Christianity Today has a great article about Gao that I would like to encourage you to read. Click here to read China's Conscience Missing in Action
Often called "the conscience of China," the 45-year-old Christian gained worldwide acclaim for his defense of workers, political activists, and religious groups. Todd Nettleton, spokesman for Voice of the Martyrs, said Gao had the "audacity" to tell the world how poorly China treats its people. In 2005, Gao criticized China's torture of adherents of Falun Gong, a traditional Chinese religion, and his comments triggered a brutal response. For over seven weeks in 2007, police tortured Gao with cigarette burns and electric batons, threatening to kill him.
About 30 days after Gao's disappearance on February 4 of this year, Christians and human-rights groups launched FreeGao.com, demanding his release. By late August, more than 100,000 had signed a petition and 440,000 e-mails had been sent to government officials pleading Gao's case.
