Police in northwestern China are cracking down on writers of online erotic fiction across the country, including many college students, according to RFA sources and media reports, amid concern that officers are punishing people outside their jurisdiction.

Police in Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu province, have been summoning writers who don’t even live there. A report from Caixin media group said some have been referred to police for prosecution, and anecdotal evidence indicates writers are facing substantial fines.

A source who spoke to Radio Free Asia on condition of anonymity for safety reasons said the crackdown could involve 200-300 writers.

Their cases have also sparked a legal debate over the definition of “obscene materials” and renewed public discussion on the boundaries of creative freedom. Known as “Danmei,” the genre features romantic relationships between male characters. It originated in Japan and has become popular in China.

Amid tightened restrictions in China, many writers have turned to Haitang Culture, a Taiwanese-based adult fiction website established in 2015 to publish their work. The website on the democratic island doesn’t force censorship and allows explicit written content. Most readers are females.

Authorities in China have reacted. Last year, two China-based distributors affiliated with Haitang Culture were arrested for “assisting in information network criminal activities,” according to Shuiping Jiyuan, a news portal on the WeChat social media platform.

The recent police crackdown in Lanzhou followed similar moves in the eastern province of Anhui in June 2024, where authorities began arresting writers of online erotic fiction under the charge of “producing and distributing obscene materials for profit,” resulting in heavy fines and even prison sentences.

Police are seeking out writers even when they leave outside their jurisdiction – a practice that critics call “offshore fishing,” implying the motive of police is financial or political, rather than strictly legal.

“I don’t understand what they’re trying to do—are they pushing political correctness, or are they just desperate for money?” said Liu Yang, a veteran media professional in Lanzhou, told Radio Free Asia. “The police are short on funds, and now even arrests have become a way to make money.”

Two coins in tips

Cases in Anhui appeared focused on how much profit writers made. But according to multiple Chinese media reports, police in Lanzhou pursued suspects on the basis of what sort of traffic they were generating.

Many of those summoned are young women, including college students. A well-known Chinese online cultural critic Li Yuchen wrote on WeChat that one writer who received only “two Haitang coins” in tips was also placed under investigation and then moved to prosecutors.

Haitang refers to the Taiwan-based fiction website. RFA has sought comment from Haitang Culture but has yet to receive a response.

Song Tao, a Chinese university law lecturer, told RFA that Lanzhou police crackdown is one of the most expansive and controversial uses of the law on “producing, reproducing, publishing, or distributing obscene materials for profit” in recent years.

Tsinghua University legal scholar Lao Dongyan expressed concern on the Chinese microblogging platform Weibo, writing that the use of inconsistent legal standards risks undermining law enforcement and the justice system.

The case has triggered intense debate in Chinese legal circles. Several attorneys have posted on Weibo and WeChat offering free legal assistance to the families of those who have been detained.

The Emperor’s Scandalous History

Yunjian, one of the top writers on Haitang Culture, was arrested last year by Anhui police and later sentenced to four years and six months in prison, according to the news portal Shuiping Jiyuan. One of Yujian’s top works of fiction, The Emperor’s Scandalous History, is about a non-binary emperor who has relationships with male characters, including generals and chancellors.

Several fiction writers have posted online about their brush with Lanzhou police, although most online references to the crackdown have been removed from Chinese social media platforms, meaning only screenshots made by other users are still viewable.

“Probably in the past 20 years of my life, I never imagined that my first time flying would be to visit a police station in Lanzhou,” said one writer named Sijindesijin who claimed in a post on Weibo that she’d been contacted by Lanzhou police over stories she earned 4,000 yuan ($670) for. Her post, since deleted, implied that she’d had to fly to Lanzhou to deal with the matter. It wasn’t clear where she lived.

Some netizens posted on Weibo in support of Sijindesijin, whose handle translates as “silky silky.” RFA couldn’t reach Sijindesijin for comment or confirm the details of what allegedly happened and if the writer was detained.

Another writer named Jidepihuangmajia, who described herself as an undergraduate student, wrote in a post on Weibo that she flew to Lanzhou from Chongqing, a municipality which is administratively separate from Lanzhou, to meet with the local police and was asking for help from other users in borrowing money to pay the fine. The writer said that police claimed she had earned 21,313 yuan ($3,044) from writing the stories in question, and she was advised to return the money for a reduced punishment. This writer owed between 50,000 and 60,000 yuan ($7,100 to $8,500), including the fine.

