Shenzhen Government Actively Involved in the Persecution of Falun Gong Practitioners from Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Overseas

Since the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) began its unprecedented persecution of Falun Gong on July 20th, 1999, practitioners from Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, and overseas have travelled to China to appeal for justice for Falun Gong and its founder, Mr. Li Hongzhi. The CCP has employed suppressive methods against practitioners from different regions. It has committed many of its atrocities in secret to avoid international pressure.

Shenzhen is one of the most internationally connected Chinese cities, as the Shenzhen seaport is a major harbour. The CCP created a blacklist of Falun Gong practitioners from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. The CCP uses the blacklist to identify and arrest practitioners who enter the country in Shenzhen, confiscating home return permits, as well as deporting, arresting and detaining practitioners. They even take practitioners to their notorious forced labour camps, imprison them and put them in brainwashing centres.

Creating a Blacklist to Identify and Arrest Practitioners at Shenzhen Entry Points

The CCP makes use of all of the nation's resources to persecute Falun Gong, including its spy organisations. On January 5th, 2000, Agence France-Presse reported that China's overseas intelligence agents had made a blacklist with the names of over a thousand Falun Gong practitioners. The actual number on that list is likely much larger. This blacklist is used to stop practitioners from entering China or to arrest them when entering the country.

On December 1999, eighteen Chinese practitioners who were studying or working in Japan, including Ms. Gao Shanshan, Ms. Ma Shuhua, Ms. Chen Xuejuan, and Mr. Lu Yong went to Hong Kong to attend a Falun Gong cultivation experience sharing conference. They were granted a transit visa to visit China in Hong Kong. This allowed them to stay in Hong Kong for seven days. They stopped in Shenzhen to have their passports stamped as evidence to have entered China. One practitioner was detained at the Shenzhen point of entry, as his passport number was on the blacklist. The other practitioners who had successfully gone through the checkpoints didn't want to leave him behind, facing deportation, so they went to the Shenzhen passport control office to help him. They were also detained. The passport control officers claimed that they had to check the passports. While waiting, the entry personnel strip-searched, took photos of and interrogated the entire group. They confiscated Falun Gong books and materials about Falun Gong. Then, the practitioners received their passports and were escorted individually to the Hong Kong point of entry.

After that, these practitioners' passport numbers were placed on the CCP's blacklist and going forward they were denied entry into China. The Chinese government also refused to extend or renew their passports after they expired.

Ms. Gao Shanshan and other practitioners were detained when flying to Shanghai or Beijing during the New Year of 2000. They were put under house arrest in a hotel room for a night and put on a return flight to Japan the next day. Before the Chinese Near Year 2000, Ms. Gao tried to return to China, but she and two other practitioners were put back on the Pakistani plane they had taken to come into the country.

Mr. Lu Yong's passport expired on 2002. The CCP officials refused to renew his passport, making him a person without a nationality. Mr. Lu said, “Not having a valid passport has created a lot of trouble for me. I can't go back to my home country. I couldn't go and look after my mother-in-law when she became sick. It also created problems for my work. A company wanted to hire me to manage some business with China. When they heard that I didn't have a valid passport, they were surprised, and I cannot be involved in any business dealings between China and Japan. In sharp contrast, the Japanese government has helped Chinese practitioners that had lost their passport.”

Similar Persecution Against Practitioners by Shenzhen Officials in 2001

The 2001 Hong Kong Falun Gong Cultivation Experience Sharing Conference was held on January 13th and 14th, 2001. Twelve hundred practitioners from over 23 countries attended the conference and participated in the parade, group exercise, and other activities. Practitioners Ms. Yang Ruowei and Ms. Zhang Yu arrived in Hong Kong from Australia. They were informed by the Hong Kong passport control office that Chinese passport holders had to go to Shenzhen before they could stay in Hong Kong. On the morning of January 11th, they bought round-trip train tickets to Shenzhen.

