Crimes of Zhang Jiangting, Member of the CCP Committee of Shandong Province, Minister of the United Front Work Department

Full Name of Perpetrator: Zhang (last name) Jiangting (first name) (Chinese: 张江汀)

• Gender: Male
• Country: China
• Date of Birth: September 1961
• Place of Birth: Changyi City, Shandong Province

 

Title or Position

January 1998: Mayor and Deputy Secretary of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) Committee of Zhucheng City, Shandong Province
January 2001: Member of the CCP Committee in Weifang City, Secretary of the CCP Committee of Zhucheng City (July 1999-March 2002)
December 2002: Member of the CCP Committee of Weifang City
March 2003: Deputy Mayor and Deputy Secretary of the CCP Committee of Weifang City
October 2006: Deputy Secretary of the CCP Committee, Acting Mayor, and Mayor of Yantai City (October 2006-March 2015)
May 2011: Secretary of the CCP Committee and Head of the Standing Committee of the Municipal People’s Congress of Yantai City
April 2015: Member of the CCP Committee and Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee of Shandong Province (April 2015-May 2017)
March 2017: Member of the CCP Committee and Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee of Shandong Province, and Secretary of the CCP Committee of Qingdao City
June 2017: Member of the CCP Committee of Shandong Province, and Secretary of the CCP Committee of Qingdao City (June 2017-December 2018)
January 2019: Dismissed as Secretary of the CCP Committee of Qingdao City
February 2019: Member of the CCP Committee of Shandong Province, Minister of the United Front Work Department

 

Main Crimes:

Ever since former CCP leader Jiang Zemin launched the persecution of Falun Gong in July 1999, Shandong Province has been one of the most aggressive provinces in carrying out its policies. The governors in Shandong Province enforced Jiang Zemin’s orders in carrying out the persecution.

Zhang Jiangting was listed by Minghui.org as a key perpetrator as early as December 2001. The most egregious examples took place in the cities where Zhang had held important posts.

According to available statistics, during Zhang’s tenure, at least 23 Falun Gong practitioners died as a result of persecution and many were given forced labor terms or sentenced to prison.

Many practitioners were arrested, detained, had funds extorted from then, lost their jobs, or were forced to leave home to try to escape arrest. Zhang Jiangting is directly responsible for the crimes of torture and the deaths that took place while he was in charge.

Below are some examples of Zhang Jiangting’s crimes:

 

1. June 2017 to December 2018

While Zhang Jiangting was secretary of the CCP Committee of Qingdao City, Qingdao police used the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit as an excuse to arrest, threaten, monitor, and harass residents who practiced Falun Gong. Almost everyone who began to practice Falun Gong before the persecution began in 1999 was harassed.

According to available statistics, at least 227 were arrested, 29 were sentenced, 30 were tried, 143 were harassed by the police, and at least 3 (Ms. Liu Shuxiang, Ms. Sheng Xilan, and Ms. Cai Ying) died as a result of persecution.

Mr. Gong Piqi and his wife were seized by the police as part of a widespread arrest on October 17, 2017. The following July, he was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison with a 20,000-yuan fine. On April 12, 2021, Mr. Gong died in Jinan Prison. According to witnesses, Mr. Gong’s head was swollen, and there was blood in his ears.

Ms. Cai Ying, a translator, was arrested on April 26, 2018. She was taken to the No. 2 Pudong Detention Centre the following day. Ms. Cai went on a hunger strike and was brutally force-fed. She passed away on May 8, less than two weeks later. She was 48.

 

2. April 2015 to May 2017

From April 2015 to May 2017, Zhang Jiangting acted as the secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee of Shandong Province. During this time, many practitioners filed lawsuits with the Supreme People’s Procuratorate and Supreme People’s Court against former president Jiang Zemin, who’d launched the persecution of Falun Gong.

In retaliation, the Shandong Provincial Political and Legal Affairs Committee, which was overseen by Zhang, ordered large scale arrests and harassment of practitioners. In Dezhou City alone, at least 158 practitioners were targeted after July 31, 2015. 81 were detained, at least 41 were harassed, and 10 were punished at their workplace after being harassed and detained.

Ms. Sun Xiuju was arrested on October 22, 2015. She was held in Dezhou City Detention Centre and died on November 3 at the age of 45.

