Qin was then convicted of the crime of "disturbing social order" and sentenced to two years' re-education through labor.
[3] In 1997, Qin published an open letter to Jiang Zemin, demanding the Chinese Communist Party carry out political reform in China in order to achieve constitutional democracy.
In the same year, Qin publicly established the Hubei Province Committee of The Democracy Party of China.
[6] Due to his views that China should allow freedom of speech, publication, association, and the exercise of all basic human rights, including organizing political parties, for decades Qin has been subjected to imprisonment, arrest, criminal and administrative detention, re-education through labor and residential surveillance.
[8] While conceding that Qin had not engaged in any act of violence, the court listed his crimes: he had written articles and published a book in Hong Kong advocating a peaceful transition to democracy for China and had issued statements, organized pro-democracy groups and organized shared meals and meetings.