Ms. Yang said, “When I was going through passport control, I saw that my application was stamped and approved. When he was about to stamp my passport the computer alarm went off. He put down the stamp, cursed, called the police, and left his workstation to grab me and the other practitioner who had just passed inspection. They dragged us into a room and then to an inspection station. They tried to strip search us, but we resisted. We were taken to two separate offices and detained there. There they performed a 'safety check' and confiscated my tape recorder, mobile phone, airline ticket, and notebook. They withheld my passport from the very beginning."

Ms. Yang continued, “I am a Chinese citizen, Australian permanent resident, and a visitor to Hong Kong. Shenzhen Passport Control had no right to prevent overseas Chinese from entering China. Why couldn't the immigration staff of such a big country face their citizens in an upright manner? Why didn't they dare to provide us with a reason for stopping us at the point of entry into the country? Instead, they detained us for more than seven hours. Shenzhen entry staff, without any legal procedure, secretly escorted us to Hong Kong's point of entry and deported us to Hong Kong at night.”

Besides intercepting practitioners upon arrival in China, Shenzhen Customs also arrests practitioners.

On May 10th, 2001, Canadian permanent resident and Concordia University student Mr. Zhu Ying was on his way to visit his ageing parents in Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province. His mother had had two surgeries and was very sick. Mr. Zhu first stopped in Hong Kong to attend the Hong Kong Fortune Forum and participated in a Falun Gong peaceful appeal event. When he went to the Shenzhen passport control, he was arrested. This was the second arrest of a Canadian resident for practising Falun Gong, with the first one being Mr. Zhang Kunlun.

On May 8th, 2002, Mr. Zhang Yucang, 58, a practitioner from Hong Kong, was found carrying Falun Gong materials exposing the persecution when frisked at the Luohu Customs entry in Shenzhen. He was arrested and sentenced to a three-year prison term. Nine days later, Mr. Sun Zhongwen, a Hong Kong permanent resident and frequent business traveller between Hong Kong and Shenzhen, was found carrying Falun Gong DVDs during customs inspection. He was arrested by the state security police and sentenced to a four-year prison term.

In April 2003, Ms. Wan Zhengtian from Hong Kong escaped from the State Security Bureau's control and tried to return to Hong Kong from China. But, Shenzhen State Security police arrested her at the Shenzhen Customs Control.

Confiscating Home Return Permits and Deporting Practitioners

Since late 1999, over thirty Hong Kong practitioners' home return permits have been confiscated when they tried to go to China to peacefully appeal for justice for Falun Gong, do business, or visit family.

On the evening of December 14th, 1999, about fifty practitioners gathered at a Shenzhen practitioner's home to study the Falun Gong teachings and share experiences. The next day, three U.S., two Hong Kong and two Shenzhen practitioners were arrested. Hong Kong practitioners Mr. Chen and his wife's home return permits were revoked. The couple was deported.

Ms. Zhou Sheng, from Guizhou Province, was married to a Hong Kong resident and lived in Hong Kong. She was cured from epilepsy after practising Falun Gong. She decided to go to Tiananmen Square in Beijing to say “Falun Gong is Good.” On March 5th, 2000, she was arrested in Shenzhen. Her home return permit was confiscated and she was deported to Hong Kong.

Arrest and Detention

On December 15th, 1999, U.S. practitioners Ms. Feng Lili, Ms. Zhao Chen and Mr. Huang Yun were arrested in Shenzhen, and detained for thirteen days. This incident was reported by the overseas media.

Biologist Ms. Feng Lili began practising Falun Gong after the April 25th 1999¹ peaceful appeal. “Freedom is so expensive in China,” Ms. Feng Lili said. “I've cried twice in prison, once for my son and the second time because of the inhumane treatment of practitioners in China's prisons.” In an interview later, Ms. Feng related her experience in detention. The report said, “Ms. Feng Lili, who lived a comfortable life, showed her hands and feet. There were scars on all her fingers and on the soles of her feet, which told of her thirteen-day-long suffering.” Ms. Feng Lili was expelled by the CCP-controlled government and not allowed to return to China. She can no longer visit her 78-year-old father and 69-year-old mother, or visit her younger brother's grave. As soon as she got off the plane, she hugged her son tightly and said that for a time she thought she was not going to be able to see him again.

