Person profile: Zhao Weidong (赵卫东) — Person Profile
Zhao Weidong (赵卫东) — Media Profile & Archive
This archive preserves the media and documentary record on Zhao Weidong (赵卫东), a Falun Gong practitioner from Tai’an, Shandong Province, sentenced to two years’ imprisonment in 2024 — his second prison sentence for his religious practice.
Case chronology
- May 1998 — Zhao Weidong begins practicing Falun Gong (per case reports).
- 2004 — Arrested by Tai’an police; sentenced to 12 years; served in the Shandong Men’s Prison; released 2016.
- September 12, 2024 — Detained with his wife at a supermarket in Qiujiadian town, Tai’an; taken to the Tai’an City Detention Center.
- November 13, 2024 — Tried at the Taishan District Court, Tai’an; lawyer pleads not guilty; sentenced to two years’ imprisonment.
- February 19, 2025 — Transferred to the Shandong Provincial Prison.
- August 31, 2026 — Listed in 维权网’s monthly report on mainland detained political/conscience prisoners, “sentenced to 2 years” group.
Source records
- CHRD Prisoners of Conscience database — individual record: 赵卫东 / “Zhao Weidong”, born 1963, male; seized 2024.9.12; charge unknown; sentence 2 years; term to 2026.9.11; Shandong Provincial Prison. The summary gives the full biography (Tai’an native, former assistant engineer, prior 12-year term 2004–2016, November 13, 2024 trial, February 19, 2025 prison transfer) and cites the Minghui article below. https://tenchu.org/pocd/public/searchpage (record retrieved October 10, 2026)
- Minghui.org (September 25, 2025) — “山东泰安市法轮功学员赵卫东等被劫持入冤狱” — reports the September 12, 2024 detention, the November 13, 2024 trial with a not-guilty plea, the two-year sentence to September 11, 2026, and the February 19, 2025 transfer to the Shandong Men’s Prison, plus background on the 2004–2016 imprisonment. https://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2025/9/25/山东泰安市法轮功学员赵卫东等被劫持入冤狱-499823.html
- 维权网 (Weiquanwang) — 《中国大陆在押政治犯、良心犯月度报告（2026年8月31日）第131期》 — lists 赵卫东 in the “判刑2年，32人” (sentenced to 2 years, 32 people) group and in the report’s name index.
Disambiguation
赵卫东 (Zhao Weidong) is not to be confused with 关卫东 (Weidong Guan), the former Epoch Times chief financial officer charged in a U.S. money-laundering case — a different person with a different surname.
Evidentiary limitations
The criminal charge is not stated in the available sources. The case facts above rest on reporting by Minghui.org (a Falun Gong-affiliated outlet) and CHRD’s prisoner database; no court document or official procedural record has been located. No consulate or PRC official-source record for this case was found. Zhao’s release following the reported September 11, 2026 term end is unverified.
Person profile: Zhao Weidong (赵卫东) — Person Profile