The leader of a self-help group turned new religious movement was sentenced to seventeen years and six months in jail and his organization was banned.
by Tang Bolin
Recently, the Xiamen Intermediate Court confirmed on appeal a verdict of seventeen years and six months in jail against the “xie jiao leader” Deng Haipeng, and lesser penalties for eight of his co-workers. “Xie jiao” is often translated as “cults” or “evil cults” but means “heterodox teachings” and is a label used in China since the Middle Ages to designate religious groups whose teachings are regarded as dangerous and subversive by the state.
Deng, however, operated in the gray area of self-help or coaching courses, which are often tolerated by the authorities, particularly if they do not present themselves as spiritual or religious. This was how Deng initially introduced his activities. He claimed he had earned degrees in the United States and in Taiwan and had worked as a journalist and motivational trainer for large corporations there, although these claims were later disputed by Chinese media. From 2016, his courses became popular throughout China but were still largely presented as secular.
As it happened with other groups during the COVID crisis, Deng’s courses started assuming a more spiritual tune in 2020 and 2021. He called them “Soul Shaping” or “Soul Building,” and claimed that the origin of several physical and psychological illnesses is the state of “sleep” in which most souls remain. His courses promised to “awaken” the soul by introducing it in a “collective field” where God manifests himself. Deng also revealed that the headquarters of his organization in Xiamen played a special role in the divine plan of awakening.
This was something different from the usual motivational courses and was not tolerated. In October 2022, Deng was arrested, and his case was transferred to the Xiamen Siming District Procuratorate. The prosecutors added charges of rape of female disciples (common in xie jiao cases, making it difficult to distinguish between real abuses and false accusations), which led the Siming District People’s Court to sentence Deng on November 30, 2023, to the severe penalty of seventeen years and six months in jail, now confirmed on appeal, while his organization was banned and systematically dismantled through a coordinated nation-wide police action.
Deng’s parable, from popular motivational speaker to “xie jiao” leader, is another story confirming how the search for spiritual answers to the COVID crisis created a myriad of new religious movements, sometimes transforming pre-existing organizations in something different, and generating a phenomenon the regime was not prepared nor willing to tolerate.