Christian human rights defender releases book of torture and abuses under China

Under round-the-clock surveillance, human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng outsmarted Chinese authorities when his memoir of detailed abuses made it out of China.

After it was published in Taiwan this week, Gao's daughter, Grace Geng, introduced her father's book in Hong Kong Tuesday, June 14, as reported by The New York Times. Titled "Stand Up China 2017 – China's Hope: What I Learned During Five Years as a Political Prisoner," the 446-page book is written in Chinese with the translated version due next year.

Gao wrote extensively about his experiences of torture and abuse suffered at the hands of Chinese authorities from 2004 to 2014. The first part of the book focused on Gao's series of abductions and tortures. The latter part devoted to his imprisonment between 2011 and 2014.

"My experience is just one part of the boundless suffering of the Chinese race under the cruelest regime in human history," Gao wrote as introduction to his memoir, as reported by The Guardian.

A war veteran, Gao rose to prominence as a civil rights lawyer who defended the marginalized and religious minorities. Since his release from prison in 2014, Gao has been living with his brother under house arrest and round-the-clock police surveillance. In an interview with the Associated Press conducted under a messaging app to evade detection, he complained of his toothache saying that efforts to seek treatment are always blocked.

He also revealed that it is his Christian faith that keeps him strong.

"Every time I've been in trouble, my religion was always there as a source of strength. All the difficulties I've experienced have drawn me closer to my faith and religion. I am a person of faith; a person of faith is never lonely, never weak. I think God gives me a lot of strength," he told AP.

Gao claims he's undaunted by the consequences of writing his incendiary book, an echo of what he said way back in 2006.

"I am a warrior who does not care whether I live or die," he once told The Guardian.