Former Chinese human rights lawyer Chang Weiping has been released from prison after he completed his term for the crime of subversion of state power.

Chang was detained and his lawyer's license revoked in 2020. He was later sentenced to three years and six months in jail.

He had worked for many years as a lawyer for civil rights activists. He was repeatedly detained by the authorities for attending civil rights movement meetings.

According to a friend of Chang, he was released on Monday from a prison in the inland province of Shaanxi, and was sent to Hainan Island in southern China.

Chang told the friend that he plans to return to his home in Shaanxi Province, but that he has not been able to think about his future.

Sources say that Chang has been stripped of his political rights and is not allowed to leave the country for two years. They say he is unlikely to be able to meet his wife and child, who live in the United States.

Chang's wife, who had argued that he was unlawfully detained, defected to the US with her son in 2022. She claimed that harassment by the authorities was becoming severe.

Chinese authorities are known to keep former human rights lawyers under surveillance after their release from prison. They are often detained again. The authorities are also likely to be watching Chang.