Tara: From political depression to awakening and speaking out for freedom and truth

Tara returned to Changsha on July 5 to visit her family. According to relatives, friends, and multiple sources, she has been out of contact since July 30 while in Shangri-La, Yunnan. Prior to her disappearance, she maintained regular communication with family and friends; however, her WeChat and other communication channels suddenly ceased.

These reports suggest she was taken back to Changsha by state security authorities on suspicion of “Endangering national security.” She has been missing for nearly tree months, and no credible information has been obtained regarding the circumstances of her detention or removal. Prior to her arrest, she had returned to China several times to visit her family; her last contacted her family members was on July 30.

On September 16, renowned human rights lawyer Jiang Tianyong traveled to Changsha, Hunan Province, to attempt to provide legal counsel to Tara’s mother. Shortly after arriving in Changsha, he was forcibly abducted by three unidentified individuals. He was fortunately released later that day. Zhang Yadi’s situation, and the legal and security pressures her family faces, have sparked sustained concern from overseas communities and human rights organizations.

The pictures are from Tara’s social platform.

Political Awakening and Activism

Years ago, while still in China, Tara gained her first true glimpse of “China beyond the Great Firewall” through VPNs, banned book websites, and other channels. She began to delve into psychology, sociology, political theory, and religious philosophy, gradually realizing that she was in a carefully packaged cocoon. From that time, Tara began to focus on Chinese politics, democratic movements, and the history of social movements, which is also how she first encountered the Tibetan issue.

Having studied abroad for many years, Tara has become a vocal advocate who, in the face of political oppression, continues to explore the world. She has extensively addressed topics banned within China, both online and offline. For example, she posted on social media to commemorate the victims of the June 4th Massacre in 1989. She has also been active at the White Paper protests and in the exile community, finding her voice and introducing Tibetan history, culture, and human rights issues to the Chinese-speaking world.

In November 2022, just three months after Tara arrived in France, the fire in Urumqi, China, sparked “White Paper Protests” across the country. Zhang Yadi immediately purchased white paper, candles, and printed signs to join the rally.

She held signs reading “Say No to the CCP” and “No Dictatorship, Want Elections.” “At that moment, I felt so proud. I felt I had been brave, that I had lived the way I wanted to live, and that my life had not been lived in vain,” Zhang Yadi later recalled in a podcast interview.

She was one of the earliest members of the online media platform “Chinese Youth Support Tibet Association.”

Voice and Vision

Writing under the pen name TaraFreesoul on X, Tara said: “The history of China’s southwest ethnic groups is a bloody story of Han Chinese colonization, brainwashing, enslavement, and intermarriage and assimilation of indigenous peoples.”

She wrote:”Behind the ‘building of a strong Chinese nation’ lies the blood and tears of various ethnic groups. Their own cultures have been suppressed and extinguished, their own mother tongues have been silenced and disappeared, and their own histories are not written by their own people. Everything is lightly glossed over with the phrase ‘Chinese Nation,’ as if nothing had happened, as if this land has been part of the Chinese Empire since ancient times.”

She once stated: “Supporting Tibetans is not just speaking for them, but also fighting for a path to freedom for ourselves.” Tara is a young person who gently criticizes government inaction and social injustice, and who staunchly sympathizes with vulnerable groups. Even so, she remains a dangerous figure in the eyes of the Chinese authorities. Expressing empathy and understanding, and documenting the stories of those suffering, is considered a “sin.”

She once said, “If China could be as free as Taiwan, that would be my greatest ambition in life.” Clearly, she was prepared for the price her vision might entail, but she may not have fully anticipated the CCP’s narrow-mindedness, its fragility, or loss of her freedom too fast.