(China) — Eight years ago today, on August 13, 2017, prominent Chinese human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng escaped from his tightly controlled soft detention in his hometown in northern Shaanxi, and quietly disappeared in a remote area of Shanxi. Since then, all contact with the outside world has been severed, and a long silence has replaced his once steadfast voice. 

This legal professional, known as the “Conscience of China,” was faced with brutal retaliation from authorities for speaking up for vulnerable groups, particularly Falun Gong practitioners. This ultimately led to his enforced disappearance, implicating his family and causing a chain of irreparable tragedies. 

From Impoverished Farmer to “Top Ten Lawyer” of the Nation 

Gao Zhisheng’s life was marked by dramatic turns. Born in 1964 into an extremely impoverished farming household in Yulin, Shaanxi, he taught himself law and passed the national judicial exam in 1995, making a leap in social status. Aware of the hardships of the lower classes, he dedicated his practice to representing cases of citizens suing the government, earning a reputation for defending the rights of the marginalized group. In 2001, his outstanding 

contributions were recognized by China’s Ministry of Justice, which named him one of the “Top Ten Lawyers in the Nation.” 

However, when he began investigating and defending persecuted Falun Gong practitioners, his fate changed abruptly. Spending months conducting field investigations, he wrote three open letters detailing the torture and persecution suffered by Falun Gong practitioners. These letters drew significant international attention and thoroughly made him a target for government repression. 

Torture Disclosures and Year 2017, Stand Up China 

In November 2005, Gao and his wife publicly announced their withdrawal from the Chinese Communist Party. In 2006, Gao’s license to practice law was revoked, and he was sentenced to three years in prison with five years’ probation for “inciting subversion of state power.” His probation was far from freedom. In 2007, after publishing an “Open letter to the U.S. Congress” exposing China’s human rights situation and calling for a boycott of the Beijing Olympics, he was subjected to inhumane torture by state security officers and went missing for long periods. 

Under international pressure, Gao briefly resurfaced, and in April 2010, he gave an interview to the Associated Press, revealing horrifying torture details, including being electrocuted on his genitals and having them pierced with toothpicks. This interview was not published until January 2011, shocking the international community. Authorities soon declared that he had “seriously violated probation conditions,” revoked his probation, and sent him to serve three years in Shaya Prison in Xinjiang. 

After his release, Gao Zhisheng was placed under house arrest in a rural area of northern Shaanxi. Despite the severe physical trauma, he secretly completed his book Year 2017, Stand Up China. The work documented his sufferings, boldly predicted the fall of the Chinese Communist Party in 2017, and outlined his vision for a democratic China. The book’s publication is widely considered the catalyst for his final enforced disappearance. 

Failed Rescue and Family Tragedy 

On August 13, 2017, several supporters attempted to rescue him during a rainy night so he could see a dentist. Disguising themselves as villagers, they took detours to evade surveillance. However, authorities eventually tracked them through the “Skynet” surveillance system and interrogated the rescuers, eventually learning from the driver where Gao Zhisheng was hiding. He was captured again, and all contact was cut off ever since then. 

This failed rescue led to the sentencing and imprisonment of two supporters, Shao Zhongguo and Li Fawang. Shao Zhongguo was later imprisoned again after searching for Gao Zhisheng, serving a total of five years in his two separate imprisonments. Tragically, Gao Zhisheng’s family was also implicated and suffered. His wife Geng He’s older sister was harassed by police for maintaining contact with her, driving her husband to suicide due to the immense pressure. In 

Gao’s home province of Shandong, his sister’s children faced threats regarding jobs, leading her into depression; she eventually took her life by jumping into the river in 2020. 

Ongoing Concern From the International Society 

Over the years, Gao Zhisheng’s plight has drawn sustained attention from international society. He has been nominated several times for the Nobel Peace Prize and has received multiple international honors, including the American Bar Association’s International Human Rights Lawyer Award. United Nations human rights experts, the U.S. Congress, and international human rights groups have continually called on the Chinese government to disclose his whereabouts. 

However, in the past eight years, these appeals have gone unanswered. Chinese authorities have neither confirmed nor denied his detention, nor released any legal documents, only vaguely claiming to the international community that Gao was released in 2014 after completing his sentence. The conviction of Shao Zhongguo, who tried to rescue lawyer Gao, for “harboring” him, has convinced the public that authorities knew Gao’s exact whereabouts at that time and had secretly detained him again. China’s security agencies must truthfully disclose his situation and allow him to contact his family. 

Gao Zhisheng’s disappearance has become a symbol of China’s suppression of dissent and use of enforced disappearance. His fate, and the shattered lives of his family, all starkly reveal the heavy price of speaking out for freedom and justice in China. 

His Wife and Children Abroad 

Gao Zhisheng’s wife, Geng He, and their two children fled China via Thailand in 2009 and eventually arrived in the United States. Their separation is not only part of Gao Zhisheng’s personal tragedy but also reflects the shared fate of many families of Chinese dissidents. From abroad, Geng He has never ceased advocating for her husband, appealing to the international community for help, hoping to gain information on his whereabouts. Her persistence has kept Gao Zhisheng’s case in the public eye and highlighted the immense pressure faced by families of China’s human rights defenders. 

Reported By Special Correspondent Gao Zhensai for ChinaAid