Ms. Zhao Chen, a 29-year-old manager of an electronics company, said, “I was detained with over 40 prostitutes and drug addicts in a very small cell. There was a toilet we could not flush. We slept on the floor and three of us shared a single blanket in the cold winter night. We were forced to do hard labour for fourteen hours a day to manufacture plastic brushes for export. If we did not meet our quota of 70 brushes daily, we were beaten, screamed at by the guards and deprived of sleep.” As Mr. Huang Yun and she held U.S. green cards, they were not beaten.

Mr. Huang Yun, 37, said that his prison experience during the 1999 Christmas was agonising. Besides cleaning toilets, he also was forced to clean the pig stall. “I have a family and child in California. My wife was really worried. Luckily my friends told the media about my situation! I was in a very small, but cold and dirty cell, wore very thin clothes the prison provided, with fourteen people squeezed together when sleeping. I would probably have been detained much longer without the help of the U.S. government and my friends. In China, many practitioners have disappeared and their families don't know their whereabouts.”

Although the warrant called for a sixty-day appeal period, the arrested practitioners could not even make a phone call, which caused Mr. Huang Yun's wife in the Bay Area and Ms. Zhao Chen's parents in China to be panic-stricken. Then, upon their release, guards ordered them to pay several hundred yuan² in management fees and boarding expenses.

In comparison, 66-year-old Australian citizen Ms. Dai Meiling had a much more brutal and bitter experience in China. Ms. Dai immigrated to Australia from Mainland China in 1989. She had an incurable illness called progressive systemic clerosis. She said, “I had been taken to the hospital by ambulance for emergency treatment many times. I was crippled, my internal organs and muscular system were affected by my illness and I was waiting for death. After practising Falun Gong I became healthy and was given a new life. However, during the four times I appealed for justice for Falun Gong in Beijing, the police arrested and detained me. In March 2000, I went on a hunger strike for twenty-three days to protest the detention and almost lost my life at Shenzhen No. 1 Detention Centre. Chinese police regards people's life as worthless. After 45 days of detention, I was released with the help of Australian Consulate officials in China and returned to Australia. I am an Australian citizen, but was brutally assaulted by the CCP-controlled regime. Chinese practitioners' suffering is much worse than I experienced.”

Ms. Zhang Cuiying recalled, “For seven months, I was not allowed to go outside the prison. I ate, slept, and used the toilet in the same cell and had rashes and boils all over my body. They beat me, insulted me, and splashed water on me, but I told them that there is nothing wrong with practising Falun Gong. They brutally pulled me of the bed, and kicked and punched me until my body was covered with blue and purple bruises. At night the pain kept me awake, which was exacerbated by the heavy steel chains I was forced to wear. I was thrown into male cells, and while we showered, male inmates and policemen watched and tried to humiliate me with vile words. I was forced to sleep on the freezing concrete floor with my head next to the toilet. The food I ate was leftovers from other inmates' bowls, and I was not allowed to touch the drinking bucket. They took everything from me, including 2,000 yuan. I had no money to buy anything, not even toilet paper. After the Australian consul found out about this, he travelled for six hours from Guangzhou City to Shenzhen City to bring toilet paper. The prison guards also took away my pen and paper, so I could only use toothpaste to write the words, 'Falun Gong is good, Cultivating Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance' on my clothes. In front of the surveillance cameras watched by male guards, they ripped off my top, and I could only use my hands to cover myself.

“The officials ordered prisoners to beat me in return for reduced sentences. An inmate named Zhang had embezzled over 10 million yuan and she should have been sentenced from five to fifteen years. Because she beat me, she was released after one year.

