Peng Ming (彭明) was a mainland Chinese democracy activist who died in Xianning Prison, Hubei, on November 29, 2016. He is a different person from Peng Ming-min (彭明敏), the Taiwanese democracy leader.
Activism and imprisonment
Reporting collected in the MUSE21 evidence package describes Peng as founder of the China Development Federation in 1998. After reeducation through labor and later exile, he resettled in the United States. In 2004, while visiting Thailand, he was reportedly lured into Myanmar and transferred back to China. In 2005 a Wuhan court sentenced him to life imprisonment on charges including “forming and leading a terrorist organization.”
Death in prison
Family accounts reported that Peng collapsed while watching television in Xianning Prison on November 29, 2016 and died. His family said it received no official cause of death or death certificate and requested an autopsy by an independent international medical authority.
Post-death claims concerning removal of organs, restrictions on family attendance and Peng’s earlier warnings about a possible “accident” are family-attributed accounts carried by rights and media organizations; they are not presented here as independently established facts. No independent public investigation established the cause of death.
Related records
Memorial: Peng Ming
Media Profile & Archive: Peng Ming