Belated News: Zhejiang Man Dies at Age 48 after Years of Persecution for His Faith

The Minghui.org website recently confirmed that a resident of Jinhua City, Zhejiang Province died in October 2015 after suffering years of persecution for his faith in Falun Gong. He was 48 years old, survived by his wife and young daughter.

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is an ancient spiritual and meditation discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

Mr. Tong Jianhong was a manager at the Jinhua Transportation Bureau. He began practising Falun Gong with his wife, Ms. Wang Jinxing, in 1997. It was common practice at that time for his colleagues to receive gifts from their subordinates during work inspections, but Mr. Tong lived by Falun Gong’s principles “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance,” and never accepted the gifts.

With the onset of the persecution, Mr. Tong and Ms. Wang went to Beijing in July 1999 to appeal for the right to practice Falun Gong. They were stopped in Tianjin after the police found Falun Gong-related materials on them. Officers in Jinhua travelled nearly 900 miles to Tianjin to take them home and demanded that they pay 8,000 yuan to cover the travel costs. The police also ransacked their home and confiscated their Falun Gong books.

The couple was arrested again in October 2000 while putting up Falun Gong posters. Mr. Tong was released on bail after being detained for one month at the Jinhua City Detention Centre. His workplace demoted him and sent him to a toll station in the suburban area. His colleagues and supervisors also monitored his daily activities.

As he could return home only on weekends and his wife was still in detention, he had to ask a relative to help take care of their daughter, who was less than six at the time.

Ms. Wang was given two years at the Moganshan Forced Labour Camp after two months of detention. She was monitored around the clock by the inmates, who often verbally abused and humiliated her. Because she did not renounce her faith, she was forced to stand for long hours and not allowed to take showers during the hot summer. The authorities frequently took blood samples from her without providing any explanation. She wasn’t allowed to meet with Mr. Tong during her entire term.

Before Ms. Wang was released, Mr. Tong was arrested two more times, in April 2001 and May 2002, and sent to the Shimen Farm Brainwashing Center.

Because he refused to write statements renouncing Falun Gong, the authorities extorted 8,000 yuan from him as “tuition” for the brainwashing sessions.

Mr. Tong was sent to the brainwashing centre one more time in May 2004, less than two years after Ms. Wang returned home. Ms. Wang and her sister, Ms. Wang Jinxong, who also practices Falun Gong, were also arrested.

After 24 hours of interrogation at the police station, Ms. Wang and her sister were transferred to the brainwashing centre and interrogated for ten more days. The police searched their homes several times and found a box of Falun Gong materials. The sisters were then placed in criminal detention and each given two years at the Moganshan Forced Labour Camp in June.

From then on, the local residential committee and police constantly harassed Ms. Wang and her husband, especially around sensitive days. The security guards in their neighbourhood also kept a close eye on their daily activities.

Mr. Tong’s last arrest was on his way home after work in April 2015. The authorities took him to a brainwashing session held in a local hotel, without informing Ms. Wang. She looked for him for the entire evening, but to no avail. Only when she reported his disappearance to the police the next day, did she find out that he had been detained.

Ms. Wang and their daughter went to the hotel to seek Mr. Tong’s release and almost got herself arrested.

Mr. Tong had already begun to experience health issues before he was arrested. Despite his physical condition, the staff members at the brainwashing centre insisted on keeping him in detention.

His health quickly deteriorated. He had become emaciated and unable to walk twenty days later. He was diagnosed with late-stage stomach cancer on May 4, 2015, and died in October.