Another writer from a top-tier university named Shijieshiyigejudadejingshenbingyuanha, whose handle translates as “The world is like a giant mental hospital,” claimed in the post that she was taken in for questioning by police and that her university had subsequently canceled her admission to graduate school.

Lawyers question police overreach

Chinese lawyer Ma Guoguang told RFA that under China’s Criminal Procedure Law, criminal cases should be investigated by police in the suspect’s place of residence or where the alleged crime occurred.

“The legality of Lanzhou police pursuing writers across the country—thousands of kilometers away—under the so-called ‘offshore fishing’ model is highly questionable,” he said.

But Chinese lawyer Tang Hongyang, who defended for several writers arrested by Anhui police last year, explained to Sanlian Lifeweek, an in-depth reporting magazine in China, “for crimes committed via the internet, there is a special legal provision: any location where the content can be accessed online is considered a place where the consequences of the crime occur.”

According to Sanlian Lifeweek, Lanzhou police summoned local readers of Haitang in Lanzhou to serve as witnesses while also summoning writers from other provinces.

Ma pointed out that China currently lacks clear judicial interpretations on fictional literary works containing explicit content. According to him, the line between online erotic fiction or adult fiction and actual obscene materials remains undefined, as does the legal threshold for what constitutes “public harm.”

The main guidelines of definition of obscene materials date back more than 20 years and were established when the internet was far less developed. Tsinghua University’s Lao argued that the definition should evolve with shifting social attitudes.

“They set relatively low thresholds for what constitutes ‘serious circumstances’,” Lao wrote in her post. “But in today’s more open environment, the bar for what qualifies as obscenity should clearly be raised.”

Ma warned that aggressive criminal enforcement under such vague standards could have a chilling effect on creative writing in China.

RFA contacted Lanzhou police but calls went unanswered.

Edited by Mat Pennington.

Police in eastern China have been targeting dozens of writers who posted gay-themed erotica online, resulting in heavy fines and even prison sentences.

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However, the crackdown by officers in Anhui, who have been investigating and detaining people from other provinces, has prompted concerns that officers are abusing their powers as well as a wider debate about whether the law is too severe.

According to posts on social media, many of those arrested had been posting stories on the Taiwanese-based fiction website Haitang Culture and charged with producing, selling or disseminating pornographic materials.

Users of the site can make money from tips or subscriptions from fans, with one of the most popular genres being danmei – a style focusing on gay romance and sex that originated in Japanese manga and has become popular in mainland China over the past two decades.

Earlier this month the news portal Shuiping Jiyuan reported that police in Anhui have detained more than 50 writers across the country since June. So far the heaviest sentence handed down was four and a half years in prison.

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Under Chinese law, writers who make more than 250,000 yuan (US$34,500) from selling erotic materials can face a maximum sentence of life in prison, although in practice they can get lower sentences if they cooperate with investigators and pay back the money.

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Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what’s in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Generate Key Takeaways

Dozens of Chinese writers have been arrested since June as part of an ongoing crackdown against pornographic content, according to multiple news and social media reports.

More than 50 writers have been detained in the province of Anhui by a “special task force” assigned with targeting online distributors of erotic fiction, Radio Free Asia reported, based on several accounts from newspapers in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Tawain, as well as social media posts in online writing communities from writers and their family members.

Many of the writers were arrested after publishing on the Taiwan-based adult fiction website Haitang Literature, which allows authors to earn money through tips and subscriptions. One of the most popular genres on the website is “danmei” — romantic and sexual relationships between men. Ten of those sentenced had posted gay erotica.

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One of the top authors on the site, known by the pen name Yuan Shang Bai Yun Jian, was sentenced to four and a half years in prison. Another writer with the pen name Ci Xi was sentenced to five and a half years, whereas one known a Yi Xie was sentenced to one year and five months. The differences between the sentences is based on whether or not the writers were able to pay back the money they earned.

The production and distribution of pornographic materials is illegal in China based on a 1997 law that defines obscene material as “publications, films, video and audio recordings, and images containing depictions of sexual acts.” Writers who make more than 250,000 yuan ($34,500) from selling erotic materials face a maximum sentence of life in prison.

