These were due to her connection with activists, including her partner Xu Zhiyong, who had secretly met in the southeastern city of Xiamen in December 2019 to discuss "democratic transition in China".

[5] In 2017, Li worked with other volunteers on finding free or cheap housing for thousands of migrant workers who had been evicted by authorities in Beijing during a particularly cold winter.

"[9] She joined a volunteer team to distribute free masks to sanitation workers, and helped pregnant women in quarantine areas to obtain medical care.

[4] In early 2020, Li publicized an essay by her partner, legal activist and former university lecturer Xu Zhiyong, which called on Chinese leader Xi Jinping to resign over alleged incompetence in particular with regard to his handling of the COVID-19 outbreak.

[4][5] She was formally arrested on 15 March on charges of "inciting subversion of state power" and completed a period of coronavirus quarantine in Linyi, according to close friends.

[5] A member of the Weiquan movement said on that day that Li was suffering from depression and had been assigned to a supervised section of a hospital in Linyi, where she was barred from meeting with lawyers.

[11] Beijing-based rights activist Hu Jia opined that Li played a key role in the efforts of authorities to cover up their persecution of the dissidents at the 12.26 Citizen Case.

A rights lawyer familiar with the case suspected that Li, who was reportedly suffering from severe tinnitus[22] and had gained substantial weight as side effects of her medication, had "likely been subjected to mild torture" during detention.