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NEWS PROVIDED BY
ChinaAid Association
Aug. 12, 2025
MIDLAND, Texas, Aug. 12, 2025 /Standard Newswire/ — Tomorrow marks eight years since Gao Zhisheng, a courageous human rights lawyer in China, disappeared on August 13, 2017. He has not been seen or heard from since.
Born to a poor family and raised in a cave, Gao taught himself law and became one of China’s earliest and most fearless “rights lawyers.” He defended underground Christians, Falun Gong practitioners, victims of corruption, police abuse, and illegal land seizures.
Since 2006, Gao suffered repeated enforced disappearances, torture, and detention. Each brief release led to further isolation or house arrest. In 2014, he was forced to live in a cave, cut off from medical care, appearing severely ill in smuggled videos.
Despite captivity, Gao never gave up his commitment to justice. In his secret book The Year 2017, Stand Up, China, he wrote:
“Darkness can cover my eyes, but it cannot cover my faith… When the light comes, I will speak out for even more people.”
His fate remains unknown after eight years. His wife, Geng He, now a U.S. citizen, pleads:
“Please do not keep silent. We cannot allow a lawyer who stood for rule of law to disappear into silence. At least answer: Is he alive or dead?”
“Even under brutal torture, Gao’s faith endured,” said ChinaAid Founder and President Dr. Bob Fu. “He prayed quietly during interrogation, felt supernatural peace, and declared, ‘The one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world’ (1 John 4:4). Gao said, ‘I already got rid of fear… it is the Communist Party that is afraid of me.’”
Dr. Fu urged the public to speak out and use social media to keep Gao’s case alive. The FreeGao.com campaign gathered over 100,000 signatures worldwide. He also called on legal professionals to unite and ask, “Where is our colleague lawyer Gao?” to draw pressure on the Chinese government.
ChinaAid calls on governments, human rights groups, and the global legal community to demand transparency and justice. Gao Zhisheng must not be forgotten.
Where is Gao Zhisheng?
SOURCE ChinaAid Association
CONTACT: media@chinaaid.org
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