Reporters Without Borders said that "The political police have taken advantage of the international community's focus on Pakistan to arrest one of the foremost representatives of the peaceful struggle for free expression in China.

Zeng was included in Time magazine's 100 Heroes and Pioneers for her blogging[9] after his arrest in February 2008 for voicing his indignation at China as the host of the 2008 Summer Olympics.

[17] Hu has also been involved in campaigns to release political prisoners, including Wan Yanhai in August–September 2002 and the cyber-dissident Liu Di ("The Stainless Steel Rat").

[citation needed] In 2003, Hu Jia lodged a letter of complaint to the European Court of Human Rights over German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's refusal to meet with the Dalai Lama.

[18] In 2006, Beijing Zhiaixing Information Counseling Center (formerly called Aizhixing Institute of Health Education), a human rights advocacy group with which Hu was affiliated, received combined grant of $179,113 from National Endowment for Democracy and US State Department for conducting programs within China.

[21] After his return to his apartment in Beijing, where he lives with his wife Zeng Jinyan (also an AIDS activist), Hu Jia was kept under house arrest until March 2007.

At the hearing he said: "It is ironic that one of the people in charge of organizing the Olympic Games is the head of the Bureau of Public Security, which is responsible for so many human rights violations.

[3][22] His trial began in March 2008 on charges of "inciting subversion of state power and the socialist system", stemming from interviews he gave to the foreign media and political articles he wrote and published on the internet.

[33] On December 5, 2014, notable CCP member Zhou Yongkang was expelled from the party after being accused of alleged corruption in the course of the Anti-corruption campaign under Xi Jinping.

The following day, Hu commented on the recent anti-corruption campaign of the CCP stating "Zhou challenged Xi's authority and threatened his rule – that's why he's now being held responsible along with his gangs.

Xi can't find a better excuse to rid of his political opponents than fighting corruption – something that helps him win the masses' hearts and minds.