Sun Zhigang

On the evening of March 17, 2003, Sun was taken to Huangcun Street police station in Guangzhou. The contemporaneous investigation reports that he owned an identity card but was not carrying it and had not obtained a temporary residence permit. A colleague brought documents and money but could not secure his departure. The next day he was transferred to custody-and-repatriation and treatment facilities.[1]

The contemporaneous investigation records efforts by colleagues as well as relatives. Colleagues went to the police station after receiving a telephone call, and his employer later sought to complete procedures at the custody facility. Friends continued to call and tried to visit after the transfer to the treatment facility. Their accounts, set alongside transfer records, helped reconstruct the period between his removal and death.[1]

After his death on March 20, relatives went to Guangzhou to seek an explanation and a forensic examination. June judicial reporting states that the court found he had been beaten and died of traumatic shock from extensive soft-tissue injuries. Intentional-injury charges and staff dereliction cases were handled separately.[3]

Relatives questioned the initial explanation of death and obtained forensic examination. Nanfang Metropolis Daily’s April 25 investigation brought that inquiry to public attention, citing findings issued on April 18 that contrasted with the initial illness explanation. The investigation, June court findings and later regulatory reform belong to different stages; later conclusions should not be substituted for what each party knew at the time.[1][3]

His death brought custody and repatriation and the circumstances of migrant workers into public debate. New State Council assistance rules took effect on August 1, 2003, repealing the old custody-and-repatriation rules. Criminal accountability, scholarly initiatives and regulatory change have distinct records; the related event provides the detailed proceedings and sources.[4][5]