He has authored many papers on the importance of modernizing China's judicial system, earning him the nickname "Justice He".

His works include The Judicial Ideals and Institutions and The Ways to Carry Justice.

Because of his public support and signing for Liu Xiaobo's Charter 08, his position at Peking University became untenable and he was forced to resign.

However, the Chinese Communist Party forced the school to withdraw the job offer, and He was instead given a position in the remote city of Shihezi in Xinjiang.

[3] Richard McGregor, author of The Party: The Secret World of China's Communist Rulers, said that this was "a deliberately humiliating transfer, akin to a Harvard Law School professor being reassigned to a small community college in rural Texas.