Crimes of Tong Jianming, Deputy Prosecutor General of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, in Persecuting Falun Gong

(Minghui.org) Falun Gong practitioners in 45 countries submitted another list of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials who participated in the persecution of Falun Gong in July 2025, 26 years after the CCP ordered the persecution. The practitioners are demanding that their governments hold the perpetrators accountable by barring them and their family members from entry, and freezing their assets.

These 45 countries include The Five Eyes (United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand), all 27 countries in the European Union (EU), and 13 countries on other continents. The EU countries include Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Belgium, Ireland, Austria, Denmark, Romania, Czechia, Finland, Portugal, Greece, Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Luxembourg, Croatia, Lithuania, Slovenia, Latvia, Estonia, Cyprus, and Malta. The remaining 13 countries are located in Asia, Europe, and the Americas, and include Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Switzerland, Norway, Liechtenstein, Israel, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, the Dominican Republic, and Paraguay.

According to a report published by the World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong (WOIPFG), the CCP highlighted a goal at a May 2024 meeting organized by the Ministry of Public Security: “Pay special attention to the cooperation between Falun Gong and Western politicians to sanction high-level Chinese leaders. Stop such behavior at all costs.”

Among the perpetrators listed was Tong Jianming, deputy prosecutor general of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate.

Perpetrator Information

Full Name of Perpetrator: Tong (last name) Jianming (first name) (童建明)Gender: MaleCountry: ChinaDate/year of Birth: June 1963Place of Birth: Chun’an, Zhejiang

Titles and Positions

February 2013 – July 2017: Prosecutor general of the Hebei Provincial Procuratorate, secretary of its Party Group, and member of the Provincial Political and Legal Affairs Committee

July 2017 – June 2018: Member of the Standing Committee of the Hebei Provincial Party Committee, secretary general and secretary of the Working Committee of Provincial Organs

June 2018 – May 2020: Deputy prosecutor general of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, member of the Procuratorial Committee, member of the Party Group

May 2020 – Present: Deputy secretary of the Party Group and deputy prosecutor general of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, member of the Procuratorial Committee

I. Crimes Committed During Tong’s Tenure as Deputy Prosecutor General of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate (May 2020 – Present)

Since June 2018, Tong has served as deputy prosecutor general of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, member of the Procuratorial Committee, member and deputy secretary of the Party Group, and deputy prosecutor general and member of the Procuratorial Committee. He is one of the highest commanders in the procuratorial system and should be held responsible for practitioners who are indicted and sentenced during this period for their faith.

January to May 2025

From January to May 2025, at least 380 Falun Gong practitioners across China were sentenced and fined a total of 1,841,000 yuan. Among them, 182 (47%) were age 60 or above, including 15 in their 80s, and 80 in their 70s.

Mr. Yang Yudong, 84, from Mengyin County, Shandong Province, was sentenced to a four-year prison term. Mr. Liu Yingjun, 75 and of Dalian City, Liaoning Province, was sentenced to seven years and fined 100,000 yuan. Ms. Chen Yanqiu, 58, from Chengde City, Hebei Province, was sentenced to nine years, and Ms. Meng Qingjie, 73, from Shenyang City, Liaoning Province, was sentenced to eight years and fined 50,000 yuan.

2024

In 2024, 764 Falun Gong practitioners were sentenced. Among them, 376 practitioners were given three years or longer and 8 practitioners were sentenced to between 10 and 13 years in prison. The oldest practitioner, Ms. Rao Jiyu, 94, from Guiyang City, Guizhou Province, was sentenced to 2.5 years. She was arrested in a park in 2020 after the police found Falun Gong materials in her possession.

Three Nongan County, Jilin Province residents were given heavy sentences. Mr. Su Xiufu, around 59, was sentenced to 13 years; Ms. Xu Yafen and Ms. Yin Guiying, in her 70s, both received 12 years.

Four Meizhou City, Guangdong Province residents were sentenced to prison in late December 2024. Mr. Li Zhuozhong, a former middle school teacher in his 50s, and his wife, Ms. Liao Yuanqun, a former kindergarten teacher, were both sentenced to ten years and fined a total of 150,000 yuan. Mr. Xie Yujun, 56, and Ms. Liao Juanna were each given five years and fined 70,000 yuan.

