The life of He Zhaoxiangrui, a postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Earth Sciences (Editor’s Note: Department of Earth System Science) of Tsinghua University, was fixed at 3:40 a.m. on April 7, 2025. He jumped from the 15th floor where he lived, ending his life at the age of 31.
In just over two hours, the sun will rise, and a new day will begin, but he will never see it.
1. Returning to China
In September 2024, Xiangrui became a postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Earth Sciences, Tsinghua University. Previously, he graduated from the State University of New York at Albany with a major in Atmospheric Science and Meteorology and obtained a doctoral degree.
Before coming to Tsinghua, he worked at the State University of New York Research Foundation as a postdoctoral fellow.
The seeds of returning to China had already been sown six years ago. He wrote in his diary: “I came to the United States to study not to make a lot of money, not to become famous, nor to live a good life in the United States, but to repay my parents for all their sacrifices for me, for the rise of the Chinese nation, and for my unyielding and strong personality.”
In June 2024, his other two papers were accepted (published) by JC and JGR respectively. In August, his physical examination and professional psychological assessment also passed smoothly. In September, he signed a postdoctoral research work agreement with Tsinghua University, and a new life was slowly unfolding.
Life was busy and fulfilling. Every day, starting from 6 or 7 in the morning, he arranged everything in detail, down to the hour.
Entering 2025, Xiangrui seemed even busier. The work log shows that from January 1st to April 9th, he spent most of his time writing applications for postdoctoral funds, youth funds, and YC plans, writing papers, running data, and testing models. He only arranged for one movie and one dinner with friends.
Xiangrui was so diligent, and the answer can be found in his conversations with friends before returning to China: “There are still many talents in the motherland now, and studying abroad doesn’t have much advantage. You still have to work hard.” He also said, “China will definitely surpass the United States in the future.” When his friend said that he, with such a high level of education, should still come back to build the motherland, he replied: “Everyone is serving the people. Pursuing personal things cannot really realize your greatest value.”
If there was anything to adjust in his busy and fulfilling work and study, it might be that Xiangrui joined the choir, and he often shared the programs to be performed with his mother and practiced diligently for them. He also kept his habit of reading for many years. In the rented room, the sofa, the bedside, the table, and the bookshelves were filled with thousands of books, making it almost impossible to find a place to stand. Among them were his favorite original books on Marxism-Leninism, Selected Works of Mao Zedong, and other monographs.
It is said that where you put in your time, you will get rewards.
Since Xiangrui joined the job, he has been engaged in postdoctoral research work around “the impact of the three major oceans on the precipitation of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau” and has made progress. In addition to actively participating in the application of postdoctoral funds and key research and development plans, in March 2025, half a year after joining the job, he submitted a natural science foundation youth project application entitled “Research on the Construction Method of Long-Sequence High-Resolution and High-Precision Precipitation Data in Southeastern Tibet”.
To pursue greater progress, Xiangrui also solemnly submitted an application to join the Party organization. He told his mother that he applied to join the Communist Party of China because he truly had faith, which stemmed from his deep recognition of the lofty ideals and great cause of the Party. He wanted to closely link his personal growth with the destiny of the country and serve the people wholeheartedly.
At this time, everything was so joyful. He often rode a shared bicycle on campus, with one hand in his pocket and the other on the handlebars, his face full of smiles, both free and easy.
2. Accident
On April 4th, the Qingming Festival holiday began. During the holiday, the weather in Beijing was good, attracting a large number of tourists. According to official data, during the Qingming holiday in 2025, Beijing received a total of 9.593 million tourists, an increase of 6.2% year-on-year. The top five scenic spots (areas) in terms of reception volume were Wangfujing, Olympic Park, Tiananmen Square area, Xidan, and Shichahai Scenic Area.
After Xiangrui finished his work in the office at Tsinghua University that day, he couldn’t avoid it either. Although the friend who invited him to the Forbidden City canceled the appointment, he decided to take a taxi and go for a walk himself. When he walked to Fuyou Street, an accident happened.
Xiangrui had a conflict with the police who questioned him and was suspected of being a petitioner. The people from the Sichuan working group in Beijing were notified to take him away. The working group in Beijing sent someone to send him back to school after confirming that he was a postdoctoral fellow at Tsinghua University.
According to information provided by Xiangrui’s relatives, after a brief inquiry by the school security department, the deputy secretary of the Party Committee of the Department of Earth Sciences, Lu Hui, was notified to send Xiangrui to his residence. During this period, none of the above parties made a record of the matter, and even the school security department provided psychological counseling to Xiangrui.
Subsequently, the Secretary of the Party Committee of the Department of Earth Sciences, Geng Rui, arranged for Xiangrui’s co-supervisor, Yang Kun, to talk to him. Although the talk was scheduled for the morning of the next day (April 5th), Xiangrui arrived at the school at more than 7 o’clock in the morning, and he had only slept for 4 to 5 hours the day before.
