# Zhang Hongbao

Zhang Hongbao (simplified Chinese: 张宏堡; traditional Chinese: 張宏堡) (5 January 1954, in Harbin, Heilongjiang, China – 31 July 2006, in Arizona, USA) was a Chinese dissident, Qigong master, and the founder of Zhong Gong, a popular Qigong movement that gained tens of millions of followers in China before being suppressed by the Chinese government. Zhang was also a pro-democracy advocate and a prominent figure in the Chinese exile community.
During the 1990s, Zhong Gong became one of the most widely practiced Qigong systems in China, attracting millions of followers and significant attention from both the public and government authorities. In 1999, as part of a broader crackdown on spiritual movements, the Chinese government classified Zhong Gong as a "cult" and declared it illegal. The authorities confiscated all of Zhong Gong’s assets, including the 3,000 businesses under the Unicorn Group, and arrested 600 of its key members.
A warrant was issued for Zhang’s arrest, forcing him to flee China. He sought political asylum in the United States, positioning himself as a victim of persecution by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Though his asylum request was not granted, he was placed under Protective Resident Status on June 13, 2001.
On July 31, 2006, Zhang died in a motor vehicle accident in Arizona at the age of 52. His sudden death led to speculation among his supporters, though no evidence of foul play was confirmed. While Zhong Gong’s public presence faded after his death, the movement remains active in China today, operating in secrecy due to ongoing repression by the Chinese government.
Despite persecution, Zhang Hongbao remains a symbol of resistance against the Chinese government’s suppression of spiritual and pro-democracy movements.

## Early life

Zhang was born in 1954 in Harbin, where his family trade was coal-mining. Zhang spent ten years during the Cultural Revolution in a state farm in Heilongjiang, during which time he started practicing Qigong. In 1977, he was admitted to the Harbin School of Metallurgy. On leaving, he joined the Communist Party and became a physics teacher in a mining region. Zhang gained entrance into the Beijing University of Science and Technology in 1985 where he studied Economic management. Palmer, citing Ji Yi, said Zhang was interested in a diverse range of modules from Law to Chinese and Western Medicine. He also signed on at the Chinese Qigong Further Education Academy. During this time he developed a style of Qigong which was based on automation, physics, relativity, bionics, and with distinctive use of mechanical engineering jargon. After graduation, he became a paid qigong researcher at a university, where he was to give his first public demonstration of the "Extraordinary Powers" he had acquired.

## Zhong Gong

Zhang founded Zhong Gong in 1987, launching it on the auspicious date of 8 August. Palmer, citing Ji Yi's 10-million-selling hagiography The Great Qigong Master Comes Down From the Mountains (1990), says that Zhang gave two-week-long Qigong workshops which received national coverage in the People's Daily. Among the over a thousand people who participated were prominent academics such as the President of Beijing University, who were reportedly able to capture and emit Qi. Having won over the academic community, Zhang also gained acceptance within the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and other sections of the scientific community. Furthermore, he became a media celebrity after one workshop was featured in a three-minute news segment on CCTV. He also gained credibility within the media and political elites.
The movement claimed 34 million followers, 120,000 employees, 30 life cultivation bases, and 100,000 "branches" at its peak.
According to Perry, in the early 1990s, Zhang and his followers withdrew to Qingchengshan, deep in Sichuan, where Zhang would reorganise his activities into commercial enterprises, the flagship of which was the Qilin Group, based in Qilin City. Cunningham states the group was made up of some 60 companies headquartered in Tianjin. The group reportedly employed 100,000 workers, mostly in qigong-related education, publication and health-product ventures.

## Political Persecution and Exile

Unlike Li Hongzhi, founder of Falun Gong, who disavowed political ambition, Zhang Hongbao openly embraced political activism. His strong opposition to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and his growing influence as the leader of Zhong Gong made him a target for government persecution.
In 2000, as part of a broader effort to discredit and suppress spiritual movements, the Chinese government issued a warrant for Zhang’s arrest, accusing him of rape and using forged travel documents. The charges, covering incidents from 1990 to 1994, were widely seen by his supporters as a politically motivated attack aimed at undermining his credibility and dismantling Zhong Gong.
During this period, Chinese state media and government-aligned figures launched a defamation campaign against Zhang. A former disciple defected from the group and published an exposé denouncing him as a fraud, while prominent CCP-aligned skeptic Sima Nan accused Zhang of serious crimes without providing verifiable evidence. These allegations were widely circulated by state-controlled media but were never substantiated in an independent court.

