Chinese national shooting coach Tian Hong and her son Fu Yihan have been sentenced for smuggling weapons, with Tian receiving a 10-year prison term and Fu sentenced to 6 years.
According to a report by the Mainland Red Star News on January 1, 2025, on November 28, 2025, the Beijing No.1 Intermediate People’s Court issued a first-instance verdict on a case involving the import of shooting equipment. Tian Hong and her son Fu Yihan were found guilty of smuggling weapons and were respectively sentenced to 10 years and 6 years in prison, along with fines. The involved company, Guangzhou Pilin Sports Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Pilin Company”), was fined 3 million yuan (RMB).
Public records show that before the case, Tian Hong was the coach of the men’s rifle team at the Huangcun Sports Training Center in Guangdong Province, where she trained multiple Olympic champions, world champions, Asian champions, and national champions. She was also the actual controller of the Pilin Company. Her husband, Fu Jun, who was also a national-level coach before retirement, had trained Olympic champions like Yi Siling and Li Peijing. Their son, Fu Yihan, was once an Asian shooting champion and later became the legal representative of Pilin Company. On December 21, 2023, Tian Hong and Fu Yihan were taken into compulsory measures on suspicion of smuggling weapons and subsequently arrested.
The first-instance verdict revealed that from 2015 to 2023, Tian Hong and Fu Yihan purchased sports gun components from Germany, Switzerland, and other places without the company possessing import and sales qualifications, and smuggled them into the country. According to the court’s statistics, they smuggled a total of 2,446 firearm components, selling them to domestic shooting teams, sports schools, and some sports equipment bidding companies.
According to Fu Jun’s statement to “China Newsweekly,” there were about 200 units nationwide that purchased these components from Pilin Company, involving shooting sports management centers and sports schools in multiple provinces. These components include air cylinders, aiming devices, firing pins, among others.
A notice published on the Chinese government procurement website showed that sports firearms and ammunition are special sports equipment and controlled items by the state. According to regulations on the management of sports shooting firearms, sports ammunition can only be purchased from Huaxing Rongyao (Beijing) Sports Goods Co., Ltd. jointly designated by the General Administration of Sports and the Ministry of Public Security.
However, several provincial shooting team coaches and athletes have indicated that the process of purchasing firearm components from Huaxing Company is cumbersome, and the entire process can take 1 to 2 years, potentially affecting competitions and training.
A national-level shooting coach in a province in East China, Wang Gang (pseudonym), stated that sports firearms are updated quickly, and it’s usually unpredictable when components might need to be replaced. Thus, it’s not feasible to order a large amount of spare parts at once. Missing the declaration plan of the year means waiting until the next year to make a purchase, while purchasing through Pilin Company allows for a quick acquisition.
Another national-level shooting coach expressed that while Tian Hong’s smuggling behavior is undoubtedly illegal, they also hope the law will consider the circumstances, as these items have not entered society but are limited to athletes for training and competition purposes.
Fu Jun also mentioned that Pilin Company’s main business is selling clothing, gloves, etc., and does not rely on the profit from the involved components. “Through the sale of these components, Pilin Company made a total profit of over 40,000 yuan.”
Currently, Pilin Company, Tian Hong, and Fu Yihan have all filed appeals. Their attorney, Nie Min, stated that Tian Hong requested to revoke the first-instance verdict and either order a retrial or change the verdict to not guilty.