In Her Own Words: Ms. Mi Xiaozheng's Story of Enduring Fourteen Years of Torture and Abuse

Ms. Mi Xiaozheng is a Falun Gong practitioner in Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province. Although she had the highest grades at her university, she was suspended just one year before graduation for practising Falun Gong. She was arrested and sent to brainwashing centres twice, where she was tortured and beaten. Even during her pregnancy she was still harassed constantly, which caused a miscarriage.

Now, Ms. Mi lives abroad. The following are her experiences of the past 14 years, in her own words:

Chongqing University Covered Up the True Reason I Was Expelled – Practising Falun Gong

I received an official document from Chongqing University on the afternoon of March 23rd, 2009 stating that I had been expelled from school (see the photo below). I was told that I was not allowed to go back to school to resume my studies if I refused to give up Falun Gong. The excuse to expel me from school was that I was “unable to go back to school to resume study.” The real reason I was suspended was my practice of Falun Gong; however the university claimed it was “sickness.” They also covered up the fact that I had been constantly ordered to choose between my belief and my school studies by the university authorities.

In December 2003, the deputy head of Chongqing University, Zhang Siping, was asked during a conference in the US whether there any students who had been expelled because of their belief. He blurted, “No one has been expelled from my university because of his belief with the exception of Falun Gong.” When his answer aroused discussion, he quickly tried to deny it by saying, “No Falun Gong members were expelled from school.” (http://en.minghui.org/emh/articles/2003/12/8/42966.html)

Being suspended from school and later being expelled again were just small part of my sufferings over the past 14 years. Since 1999 when I was 22 years old, I was arrested and detained for six times. I had to become homeless twice. I was beaten, and subjected to brainwashing. Just months before I left China, I was still harassed at home. I want to tell my story to the public. I hope you can see clearly the difference between righteousness and evil through my experiences.

1. Expelled from University Though a Top Student

I had been a top grade student among the students in the same school year. However, because of practising Falun Gong, I was suspended and later expelled from school.

I was not a smart child when I was young. I studied hard in order not to be blamed by my father. My grades were just a little over average in the class.

I studied harder after entering middle school and high school because I wanted to be admired. I often studied late until 11 p.m. or midnight. There were often dark circles around my eyes, and I looked much older than others my age.

I slacked off after getting into the university. I participated in school activities with other students such as watching movies, travelling, etc. The colourful campus life puzzled me, then the emptiness and confusion cropped up. I tried to find the answers from the books of philosophy and religion in the school library. I couldn't find the answers that satisfied me after reading many such books.

Then I read the Falun Gong book book Zhuan Falun. I was awakened and suddenly understood the true meaning of life. Through studying the Falun Gong teachings, I realized I should study well as a student in order to be responsible to my job and to society in the future. I followed the teachings of Falun Gong to get rid of my attachment to fame and the show-off mentality. My mind became calm and peaceful.

Falun Gong opened my wisdom and manifested its miraculous power in me. In the second term, I got the top grade in the exam among nearly 200 students.

2. Facing the Choice between School Study and Belief

I hoped to introduce Falun Gong to more people so they could also be benefit from practising. However, after July 20, 1999 when the persecution started, the propaganda blocked people from knowing the truth. Like many other practitioners, I went to appeal for Falun Gong, hoping to help the authorities learn the truth through my own experiences.

However, my sincerity was repaid with constant persecution. In September 1999, I was taken back to Chongqing University after appealing for Falun Gong. A brainwashing session was held in school for nearly one month under the order of the Chongqing City Politics and Law Committee. My student ID and family relationships were used in exchange for a guarantee statement to renounce practising Falun Gong. After I was allowed to resume my school studies, I was under watch by the assigned staff and was often called in to “have a talk.”

A brainwashing session was held again in September 2000. I was threatened that I would not be left alone unless I was “transformed” [forcibly renounce Falun Gong]. People from the Chongqing Politics and Law committee threatened to take hard measures if I still refused to give in. I started a hunger strike to protest the mistreatment. The school authorities wanted me to quit school but I refused. Under pressure, my parents wrote an application of “suspending from school” for me, which was suggested by the school authorities. Although I protested that my parents could not represent me, I was still forced to leave school and go home.

In April 2002, I was sent to a brainwashing centre in Shijiazhuang City by officials from the local 610 Office. I suffered brutal brainwashing there for four months. The authorities of Chongqing University informed my parents to watch me carefully and not send me back to school. I contacted the school several times to discuss resuming my school studies. I was told, that as long as I didn't give up my belief, I would not be allowed to resume my studies. They threatened that I would be expelled from school if I couldn't resume my studies for a long period of time. (See details in the article, Authorities Persecute Outstanding Students at Chongqing University ）

Even after I was “suspended from school,” the authorities at Chongqing University didn't leave me alone. They came to my parent's home twice and asked my parents to provide a so-called “guarantee statement.”

In March 2009, I received the official letter from the university that informed me that I was expelled from school. However, to cover up the fact that I was not allowed to resume my school studies due to persecution, the letter stated that I hadn't come back to school.

I have always been very conscientious about my school studies. The letter from the school shocked me and made me really sad. At that time, I'd just had a baby, and my mood affected my baby. My baby became seriously ill and had to have surgery.