“Lying next to me was an inmate with a severe mental illness, who defecated all the time. Whenever I opened my eyes, I saw her soiled state. How could I live like this? I said to the warden, 'You are torturing me like this, how can I live out this hellish life? Look at me, my skin is rotting. For the sake of basic humanity, you must let me return to Australia. He laughed, 'You must give up Falun Gong, otherwise you will stay here forever, living this hellish life.'"

On June 20th, 2001, practitioners Li Xiuqin, Zhang Yulan and Zhao Yayun were tortured to death in Wanjia Forced Labour Camp in Harbin City. Eight practitioners that were in a coma were secretly taken to a hospital and another four were put into an isolation cell. Because the forced labour camp strictly blocked the information, these fifteen female practitioners were thought to be dead from the torture. After the “Wanjia massacres” was made public, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Zhang Qiyue slandered Falun Gong and claimed that these practitioners had committed suicide.

Hong Kong practitioner Ms. Zhou Sheng made known the CCP-controlled regime's inhumane acts and murders. Her testimony also provided a record of practitioners suffering in detention. On March 5th, 2000, police arrested Ms. Zhou Sheng in Shenzhen while she was on her way to Beijing to appeal for justice or Falun Gong.

Ms. Zhou said, “First, police detained me at the Yantian Detention Centre in Shatoujiao, Shenzhen City, Guangdong Province. Every prisoner was stripped and searched before being taken to the cell. They even checked my long hair to see if anything was hidden. Police searched for dangerous materials and tore apart clothes. Zips, buttons and anything metallic were cut off. They checked my things thoroughly several times, and then put me in the cell.”

She continued, “Later, I was transferred to Shangmeilin No. 1 Detention Centre in Futian District, Shenzhen City. When I entered the detention centre, I noticed two big metal gates of about five metres and the surrounding walls were about ten metres tall. Each cell could hold 35 to 40 prisoners. A guard patrolled every cell every hour. At least two prisoners were on duty at night, and changed shifts every hour. They monitored prisoners to prevent suicide. Every cell and activity room was monitored through a closed circuit television, which was manned around-the-clock. As soon as practitioners practised the exercises or talked to prisoners about Falun Gong, the guards yelled through the intercom. Then they entered the cell and beat or tortured the practitioner.”

Forced Labour

The forced labour system has long been condemned by the international community. However, the CCP-controlled regime ignores international condemnation and implemented labour camps as a tool in persecuting Falun Gong practitioners. The CCP Shenzhen authorities even used forced labour to persecute overseas practitioners and their families.

Ms. Yang Xiaolan, the wife of a Hong Kong resident, suffered torture at the Sanshui Women's Forced Labour Camp in Guangdong Province. Between December 23rd and December 30th, 2002 she was deprived of sleep and shocked with electric batons. Her appearance changed beyond recognition due to the abuse she suffered. She was handcuffed and hung up so that only her toes touched the ground. As a result, the big toe and the second toe of her feet were numb. It was six months before she had the feeling back in her toes.

Ms. Zhang Lihong, wife of Hong Kong practitioner Mr. Kuang Senqia, was detained twice on May 20th, 2004 and October 27th, 2004. The second time that she was detained, she was sentenced to three years of forced labour. After the term of forced labour expired, she was taken to a brainwashing centre in Guangdong Province. The staff at the brainwashing centre told Mr. Kuang Senqia, “Keeping your wife here is for her own good so that she can improve her understanding.” They also ordered Ms. Zhang Lihong to sign a statement saying that she requested to stay in the brainwashing centre. Mr. Kuang tried everything in his power to rescue his wife for several years.

During the 2003 Falun Gong Day Celebration in Chicago, on May 9th, 2003, a local practitioner gave a speech titled “My Eight Months in Chinese Jail,” in which she gave a brief account on being detained and taken to a forced labour camp.

