A Highly Respected Teacher Is Now Paralysed and Partially Blind Due to Persecution by Police in Hubei Province

Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Zhou Qing is a high school physics teacher from the Jingshan County No. 1 High School in Hubei Province. Because of his belief in Falun Gong, the police have repeatedly detained him. In July 2004, Mr. Zhou was arrested by the Xiaogan District National Security Police. Subsequently, he was detained at the Xiaogan Detention Centre. After enduring brutal torture, his legs became paralysed, his muscles atrophied, and he could not speak. Even in such a horrible condition, Chinese Communist Party (CCP) agents still forced him into a provincial brainwashing centre. He was injected with unknown drugs that almost killed him. Eventually, he was handed over to his family. Before he completely recovered, the police arrested him again on June 22nd, 2005. According to a previous report on the Minghui website [Chinese version of Clearwisdom.net] the Communist Party's Xiaonan District Court in Xiaogan City sentenced Zhou Qing to four years in jail in July 2005. Zhou Qing is still serving his sentence today.

The following account of the persecution of Zhou Qing and his family was written by his wife.

In the summer of 1999, the CCP began to persecute Falun Gong. Our family was designated as "target number one" by the Jingshan County authorities. The county authorities set up separate groups to coerce Zhou Qing and me to betray Falun Gong. We both were repeatedly detained.

A great teacher was put in jail

Zhou Qing was born in 1970. He was a physics teacher at the Jingshan No. 1 High School. After he became a Falun Gong practitioner, he followed the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance in his daily life and became a person of high moral standards. His outstanding conduct earned him much respect from his students. In student appraisals, he was often described as "the most beloved teacher." In one survey, every one of his students gave him a perfect mark, which was very rare in the school. His teaching file was the model file, and he earned first place in an open appraisal. Unlike some other teachers, he never picked which classes to teach. He gladly took on any class the school assigned him, so he was often assigned to teach "troubled" students. He was diligent and thorough about what he taught, even when he was persecuted. After he was detained for 16 months, he taught a high school graduating class for a term. This class turned out to be the best class he had ever taught. He earned six A's in teacher appraisal. One of his students was accepted into Tsinghua University, China's most prestigious university.

Zhou Qing never competed with others for personal gain. When the school reviewed housing allocations, he let others take the good apartments and picked the most humble apartment for himself. He also quietly provided financial support to economically deprived students. He volunteered his after-school hours to tutor and help students.

After he was arrested, all the students from his class wrote a letter to the principal as well as the county CCP committee. It said: "Losing Teacher Zhou is like losing a family member. We are all heartbroken." They wanted to bail him out. A student told his parents: "Teacher Zhou is my favourite teacher, but he was arrested. I do not understand this." Many parents went to the school and told the principal, "We strongly appeal this action and ask that you bring Teacher Zhou, the Falun Gong practitioner, back to school. He is the most responsible and the best teacher." The parents and students repeatedly expressed their admiration for him and Falun Gong.

Paralysed as a result of torture

Zhou Qing was detained several times, the longest stretch being 16 months. When he was in the Jingshan Number One Detention Centre, the county 610 Office¹ leaders Zheng Daisheng and policeman Wu Anmin instigated the criminal inmates to beat him. The "inmate head" told other inmates to jump down from a bed and kick him in the chest. The torture lasted one whole night. This violent torture caused severe internal injuries. Afterwards my husband had trouble breathing for a long time. But this was only one of many tortures. Long term detention and poor nutrition affected Zhou Qing's vision badly. He almost lost his vision.

Shortly after the 2003 Chinese New Year, school principal Huang Xiaoxiu and the County 610 Office agents planned to arrest Zhou Qing and place him in a brainwashing programme. Zhou Qing left home and went into hiding to avoid detention. In 2004, he was arrested again by the Xiaogan police and sent to Xiaogan Number One Detention Centre. The police and criminal inmates tortured him so badly that he became paralysed and could not speak. At one point, he was at the brink of death. The police not only refused to release him, but sent him to a provincial "law study seminar" (actually an intensive brainwashing session). Zhou Qing's health deteriorated rapidly. He could not sleep because of the pain in his legs. Later the pain migrated to his brain, resulting in mental impairment and memory loss. He lost much weight and hair. When we picked him up, we could not even recognise him anymore.

Even when Zhou Qing could not take care of himself or our child, the county 610 Office still refused to stop tormenting him. After long term constant harassment by the authorities, I was very depressed. One day over a year ago, I was hit by a truck, which ran over my legs. I have been unable to walk ever since.

Right now Zhou Qing is still in jail. Because he has lost much of his vision, he cannot perform any of their forced labour such as sewing flowers. So the prison authorities have confined him to a very narrow space. After long term incarceration, he is now almost blind. Before he was detained, he had perfect eye sight.

Mr. Zhou's father died without seeing his son one last time

When we were both detained, my parents cared for our son. Being under two years old, he did not understand why all the other kids had parents looking after them. He often cried to his grandma and begged: "I want to have a daddy and mummy. Can you buy one of each for me on the street?"

After we got home, our freedom was restricted. We were not allowed to leave home or go food shopping. Even our son was not allowed to leave home and play with other kids. When they arrested Zhou Qing, my son and I were forced out of our own home. They even refused to let me get clothes from home for my son.

Zhou Qing's salary was our only income. During his detention, the school stopped paying his salary and later terminated his employment. I have been unemployed for a long time. Without support from our relatives, we would have starved.

These past few years, our parents also experienced severe stress and economic pressure, which took a heavy toll on their health. After I was hit by the truck, my father's blood pressure suddenly became very high. My elderly parents have had to take care of me and endure the pressure they were placed under. In addition, they've had to drop off and pick up my son from school. They have really had a hard time. Zhou Qing's father could not take it any more and passed away in 2006 without seeing his son before his death.

Now Zhou Qing's health is the most worrisome for me. After long-term detention, beatings and other torture, his health is very poor. He has also suffered terrible mental abuse. Despite his debilitated condition, the authorities still refuse to release him. This is very inhumane. Everyone in our family worries about him.

I often wonder: "We have done nothing wrong. Why has this government persecuted our family like this?" Now I cannot walk or take my son to school. We are appealing to all the governments and NGO's in the world and to all people of conscience to please help stop this persecution of decent people. Rescue Zhou Qing and let him come home so that our son can enjoy the love of his father.

Note

1. "The 610 office" is an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2007/7/4/158160.html