Having Greatly Benefited from Practising Falun Gong, Practitioners Uphold Their Belief under Severe Persecution

As a farmer in my sixties, I suffered from tracheitis resulting from the hard labour I have had to perform throughout my life. Later, this condition turned into pneumothorax. I had to visit different doctors and take medicine throughout the year. I was hospitalised four times within two years. Each time the hospitalisation would cost me between 10,000 and 20,000 yuan (the Chinese currency; 500 yuan is equal to the average monthly income of an urban worker in China) and created tremendous financial hardship for me. In addition to these problems I developed colitis.

In February of 1998, I began practising Falun Dafa. Shortly after I started practising, all of my symptoms disappeared and I no longer needed medication. I have been in good health ever since. In fact, I'm healthier than ever. All of my friends and relatives are very happy for me.

The Chinese dictator Jiang Zemin and his regime launched the persecution against Falun Gong on July 20th of 1999. They searched the houses of most of the Falun Gong practitioners I know, extorted money from them, and even detained and beat them.

Jiang's regime has controlled all the media, using it as a channel for their propaganda. The TV and newspapers overwhelmed the Chinese people with fabricated news and slanderous attacks against Falun Gong. With their trust in the government and out of a sense of responsibility to society, tens of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners went to Beijing to appeal for their practise. They tried to demonstrate to the government that Falun Gong is good for any nation or ethnic group. Nevertheless, Jiang's regime was determined to oppress Falun Gong.

On June 25th, 2000, over two hundred Falun Dafa practitioners in Jieyang City, Guangdong Province, gathered in front of the Jieyang City Square to practise the Falun Gong exercises. With the banner "Falun Dafa is Righteous" hanging on the square, the practitioners practised the exercises silently.

Soon, police officers swarmed the square and quickly arrested all of us and took us to various police stations and local agencies. They took me to the Ronghua Agency and detained me there.

An officer asked me if I would continue to practise. "Surely I will! Where can I find another practise as good as Falun Gong?" I replied. Soon they sent me to the Police Department, where they did not give me anything to eat. Then they sent me to the police station in my local township, where I was detained for another three days. Once again, they asked me if I would practise Falun Gong. I said "Yes," of course. As a result, the authorities moved me to the Jiedong Detention Centre and imprisoned me there for fifteen more days. After extorting 470 yuan from me, they detained me in an office for Birth Control. How unbelievable! Is the Office of Birth Control now a place to imprison people? What Birth Control regulations did I violate?

It was a sweltering summer. The room was very small, but full of imprisoned practitioners. Inside the room was a small bucket for all of us to use as a toilet. The summer heat meant that it was extremely smelly and disgusting. The authorities ordered our families to send in meals. They imprisoned us there for one month and charged us 40 yuan each per day, which is equivalent to the cost of an entire months worth of grain for one person.