Falun Gong practitioner Ms. He Yingtao from Xiapu County, Fujian Province, has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for 13 years. She was given a two-year prison term and twice forced to leave home and become destitute for a year. Her practitioner husband, Mr. Zheng Xidi, was given a three-year sentence while he was critically ill. He passed away in late 2009. The following is Ms. He’s personal account of the persecution that they suffered.
My name is He Yingtao, and I am 62 years old. I used to have a happy family. My husband, Zheng Xidi, worked in a law enforcement agency. We have a son and a daughter. After July 1999, we were brutally persecuted, and my husband eventually passed away after prolonged imprisonment and torture.
Zheng Xidi’s Illnesses Cured After He Practised Falun Gong
Before practising Falun Gong, both my husband and I were nicknamed “medicine pots.” He worked in a law enforcement agency for half of his life. When he reached his fifties, he had developed heart and kidney disease, gallstones, and suffered a stroke. He was on disability, was hospitalized in 1992, and spent large amount of government money on his medical expenses.
Like my husband, I also suffered from a variety of diseases, including headaches and severe rhinitis, and I almost became blind due to bleeding below my eyelids.
In the spring of 1998, a friend of mine introduced me to Falun Gong. We brought home a copy of the Falun Gong book Zhuan Falun, and I found the more I read, the better I felt. My head stopped hurting, and I became more energetic and full of optimism.
Gradually my husband became healthier and healthier, and it looked as if he had never suffered from any diseases at all. He was full of energy and eliminated his hot temper and the bad habits that he had learned at work. Together we studied the Falun Gong teachings regularly and cultivated our character. In less than six months, our diseases had all been cured.
Government Persecutes Falun Gong, Husband Placed On Disciplinary Leave, Benefits Withheld
Jiang Zemin's, [former leader of China and instigator of the persecution] regime began to persecute Falun Gong in July 1999. We both told people in our community about our personal experiences, and exposed the lies that the CCP propagated. In August 2000, Gao Guosheng from the local police department told my husband that being a member of the CCP prohibited him from cultivating in Falun Gong. He also accused my husband of “disrupting the social order” and issued him a warning warrant. After July 20th, 1999, the Xiapu County 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong) and the local police department often came to our home on sensitive dates. They also illegally searched our residence and told us that we couldn't leave. Officers monitored our whereabouts and followed us whenever we went outside.
Husband Detained for Exposing the Persecution of Falun Gong
When my husband distributed pamphlets exposing the persecution of Falun Gong in July 2001, he was arrested and incarcerated in a detention centre for a month. An officer frequently interrogated him and tried to force him to denounce Falun Gong by physically assaulting him. After being detained for 18 days, my husband began to develop high blood pressure. To shirk responsibility, the centre released him on bail for medical treatment.
Detained In a Brainwashing Centre
The police and officials from the neighbourhood association put me in a brainwashing centre in October 2001. The guards followed me everywhere, even when I had to use the toilet. I was prohibited from talking to other Falun Gong practitioners, and was not allowed to contact my family. The centre forced me to watch and read materials that slandered Falun Gong. They also pressured me to sign the statements to renounce practising Falun Gong.
I refused to be “transformed” [forcibly renounce Falun Gong]. The head of the brainwashing centre, Lin Xiaoxian, sat on my bed every night to keep me from sleeping and pressured me to write statements denouncing Falun Gong. I was persecuted in the centre for three months.
Forced to Become Destitute and Homeless
After the Chinese New Year in 2002, the evildoers from the Xiapu 610 Office spread the news that they planned to establish a local brainwashing centre. Afterwards, they intensified their persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. To avoid being arrested again, an elderly practitioner and I were forced to become homeless. During that time, the lawless officers often went to my home to harass my family, and they threatened my husband and our child. My husband’s prior diseases had already recurred due to the torture that he suffered. Since I was destitute for over six months, he had no one to take care of him and the stress eventually caused him to suffer a stroke.
Husband and Wife Arrested and Given Prison Terms
A gang of Xiapu County police officers, led by Ou Xiaomin, broke into our house on the evening of May 7th, 2003, and arrested both my husband and me. My husband was first incarcerated in the Criminal Police Brigade in Sansha, where his hands were cuffed behind his back onto an iron gate. He was deprived of sleep and interrogated for three days and nights. He was then transferred to Xiaopu Detention Centre.
By then, he was in critical condition and was unable to lie down. He stood up around the clock, and his hands trembled. The inmates kicked him repeatedly. Within only a few months, my husband was skin and bones.
In February 2004, the Xiapu 610 Office collaborated with the local court, and I was given a two-year sentence and my husband a three-year sentence. I attempted to appeal and was denied, and my two-year sentence ended up being delayed for three years.
My husband was already 65, and his condition was worsening every day. In the second half of 2004, the 610 Office ordered the detention centre to transfer him to Longyan Prison. The prison, however, refused to accept him since he was in very fragile condition physically. The guards brought him back to Xiapu Detention Centre and detained him there for a few more months. The centre authorities finally released him when they saw that he was dying.
Police Climb Over Wall Into Our Yard to Arrest My Husband
The head of the detention centre and a dozen officers from Songcheng Police Department climbed over a wall from our neighbour’s side and entered our yard at around 10:00 p.m. on September 15th, 2005. They attempted to arrest both of us. I protested, so they didn't dare to touch me. They began to harass my husband, however, knowing that he had already been tortured and was critically ill. They ignored his condition and arrested him anyway. My husband was detained once again in the harsh environment of a detention centre. He was not released until May 2006, after serving a full term.
Husband Passes Away
Since he lived in fear for so long and was under the constant heavy pressure of threats, torture, beatings, and verbal abuse, he suffered a severe stroke and could not move half of his body. He lost control of his bowels, his eyes were lifeless, and he could not speak clearly.
In addition, the police department withheld my husband’s pension in the second half of 2008, and they also confiscated our housing provident fund, which was tens of thousands of yuan1. We were then in desperate circumstances without any source of income. My husband was bedridden for three years and finally passed away on September 11th, 2009.
Becoming Destitute and Homeless Once Again
On the morning of February 13, 2012, 610 Office head Liu Chengjian brought officers Lin Huiwen and Zhan Changyin from Songcheng Police Department to ransack our home. They took two Falun Gong books, a phone book, exercise music CDs, and other personal belongings.
The officers once again tried to arrest me in late February 2012. I was forced to become destitute and homeless and did not return home until September 2012.
Note
1. "Yuan" is the Chinese currency; 500 yuan is equal to the average monthly income of an urban worker in China.
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