3. Suffering the Hoodlum Police while Appealing in Beijing

I went to Tiananmen Square in Beijing on December 5th, 2000 to appeal for Falun Gong. Later, I was sent to the Qianmen Police Station and suffered beatings and obscenities by police officer Ma Zengrou. At that time, I was 23 years old and not married yet. The illustrations below were drawn based on what happened at that time.

Ma first slapped my face with his hands. My face was swollen and covered with dirt. Then he forced me to kneel on the ground and rode on top of me. He verbally abused me with dirty words and held my hair to keep bumping my head against the floor. Much of my hair was pulled out and lay on the floor. Blood came out of somewhere from my head.

Ma shocked me with an electric baton. He held the baton to touch my body everywhere. He tried to put his hand under my clothes to touch my breasts. I struggled hard to stop him until he was tired and gave up. Later another police officer came and took me away.

Later, Ma took me back to his office again and tortured me even more viciously. He beat my face for a while and then he tried to dig deep into my eyes with his hands. He viciously said, “I want to dig out your eyes.” He held my ears and pulled them so hard that it seemed like he wanted to tear them off. Then he went for my mouth and stretched it in different directions until it bled. Then he beat my face again.

When he tortured me, he kept looking at the door and windows. When I realized he was afraid his actions might be seen, I yelled loudly. He was so scared that he immediately pushed a washcloth into my mouth. I managed to spit it out. He tried to squeeze his feet into my mouth.

At last he pushed me down on the sofa. He bit my mouth so hard that my mouth bled. I struggled hard against him. At 2 a.m., he was tired and gave up. He had tried to drag me to the bed in his office but failed. He had used so many different ways to torture me, I was unable to remember all of them. He said to me while beating me, “If you die here, it's regarded as committing suicide. We'll just put you in a sack and bury you outside. No one will know where you are.” From the articles on Minghui.net, I learned that this evil policeman has done the same or more to other female practitioners.

After being beaten by Ma, my eyes were injured and my hair was a mess. I was in such a nervous crisis that my blood pressure was up to 190 when I was taken to the detention centre. That experience was a nightmare to me and I had lingering fear after it.

4. Sent to Brainwashing Centre Twice

In December 2000, when the police in Shijiazhuang City learned that I practised Falun Gong, they came to search my home twice and attempted to arrest me. I had to leave home to hide and my living conditions were very poor.

In April 2000, I was arrested on the street by police from the Shijiazhuang 610 Office and was sent to Hebei Province Brainwashing Centre. There I was deprived of sleep three times over a two-week period. I suffered many insidious mistreatments such as being forcefully fed alcohol, pinched on the nose and ears, not allowed to go to the restroom, etc. I exposed the persecution in the brainwashing centre on the Minghui website after I was released, for which I had to leave home again.

In April 2005, I was arrested again and detained in the Shijiazhuang Detention Centre for over two weeks. Then I was sent to the Hebei Province brainwashing centre and detained there for one year. During this period, I was deprived of sleep for more than nine days. Police officer Jiang Qingcun slapped my face four or five times, which caused my left ear to almost lose hearing for nearly a month. I had been pinched on sensitive parts of my body such as clavicle, thigh and ribs, which caused me unbearable pain. I was transferred to Langfang Brainwashing Centre for one month during that period because I refused to give up my belief.

4. Harassed During Pregnancy

In September 2007 before the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) 17th Congress, police from the local police station and staff from the local residential committee came to harass Falun Gong practitioners. I was visited by people from the Donghuan Police Station and the Jinma Residential Committee and was ordered to give them my fingerprints. I refused. At that time, I was pregnant. The harassment made me uneasy and worried, and I had a miscarriage a few days later.

In July 2008, before the Beijing Olympic Games, there was a wave of arrests of practitioners. I was seven months pregnant at that time and staying at home when dozens of police came. I stayed in the far end of a room that was locked. The police searched the apartment around and kept knocking on the door. It seemed they would never leave. I had no recourse but to open the window to expose them loudly. They finally left. (See details in Domestic Security Division Agents Harass Pregnant Woman in Hebei Province ) The baby I carried seemed disturbed that day and grew slower afterwards.

6. Constantly Harassed

For more than ten years, I have been harassed and threatened countless times. Such an atmosphere of terror can bring a lot of pressure to one's mind and bring physical damage as well. The harassment not only hurt me and my baby but also affected my elderly parents. My parents are not in good health. My father has heart problems. The constant persecution has caused them dramatic pressure. They have been harassed constantly by the local police and people from local residential committee.

In June 2011, my parents were threatened once again to write a so-called “thought report” for me or to force me to write it. My husband and I decided to move out.

In September 2012, for several days, someone came knocking the door of the apartment where my husband and I stayed. The person called my name and threatened to call the police if I didn't open the door, which I didn't. Later, I learned that person was from the local residential committee. This happened just months before I left China.

The suffering and pain I endured over the past 14 years are hard to describe in words. I realized the evil essence of the CCP through my own experiences

I came to the US in February 2013. Staying in a county with freedom of belief and away from the persecution, I still don't feel relaxed, because there are still so many practitioners in China suffering. Many people there are still deceived by the CCP and ignore and even participate in the persecution. I feel sad. I hope people can choose with their conscience and experience a wonderful future. I hope the national catastrophe of the persecution of Falun Gong will stop as soon as possible, and that the people get be rid of the CCP's shackles. And I hope the day without the CCP's rule will come soon!