Hundreds of Chinese political dissidents and human rights activists gathered at Liberty Sculpture Park in Yermo, California, on April 4 for a sculpture unveiling ceremony calling on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to release imprisoned human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng.
Gao, who has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize three times and is widely known for defending religious freedom in China, has been missing since August 2017.
The newly unveiled sculpture, a depiction of Gao’s head and face, is titled “Gazing at the Stars—Gao Zhisheng.”
“Today we forever engrave our hero—the backbone of the Chinese people—into the Mojave Desert, a land of freedom,” sculptor Chen Weiming, founder of Liberty Sculpture Park and creator of the statue, said at the event.
Chen said the sculpture is dedicated not only to Gao, but also to all those who continue to fight for their fundamental rights and freedoms.
In 2001, Gao was recognized by China’s Ministry of Justice as one of the country’s top 10 lawyers for his work defending victims of medical malpractice and dispossessed landowners.
However, in 2005, after Gao sent an open letter to Beijing’s leadership calling for an end to the torture and inhumane treatment of practitioners of the spiritual discipline Falun Gong, he and his family were placed under constant police surveillance.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a meditation practice with moral teachings based on the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. In 1999, the CCP launched a brutal persecution campaign against Falun Gong, and millions of practitioners refused to renounce their faith and were subjected to illegal detention, torture, and brainwashing.
Later in 2005, after Gao issued a second open letter addressing Falun Gong-related legal cases, Gao’s law firm was shut down. He was arrested in 2006 and sentenced to three years in prison.
Following his release, Gao continued to advocate for religious freedom, representing Falun Gong practitioners and members of underground Christian churches. He authored the books “Unwavering Convictions” and “2016 Human Rights Report for China” and drafted a proposed constitution for a future China.
In January 2009, Gao’s wife, Geng He, and their two children escaped from China with the assistance of underground faith networks.
Gao disappeared in August 2017, and his current whereabouts are unknown.
Geng He spoke at the unveiling ceremony, sharing personal stories about her husband. Over the past year, she and numerous volunteers worked with Chen to help complete the statue.
Chen explained that the sculpture’s title, “Gazing at the Stars,” reflects Gao’s plight: living under the darkness of CCP repression, with only the stars symbolically connecting him to those still searching for him.
“As a Christian, Gao Zhisheng articulated the belief that human dignity is grounded in the understanding that every individual is created in the image and likeness of God,” said Piero Tozzi, senior director on China policy at the America First Policy Institute, who attended the event as a guest.
Tozzi praised Chen’s work in establishing Liberty Sculpture Park, and he condemned the CCP’s transnational repression targeting Chinese dissidents and activists in the United States.
“The artwork around us testifies that the desire for liberty is universal, though it finds a unique expression in America,” he said at the event. “Chen Weiming has dedicated the opportunities America has given him to defying tyranny and exposing tyrants.”
Tozzi noted that he had also visited the park on June 4, 2021, for the unveiling of a sculpture titled “CCP Virus,” which was later destroyed in an arson attack linked to CCP agents.
That sculpture featured a split image of Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s face, with one half depicted as a skull. The head was covered with spikes, symbolizing the virus that causes COVID-19.
“We gather today not merely to unveil a statue, but to confront a moral crisis. This is not just remembrance—it is resistance,” said Bob Fu, a Chinese American pastor and founder of ChinaAid, a Texas-based nonprofit organization that provides legal assistance to persecuted Christians in China.
Fu described Gao as “a lawyer who defended the persecuted, the tortured, the silenced, and the erased,” adding that Gao himself “was disappeared by a system that fears truth.”
A representative of Amnesty International also read a statement from the organization calling for Gao’s immediate release.
“Chinese authorities must immediately and unconditionally release him, disclose his whereabouts, and grant him unrestricted access to his family, legal counsel of his choosing, and necessary medical care,” the statement read.
“Gao Zhisheng is a voice of conscience and a symbol of moral courage in the face of injustice,” said event host Feng Congde, who was a student leader and survivor of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.
“This statue reminds us that while a person may be silenced, the pursuit of justice cannot be erased,” Feng said.
Liberty Sculpture Park, established in 2017, is located in Yermo, an unincorporated community in San Bernardino County in California’s Mojave Desert. Situated along Interstate 15, the park features large-scale sculptures honoring freedom advocates and depicting the Chinese people’s struggle for freedom and democracy.
