A former Chinese politician who publicly advocated for President Xi Jinping to be removed from office has been forced to sever all ties with her relatives, including her children, after she claimed they had been threatened by the government.

Wang Ruiqin, a former member of Qinghai Province’s Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) between 2013 and 2018, had published an open letter on May 21 to the National People’s Congress and CPPCC members to vote Xi out of office. In the letter, she criticized Xi's failures in internal and foreign policies since coming to office in 2012.

Following the publication of the letter, Wang, who lives in self-imposed exile in the U.S, said her family and relatives had been harassed. Her company’s assets were frozen, and all financial records were held for inspection. Wang said she suspected Chinese authorities were preparing to lay criminal charges against her.

This forced Wang to sever ties with her relatives, including her children, siblings, and all extended family.

“I pursue democracy and oppose tyranny,” she said. “All the words and deeds involved are my personal behaviors and have nothing to do with others.”
“I will [take] full responsibility for this. Please do not bother the innocent people since such actions are to be despised, and shall not work,” she added.
Wang, 56, was a scholar before she turned to business and became a CPPCC member. She was known for supporting pro-democracy activists in China, before she moved to the U.S. in 2018.

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