Persecution Brings Endless Suffering to Wang Hongbin's Family and Causes His Tragic Death

By a witness of the persecution of Wang Hongbin

Wang Hongbin and his wife were classmates in college. They graduated from the Telecommunication Engineering Department of Changchun Post and Telecommunication Institute in 1987 and both were assigned to work at the Hebei Telephone Equipment Factory. Since July 20, 1999 when Jiang Zemin's regime began to brutally persecute Falun Gong, Wang Hongbin's family of three suffered continuous persecution. Their house was ransacked and property confiscated five times, and the couple was arrested six times. First, Wang's family life was shattered, then they were forced to become homeless, travelling from place to place to avoid persecution, and finally the family was totally ruined. Wang Hongbin was arrested, beaten up, tortured and sentenced to forced labour. On October 9th, 2003 he died at the age of 39 because of the torture he suffered. He left a wife and a 13-year-old son behind, who are in dire financial straits.

It was originally a happy family of three. The couple loved each other and their son was an adorable child. Wang Hongbin was honest and kind, and had no problems with anyone. He was an electrical engineer and specialized in programme-controlled exchange technology. He always patiently helped those who needed help. He was often assigned to provide maintenance services and the customers were very happy with him. Therefore, his workplace and the Provincial Post and Telecommunication Bureau selected him many times as an "outstanding employee." His successes were recorded in "The annals of the Hebei Telephone Equipment Factory." Wang Hongbin's wife was also highly qualified and had been promoted to a deputy chief engineer. She got along well with her colleagues and was recognized for her work. All three of them enjoyed excellent health.

In the early hours of July 20, 1999, more than 20 plain-clothes policemen broke into their house, arrested both Mr. and Mrs. Wang and searched the house. Their ten-year- old son was terribly frightened by what had happened and burst out crying. He was unattended for more than 50 days and had to care for himself. He suffered from a skin ulcer on his leg. Without the care of his parents his skin ulcer was covered by dirt and became infected. It was heart-wrenching to see.

After Wang Hongbin and Feng Xiaomei were released, they still could not resume their peaceful life. During holidays and festivals, police, neighbours and at times even the special police crime unit would phone them or come to their house to harass or arrest them. They were not allowed to leave Shijiazhuang City on weekends, visit their hometown or go on an outing in the suburbs with their son.

At the end of June 2000, before so-called sensitive dates, leaders from their work unit began to harass and try to force them to write the "guarantee statement" [[A statement to declare that he or she is remorseful for practising Falun gong and guarantees not to practise Falun Gong again, not to go to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong, and never again associate with any Falun Dafa practitioners] and stopped paying their salaries. Finally, both were forced to resign from their work, becoming destitute.

During the night of July 19th, 2000 the political instructor from the Dongdajie Police Station and a group of people searched Mr. Wang's house and arrested his wife Feng Xiaomei. She was charged with "disturbing social stability." She pointed out, "I have been staying at home, who could I have disturbed?" The police answered, "As long as you practise Falun Gong, you will be charged with such a crime." Wang Hongbin and his son went daily to the police station to bring her meals. His wife was released after repeated protests. However, there was no end to the persecution. The neighbourhood committee maintained surveillance to arrest practitioners on trumped up charges. For example, meetings between three Falun Gong practitioners were considered illegal and reason for an arrest.

In September 2000, Wang Hongbin was arrested by the railway police for reading a Falun Gong book on the train. He was transferred from one police station to another and detained for four or five days. His wife Feng Xiaomei suffered great anxiety while waiting for his return. Instead of her husband, a group of policemen arrived, searched their house and confiscated their valuables.

During the National Day period of the year 2000, Dongdajie Police Station police, the police crime unit and the neighbourhood committee came to their door in an attempt to arrest them and search their house. Since the couple strongly resisted, they were unable to arrest them. However, they could no longer stay at home, became homeless and travelled with their son from place to place to avoid further persecution until after the holidays.

On December 5, 2000 Wang Hongbin was taken away by a dozen plain clothes policemen, and his house was searched and ransacked. Mr. Wang's mother-in-law became paralyzed from fear and hid in her bed. Later, whenever she heard someone knock on the door, her heartbeat would accelerate and she would be greatly frightened. That day Feng Xiaomei managed to escape arrest and went to Beijing to appeal this injustice. The police in Beijing arrested her and beat her black and blue. She spat blood and then had blood in her stool for more than 20 days. She suffered from dropsy [swelling from excessive accumulation of serous fluid in tissue. This condition is accompanied by swelling, scanty urine, poor appetite, sluggishness, and debility. The swelling usually begins in the feet and ankles and proceeds up the legs towards the abdomen.], her face became deformed, her eyes could hardly open and she was unable to wear shoes. She could not walk. During her detention at a police station in Beijing the police did not allow her to use a toilet for 48 hours. Feng Xiaomei had also been drugged at the Congwen District Police Station in Beijing and suffered a great deal. Although seriously ill, she was escorted back to Shijiazhuang and detained at Ruancheng City Detention Centre for a day. Due to the appeals of her friends and the police's fear that she might die in detention, she was released.

