US Calls on Beijing to ‘End Its Abuse’ of Falun Gong Adherents After Death of Jailed Journalist

An undated photo of Pang Xun. (Provided to The Epoch Times)

The U.S. State Department has condemned the Chinese Communist Party following the death of a jailed journalist for his belief in the spiritual discipline Falun Gong.

The journalist, Pang Xun, 30, a radio host for state-owned Sichuan Radio and Television, died in December 2022 at a Chinese prison notorious for its brutality toward adherents of Falun Gong—the target of the Chinese regime’s systematic persecution for more than 23 years.

At the time of his death, Pang’s emaciated body was covered with scars and bruises, which appears to directly contradict 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 (PRC).

“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, noting 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.”

An undated photo of Pang Xun. (Chinese social media)

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 while serving a five-year prison sentence for handing out informational pamphlets about his faith, was one of an untold number of adherents who have 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 Sichuan Province, where Pang was being held, has been noted for its torture methods.

Gu Zhiguang, a Falun Gong adherent from the provincial capital Chengdu, was given only up to 20 seconds to finish meals for more than 10 months; 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 severely emaciated, according to Minghui, a U.S.-based website that keeps track of the persecution’s toll.

Upon hearing about Pang’s fate, David Curry, a commissioner for the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, has called on the U.S. government to join with its international allies to impose targeted sanctions on Chinese officials and entities “responsible for these horrific abuses.”

So far, the United States has sanctioned three Chinese officials involved in the eradication campaign, including one who presided over the persecution in Chengdu.

While Minghui.org, a website dedicated to reporting on the Falun Gong community worldwide, has verified thousands of deaths, the website and analysts say that 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 others imprisoned because of their faith. It also identified another 41 deaths that went unreported in 2021.