Mother of Simon Zhang

On Chinese New Year (three days before the Beijing Winter Olympics' Opening Ceremony), police arrested and detained Ms. Yunzhi Ji. Authorities attempted to silence her because she was previously found with paper notes, stickers, and materials printed with Falun Gong information in her home. After two weeks in detention, she fell into a coma due to the abuse and passed away 49 days after her initial arrest.

(Pictured: Simon with his mother in China, undated.)

Case Summary

Yunzhi Ji / 季云芝 – Gender: Female

Current status: Ji died on March 21, 2022.

Reason for Detention: Arrested on February 1, Chinese New Year; in September 2021 police ransacked home and found over 100 Falun Gong related publications and 40 related USBs.

Past Detentions: She became disabled during forced labor terms in 2001 and 2008.

Current location: Inner Mongolia, China

Family Residence: New York City

News & Action

  • February 2022: Son Campaigned in U.S. for Mom’s Release
    Ms. Ji Yunzhi was arrested on Chinese New Year’s Day, February 1, 2022. Her son campaigned to American lawmakers like Senator Rick Scott for her immediate release. “[The treatment of Ji] is gross and deserves the scorn of every freedom-loving nation. The fact that the International Olympic Committee remains silent makes it complicit in the human rights abuses the Chinese people experience every day at the hands of the Chinese Communist Party,” Senator Scott responded, adding that “every freedom-loving nation must speak clearly” and hold the CCP accountable for its human rights crimes.
  • March 29, 2022: U.S. Senator Condemned CCP for Her Death
    After hearing about her sudden death, U.S. Senator Rick Scott issued a formal statement on March 29 declaring, “Beijing’s gross campaign against Falun Gong practitioners has gone on for far too long, and its latest victim is an innocent woman who was simply living out her beliefs in the face of Communist China’s oppressive authoritarian regime. My heart breaks for Simon and his father dealing with this tragic and senseless loss.”
  • March 30, 2022: Simon Spoke at a China Roundtable
  • April 25, 2022: Simon Meets with International Religious Freedom Ambassador-at-Large Rashad Hussain at the State Department
    Simon Zhang was one of six representatives of the spiritual discipline Falun Gong that met U.S. State Department officials on April 25 for an update on the decades-long ongoing persecution in China.
  • May 9, 2022: Simon Features on “Pandemic, Persecution, Pandemic” Webinar Panel Hosted by Falun Dafa Information Center
    Featuring a distinguished panel of experts and eyewitnesses, the webinar discussed recent updates to this human rights crisis, how it is reaching beyond China’s borders, and what the United States government and others can do to end the atrocities and secure a more free and just China.
  • February 1, 2023: Simon Speaks at the International Religious Freedom Summit 2023 with human rights experts like Nina Shea and Katrina Lantos Swett
    On Chinese New Year (three days before the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics’ Opening Ceremony), police arrested and detained Simon’s mother, Ms. Yunzhi Ji. Authorities attempted to silence her because she was previously found with paper notes, stickers, and materials printed with Falun Gong information in her home. After two weeks in detention, she fell into a coma due to the abuse and passed away 49 days after her initial arrest.
Share