Guo Feixiong (郭飞雄 also known as Yang Maodong, 杨茂东), is a Chinese human rights lawyer from Guangdong often identified with the Weiquan movement. Guo is known as a dissident writer and "barefoot" (self-taught) lawyer, who has worked on several controversial issues to defend the rights of marginalized groups. In 2005 and 2006, human rights groups report he was taken into custody and beaten on multiple occasions for his human rights advocacy, including his work on the Taishi village standoff. The beating of Guo Feixiong was reportedly one of the catalysts behind a rolling nationwide hunger strike organized by Guo's friend and associate Gao Zhisheng.[1] Guo was arrested on 30 September 2006, and sentenced to five years of imprisonment on 14 November 2007 in what was characterized as a "trial marked with serious procedural irregularities."[2] Authorities charged Guo with "illegal business activity" in connection with the publication of a book on a political scandal in Liaoning Province. Family members report that Guo has been tortured in custody.[3]