives to send the patient to hospital. Now I've seen it written in this official document. It feels like the police are trying to sidestep the courts, which means there's no effective oversight or accountability.

I want to know more about what happens to the activists in these psychiatric units. Many survivors claim that they were subjected to electroshock therapy. Activist Jelly Jen says it happened to him. He now lives in Los Angeles. Jie told us that in July 2018, he took part in factory worker protests in Shenzhen. He claims he was interrogated by police for three days, then taken to a psychiatric hospital. Jigga Jie told us that after a week in the hospital, he refused to take any more drugs and fought with hospital staff. He was told he was causing trouble and sent for electroconvulsive therapy.

In 2019, the year after Jie told us he was hospitalized. China introduced new measures to limit the use of ect, stating that it should only ever be administered with consent and under general anaesthetic. I want to understand to what extent the doctors will were complicit in this abuse of psychiatric treatment.

Using an online doctor platform called Good Doctor, we're targeting doctors working at the hospitals we know are involved with forced hospitalizations by police. We've made appointments with their psychiatrists to avoid suspicion. We invented a nephew and explained to doctors that he has been hospitalized for posting anti government comments online. The doctor confirmed that posting politically sensitive comments online is seen as troublemaking. I was shocked to hear the psychiatrist admit that posting anti government comments was grounds for admission to his hospital.

We found at least 112 people took the authorities to court claiming they had been illegally held in psychiatric hospitals. China's mental health law was meant to stop the abuse of psychiatric detention. But it seems that the authorities are still able to silence troublemakers in psychiatric hospitals. And for victims seeking justice, the legal system is stacked against them. It's extremely difficult for me to forgive these people for hurting me. But I just want justice. The place, the host stuff and the garments, they hurt me. I cannot forgive the party, but I can forgive the person inside. Sa.

POLITICS, HUMAN RIGHTS, CHINA, EDUCATION, INNOVATION, CENSORSHIP, BBC NEWS