“I was detained for leaving a Falun Gong flier in front of someone's house on May 14th, 2001. At the time I lived in Shenzhen City, Guangdong Province with my younger son. The police interrogated my son and ransacked his home because of me. As per directives from Jiang Zemin, [former leader of China and instigator of the persecution], police could be rewarded for beating up practitioners. During the interrogation one of officers suddenly squeezed my neck forcefully. Later I learned that he used this as a hint to extort money from my son. However, my son did not get it, so the officer vented his anger on me.

“As per Jiang Zemin's directives, police could detain practitioners without following legal procedures. The officer claimed that I had committed the crime of 'obstructing law enforcement,' so I was taken to the Putian District Detention Centre in Shenzhen City. Even though existing law clearly stated that any detention could not exceeds 15 days, I was detained for two and a half months.

“After two and a half months of brainwashing, torture and mistreatment, the police knew that they had failed to shake my firm belief in Falun Gong. Therefore, I was taken to the Sanshui Women's Forced Labour Camp in Guangdong Province. The police told my son that I had been sentenced to forced labour because I refused to write the Repentance Statement, in which one slanders Falun Gong and promises to renounce Falun Gong.

“At Sanshui Women’s Forced Labour Camp I was monitored around the clock and had to perform heavy labour. I was not allowed to talk to anyone and was harassed frequently. They forced me to read newspapers and watch video programmes slandering Falun Gong and read or listen to material that slandered Falun Gong. All these high intensity brainwashing tactics were mental torture and far more cruel than the heavy manual labour.

“After several months of brainwashing and torture I found a way to come to this free land. Now I live with my elder son. I can do the exercises freely at the Chicago Federal Square and other places.”

Sentenced to Prison

According to incomplete statistics, at least 8 practitioners from Hong Kong, Taiwan and overseas have been sentenced by Shenzhen courts.

The first to be sentenced was an Australian citizen, painter Ms. Zhang Cuiying. She was abducted and taken to Shenzhen in March, 2000 and was jailed for 8 months. Ms. Zhang said, “I went back to China On March 5th, 2000 and intended to ask the representatives of the People's Congress to speak fairly for Falun Gong. However, as soon as I stepped on Chinese soil, police searched my bags and found a letter to Premier Zhu Rongji and some Falun Gong books. Therefore, they beat me and slapped me in the face. I lost my hearing for several days. I was imprisoned for five months. My sentence was extended for another three months due to a phone call from Jiang Zemin.”

Ms. Zhang Cuiying did not accept the verdict, so she appealed to the high court. On her letter of appeal she said, “I am not guilty. What is the crime in cultivating in Falun Gong? It is Jiang Zemin who is guilty. He will be condemned throughout the ages for persecuting practitioners.” One month later the high court upheld the verdict and asked her to sign the verdict, which she refused. Finally, the police had to write on the verdict that “Zhang Cuiying is not guilty.” Only then did she sign the document.

Ms.Cheng Xi, a housewife from Taiwan, Mr. Zhang Yuchang, a Hong Kong security guard, and Mr. Sun Zhongwen, a Hong Kong businessman were detained in Shenzhen and sentenced to four, three and four-year prison terms respectively

Mr. Sun Zhongwen's daughter, Ms. Sun Wanzhen, a student in Hong Kong, wrote a letter to the Shenzhen Intermediate Court, requesting to redress the injustice. She said in her letter, “I miss my father and worry about him. I hope the Chinese court or the Chinese judges that still dare to speak the truth will release my father … The detention of my father was a heavy blow to me and my family, and brought us pain, worries and indignation. How can we believe that there are laws in Mainland China? I am not a practitioner, but I had a very good education and was taught moral standards since I was a child, so I am able to tell good from bad and kindness from evil. I know that my father hasn't done anything bad or anything that was against his conscience. However, I don't understand why the Chinese authorities locked my father together with hooligans and murderers and treated him like a criminal. Can't today's world tell black from white, good from bad?”

