A Chinese artist known for his provocative and irreverent sculptures of Mao Zedong is facing trial on suspicion of slandering the country’s heroes in a case underlining how little criticism is allowed under China’s leader, Xi Jinping.

一位中国艺术家因创作带有挑衅性和戏谑意味的毛泽东雕塑而面临审判，他被指控侵害英雄烈士名誉。这一案件凸显出，中国领导人习近平治下的批评空间何其有限。

The trial of Gao Zhen, 69, was set to begin Monday at the Sanhe City People’s Court in Hebei Province, according to his wife. Mr. Gao, who has been in detention for more than a year and a half, faces up to three years in prison if convicted. The trial will not be open to the public, a measure that under Chinese law is largely reserved for cases that touch on national security.

据其妻透露，现年69岁的高兟于周一在河北省三河市人民法院受审。高兟已被羁押超过一年半，如被定罪，最高可判处三年有期徒刑。此案将不公开审理——根据中国法律，这种措施主要适用于涉及国家安全的案件。

“Secret trials are usually a bad sign,” his brother, Gao Qiang, said. “The authorities may have already decided for the court what the outcome should be, and the trial is simply a politicized legal process, devoid of any fairness.”

“不公开审理通常不是好兆头，”他的弟弟高强说，“当局很可能已经为法院决定了结果，审判不过是场政治化的法律程序，毫无公正可言。”

The Gao brothers were part of a generation of avant-garde Chinese artists who rose to prominence in the early 2000s, a time of relative openness in China. The duo took on taboo topics like the 1966-76 decade of political turmoil known as the Cultural Revolution, as well as the 1989 Tiananmen Massacre. The space for free expression shrunk after Mr. Xi took power in 2012, and in 2022 Mr. Gao emigrated to the United States.

高氏兄弟属于21世纪初崛起的一代中国先锋艺术家群体，彼时中国社会相对开放。两人曾触及诸多禁忌题材，如1966年至1976年的“文化大革命”，以及1989年的天安门屠杀。自习近平2012年上台后，言论空间不断收紧，高兟于2022年移居美国。

When Gao Zhen and his family were visiting China in August, the police detained him at his studio on the outskirts of Beijing, seizing almost all the artwork stored there. During his detention, his wife and 7-year-old son, who is a U.S. citizen, have been barred from leaving China and from seeing or talking with Mr. Gao, though initially they were able to exchange letters. Mr. Gao has refused to confess or plead guilty, according to his wife, Zhao Yaliang.

去年8月，高兟携家人回国探亲期间，警方在北京郊外的工作室将其带走，并查扣了存放在那里的几乎所有艺术作品。高兟遭羁押期间，他的妻子和7岁的儿子（他是美国公民）被禁止离境，而且也无法探视或通话，尽管他们最初还能通过书信联系。据他的妻子赵雅良透露，高兟拒不供述，也不认罪。

赵雅良在北京家中展示丈夫高兟为她创作的作品，摄于去年10月。

She said that she hoped the authorities might release him based on time served. “But because this is China after all, we hope for the best but must prepare for the worst,” she said.

她表示，希望当局能看在他已经被关了这么久的份上，把他放了。“毕竟这是在中国，就是我们期待最好的结果，但是也要做最坏的打算，”她说。

As part of a campaign to enforce the ruling Communist Party’s version of history, China has made it illegal to tarnish the reputation of historical figures or to question official narratives. Journalists, stand-up comedians and regular citizens making comments online have been punished under the slander law, which was adopted in 2018.

作为维护中共官方历史叙事的行动之一，中国已将侵害历史人物声誉或质疑官方历史叙事定为违法行为。根据2018年通过的英烈保护法，已有记者、脱口秀演员以及在网上发表评论的普通民众因此受到惩处。

When it was amended in 2021 to allow prosecutors to seek criminal penalties of up to three years in prison, the government went so far as to publish a list of 10 “rumors” that are forbidden to discuss. They include whether Mao’s “Long March” was actually shorter than claimed, or whether his son was killed during the Korean War because he lit a stove to make fried rice, giving away his position, rather than because of intercepted radio transmissions.