## Escape from China and Exile in the U.S.

Anticipating the crackdown, Zhang reportedly left China on June 17, 1994, departing from Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport and traveling through Southeast Asia before finally reaching the United States in 2000. He sought political asylum, arguing that the charges against him were fabricated to justify the CCP’s suppression of his movement. Though his asylum request was not granted, he was placed under Protective Resident Status in 2001, allowing him to remain in the U.S.

## Life in the United States

Following increased scrutiny and restrictions on Zhong Gong in China, Zhang Hongbao went into hiding in 1995. In February 2000, he and his longtime associate Yan Qingxin arrived in Guam, a U.S. territory, without a visa and immediately applied for political asylum in the United States. While awaiting a decision, Zhang staged a hunger strike to protest his detention, drawing the support of several overseas Chinese dissident organizations, including the Free China Movement, the Chinese Democracy Party, and the Joint Conference of Chinese Overseas Democracy Movements. Although Zhang's asylum request was initially denied, he was granted protection from deportation, preventing his forced repatriation to China. After 13 months in detention, Zhang secured the legal services of Robert Shapiro, the well-known defense attorney who previously represented O.J. Simpson. Shapiro claims credit for gaining the support of Trent Lott and Jesse Helms for Zhang's application. In June 2001, the U.S. Board of Immigration Appeals reversed its earlier ruling and granted Zhang Protective Resident Status, allowing him to remain in the United States.

## Political Involvement and Internal Disputes

In April 2001, Zhang helped fund the China Federation Foundation (CFF), an organization led by Peng Ming, a fellow dissident. CFF aimed to establish an alternative government for China, though Zhang’s precise role in the group's political strategies remains unclear.
Over time, conflicts emerged within the Chinese dissident community, leading to a falling out between Zhang and other activists, including Yan Qingxin, his partner of 12 years and former Zhong Gong second-in-command. Yan, who had been instrumental in expanding Zhong Gong into a large and influential organization, filed a lawsuit against Zhang in June 2001, accusing him of assault, battery, and false imprisonment, demanding $23 million in damages. Yan's sister, Qi Zhang, another Chinese dissident, later filed a separate lawsuit in July 2003, alleging racketeering and slander.Between 2003 and 2005, Zhang faced between 20 and 40 civil lawsuits, many of which were eventually dismissed or withdrawn.

## Legal Challenges and Final Court Rulings

Zhang was arrested in March 2003 at his Pasadena mansion in connection with allegations made by his housekeeper, He Nanfang. Zhang was charged with four felonies, including kidnapping assault and false imprisonment with a deadly weapon. Had he been convicted of these charges, he could have lost his Protective Resident Status and faced deportation to China.
However, in April 2005, the most serious felony charges were reduced to a single misdemeanor charge of battery, to which Zhang pleaded no contest. On February 28, 2006, he won his final criminal case, and in the following months, most remaining lawsuits were dismissed or withdrawn, with only one civil and one labor compensation case still pending at the time of his death.

## Death and Allegations of Assassination

On July 31, 2006, Zhang Hongbao died in a car accident in Arizona. However, his death has been the subject of widespread speculation, with many believing that it was an orchestrated assassination by the Chinese government.
Since 1995, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) had reportedly attempted multiple covert operations to eliminate Zhang. Supporters argue that his high-profile status as a dissident, his influence over millions of followers, and his open criticism of the CCP made him a prime target for a shadow assassination. These claims are further fueled by the fact that Zhong Gong’s official website did not announce his death until a month later, leading some to suspect behind-the-scenes pressure or strategic caution from his organization.
Though no conclusive evidence has surfaced, many within the Chinese dissident community remain convinced that Zhang's death was not accidental but rather a final move in the long-standing campaign against him.