The State Department has condemned the Chinese Communist Party following the death of a jailed journalist who wouldn’t give up his faith.
The victim, Pang Xun, a radio host for state-owned Sichuan Radio and Television, died at the age of 30 in December in a Chinese prison notorious for its brutality toward adherents of the spiritual practice Falun Gong—the target of the Chinese regime’s systematic persecution for more than 23 years.
At death, scars and bruises covered Pang’s emaciated body, contrasting with prison authorities’ claims that he had died of hyperthyroidism.
“Since 1999, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has sought to eradicate Falun Gong, a spiritual practice originating in China, and its peaceful practitioners and human rights defenders who have fought for their right to practice their beliefs. Extensive evidence shows the PRC government continues to repress and abuse this community to this day,” a State Department spokesperson said in a written statement to The Epoch Times, using the shorthand for the People’s Republic of China.
“We call on the PRC government to immediately end its abuse and mistreatment of Falun Gong practitioners, release those imprisoned due to their beliefs, and address the whereabouts of missing practitioners,” the spokesperson said, adding that the department “continues to consider all appropriate tools to promote accountability for those responsible for human rights violations and abuses in the PRC and elsewhere.”
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, encourages adherents to live by the universal principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance and teaches a set of meditative exercises.
Pang, who died serving a five-year prison sentence for handing out informational pamphlets about his faith, was one of an unknown number of adherents who died in the past two decades, during which millions have faced wide-ranging abuses, such as harassment, torture, heavy fines, and forced organ harvesting.
Jiazhou Prison in southwestern China’s Sichuan Province, which held Pang, has been noted for its torture methods.
Gu Zhiguang, a Falun Gong adherent from the provincial capital Chengdu, was allowed up to 20 seconds to finish meals for over 10 months. The guards forced him to stand for 10 hours motionless each day—under the scorching summer sun and the freezing cold winter. They also sprayed tear gas into his eyes, asking how he felt about it and claiming that it posed no harm to him. The experience left him all skin and bones, according to Minghui, a U.S.-based website that keeps track of the persecution’s toll.
David Curry, a commissioner for the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, has called for the U.S. government to impose targeted sanctions with international allies on Chinese officials and entities “responsible for these horrific abuses” upon hearing about Pang’s case.
So far, the United States has sanctioned three Chinese officials involved in the eradication campaign, including one who presided over the persecution in Chengdu.
Pang’s case adds to the thousands of deaths Minghui has verified. Still, the website and analysts say the actual tally is likely vastly higher, considering the CCP’s strenuous efforts to censor any related information.
In 2022, Minghui recorded more than 100 adherent deaths and hundreds of sentencing due to their faith. It also identified another 41 deaths that were unreported in 2021.
From The Epoch Times