该法律在2021年的一个修订版本允许检察机关寻求刑事处罚，最高可判处三年有期徒刑，政府甚至公布了一份包含10条“谣言”的清单，禁止公众讨论。其中包括：毛泽东的“长征”实际里程是否比宣称的要短，以及他的儿子是否是在朝鲜战争中因点火炒饭暴露位置而被炸死，而非因无线电通信被截获所致。

Now the law is being applied to work that Mr. Gao made more than 15 years ago, before it came into effect.

现在，这项法律被适用于高兟在至少15年前的创作，也就是该法律生效之前的作品。

According to Ms. Zhao, the prosecutors have named three sculptures made by Mr. Gao and his brother. They include a depiction of Mao with breasts and a Pinocchio nose. Another shows a group of Chairman Maos with guns, preparing to execute Jesus Christ. The third portrays the former leader, who was responsible for years of famine and upheaval, kneeling in repentance.

据赵雅良称，检方点名了高兟与其弟共同创作的三件雕塑作品。其中一件描绘了长着乳房和匹诺曹鼻子的毛泽东形象；另一件描绘了一群手持枪支的毛主席准备处决耶稣；第三件则刻画这位曾导致多年饥荒与动荡的前领导人跪地忏悔的场景。

People familiar with the case said Mr. Gao has been accused of disseminating images of the Mao sculptures online as recently as 2024, including on the cover of a biography of the former leader by a Chinese journalist who emigrated to the United States in the 1980s.

知情人士称，高兟被指控直至2024年仍在网上传播这些毛泽东雕塑的图像，包括用于一位上世纪80年代移居美国的中国记者所撰写的毛泽东传记封面。

高氏兄弟的《处决基督》，作品中耶稣面对一支以毛泽东形象塑造的行刑队，2009年摄于中国北京。

Ms. Zhao said that her husband has been punished in detention, including being deprived of food and barred from reading books or getting letters from his family. He suffers from lumbar spine disease, chronic hives and other medical conditions. Still, Mr. Gao has continued to make art from prison, tearing pieces of plain paper to make portraits of his family.

赵雅良表示，丈夫在羁押期间受到惩罚，包括被剥夺饮食、禁止阅读书籍及接收家属信件。高兟患有腰椎疾病、慢性荨麻疹等病症。尽管如此，他在狱中仍继续创作艺术，用信纸撕制家人肖像。

Shane Yi, a researcher at the nonprofit Chinese Human Rights Defenders, said the use of a “contrived, retroactively applied law” in a closed-door trial was evidence of “serious due process violations.”

非营利组织“中国人权捍卫者网络”的研究员肖恩·易（音）表示，在不公开审判中动用“牵强附会、具追溯效力的法律”，足以证明“存在严重违反正当程序的行为”。

Other rights activists have said that the Chinese authorities may want to make an example of Mr. Gao to silence others who have moved overseas.

还有人权活动人士称，中国当局可能希望借高兟案以儆效尤，震慑那些已经移居海外的人士，使其噤声。

Gao Qiang said he hoped the authorities would release his brother so that the family could return to their home in New York and “let art go back to being art.”

高强表示，他希望当局能释放他的哥哥，让一家人回到纽约的家中，“让艺术回到艺术”。

Attending an award ceremony in New York in 2024, Gao Zhen reflected on how little things had changed since he and his brother created those sculptures.

2024年，高兟在纽约出席一个颁奖典礼时谈到，自他与弟弟创作那些雕塑以来，中国的状况几乎没有什么变化。

“We all hoped for greater openness, but in reality, while China has achieved openness in many aspects — even surpassing the West in some areas — it hasn’t truly opened up its political system. Since the Cultural Revolution, it has regressed every decade.”

“我们都希望越来越开放，但事实上，在中国很多方面的开放都是有目共睹的，甚至某些方面的开放可能超过了西方，但唯有在政治体制这方面，我认为不仅没有开放，从文革之后又，每十年大倒退一步。”