Dr. Teng Biao is an academic lawyer, formerly a lecturer at the China University of Politics and Law, currently a visiting scholar at US-Asia Law Institute, New York University and now at the University of Chicago. His research includes human rights, social movement and political transition in China. Teng defended for freedom of expression, religious freedom,

Tibetans and Uyghurs. He co-founded two human rights NGOs in Beijing – the Open Constitution Initiative, and the China Against the Death Penalty, in 2003 and 2010 respectively. He is one of the earliest promoters of the Rights Defense Movement in China, and the manifesto Charter 08, for which Dr. Liu Xiaobo was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.