Seven practitioners in Laizhou City, Shandong Province were sentenced to prison by the Laizhou City Court on May 20, 2024. Mr. Lin Hongjie was sentenced to eight years and fined 40,000 yuan. Mr. Xie Qingcai received five years and was fined 20,000 yuan. Ms. Teng Qinghua, Ms. Fang Ruiqin, and Mr. Gao Rijun were each given three years and fined 10,000 yuan. Ms. Feng Guoping was sentenced to three years with four years probation, and fined 10,000 yuan. Ms. Pan Zhaohua was given one and a half years and fined 5,000 yuan.

Five practitioners of Qidong County, Hunan Province were sentenced following their arrests in March 2023. Mr. Kuang Zongyao was sentenced to eight years and fined 30,000 yuan. Mr. Qiu Xinnai was given seven years and four months and fined 20,000 yuan. Mr. Tang Bingsheng, 68, received seven years and two months and was fined 10,000 yuan. Mr. Zhang Xinfa, 73, was sentenced to three years and fined 10,000 yuan. Mr. Zhang Bailin, 71, was given one year and fined 5,000 yuan.

Mr. Ren Changbin, 60, of Jiamusi City, Heilongjiang Province, was arrested during a police sweep on September 14, 2024, and sentenced to a three-year prison term on July 25, 2024. He was transferred to Shuangyashan Prison on September 23 and died five days later. He had multiple bruises and injuries, and there were dark circles under his eyes and several stitches in his head.

2023

In 2023, at least 1,188 Falun Gong practitioners across 28 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities were sentenced and fined a total of 4,827,000 yuan.

Ms. Cai Xiuying and her husband, Mr. Zhu Mingdi, of Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province, were seized during a group arrest of local Falun Gong practitioners in April 2020. They were tried by the Daqing City Court in late December 2022 and soon convicted. Ms. Cai was sentenced to ten years and fined 70,000 yuan. Ms. Zhu was sentenced to nine years and eight months with a 60,000 yuan fine.

Ms. Lin Jianping, of Qixia City, Shandong Province, was arrested in March 2023, and sentenced to three years. She was taken back into custody in mid-October 2024 to serve time. She was tortured while in custody and released on medical parole on January 30, 2025. She died on February 13, 2025.

2022

In 2022, 633 practitioners from 28 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities were sentenced and fined a total of 3,349,500 yuan. Among them, 373 (58.9%) practitioners were sentenced to three years or longer.

Ms. Niu Xiaona, a Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province resident, was arrested on April 19, 2021. The Harbin Railway Transportation Court convicted her in late September 2022, and ordered her to serve a 15-year sentence, including a 14-year term previously given in 2004, which she had already served outside of prison per court order due to her physical disability.

Mr. Chu Jidong, 48, of Tianjin moved to Ningxia to avoid being persecuted for his faith. He was arrested around January 2022, and sentenced to 13 years in April 2022.

Mr. Wu Chengshou from Shandong was given 11 years and fined 100,000 yuan. Mr. Zhao Tianhua, the owner of a private school in Guangdong, was sentenced to 7 years and fined 500,000 yuan.

Ms. Liu Hongxia, of Dalian City, Liaoning Province, was arrested on October 28, 2021, for putting up posters about Falun Gong. She started a hunger strike on February 14, 2022 to protest the persecution, and was force-fed and injected with unknown drugs in the hospital. The Ganjingzi District Court sentenced her to four years after a hearing on July 13, 2022. She fell into critical condition due to torture and involuntary drug administration in custody, but the court and the detention center still refused to release her on medical parole. She died on the morning of November 8, 2022. She was 47 years old.

On July 25, 2022, the Rencheng District Court of Jining City, Shandong Province sentenced 15 Falun Gong practitioners. Among them, Ms. Mi Jinying was sentenced to seven years with a fine of 10,000 yuan. More than ten other practitioners were given sentences ranging from two-and-a-half to five years. Most of the sentenced practitioners were over 60 years old, with the oldest being in his 80s.

2021

In 2021, 1,184 Falun Gong practitioners from 27 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities were sentenced and fined a total of 5,997,800 yuan. In particular, 227 of the practitioners were 65 or older, including 70 between 65 and 70, 122 in their 70s, and 35 in their 80s. The oldest practitioner was 88 years old.

