(Minghui.org)
Name: Gao XingtaiChinese Name: 高兴泰Gender: MaleAge: 74City: QinhuangdaoProvince: HebeiOccupation: N/ADate of Death: September 6, 2025Date of Most Recent Arrest: April 27, 2018Most Recent Place of Detention: Jidong Prison
When Mr. Gao Xingtai was finally released on medical parole, after serving a seven-year term for practicing Falun Gong, he was emaciated and mute. He died 20 days later, at the age of 74.
Mr. Gao, of Qinhuangdao City, Hebei Province, was the last of the three people to die following their arrests in April 2018 for reading Falun Gong books together. The other two women died in June 2018 from a stroke and in April 2023 after serving a four-year prison sentence, respectively.
Mr. Gao was reading Falun Gong books with Ms. Li Guibin, then 75, and Ms. Shang Xiujun, in her 50s, at his home on April 27, 2018, when over 20 officers from the Shimenzhai Police Station broke in.
Both Ms. Li and Mr. Gao were found to have dangerously high blood pressure and rejected admission by the Qinhuangdao City First Detention Center. The police released them and put them under residential surveillance.
Ms. Shang was held at the Qinhuangdao City Second Detention Center for ten days and released on May 7. During her brief detention, she lost over 20 pounds and experienced severe back pain. She also lost her appetite and remained very weak. Her health continued to decline and she had a stroke. She went to the Qinhuangdao People’s Hospital on June 10, only to die seven days later. She was in her 50s.
The police later submitted Ms. Li and Mr. Gao’s case to the Li County Procuratorate. Ms. Li was arrested again two more times, on August 20 and December 27, 2018. Each time she was interrogated and then released. As she refused to sign the interrogation records, the police signed the paperwork for her against her will.
Due to the mental pressure from the constant harassment, Ms. Li developed a stroke, was unable to talk, and had difficulty walking for a period of time.
The Changli County Court took Mr. Gao to Ms. Li’s home on March 21, 2019, and held a hearing of their case there. On July 16, 2019, the judge sentenced Ms. Li to four years with a 10,000-yuan fine, and Mr. Gao to seven years with a 20,000 yuan fine.
Ms. Li was taken back into custody at the Qinhuangdao Detention Center on November 18, 2020, and transferred to the Hebei Province Women’s Prison in May 2021. She was denied family visits during the detention.
In mid-April 2023, Ms. Li’s son was informed by the prison that she was dying. He rushed to the prison and took her to a hospital in Shijiazhuang (where the prison is located) after the prison agreed to release her on medical parole.
After two days of treatment, Ms. Li was taken back home (about 370 miles from Shijiazhuang) and admitted to a local hospital. She died shortly after on April 16. She was 80. According to someone who saw her body, she was merely skin and bones after two years of imprisonment.
Mr. Gao was taken back into custody at Jidong Prison in November 2021. The prison initially denied his family visits and later allowed his family to visit him once a month. But due to his hearing issues, they were unable to communicate with him.
In June 2025, the prison informed Mr. Gao’s family that he could no longer eat and mainly relied on nutrient drinks. His family applied to have him released, but the prison didn’t approve the request until two months later.
When Mr. Gao was finally released in mid-August 2025, he was emaciated, mute, and incapacitated. He couldn’t recognize his family either. He passed away 20 days later, on September 6. The police demanded his family to take photos at his funeral to verify to the authorities that he had indeed died.
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