• Skip to main content
  • HOME
  • ABOUT CHINA
    • NEWS
    • TESTIMONIES
    • OP-EDS
    • FEATURED
    • GLOSSARY
    • CHINA PERSECUTION MAP
  • FROM THE WORLD
    • NEWS GLOBAL
    • TESTIMONIES GLOBAL
    • OP-EDS GLOBAL
    • FEATURED GLOBAL
  • INTERVIEWS
  • DOCUMENTS AND TRANSLATIONS
    • DOCUMENTS
    • THE TAI JI MEN CASE
    • TRANSLATIONS
    • EVENTS
  • ABOUT
  • EDITORIAL BOARD
  • TOPICS

Bitter Winter

A magazine on religious liberty and human rights

three friends of winter
Home / China / News China

Death of a Colonel: Falun Gong Military Man Dies of “Natural Causes” in Detention

04/22/2021Yang Feng |

High-profile prisoner of conscience Gong Piqi allegedly died of a “sudden brain hemorrhage,” but his body had telltale signs of torture.

by Yang Feng

Colonel Gong Piqi (from Twitter)
Colonel Gong Piqi (from Twitter).

Colonel Gong Piqi, former deputy chief of staff of the Shandong Provincial Reserve Artillery Division, was one of the highest-profile Falun Gong prisoners of conscience. He was born in Qingdao, Shandong, in 1955.

His brilliant military career came to a halt when the CCP discovered that Gong was a Falun Gong practitioner. He was forced to retire, deprived of his salary, dispossessed of his home, and his children were expelled from school.

On May 13, 2005, he and his wife were arrested by the Qingdao police. His wife was sentenced to five years in jail under Article 300 of the Chinese Criminal Code. Gong was sentenced to five and a half years. When he was released, in 2013, he reported that he had been systematically tortured.

While keeping a low profile, he still practiced Falun Gong privately. In 2017, however, he went to visit a 70-year-old friend called Su Guiha, who was also a Falun Gong practitioner, and kept under surveillance as such. Gong was arrested again on October 17, 2017. His arrest was formalized on November 24, 2017 by the Procuratorate of the North District of Qingdao, and he was detained at the Qingdao City Jimo Pudong Detention Center.

On May 24, 2018, his case was tried by the Qingdao City North District Court, and on July 20 of the same year, he was sentenced to another 7 years and 6 months of imprisonment and a fine of RMB 20,000 for “using a xie jiao,” again under Article 300 of the Chinese Criminal Code. He appealed to the Qingdao Intermediate Court, to no avail.

On the evening of April 12, 2021, his family received an unexpected phone call from Jinan Prison in Shandong Province. They told him Colonel Gong had experienced a “sudden cerebral hemorrhage” and has been moved to Jinan Central Hospital, but had eventually died there.

Relatives protesting the death of Colonel Gong (from Twitter).
Relatives protesting the death of Colonel Gong (from Twitter).

His family and friends went to the hospital. They were initially prevented from seeing Colonel Gong’s body. A few relatives finally managed to see the corpse, and found obvious signs of torture. They found the usual explanation that Gong died of “natural causes” unbelievable.

Tagged With: Falun Gong, Religious Persecution

bw-profile
Yang Feng

Yang Feng uses a pseudonym for security reasons.

Related articles

  • Pakistan: Mob Burned Churches, Police Arrests—Christians

    Pakistan: Mob Burned Churches, Police Arrests—Christians

  • The Bloody Anti-Cult International: Novopashin Goes to China

    The Bloody Anti-Cult International: Novopashin Goes to China

  • Bodhi Gong Believers Sentenced in Shandong

    Bodhi Gong Believers Sentenced in Shandong

  • Pakistan: Another Sikh Man Killed in a Hate Crime in Peshawar

    Pakistan: Another Sikh Man Killed in a Hate Crime in Peshawar

Keep Reading

  • The Dreadful Daily Drama of Religious Persecution in China
    The Dreadful Daily Drama of Religious Persecution in China

    Religious liberty is the first human right. It remains the public enemy #1 of the CCP.

  • Post-COVID Purge: Over 2,100 Church of Almighty God Members Arrested in Two Provinces
    Post-COVID Purge: Over 2,100 Church of Almighty God Members Arrested in Two Provinces

    In Anhui and Jiangsu, as soon as COVID quarantines ceased, the banned church’s devotees started being persecuted again. Two died.

  • Chinese Agents Tried to Bribe U.S. Tax Officer in Anti-Falun-Gong Plot
    Chinese Agents Tried to Bribe U.S. Tax Officer in Anti-Falun-Gong Plot

    “China’s government has once again shown its disregard for the rule of law,” FBI Director Wray said.

  • Falun Gong: Xu Na’s 8-Year Sentence Confirmed On Appeal
    Falun Gong: Xu Na’s 8-Year Sentence Confirmed On Appeal

    The veteran dissident, poet, and artist should remain in jail until 2028.

Primary Sidebar

Follow us

Newsletter

MOST READ

  • Crimes Against Humanity in Xinjiang Denounced at the United Nations—Again by Ruth Ingram
  • The False Panchen Lama Tells Tibetans to Obey Xi Jinping Unconditionally by Lopsang Gurung
  • The Two Sides of Elon Musk: A Uyghur View by Kok Bayraq
  • Iraq: Beware of Rayan al-Kildani and his “Christian” Babylon Movement by Willy Fautré
  • France: Rémi Mogenet, a Victim of Anti-Cultism, Testifies by Massimo Introvigne
  • The Unification Church Issue in Japan: A Japanese Christian Theologian Speaks. 1. Lies About Abe’s Relations with the Church by Haruhisa Nakagawa
  • All Roads Lead to Rome: Two “Official” Chinese Bishops Will Attend the Catholic Synod by Massimo Introvigne

CHINA PERSECUTION MAP -SEARCH NEWS BY REGION

clickable geographical map of china, with regions

Copyright © 2023 · Bitter Winter · PRIVACY POLICY· COOKIE POLICY