He wandered in the corridor outside Yang Kun’s office for about two hours and entered Yang Kun’s office at around 10:20, where they had a talk for more than 20 minutes. As for the content of the talk, it is unknown due to the lack of video and audio recordings.
After Xiangrui came out of the office, he did not go directly back to his own office, but continued to wander in the corridor until Yang Kun called him into the office again. After coming out of the office again, Xiangrui’s mother clearly felt Xiangrui’s low spirits when she checked the monitoring records. “He didn’t ride his bike to the cafeteria as usual, but walked, walking very heavily, with a lot on his mind.”
At 11:59 a.m. on the 5th, Xiangrui added the WeChat of the Secretary of the Party Committee of the Department, Geng Rui, and at 1:03 p.m. agreed to meet on the morning of April 7th (Monday) at 9 a.m. At 2:05 p.m. on the 5th, Yang Kun sent a message to Xiangrui saying that he had informed Teacher Liu about his withdrawal from the station. Only two hours separated from “waiting for the real withdrawal” to the withdrawal.
On the last day of the holiday, at 9:40 a.m. on April 6th, Yang Kun sent a message to Xiangrui to explain the issue of data retention and drafted an email. One hour later, the email was sent, notifying him to “organize materials and prepare for handover.”
Xiangrui’s mother believes that Xiangrui had not yet talked to the Secretary of the Party Committee of the Department, but Yang Kun was in a hurry to have him hand over his work and leave Tsinghua. “This directly led to Xiangrui’s rapid heartbeat at 8 o’clock that night. After failing to buy a quick-acting heart-saving pill online, he called 120 for emergency treatment and was sent to Jishuitan Hospital.”
After Xiangrui arrived at the hospital, he communicated extensively with the Secretary of the Party Committee of the Department, Geng Rui, saying that he “was not a foreign force”, “his thoughts had not changed”, and “his will was firm”, and expressing his desire to return to Chengdu and be an ordinary person. After seeing these chat records, Xiangrui’s mother’s first reaction was “My child could not accept the fact of being forced to withdraw from the station, and said he would return to Chengdu to be an ordinary person, which showed his unwillingness.”
The family members also received an unusual conversation from the classmates who accompanied Xiangrui to the hospital that night. After seeing his classmate, Xiangrui asked, “Who are you?” (In fact, Xiangrui knew this classmate) The classmate retorted, “Who am I, don’t you know?” (The classmate thought Xiangrui’s question was too impolite) Xiangrui then asked, “Who do you represent?”
Later, Xiangrui said goodbye to his classmate and took a taxi back to the community where he lived. The surveillance showed that it was already 11:30 p.m. at this time, and his expression was very low and depressed.
At 3:40 a.m., a greater misfortune happened. After leaving a handwritten will, Xiangrui jumped from the 15th floor, ending everything.
Xiangrui’s will
The Secretary of the Party Committee of the Department of Earth Sciences, Geng Rui, received the information about Xiangrui’s suicide at 5 or 6 o’clock in the morning of the same day, and she replied to Xiangrui’s WeChat with a message.
3. Aftermath
At 10:47 a.m. on April 7th, Xiangrui’s parents received a call from Tsinghua University informing them that their son had died unexpectedly in Beijing in the early morning. Xiangrui’s mother said, “I instantly felt the sky falling and the earth collapsing, and I almost fainted.” They arrived in Beijing that day, and the deputy secretary of the Party Committee of the Department of Earth Sciences of Tsinghua University, Lu Hui, and teacher Yang Kun received them.
Yang Kun told Xiangrui’s parents on the way that Xiangrui had voluntarily proposed to withdraw from the station. Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee Lu Hui introduced what happened on the evening of April 4th. Although Xiangrui’s parents, immersed in grief, felt that something was strange, they had not yet had time to investigate carefully. It was not until they were sorting through the belongings that they found the chat records between Xiangrui and Yang Kun and Geng Rui.
“We believe that our son was forced to withdraw from the station, especially when his pure heart was denied, slandered, and wrongly accused of being influenced by foreign bad ideas, and when his ideals and aspirations to serve the motherland and contribute to society were shattered, and his life value was subverted. In despair, he sought justice from Secretary Geng Rui and asked for help, but to no avail, so he resolutely chose the extreme of using death to prove his integrity,” Xiangrui’s mother said with suppressed grief.
Facing many doubts, Xiangrui’s relatives asked the school to review the whole process and respond to the questions. On April 10th, the first communication meeting was held, attended by co-supervisor Yang Kun, Secretary of the Party Committee Geng Rui, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee Lu Hui, Director Yao of the Department’s Party and Government Office, and staff from the security department.
According to Xiangrui’s mother’s statement, Yang Kun insisted that in the talk with Xiangrui on April 6th, he did not deny, slander, or even wrong and force him, and also gave him three days to consider. It was Xiangrui himself who later confirmed the withdrawal from the station. Secretary of the Party Committee Geng Rui remained expressionless throughout the process, and in the face of the relatives’ questions, responded with “We also want to know why”, “Don’t understand”, and “Don’t know”.