After she recovered, Feng Xiaomei told everyone about the injustice her husband was suffering. The persecutors tried to stop her from telling everyone about the persecution of her husband. They framed her, attempted to arrest her under false charges, threatened her over the phone and even threatened to kidnap her son. Feng Xiaomei and her son had no choice but to abandon their home. They went from place to place and dared not return home. During that period of time she had to work to support her child. Her husband had been detained for two years, but the forced labour camp did not allow visits with her husband. The couple had not seen each other for two years. Even after Wang Hongbin became ill, the labour camp refused to allow Feng Xiaomei to see him. The camp went as far as withholding the truth of Mr. Wang's illness and refused to release him on bail for medical treatment. Later on, the labour camp did not even allow Ms. Feng to send clothes to Wang Hongbin. On a few occasions, the labour camp police guards behaved outrageously and even attempted to arrest Feng Xiaomei.

The instigators behind the abduction of Mr. Wang Hongbin were the City Public Security Bureau and Ma Wensheng from the "610 Office" [a bureau specifically created by the Chinese government to persecute Falun Gong. It has absolute power over each level of administration in the Party, as well as over the political and judiciary branches.]. They followed Jiang's malicious policies "Deaths of Falun Gong practitioners from beating are nothing and shall be counted as suicide," and "Defame their reputation, bankrupt them financially, destroy them physically." Therefore, they arrested a group of so-called "key members" of Falun Dafa practitioners and sentenced them to long prison terms. The City Public Security Bureau and the "610 Office" arrested Wang Hongbin after they ordered the Chang'an Public Security Sub-bureau to tap his telephone and mobile phone, as well as tailing him for more than one month. After Wang Hongbin was taken to Shuanghuan Guest House in Shijiazhuang City, the Deputy Head of the Political and Security Division of Chang'an Public Security Sub-bureau, Hu Guanghui and some people tried to force Wang Hongbin to sign a pre-prepared confession, stating that he gave school teacher Lu Xinshu three copies of truth-clarification VCDs in Lu's office in September, 2000. This was directed by Wang Xiaofeng, a member of the City Public Security Bureau and the "610 Office." Wang Hongbin refused to sign his name on the false confession. He instead requested to confront Lu Xinshu about the false charge. Naturally, this request was turned down. Instead, the police forced him to stand on the floor barefooted and cuffed him in the "Carrying a Sword on the Back" position [The practitioner's hands are cuffed behind his/her back with one hand over the shoulder and the other hand against the lower back. The police then apply a great deal of force to pull the two hands toward one another and handcuff the two hands together.]. From time to time some people would punch and kick him while cursing at him. They did not give him anything to eat and then accused him of going on a hunger strike. This was so they could torture him through forced feeding. All those Falun Dafa practitioners that had been arrested at the time were violently beaten. Lu Xinshu lost consciousness and his hearing as a result of the severe beating. He was released only when he became increasingly weaker and trembled constantly because of the torture. Wang Hongbin heard Lu Xinshu screaming next door. Yang Jianmei, who was arrested together with Wang Hongbin, had black and blue bruises on his face. Lu Xinshu was sentenced to eight years of imprisonment and Yang Jianmei to twelve years. They were all held at the Baoding Jail. Wang Hongbin was sentenced to three years of forced labour and was held at the No. Two Division of the Shijiazhuang City Forced Labour Camp. Internal sources indicate that as soon as Wang Hongbin was sentenced to three years of forced labour, the police received a fifty thousand Yuan bonus [The monthly salary for an average Chinese urban worker is about 500 Yuan].

During the detention in the forced labour camp, Wang Hongbin suffered all kinds of physical and mental torture. He was deprived of his right to rest and sleep. Once Wang Hongbin could no longer stay awake, so the police guard ordered inmates to burn his fingernails with a lighter, until the nail and the base of the nail were completely burned away. At another time, one of his hands was cuffed to iron bars, and he was hung there with both feet off the ground. He was left like this for three days and three nights. The police guards gave batons to the inmates and ordered them to keep an eye on him. Whenever Wang Hongbin's feet touched the wall, these inmates would hit his ankles with the baton. They knew that if they were cruel and ruthless in dealing with Falun Gong practitioners, they would have their terms reduced, so they did not hesitate to abuse the practitioners. They watched the practitioners very closely and even followed them to the toilets. Because Wang Hongxin did not know when he would be sent to the so-called "forced education" or what would happen next, he became tense and depressed, which affected his mental well-being. Wang Hongbin's health deteriorated.

After so much suffering, he finally went back home. On the very day when he returned home, he looked into the mirror and found that his hair had turned white. He turned his head away from the mirror. He felt that this was impossible and he was unwilling to face the cruel reality. During the days that followed he sat there staring blankly and was unwilling to meet other people. His health continued to deteriorate. He was getting thinner and thinner, and his cough got worse. He became severely depressed. When he saw a police officer, he would make a detour even if it was only a traffic officer and felt nervous when someone knocked at the door. He lost confidence in everything and was close to a mental collapse. His health deteriorated further and further. He did not come out of his depression and passed away.

At the beginning of the year when the forced labour camp released him, he was taken to the hospital by the labour camp for a check-up. It was said that he suffered from stomach trouble. Actually, it was suspected that he suffered from lung cancer. The forced labour camp hid the truth and repeatedly delayed his release on medical bail. Only when Wang Hongbin's life was in imminent danger did the forced labour camp find a reason to grant him an early release. They did not wish to held responsible for his death.

The pain Wang Hongbin's wife suffered was beyond description and hard to watch. Feng Xiaomei said that what she felt most grieved over was that she risked the danger of being arrested or her son being abducted to appeal for her husband's release. And although he returned home, she was unable to help him because of the terrible physical and mental scars that tormented him. She was so helpless as she watched him die. This is another senseless tragedy that happened during the persecution.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2004/3/9/69352.html