Pang Jian, a resident of Baoding, Hebei, has been arrested for nearly six months on charges of “allegedly splitting the country.”

Pang Jian, a resident of Baoding, Hebei Province, has published many works related to literature, history, folklore and religion in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region under the pen name “Gao Yang” and has been interviewed by this station for his years of independent investigation into the forced demolition of rural areas in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. In January, Pang Jian was arrested by the Hebei Gaobeidian Public Security Bureau on charges of “suspected secession.

Before his arrest, Pang, 30, lived in Pangchang Village, Sizhuang Town, Gaobeidian City, Hebei Province. In December last year, he gave an interview under the pseudonym “Gao Yang” about his three-year independent investigation into the forced demolition of rural areas in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei. He has now been arrested by the Chinese authorities for nearly six months.

On July 1, Pang Jingxian, Pang Jian’s father and a farmer from Pangchang village, gave an interview to this reporter about Pang Jian’s arrest. He said that in January of this year: “We were checking the epidemic here, and he was lined up to go. He arrived at the piece, I can not figure out the details, and arrived at the police station caught. After that, (the police) came to my house to check Pang Jian’s things. After getting rid of all his things, there was no more.”

After that, Pang Jingxian received the “Notice of Detention” and “Notice of Arrest” from the Gaobeidian Public Security Bureau for Pang Jian, both addressed to Pang Jingxian on Jan. 15 and Jan. 28 of this year.

Pang Jingxian said, “The Gaobeidian Public Security Bureau notified me as soon as they caught him. After notifying me, I went to see him a few times. I went to see him a few times and then nothing happened.”

The Notice of Detention states that Pang Jian was placed in criminal detention at 11:00 a.m. on January 15, 2021, on suspicion of “inciting secession” and is being held at Gaobeidian City Detention Center.

The Notice of Arrest states that, with the approval of the Gaobeidian City People’s Procuratorate, the Gaobeidian City Public Security Bureau arrested Pang Jian at 17:00 on January 28, 2021, on “suspicion of splitting the country” and is still detained at the Gaobeidian City Detention Center.

Pang Jingxian confessed to reporters that the current situation is: “We can’t contact him now, and we haven’t found a lawyer.”

He also revealed that the Gaobeidian Public Security Bureau told him that Pang would be held at the detention center for “at least six months” before he would be formally brought to court.

Ryan Shi, who lives in the United States, is a friend of Pang and a supporter of his political philosophy. He said Pang, a Catholic, has traveled around Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei by bicycle several times in the past few years, investigating the demolition of villages, the distribution of Catholic churches and local customs, and has written many articles. He said, “His camera has recorded the Catholic churches in almost the whole territory of Hebei, as well as the local customs and architectural features of each place.”

In addition, Pang Jian was also interviewed by Radio Television Hong Kong’s “Clanging Collection” in January 2019 under his Christian name Jacob, about the Catholic underground church in Hebei.

Cai Quan, who now lives in California, is from Beijing and is a close friend of Pang Jian. Although Pang’s cell phone was shut down in March, his social networking software, Telegram, was still logged in after that, Cai said: “After this login, we can assume that he is in trouble and has been arrested, probably in illegal detention. “

The reporter dialed the Gaobeidian City Detention Center on July 3 and confirmed that Pang Jian is still being held there on suspicion of “separatist crimes. When the reporter asked about Pang Jian’s recent condition, the operator said he was “fine” and had no mental problems, and refused to disclose any more information. And when the reporter turned to ask when Pang Jian’s family can go to visit him again, the operator said: “Now can not see. One is that his case has not been closed; the second is that the epidemic is now normalized and cannot be seen now.”

The operator also said that the family will be allowed to visit Pang Jian only after “there is no epidemic”.