Xiangrui’s family members felt that they could not solve the problem at the departmental level. After they reported it to various parties, the school’s personnel department took the lead in establishing a working group on April 17th. The family members hope that the working group can investigate the following doubts:
(1) Yang Kun said that Xiangrui had planned to withdraw from the station. Judging from the fact that Xiangrui actively prepared for the Shui Mu Scholar defense on the 9th and that he didn’t look for a new job in Chengdu at all, Xiangrui had no plan at all. Moreover, if Xiangrui voluntarily withdrew from the station, why did he choose to commit suicide?
(2) Yang Kun said that the first talk gave Xiangrui three days to consider whether to withdraw from the station. Since there were three days, why did he rush to ask Xiangrui to confirm the results of his consideration after the first talk that day?
(3) Yang Kun said that he did not force him, so why did he send an email to urge Xiangrui to hand over his work on Sunday morning, when Xiangrui had not yet finished talking with the Secretary of the Party Committee of the Department, Geng Rui?
(4) When Xiangrui was hospitalized due to a heart problem and had already expressed regret for answering Yang Kun’s phone call, and showed great dependence on Secretary of the Party Committee Geng Rui, as an old teacher with 16 years of student guidance experience and a national level-three psychological counselor qualification, when seeing “I beg you”, “I should only contact you”, and “What do you say”, he did not fully perceive Xiangrui’s psychological changes, could not provide more positive care measures, and did not inform his family in time. Isn’t this a work error by Geng Rui?
(5) Xiangrui returned to China with the ideal of serving the motherland, and in WeChat, he said that he didn’t want to do great things, but just be a housewife, and not to move around casually, not to contact people casually, and be a diver, all of which revealed the huge psychological changes that he had undergone in just two days. Judging from his chats and call records before his death, only Yang Kun and Geng Rui had in-depth communication with him. So, who made him abandon his lofty ideals, and who made him build a high wall in his heart?
(6) Geng Rui and Yang Kun argued that the events of April 4th were not magnified. Since they were not magnified, why couldn’t they wait until the end of the holiday to talk? It is abnormal to have a talk during the holiday itself, which shows that the above two people attached great importance to this matter and were eager for him to withdraw from the station to clear the relationship. Besides this, what other reasons could there be?
Waiting and hoping, the school’s working group finally gave feedback on May 9th. The director of the school’s personnel department read out in public: “(Between Yang Kun and Geng Rui and Xiangrui) it was a normal work talk, there was no pressure, Xiangrui voluntarily proposed to withdraw from the station, and there was no coercion.” And said, “This reading is the final result. If you don’t accept it, you can file a civil lawsuit.” In the recording of the announcement, the background sound was Xiangrui’s mother’s sobbing.
“It was clearly them who forced him to withdraw from the station and stigmatized Xiangrui as being influenced by bad ideas, which led to the collapse of his faith and his extreme behavior of suicide, but it was characterized as ‘having no causal relationship’. How could I possibly accept such a conclusion?” Xiangrui’s mother said, and burst into tears again.
The pain of losing her son has put Xiangrui’s mother on the verge of collapse. She relies on medication to get through the long nights and relies on constantly sending messages to Xiangrui on WeChat to relieve the heart-wrenching pain.
What’s more unacceptable to Xiangrui’s parents is that after receiving the condolence letter issued by the department, Xiangrui’s father communicated with the school and proposed to add the words “regret”, “not only a huge loss to your family, but also a great pity for our school”, and “the cruel reality forces us to accept this cruel fact, which makes us feel extremely regretful and sorry”, but was ruthlessly rejected.
However, what made their hearts even colder was not just these.
Xiangrui’s mother said, “At our request, the school only gave us the phone number of the director of the personnel department. However, this is a landline phone, and we can’t find him every time we look for him.” Speaking of this, she held back her tears, “I couldn’t even get a phone call during the week I was in great torment.”
“The school also strictly controlled the number of relatives who attended the meeting,” Xiangrui’s mother continued, “and required that those who attended must be relatives. Because the Sichuan working group in Beijing said some righteous words at the first meeting and hoped that the school could properly solve the reasonable needs of the family members, the school informed us that if the Sichuan working group in Beijing attended the meeting again, they would need to contact the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau’s Internal Security Bureau to perform relevant procedures.”
“What are they afraid of!” Xiangrui’s mother said, “We just want an apology to comfort our child’s spirit in heaven. However, what we have felt throughout the process is indifference, disregard, and a lack of responsibility.”
Xiangrui’s remains will be cremated at the Babaoshan Crematorium in Beijing on May 25th. “My son came ‘purely’, and I hope he will leave ‘purely’, without any grievances,” Xiangrui’s mother said, and tears instantly welled up in her eyes, “I hope that such tragedies will never happen again, and that there will never be a mother who suffers the same pain as me!”
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