Ms. Wang Ruiling, 71, from Tangshan City, Hebei Province, was arrested during a group arrest on July 6, 2019, and wrongly sentenced to eight years at an unknown date. She was admitted to the prison on April 15, 2021. The prison guards beat her three times a day, and the floor of her cell was covered in blood splatters. They slammed her head against the wall and poured cold water over her. When she refused to open her mouth to be force-fed unknown drugs, they pried her mouth open, and in the process knocked out some of her teeth. She was eventually driven to a mental collapse, and cried and screamed every day.

Ms. Wang Rong, of Chengde City, Hebei Province, was sentenced to three years in 2021. She became seriously ill while serving time in the Hebei Province Women’s Prison. She was rushed to the hospital in August 2023 and was found to have kidney rupture and bleeding, as well as rib fractures. The doctors said there was no hope, and she was taken back home.

Ms. Wang’s family noted that she was wearing a diaper with blood oozing out on her legs, and there were bruises on her head and temple. She had edema on her back, and dimples appeared wherever the skin was pressed. In her final months, Ms. Wang lapsed in and out of consciousness. She had no strength to sit up and could only lie in bed all day long. She died on November 15, 2023.

Mr. Pang Xun, a former host for the Sichuan Province People’s Radio Station, was arrested in July 2020 and later sentenced to five years in prison. The 30-year-old man was tortured to death on December 2, 2022, only six months after being admitted to Jiazhou Prison. In the photos taken after Mr. Pang’s death, his body is seen covered with bruises, as well as marks from electric shocks and being tied up tightly with ropes. There was blood in his mouth. He had also become incontinent due to the torture.

Crimes Committed During Tong’s Tenure as Prosecutor General of the Hebei Provincial Procuratorate, Secretary of its Party Group, and Member of the Provincial Political and Legal Affairs Committee (February 2013 – July 2017)

Since the CCP began persecuting Falun Gong in 1999, the Hebei Provincial Procuratorate system has been actively prosecuting practitioners.

In February 2013, after Tong became the prosecutor general of the Hebei Provincial Procuratorate and a member of the Provincial Political and Legal Affairs Committee, he continued to implement the CCP’s eradication policy against Falun Gong. He slandered Falun Gong in public speeches and demanded a “resolute crackdown on...cult organizations.”

During Tong’s tenure from February 2013 to June 2017, at least 231 Falun Gong practitioners were sentenced in Hebei, including 39 in 2013, 35 in 2014, 56 in 2015, 58 in 2016, and 43 in the first half of 2017. At least four practitioners, including Mr. Li Kai, Mr. Dong Hanjie, Ms. Zhang Xiaojie, and Mr. Lai Zhiqiang, died as a result of the persecution.

From March 31 to April 2, 2016, with the pretext of maintaining security during the “World Expo,” the Tangshan 610 Office and public security dispatched more than 100 officers to arrest Falun Gong practitioners based on a blacklist. On March 31 alone, 21 practitioners were arrested and their homes were ransacked. Mr. Lai Zhiqiang and Li Xiaoxian were tried and sentenced to 5 and 7 years, respectively. Mr. Lai died in the prison on January 3, 2023, two months before his scheduled release.

Mr. Li Kai was arrested on July 29, 2015, and secretly sentenced to 3.5 years in prison by the Lulong County Court on September 21. The authorities took him to Jidong Prison in early December 2015 without informing his family. Only after he suffered a stroke (cerebral hemorrhage) in prison did his family receive notice on January 14, 2016, to take him home. He passed away two weeks later on January 29, 2016.

Mr. Dong Hanjie, a senior engineer, was sentenced to five years in prison by the Zhuozhou City Court in Hebei Province on February 11, 2015. Around August 16, his family members went to the detention center to visit him. He was subsequently transferred to Jidong Prison. In less than two months, on October 10, 2015, Mr. Dong Hanjie was persecuted to death in Jidong Prison. He was 62 years old.

In September 2014, the Haigang District Court of Qinhuangdao City sentenced ten practitioners, including Mr. Lian Baochang and Mr. Zhang Xingang, to prison terms ranging from twenty months to seven years. According to court records, the police confiscated a total of 1,502,721 yuan from the 17 practitioners who were arrested together (the other seven practitioners’ prosecution status is not clear). The police pocketed an additional 200,000 yuan that was taken from the practitioners, but that amount was not included in the court’s tally of confiscated property.

Over 40 Falun Gong practitioners in Shijiazhuang City and surrounding areas were arrested at 5 a.m. on November 15, 2013, during a police operation. Eight of them were later sentenced to prison.