EFIC: From Rags to Riches to Torture in a Chinese Labour Camp (Part 1)

One Woman’s Personal Account of China’s Notorious Wanjia Labour Camp and the Extraordinary Resolve that Won Her Freedom

LONDON (EFIC) – The following story is true and every name is real. It is a story about a successful businesswoman who was illegally imprisoned for nine months in one of China’s most brutal labour camps – Wanjia. It is a story of beatings and torture; of survival and perseverance: And it is a testament to the power of her beliefs.

The woman’s name is Yuzhi Wang. She is 47 years old. This is Ms. Wang’s story...

---

The Early Years

Yuzhi Wang is a successful businesswoman who suffered beatings and torture for nine months while imprisoned in China’s notorious Wanjia Labour Camp simply because she practices Falun Gong.

My family came from the city of Harbin. I was 15 when the Great Cultural Revolution swept through China. My father was jailed for being an “anti-revolutionist” – Maoist jargon for anyone with an education, owning lands or holding traditional values – and my mother was left to take care of eight children, with no source of income. Fortunately, two of my brothers were able to earn enough money washing cloth by the banks of the Songhua River to keep the family fed. My mother was too depressed and sick to cook, so I took over the cooking for the family.

I used to take meals to my father in prison, and can still remember seeing him behind bars – dark and gaunt, but always passionate and positive. In spite of the extreme difficulties in my life, I was always encouraged by my father’s attitude.

In 1976 the “Gang of Four” was removed from power and life began to change. My father was released from prison, and my two older boys were admitted to university, along with my younger sister. I was left to provide for the rest of the family, including my sick parents. I got a job making towel tassels, and was so efficient at my work that I could earn 200 – 300 Yuan a month. This was enough money to provide food for the whole family, and tuition for my younger brothers and sister.

My Life Improves

In 1979, life slowly started to change for me. I was working in an electronics company, and the company decided to send me to university. After I graduated, I went back to the factory to work as an engineer. In 1989 the company went bankrupt and so my husband (who I’d met at university) and I started up our own business importing office supplies. The business went so well that the company profits continually doubled. My hardships were finally over – I had a house, a car, a great business and a happy marriage.

I also had a beautiful son.

Yuzhi with her son, Pengpeng, in Shenzhen, China, 1998.

By this time, my family was doing well financially. My father had started his own factory and went on to become one of China’s first millionaires. Two of my brothers left China – one went to Philadelphia, and the other to the Middle East. My mother moved to the United Arab Emirates with my two younger sisters. All my brothers and sisters had prosperous businesses.

Financially, life was good.

My life underwent another incredible change in 1998 when one of my customers handed me a copy of China Falun Gong – the introductory text of Falun Gong (website). When I first took the book, I had no idea how dramatically it would change my life.

I began practicing Falun Gong and started to notice huge changes in my life. For years I had suffered from a debilitating illness that would occasionally cause me to suddenly lose control in my legs, and make walking impossible. I had visited countless doctors, both Chinese and western, but none of them could pinpoint the cause of the illness. Three months after starting Falun Gong, my illness totally disappeared.

I began diligently studying the Falun Gong books, and did the Falun Gong exercises with friends at a local park. In the process of practicing Falun Gong I felt cleansed of many negative thoughts and emotions that I had collected throughout my life. I felt my body and soul gradually become healthy and harmonious like never before. My tiring life became happier and I was finally at peace. I felt so lucky to be able to learn a Chinese exercise and meditation practice that originated in the ancient traditions of my country. In Chinese history every dynasty was built on and governed by virtue and morality. The main focus in life was to think of others first and always look inside to see where you could do better. The main goal in life was to strengthen the spirit, to enlighten to truth and return the body and mind to the original true essence. The profound principles in Falun Gong empowered me to make purer choices in my life and helped me to bring the principles of Truth, Compassion and Tolerance into my family. I feel I have truly found the meaning of my life and the answers to life’s mysteries by practicing Falun Gong. For me, it brought together all of the pieces of the puzzle.