On August 20 and 24, 2015, more than 20 practitioners in Longkou City were arrested, including Mr. Song Hongtian and Ms. Chen Guihua. To try to force them to renounce their faith, the police beat, tortured, and fined them. Their family members were also threatened. Many of them suffered disfigurement as a result of the beatings.

Between October and November 16, 2015, over 100 practitioners were arrested and held in the Liaocheng City Detention Centre.

Ms. Li Xiufen was arrested on October 15, 2015. She died in police custody on November 14, less than a month later. Her body was cremated two days later. Ms. Li’s family noted that she was emaciated and almost unrecognisable. Sources inside the local police department revealed that Ms. Li had been brutally force-fed and beaten after she went on a hunger strike to protest her illegal detention. She was also forced to ingest unknown drugs on many occasions.

According to available statistics, in 2016, at least 773 Falun Gong practitioners in Shandong Province were harassed, 643 were arrested, and 132 were sentenced to prison. Practitioners who died as a result of being persecuted included Ms. Liu Yaohua, Mr. Wang Yijun, and Ms. Liu Huaifeng.

Mr. Wang Yijun. 65, was arrested on September 6, 2015. He was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison in July 2016. On September 25, Mr. Wang died while he was in Qingzhou City Detention Centre. His family suspected foul play because Mr. Wang’s body was blue.

In April 2017, Ms. Guo Ailian, 73, was harassed by the police multiple times. She was taken to a police station, interrogated, and pressured to give up her faith. Continuous harassment, threats, and constant surveillance put Ms. Guo under tremendous stress. She was unable eat or sleep. She passed away on May 10, 2017.

 

3. October 2006 to March 2015

While Zhang Jiangting was deputy secretary of the CCP Committee, acting mayor, and mayor of Yantai City, many practitioners in Yantai City were arrested, taken to brainwashing centres, and had their homes ransacked.

A number of them were given heavy prison sentences. At least 8 practitioners died. They were: Long Lianzheng, Xu Chengben, Wang Yongshang, Liu Lihua, Zhang Guihao, Wang Guiqin, Fu Xinli, and Wu Jiajun.

According to Minghui.org, in 2011 alone, at least 8 practitioners in Yantai City were sentenced to prison, 30 were sent to forced labor camps, more than 30 were sent to brainwashing centres, and about 300 were arrested, harassed, and had their homes ransacked.

At least 4 practitioners were persecuted to death and about 10 were forced to live away from home to avoid being persecuted. At least 1.4 million yuan in cash was extorted, not including a large amount of personal property that was confiscated by the authorities.

Mr. Zhang Guihao was taken from his home to a brainwashing centre on November 11, 2011. He was tortured so severely that his screams could be heard day and night. He was beaten to death only 20 days later, on December 1. His family members were forbidden to see Mr. Zhang’s body.

In 2012, over 200 practitioners in Yantai City were targeted. 130 were arrested, 17 were sentenced to prison, another 17 were sentenced to forced labor camps, 36 were harassed and had their homes ransacked, 4 were forced to flee their homes, and 2 died.

Mr. Wu Jiajun was arrested in March 2013. He was sentenced to 3 years in prison where he was severely tortured. The prison authorities refused to release Mr. Wang on medical bail before he died. After his death, they refused to release his body to his family.

 

4. July 1999 to December 2002

While Zhang Jiangting was mayor and secretary of the CCP Committee of Zhucheng City, Shandong Province, practitioners Ms. Yang Guizhen, Ms. Ma Yanfang, and Ms. Li Xianglan died as result of being persecuted.

Ms. Yang Guizhen, in her 40s, was held in the Zhucheng City Detention Centre after she was arrested in September 2000. Ms. Yang was tortured in the detention centre. The police incited criminal inmates to beat her and then handcuffed her to a metal chair to torture her for four days.

On October 17, with no energy left and on the verge of death, Ms. Yang fell to the floor and lost consciousness while trying to go to the restroom. The guards still kept her handcuffed to the metal chair. Ms. Yang eventually died in the detention centre.

Ms. Ma Yanfang, about 30, used to work at Zhucheng City’s Pottery and Porcelain Factory. She was taken to a mental hospital by the local Political and Legal Affairs Committee and 610 Office even though she had no mental health issues. In August 2000, she was tortured to death in the psychiatric hospital.

Ms. Li Lanxiang, 49, died the day after she was released on the morning of April 15, 2001, covered in injuries and barely alive. After her death, her family members were intimidated so that they would not file a lawsuit or petition on her behalf.