Shortly after, 28-year-old Ms. Fu Xueying took up residence in Hong Kong. She went to a high-rise residential building near Shenzhen University to hand out materials about Falun Gong on October 29th, 2002 and was detained. She was detained and subjected to brainwashing. Her husband asked in an open letter to the Hong Kong government for help in the rescue of his wife, “My wife was an unhappy person. She was from a poor family. Since her childhood she has suffered from hunger and cold. When she was 12 years old, she came down with Meniere's syndrome. She often lost consciousness and relied on intravenous drip treatment. When she was 25 she contracted another strange illness. The skin of her entire body became dark and hard, like fish scales. Therefore, she could not wear shorts and skirts. She went to see doctors in major hospitals in Hong Kong and Shenzhen. They could not provide a diagnosis. She suffered from two incurable illnesses, including rhinitis. My wife relied on drugs to keep on living. She developed a very bad temper and was very miserable.

“She learned Falun Gong in 2001. It was quite unexpected when after less than six months, she felt very good. Now it's been over two years and she is still healthy. She no longer takes medication and her skin colour became lighter and her skin softer. She no longer has a bad temper. She became more peaceful, is able to think of others first. She is full of hope for her new life. It is just as if she changed into a new person. Our life has become harmonious. How can I not thank Falun Gong?”

However, the Shenzhen Court ignored the facts and obeyed the CCP dictates. Ms. Fu appeared in court for the very first time on March 9th, 2004 without being allowed a lawyer. By the end of April she was sentenced in a closed court trial to a three-year prison term. Her family was not sent notice of the court hearing. Only after repeated requests was her family informed of the time and date of the trial. During the trial the judge asked Ms. Fu Xueying's husband to leave the court, saying that he was a witness. About 20 minutes into the trial, Ms. Fu's mother had to leave the courtroom because she shouted “Fu Xueying is innocent! Set her free!” The judge then asked Ms. Fu to defend herself. She began to talk about the benefits she gained from practising Falun Gong. However, the judge stopped her. When Ms. Fu found that the judge deprived of her right to defend herself and the right to speak, she shouted at the top of her voice, “Falun Gong is good!” The trial only lasted 40 minutes.

Ms. Fu was held at the Shenzhen Detention Centre and Guangdong Provincial Prison for more than two and a half years. She was tortured physically and mentally, and underwent brainwashing. It took a long time before she could sit again after her release. The scars are still visible after more than a year since her release. The harm done to her mental well-being was far more serious and far more painful than the physical wounds.

Ms. Fu Xueying and another practitioner from Hong Kong, Ms. Zhu Keming, filed a civil complaint against CCP leaders Jiang Zemin, Li Lanqing and Luo Gan.

Ms. Fu said, the reason that she had the courage to step forward to sue the three defendants was not only for her own basic human rights and freedom, but also to seek justice for millions of Falun Gong practitioners in Mainland China. She hoped the court in Hong Kong had some courage. If she, a solitary woman, is not afraid of the CCP's power, why should Hong Kong be afraid?

Ms. Lin Lixia, the wife of a Hong Kong resident, was detained on January 18th, 2007 and sentenced to a three-year prison term. Mr. Chen Jinshu, a practitioner from Hong Kong, went across the border to visit his 80-year-old father in Shenzhen on April 16th and was detained. He was sentenced to a six-year prison term during a closed-door trial by the Baoan District Court of Shenzhen City on January 29th of the following year. He had shipped some Falun Gong books to China.

When interviewed by the Epoch Times, Mr. Chen Jinshu’s sister, who lives in Shenzhen, said, “My brother is innocent. Practising Falun Gong should not be a crime. The court fabricated evidence to frame him. They accused him of committing a crime. I hope to draw attention to this injustice.” The lawyer who was hired by his family has defended him many times.

