Former Shandong Yantai University professor Zhang Zhongshun, who participated in the “Xiamen Gathering” in 2019, is still detained in a detention center. The latest information reveals that Zhang’s family has been unable to meet with him, as the Chinese police have repeatedly threatened them not to interfere with Zhang’s affairs.
According to a report on April 20, it has recently been learned that Zhang’s family tried to hire a lawyer for him, but the handling police told the family that Zhang already has a legal aid lawyer and claimed that Zhang does not want his family to intervene.
The police have repeatedly warned the family not to get involved in Zhang’s case or mention it to others.
The report states that the family cannot see Zhang or hear directly from him, leaving them unaware of Zhang’s true situation and thoughts.
Currently, Zhang Zhongshun remains detained at the Linshu County Detention Center in Linyi City, Shandong Province.
It was previously reported that at the end of 2019, the authorities in Shandong Province designated the establishment of the “12.13” special task force to arrest citizens who attended the “Xiamen Gathering”.
Between December 26 and 31 of the same year, more than twenty rights lawyers and dissidents, including Zhang Zhongshun, Xu Zhiyong, Ding Jiaxi, and Dai Zhenya, were successively arrested or went missing. Many were accused of subverting state power.
Zhang Zhongshun not only was arrested but also had his home raided four times. The police claimed to have found 245 bullets in a property he had rented out for a long time, leading to accusations of “engaging in terrorist activities” against him.
During the New Year period in 2020, Zhang’s daughter posted on social media that on the morning of January 2, the national security police in Yantai searched the house her parents had rented out in Yantai, claiming to have found 245 bullets. However, her mother said that those were not theirs and it was a frame-up. Later, her mother was detained by the police for 12 hours.
Public information indicates that Zhang Zhongshun was born in Penglai City, Shandong Province in 1967. He graduated from the Fudan University-Hong Kong University IMBA program in 2001.
In 2015, Zhang Zhongshun told NTD that when he taught “Public Ethics” in 2007, he shared real wartime history and the truth about the Tiananmen Square Massacre to broaden students’ perspectives.
He said, “I had just watched the documentary ‘The One-Inch Mountain,’ which was my first time seeing the real wartime history, and I was shocked. I mentioned it during class and was reported by students, leading to my arrest.”
Zhang Zhongshun stated that the police, after carefully studying the 40 episodes of “The One-Inch Mountain,” ignored the historical facts inside and the fact that his discussion of history was not illegal. They used the mention of Falun Gong in a few places as a pretext to formally arrest him for “using a cult to undermine law enforcement.”
In August 2008, Zhang Zhongshun was sent to a prison in Shandong Province. After his release in 2010, he was dismissed from his position at Yantai University.
In early December 2019, Zhang Zhongshun was once again monitored under the pretext of subverting state power by the CCP’s “12.13 special task force,” and he was released after nearly six months.
On September 23, 2022, he was subjected to another search at his place of residence for providing testimony to the defense lawyers of Xu Zhiyong and Ding Jiaxi. On January 9, 2023, he was transferred to the Linshu County Detention Center in Linyi City for criminal detention.
Currently, Zhang Zhongshun has been transferred to court by the Linyi City Procuratorate in Shandong, and as of now, he still has no legal representation.
Following Zhang Zhongshun’s detention, his wife has also been affected. In March of this year, Zhang’s wife, Yang Hongni, revealed that her social security card had been frozen, and funds from her personal bank account were forcibly deducted.
Yang Hongni and Zhang Zhongshun were former colleagues at Shandong Yantai University and have since retired.