Crackdown on Falun Gong

Falun Gong spread rapidly in China, and by 1999 statistics from China’s Physical Education Bureau showed that there were over 70 million people practicing Falun Gong. Jiang Zemin, the leader of the Communist Party at that time, was threatened by both the sheer numbers of people and their allegiance to something other than Communist Party idealology. On July 20, 1999 he ordered a brutal crackdown on Falun Gong (report). Overnight, those 70 million people, including myself, became the “enemy of the people” and “followers of an evil religion” [Falun Gong is not a religion. For more information on the nature of Falun Gong, please click here].

My life was about to take another dramatic turn – full of incredible hardships that I could never have imagined.

As the crackdown on Falun Gong continued, the media was saturated with lies and propaganda. In order to justify the persecution, all kinds of bloody crimes (immolation, suicide, homicide) were used to frame up Falun Gong practitioners. The sensational propaganda demonising Falun Gong permeated the entire country. It was like reliving the Great Cultural Revolution – only worse.

Arrested three times

The sudden persecution of Falun Gong stunned me and all my friends, and so I went to the local Appeals Office – following the legal rights guaranteed by the Chinese Constitution to register appeals with the government. But I quickly found out that these rights no longer applied to Falun Gong practitioners. Ironically, the Appeals Office became the detention centre, where all practitioners who went to appeal against the vicious persecution were arrested instead. I was arrested three times. The first time was in January 2000 in Beijing – I was ordered to sign a pledge promising not to return to Beijing to organize support for Falun Gong. I refused to sign it, so the guards ordered other inmates to beat me. The second arrest was in July 2000, for photocopying Falun Gong flyers. The police officers beat me repeatedly, trying to find out whom the flyers were for. In spite of the vicious slander against Falun Gong, I stood firmly by my beliefs and decided to help reveal the facts of the persecution to people who had been deceived by the government’s propaganda.

In October 2000 me and a few other practitioners prepared over 100,000 leaflets explaining the truth about Falun Gong. With the help of other practitioners, we distributed the leaflets throughout the entire Province. People who had previously believed the propaganda suddenly understood the facts of the persecution. Revealing the facts was what the authorities feared most, particularly Luo Gan (the highest leader in the central government in charge of the “6-10” Office – a Gestapo-like entity of the government in charge of persecuting Falun Gong). I was placed on the “most wanted list,” and my name and photo were posted everywhere with a reward of 50,000 Yuan offered for information leading to my arrest.

On July 16, 2001 I went to the bank to withdraw my money and was arrested for the third time. The police confiscated US $50,000 from my savings and froze my bank accounts. Memories of my father’s time in prison came back to me like a bad dream. Here I was, 46 years old, being jailed for my beliefs, just as he had been.

Wanjia Forced Labour Camp

In November 2001, I was transferred from the Second Detention Centre to the Wanjia Forced Labour Camp of Harbin – infamous for its brutality towards Falun Gong practitioners. All practitioners detained in the detention centre or the forced labour camp had to endure brainwashing. Every day, we had to sit in one position and watch anti-Falun Gong propaganda on TV or listen to the guards for over 8 hours. No one was allowed to move. Sometimes, a brainwashing session would last for days and we weren’t allowed to sleep the entire time. Often, we were not even allowed to use the toilet. In addition to the intense brainwashing and sleep deprivation, Falun Gong practitioners were routinely beaten or whipped, tied with ropes and hanged from the ceiling, given electric shocks, forced to sit naked on iron chairs, or raped by male criminals

Most Falun Gong practitioners refused to give up their beliefs. Some of them, including me, went on hunger strikes to protest our unlawful arrests and the inhumane torture and persecution.

To Be Continued...

---

Yuzhi Wang is currently living with her son in Vancouver with a Minister’s Permit for Canada. She spends her time letting people know about the persecution of Falun Gong in China.

At the time of Ms. Wang’s release from Wanjia Labour Camp in May 2002, reports had been verified by the Falun Dafa Information Center of eight Falun Gong practitioners who had died inside the labour camp from severe torture. Since her release, six more have been reported dead inside Wanjia Labour Camp.

To arrange an interview with Ms. Wang, please contact in Canada Cindy Gu +1 647-999-8530 or Joel Chipkar +1 416-709-8678.

# # #

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT THE EUROPEAN FALUN GONG INFORMATION CENTRE
Peter Jauhal 44 (0) 7739 172 452.
More contacts. http://www.falungonginfo.net/europe.htm
Email: [email protected]