The Shenzhen court accused Mr. Chen Jinshu of importing prohibited books. The evidence was that a person from Hong Kong named Li Cheng transported over two thousand copies of materials exposing the persecution of Falun Gong and over one hundred Falun Gong books from Hong Kong to Shenzhen. For the transportation, Li Cheng used the name “Hong Kong Libao Company” and claimed the transported goods were plastic sheets. Shenzhen claimed that this Li Cheng is in fact Mr. Chen Jinshu. However, all four witnesses, the workers in the transportation company whom Li Cheng was supposed to have contacted, said that they had never seen nor heard of a Li Cheng. The Procuratorate made its accusation that Mr. Li Cheng was Chen Jinshu based on some unverified phone calls.

Mr. Chen Jinshu’s sister also pointed out, “What’s most ridiculous is that the case was heralded as a major case, but was closed in 2005. The people who sent and received the books had been detained. A child could see that this was not real evidence. The Shenzhen court used trumped up charges. It is truly a devastating persecution of our family.”

She added, “The CCP arrested and sentenced Mr. Chen Jinshu. Its purpose is to persecute Falun Gong in Hong Kong. In the material provided to the court by the Public Security Bureau, it detailed every Falun Gong activity Mr. Chen Jinshu attended in Hong Kong, including the parade for withdrawing from the CCP. They told us that they wanted to arrest my brother because he attended Falun Gong parades in Hong Kong. They then made up false evidence for his arrest.”

She broke out in tears and said, “My brother is a Hong Kong citizen. It is not committing a crime to practice Falun Gong. It is every citizen’s freedom to participate in a parade. A kind person like my brother is persecuted. Where is the ‘One Country Two Systems’? They are violating human rights!”

Mr. Chen Jinshu’s father, in his eighties, was furious after hearing the news that his son was wrongfully sentenced to prison. He is unable to eat or drink and his health is deteriorating. Mr. Chen Jinshu’s sister has lost over ten pounds since his arrest. She said, “In order to rescue my brother, our family has written many letters to the Procuratorate, the court and the Public Security Bureau. So far, no one has replied. We also contacted the media, but they dared not report his case because Falun Gong is a sensitive topic.”

The speaker of the Hong Kong division of the “Global Committee for Rescuing Persecuted Falun Gong Practitioners” Mr. Chen Ruijin has been following the case. He said, “The CCP National Security Bureau revealed that they started monitoring Mr. Chen Jinshu’s activity in 2003. They repeatedly told Mr. Chen’s family that because Chen Jinshu continuously participated in Falun Gong activities, he must be playing a major role. Some officials once claimed that they would arrest all Hong Kong Falun Gong practitioners that enter Mainland China. The fundamental reason is that they fear materials exposing the persecution of Falun Gong and the wave of people withdrawing from CCP organisations.”

Brainwashing

All Falun Gong practitioners that are arrested in Mainland China are subjected to brainwashing. It is a way to transform the person through a number of methods, including mental and physical torture. Many practitioners have died as a result of brutal brainwashing. The CCP labour camps once spread the words, “If not “transformed” [forcibly renounce Falun Gong] he will be cremated.”

Practitioner Ms. Cheng Xi married a Taiwanese and lives in Taiwan. She was reported in January of 2002 when she was distributing DVDs containing materials about Falun Gong on the Shenzhen University campus. She was detained for close to four years at the First Detention Centre at Nanshan district in Shenzhen and Guangzhou Women’s Prison, during which time she suffered brainwashing and mental torture daily.

Ms. Cheng was detained in a cell with over ten criminals that had dealt in drugs and committed murder and robbery. Two inmates were assigned to monitor her around the clock. She was not allowed to talk. They forced her to repeatedly watch videotapes slandering Falun Gong.

