Milan prosecutors conclude probe into harassment of exiled activist 'Teacher Li': 10 suspects investigated, 4 charged with criminal conspiracy, ringleader accused of acting 'on behalf of Chinese police'
According to Central News Agency reporting on October 29, 2026, drawing on Italian media outlets Giornale La Voce and Il Foglio on October 28, Milan prosecutors have concluded their investigation into the surveillance and harassment in Italy of exiled Chinese rights activist 'Teacher Li' (Li Ying), with 10 suspects investigated. The suspects are accused of intimidating Chinese expatriates who oppose the policies of Chinese President Xi Jinping; 4 of them are charged with criminal conspiracy, while the other 6, though not formal members of the organisation, are charged with long-term participation in surveilling Li, with the surveillance dating back to 2023. The alleged ringleader is 57-year-old Songqiang Wang, executive president of the Milan Fujian Chinese Association, whom prosecutors accuse of acting 'on behalf of Chinese police', maintaining close contact with diplomats and members of the Chinese Communist Party's United Front Work Department, coordinating the hunt for dissidents, and personally taking part in tracking and surveilling Li. [1]
Why it matters
This episode is worth recording for three reasons. First, it is the first complete prosecutorial chain in Europe on a Chinese transnational-repression case, moving from investigation to charges: this is no longer only a victim's account or a media disclosure, but organised conduct as found by prosecutors — who say the suspects 'formed an organisation that has long engaged in repressing dissidents', organised activities through WeChat groups, and solicited and verified information from informants. Second, the charges point at the overseas-Chinese association network itself: the ringleader and the two other named individuals all hold leadership posts in overseas-Chinese associations, and prosecutors say they were in contact with diplomats, the United Front Work Department and Beijing police — which, if the charges hold, would mean the operation in Italy was not scattered individual harassment but organised conduct with institutional backing. Third, the case echoes the Italian government's expulsion action in March 2026, when the Interior Ministry issued expulsion orders against 8 Chinese citizens suspected of surveilling and repressing dissidents in Italy; the conclusion of this investigation raises the profile of Chinese transnational repression in Italy further. The conservative boundary is equally clear: this is so far only the conclusion of a prosecutorial investigation and the laying of charges, not a court conviction; the reporting carries no response from the accused or from Beijing; and formulations such as 'on behalf of Chinese police' are prosecutors' investigative findings, attributed throughout, hence 'under ongoing verification'. [1]
Full report
According to Central News Agency on October 29, Li Ying, known on social media platform X as 'Teacher Li is not your teacher', is a Chinese rights activist who, for exposing human rights abuses by the Chinese government, has been followed and surveilled in Italy, had his residence harassed, and even received death threats. Drawing on Italian media reporting of October 28, prosecutors in Milan have concluded their investigation of 10 suspects, who are accused of intimidating Chinese expatriates who oppose the policies of Chinese President Xi Jinping, on multiple charges. The investigation was carried out jointly by Turin police and Milan prosecutors. Prosecutors found that Li, 34, has a large online following, and that the suspects followed him not merely to gather information on his movements, 'but even more so to stop him from continuing to condemn the policies of the Chinese government'. To that end, the group used pressure and threats and continuously tracked and surveilled Li between Milan and Turin. [1]
Prosecutors' account of the division of labour is as follows: 4 suspects are charged with criminal conspiracy, with the investigation finding that they 'formed an organisation that has long engaged in repressing dissidents'; the other 6 suspects, though not formal members of the organisation, are charged with long-term participation in surveilling Li, with the surveillance dating back to 2023. The alleged ringleader is 57-year-old Songqiang Wang, executive president of the Milan Fujian Chinese Association, whom prosecutors accuse of acting 'on behalf of Chinese police', maintaining close contact with diplomats and members of the Chinese Communist Party's United Front Work Department, coordinating the hunt for dissidents, and personally taking part in tracking and surveilling Li. Prosecutors consider Jianbin Zhao to have played an important role in the organisation: he allegedly recruited Chinese citizens in Italy willing to follow dissidents, with the group using WeChat group chats to organise activities and to solicit and verify information obtained from informants; according to his LinkedIn profile and the Huarenjie website, Zhao is editor-in-chief of the Italian 'Huarenjie' website, a major information-exchange site for overseas Chinese in Italy. [1]
Milan prosecutors further found that Zhengang Liu — whose title on overseas-Chinese association websites is given as president of the Italy Fujian Overseas Chinese Business Federation — was also instructed by Beijing police, maintained contact with diplomats, and took part in search and surveillance operations. Prosecutors say the organisation's purpose was to stop dissidents from spreading negative news about China's political and social situation and to obstruct their freedom of speech. The reporting also sets out Li's background: a Chinese artist who went to Italy to study art, he rose to prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic by exposing protests against the Chinese government's restrictive pandemic measures; on X he publishes many videos suppressed by the Chinese government, turning his account into an independent news channel, with thousands of Chinese people sending him videos and stories of protests, including the 'White Paper Movement' symbolising resistance to Beijing's policies. [1]
Li applied for political asylum in Italy in July 2023 and was granted it in November 2024, but continued to face surveillance and threats; his family in China has also come under pressure. To evade tracking, Li keeps changing his place of residence. The reporting notes that Chinese transnational repression has drawn the Italian government's attention: in March this year, the Italian Interior Ministry issued expulsion orders against 8 Chinese citizens suspected of participating in surveilling and repressing dissidents in Italy. The reporting says the conclusion of the 'Teacher Li threat case' investigation will bring greater attention to Chinese transnational repression. As of the Central News Agency report, no response from the accused or from Beijing to the case was reported; the case has not yet reached trial, and whether the charges hold remains to be tested through judicial proceedings. [1]
Verification note and links to this site's records: the core facts — the Milan prosecutors' conclusion of the investigation of 10 suspects, the 4 conspiracy charges and 6 long-term surveillance charges, surveillance dating back to 2023, the identities and alleged roles of Wang, Zhao and Liu, the organisation's WeChat-group operations, Li's background and asylum timeline, and the Interior Ministry's March expulsion orders — all come from Central News Agency's October 29 reporting synthesising Italian media; formulations such as 'on behalf of Chinese police' are prosecutors' investigative findings, with attribution preserved throughout, and no response from the accused or Beijing appears in the reporting. This site's earlier transnational-repression records include Taiwan prosecutors' indictment of five people over an alleged plot to attack comedian Huang Yihao (October 21), the US Wanying Zhang case and the Washington embassy-sidewalk protest case; this case is a new development in that theme within European judicial proceedings, listed alongside those records without merging cases. This record is graded 'under ongoing verification' and will follow whether the case proceeds to trial and its outcome. [1]
Links above point to the original publishers of the cited reports or articles. Their conclusions are attributed in the text and do not imply that this site has independently verified every factual claim.