Raids targeted the group led by Su Shuliang and police are at work to round up members who are still at large.
by Deng Huizhong
Recently, “Bitter Winter” reported about the crackdown on one offshoot of Human Universal Science (人宇科学, also translated “Human and Space Science”), a Qigong group that the CCP banned and believed it had liquidated after its founder Zhang Weixiang died, reportedly as a consequence of mistreatment in prison, in 2006. However, several disciples of Zhang formed independent (and rival) organizations and continued to propagate his teachings—or versions of them.
In a previous article, we reported about the massive police raids of May 16, 2023, conducted simultaneously in twenty-one locations, against one such offshoot known as the “Datong Base Faction” led by Yang Fangping, who was herself arrested.
Another independent offshoot was created by Su Xiaoliang, who uses the pen name of Su Shuliang, born in 1951 in Xinji City, Hebei Province. Su’s group went under various names, including 毛宇科学 (Mao Yu Science). There is a bitter rivalry between the various groups derived from Zhang’s Human Universal Science. Other groups accuse Su of having become involved in politics and promising miracle energy cures for cancer and other diseases. The truth of the matter is difficult to ascertain, as social media discussions about Zhang’s and Su’s respective theories also appear to be infiltrated by agents working for the authorities.
In 2018, Su’s group was banned as a xie jiao (group spreading heterodox teachings, sometimes translated as “cult”) by the Civil Affairs Department of Yantai City, Shandong, which was one of the reasons why it was reorganized in 2002 with the more secular name High Tech Science (高新科学). The group was active in sixteen provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities including Beijing, Hebei, Shandong, and Guangxi.
On September 21, 2023, police raids targeted Su’s organization throughout China and twenty-five national and local leaders were arrested, including Su. On February 29, 2024, the People’s Court of Zhaoyuan City, Shandong, tried Su and other nine co-workers. On March 26, Su was sentenced to six years in prison and a fine of RMB 20,000. The other defendants were sentenced to prison terms from two to three years and were also fined. The court applied against them Article 300 of China’s Criminal Code, punishing those active in a xie jiao, indicating that the “local” definition as a xie jiao in Yantai City was regarded as sufficient even in absence of an inclusion in the national list of the xie jiao.
On July 10, 2024, authorities in Shandong informed that efforts were being made to identify additional members of Su’s group and asked citizens who may have information on them to cooperate with the police.