Cheng Xi was forced to write her thoughts down, was interrogated many times, and was ordered to recite the prison regulations and rules. Ms. Cheng Xi said, “All of my thoughts were controlled.” Under the severe stress, her hair turned grey soon after she was detained. The police who watched her said that would give up her beliefs because the “transformation” rate of practitioners in Guangdong Province is the highest in the nation and that many police were promoted or awarded financially because they “transformed” practitioners.

Ms. Cheng Xi’s family was repeatedly threatened and harassed. Her husband was told not to expose Ms. Cheng Xi’s detention or her term would be extended. Her siblings were also threatened. They were told that if they would not convince Ms. Cheng Xi into giving up her practice of Falun Gong, their future would be in jeopardy. Her brother met with Ms. Cheng one time. As a result, the police repeatedly harassed him at his work place and almost caused him to lose his job.

Ms. Cheng Xi said, “If I had not experienced this myself, I would have not known that the CCP regime would resort to these methods.” At present, Ms. Cheng Xi goes to the 101 Building scenic site in Taipei to clarify the truth to the tourists from Mainland China. She wants to ensure that the Taiwanese government and its people recognise the vicious nature of the CCP.

Falun Gong Practitioners' Efforts Move People's Hearts

Soon after the persecution started, overseas practitioners repeatedly went back to China to appeal for justice for Falun Gong.

American biologist Ms. Feng Lili, who had been detained at Futian District Detention Centre at Shenzhen city for thirteen days in December of 1999, said, “Because of our righteous thoughts, the police from the Public Security Bureau and the guards from the detention centre changed their attitude from being abusive to silence. Some apologised to us and others became friends with us. Even the strictest warden silently allowed us to practice the exercises. The drug dealers promised to quit drug abuse. The prostitutes promised to stop being prostitutes. Some inmates gave up plotting revenge. Nearly 800 the inmates learned the practice. Some prostitutes said that they were willing to be imprisoned for practising Falun Gong. The director said that he wanted to manage the prison with the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. Inmates that hated each other became friends. At last, the prison became as harmonious as a dormitory.”

One Canadian practitioner, a student from Concordia University, went back to China after attending the Falun Gong conference in Hong Kong in December of 1999. He was searched at the Shenzhen Customs and his Falun Gong books and newspapers were confiscated. Because of his efforts in explaining the truth about Falun Gong, he was not harassed or tortured. Before he left the Public Security Bureau, one incident touched him deeply.

He said, “A young man who works at the Public Security Bureau came to see me. This was his first time to contact a Falun Gong practitioner. Although we did not talk too much, he was obviously very interested in my experience since I started practising Falun Gong. He asked me to have dinner with him. However, the director of the Political and Security Office found out and criticised him. I had to leave. However, he thought that I just returned from overseas and I did not know anyone in this area, and that I might be depressed because I was just released from the Public Security Bureau. He insisted on accompanying me to Guangzhou. He also helped me get the best seat. On the bus from Shenzhen to Guangzhou, we talked about Falun Gong all along the way. He told me, ‘I may lose my job for having dinner with you and accompanying you to Guangzhou. But, I think you are a good person. I don’t think I did anything wrong.” Seeing him leave, my eyes were filled with tears. A person is willing to risk so much just because I am a good person. This is the power of Falun Gong.

In 2000, Australia citizen and artist, Ms. Zhang Cuiying, was detained for four months. She explained the truth to several hundred police officers, guards and inmates. Once they came to know the truth, some changed their attitude. Others said that the Teacher of Falun Gong was truly wonderful because there were so many practitioners that were willing to face torture just to appeal for justice for Falun Gong and its Teacher.

Note

1. "April 25th": This refers to the "sensitive" anniversary of April 25th, 1999, on which date ten thousand Falun Gong practitioners peacefully gathered outside the Zhongnanhai compound (China’s central government building) and successfully appealed for the release of forty-five practitioners who had been arrested in Tianjin City.

2. "Yuan" is the Chinese currency; 500 yuan is equal to the average monthly income of an urban worker in China.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2011/7/24/244378.html