According to a report issued by Human Rights in China, a New York-based human rights group, Zhao was convicted of inciting subversion of state power in a secret trial on July 10. The letter which Zhao drafted and 191 other activists signed called for elections, a reassessment of the 1989 democracy movement and restoration of the rights and freedom of ex-premier Zhao Zhiyang, who recommended lenient treatment for the pro-democracy demonstrators in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

The letter further called for a repatriation of political exiles and the release of political prisoners, and also urged the Party to ratify and rule by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Zhao, thirty-six years old, was imprisoned for six months after participating in the 1989 pro-democracy demonstrations, and again for three years after protesting government abuses of election laws. He has been in jail since November. He is suffering from tuberculosis, which has worsened while in custody.