The law, which applies even to writers making little or no money off their work, has not been consistently enforced. It has been used to shut down not just other fanfiction and erotica websites — with those running the platforms receiving sentences of up to 12 years in prison — but also to prosecute individuals consuming pornography in the privacy of their homes.

Many of the charges against the writers have not been made public, nor have they been reported on by Chinese media, which is directly controlled by the government. Several writers and their family members have taken to social media to ask for help paying off the fines to potentially reduce their sentences, via the South China Morning Post.

One woman known by the pen name Yunjian, who had been publishing stories for over a decade on the site, was sentenced to four and a half years in prison. Her husband relayed a message to her fans on social media, stating: “She said, ‘I will work hard in prison and try to get out earlier. By then, I’ll thank my readers in person.'”

Dozens of Chinese writers have been arrested since June as part of an ongoing crackdown against pornographic content, according to multiple news and social media reports.

More than 50 writers have been detained in the province of Anhui by a “special task force” assigned with targeting online distributors of erotic fiction, Radio Free Asia reported, based on several accounts from newspapers in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Tawain, as well as social media posts in online writing communities from writers and their family members.

Many of the writers were arrested after publishing on the Taiwan-based adult fiction website Haitang Literature, which allows authors to earn money through tips and subscriptions. One of the most popular genres on the website is “danmei” — romantic and sexual relationships between men. Ten of those sentenced had posted gay erotica.

One of the top authors on the site, known by the pen name Yuan Shang Bai Yun Jian, was sentenced to four and a half years in prison. Another writer with the pen name Ci Xi was sentenced to five and a half years, whereas one known a Yi Xie was sentenced to one year and five months. The differences between the sentences is based on whether or not the writers were able to pay back the money they earned.

The production and distribution of pornographic materials is illegal in China based on a 1997 law that defines obscene material as “publications, films, video and audio recordings, and images containing depictions of sexual acts.” Writers who make more than 250,000 yuan ($34,500) from selling erotic materials face a maximum sentence of life in prison.

The law, which applies even to writers making little or no money off their work, has not been consistently enforced. It has been used to shut down not just other fanfiction and erotica websites — with those running the platforms receiving sentences of up to 12 years in prison — but also to prosecute individuals consuming pornography in the privacy of their homes.

Many of the charges against the writers have not been made public, nor have they been reported on by Chinese media, which is directly controlled by the government. Several writers and their family members have taken to social media to ask for help paying off the fines to potentially reduce their sentences, via the South China Morning Post.

One woman known by the pen name Yunjian, who had been publishing stories for over a decade on the site, was sentenced to four and a half years in prison. Her husband relayed a message to her fans on social media, stating: “She said, ‘I will work hard in prison and try to get out earlier. By then, I’ll thank my readers in person.'”

Female writers have been summoned by police for posting and sharing homosexual romance stories online, in a widespread crackdown on the “boys love” genre in China.

If convicted, they could be subjected to detention, financial penalties or even prison sentences.

Many of the targeted writers published their work on Haitang, a Taiwanese website popular with fans of boys love fiction — a genre that features romantic relationships between male characters, often depicting sex scenes.

Some of them have been documenting their experiences on Chinese social media.

A writer who goes by the pen name Sijindejin said she was served a notice in May to present herself at a local police station in Gansu province — about 970km away from her village in Chengdu.

Sijindejin, who says she grew up in a “poor village”, bought the cheapest flight available and took her first plane trip to comply.

According to Chinese laws, police in any part of the country who claim they have received complaints about an individual can call them in for questioning.

Having only made 4,000 yuan ($857) after writing for years, Sijindejin said she never knew it could be a crime.

“I thought I could write my way out of the orbit of my destiny, and I thought I was writing my future, but I didn’t realise that that future pointed to prison,” Sijindejin wrote in her social media post.

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Another writer also summoned by police expressed her similar shock.

“I’d never expected this day to come, to be hit in the face with every word I’ve written in the past,” the anonymous writer said in a post on social media platform Weibo in late May.

“I love each of my books, and I see the books and each of the characters in them as my children, even when they are called sinful.”

Writers of the boys love genre are mainly female, and it appears many of the targeted writers are also university students unable to afford legal representation.

Three lawyers, representing some of the writers, also posted about the crackdown, noting the scale of action has been widespread, with estimates that at least 100 writers have been affected.

Radio Free Asia reported that police in remote north-western Gansu province had called in dozens of writers, with some subsequently being detained, fined or charged with offences that could result in prison terms.

‘People should respect differences’

While the reason for the recent suppression is unclear, it is not the first time writers of the boys love genre have been targeted.

Last year, local police in Anhui province summoned several writers over the alleged offence of disseminating obscene content.

Some had their earnings from subscriber payments confiscated and were also convicted and sentenced to prison.

China last updated its laws on “digitally obscene” content in 2010.

Those regulations said the “production, reproduction, publication, trafficking, dissemination” of any obscene works that generate more than 5,000 clicks online, or that make profits of more than 5,000 yuan ($1,072), should be treated as a crime.

This is a screenshot of another website that sells boys love fiction books. It has not been targeted in the recent police crackdown. (Supplied: jjwxc.net)

In 2018, writer Liu Yuanyuan was fined and sentenced to 10 years in prison for publishing her novel Occupy, a boys love fiction that contained content deemed as obscene.

The novel generated more than 150,000 yuan ($32,200) in profits.

Elsa, a boys love fiction writer who does not want to use her real name, said it was unreasonable and ignorant to treat all boys love fiction as obscene.

She said she didn’t understand why only homosexual love writing was being targeted.

Homosexuality is not illegal in China, but gay couples cannot get married in the country.

“No matter if it’s love and sexuality in reality or in a fictional world, people should respect differences,” Elsa said.

“People are all discussing whether the sentencing was too harsh and whether it’s appropriate to use dated standards to trial today’s cases.”

‘Offshore fishing’ censored

The crackdown has sparked backlash across China, with many people questioning the motives behind the police summons and severity of punishments.

On Chinese social media, people have accused police of “offshore fishing” — a phrase that refers to local police who have allegedly summoned suspects from other parts of the country for questioning for financial gain.

The phrase “offshore fishing” was censored last week on social media platforms in China, including Weibo and WeChat.

Haitang, the website popular with fans of boys love fiction, has also been suspended until July 8.

A spokesperson for Haitang said they were working on improving their services.

Experts say there are multiple reasons why authors of boys love fiction were detained in the crackdown. (ABC)

Tang Hongyang, a lawyer who represented several writers of the boys love genre last year, said the situation was getting worse.

But Beijing-based lawyer Zhang Dongshuo disagrees, saying the government may not be chasing profits.

“It seems that they have detained writers from poor family backgrounds who haven’t made much money as well,” Mr Zhang told the ABC.

Mr Zhang said authorities may have restarted the crackdown on boys love fiction because it was seen as unfavourable to China’s new policies in raising fertility rates.

Xi is urging Chinese women to get pregnant. Here’s why many are ignoring him Photo shows Two women in coats After decades of forcing Chinese couples to limit themselves to just one child, Beijing has now reversed course and is urging people to have more babies.

“Officials may think that these cases can eliminate the social influence [of homosexual love stories] and give young people a more ‘positive’ sexual orientation, and in a way promote fertility rates,” he said.

Mr Zhang explained that China’s fertility rates were dropping and many young people were opting out of marriage.

Despite this, he believes China’s law on digitally obscene content should be updated to reflect the new social reality.

Boys love fiction gains popularity

Professor Wang Pan, who studies Chinese social media and pop culture at the University of New South Wales, said boys love fiction became a target of censorship and crackdown as it gained popularity in China.

She said the crackdown on boys love fiction was not just a blow to China’s LGBT community, but also a blow to writers’ freedoms.

“The market and influence of boys love fiction has been expanding in recent years, and is sought after by more and more young people, especially women,” Professor Wang said.

“The authors, who were the targets of criminal detention, were mostly female subculture content creators. They were underprivileged and earned some meagre fees and reward payments for their writing.”

Professor Pan Wang says the recent crackdown shows the government is expanding surveillance over the subculture novels. (Supplied: Pan Wang)

Professor Wang said the recent crackdown showed the government was expanding its scope of surveillance over the subculture and further restricting freedom of speech.

The Chinese government has been contacted for comment.

Elsa, the boys love fiction writer, said she felt sad for her peers who had been detained for writing boys love fiction.

“It’s impossible not to feel anxious and disappointed,” she said.

“I am not in the zone for writing at the moment and will stop for a while, but I’ll not give up writing.

“For those who didn’t depict many sex scenes in their book and didn’t make much money, it’s really unfair for them to get criminal records for just publishing their stories on Haitang.”