Father of Yao Yaoyuan: Losing My Son in My Old Age Has Made Me Grieve Terribly

On June 4, 2003, my son Yao Yaoyuan sadly left this world. I felt great sorrow upon his death. Only because of his saying one sentence, "I want to go out to find a job," he suffered brainwashing for 10 months, was sentenced to one year in a forced labour camp and was finally persecuted to death.

In July 1989, my son entered the University of National Defence Science and Technology with high honours. He thus joined the army. He was assigned to study in the Department of System Engineering and Applied Mathematics. He graduated in July 1993 with a B.Sc degree. He was assigned to teach in the military academy of Wuhan. He won first place in the teaching contest. He published eight papers in the military forces publications. He took up the task of a research project, "The bank of the simulation mathematics questions." My son completed the assignment successfully and received the third class awards. His military rank was Captain. Yao Yaoyuan was a talented person with a very bright future ahead of him.

In 1998, Yaoyuan started practising Falun Gong because of his poor health. After the persecution of Falun Gong started in 1999, he was on his way to Beijing to appeal for justice for Falun Gong. However, he was intercepted and put in a forced brainwashing centre for more than two months. His workplace terminated his party membership, dismissed him from the military roll, and dismissed him from his job. They sent him back to his hometown, but nobody in our family got any processing documents.

After he came back home on September 25, 2000, Yaoyuan stayed at home all the time, never leaving the gate of Huxing Village. The officers from the Niumasi Government and the local police station visited my home several times. He was always at home. On February 21, 2001, the police officers asked him on purpose, "What is your plan for the future?" He said, "I want to go out to find a job." Because of these words, the leaders of the town and the police officers from the local station thought he would leave to go appeal in Beijing again. The next day, about 5 or 6 people came to our house. They forced Yaoyuan to go with them. I argued with them. I asked, "He was dismissed and sent back to his hometown three times. Wasn't that punishment enough? Because he is a Falun Gong practitioner, you insist on putting him in jail?

One of the policemen, in his 50's or 60's, shouted loudly, "He is a Falun Gong practitioner, so the government wants to arrest him and punish him!"

Another policeman said, "Whoever practises Falun Gong needs to 'study.'"

Yao Yaoyuan was sent to the forced brainwashing centre in Shaoyang City that very day. First he was in the Party School with another thirteen or fourteen practitioners. Then he was transferred to the Shaoyang City Forced Labour Camp.

After two or three months, my son started coughing continuously, had a lot of phlegm, and lost a lot of weight. We asked the authorities to check his health, but they refused.

I thought of paying money to get Yao Yaoyuan released on bail for medical treatment. I first talked to Ye Xiangming, the head of the local police station. I asked him to agree to sign the release for medical treatment. He said, "I am only in charge of making an arrest. I will not sign this agreement."

After that, I applied to the town government. Zhou Ping, the Party committee secretary of the town at that time, did not agree to sign either. I tried many avenues, but I got nowhere.

After 5 or 6 months, except for one or two practitioners who were released because they were "transformed" (1), the other practitioners in Shaoyang City were returned by their work units. There were only four practitioners from Shaodong and one from Xinshao left in the labour camp.

On November 13, 2001, officials from the town asked me to bring 20,000 yuan (2) as a deposit to get my son back. I immediately went to the Shaoyang City Forced Labour Camp. The practitioners had all undergone a hunger strike for six consecutive days to protest the persecution. They had all become very skinny and were coughing continuously. They were short of breath and on the verge of death.

On the second day, I put the money together and went to the town government. They said that Xiao, Director of Shuangqing District Police Department in Shaoyang City, would not agree to release my son. When I arrived at the City Forced Labour Camp, my son had already been sent to the detention centre. They said he was detained because of practising Falun Gong in public and "disturbing the social order." I handed a written request to the Shuangqing District Police Department asking for his release on bail for medical treatment. But I did not get any response.

I spent 50 yuan to visit Yaoyuan once. After 15 days, I got a phone call from Zhu Xueming the director of the 610 Office (3) in Shaodong County, asking me to bring 325 yuan for my son's living expenses in jail.

I saw that Yaoyuan's health was getting worse and worse, and he was coughing and spitting continuously. I sent another request to ask for his release on bail for medical treatment. At that time, Li Qiling, the officer of the 610 Office said, "Even with your town and the county's agreement, we will release him."

After the governor of the town received my request, he said he would contact the 610 Office.

I went directly to Zhu Xueming at the 610 Office in Shaodong County. He said, "Your son is too stubborn. We arranged for him to be released last."

After that, Mr. Wang, the Mayor of the town, and Shen Desheng talked to Zhu Xueming. From their meeting, I learned that, "Comrade Zhu did not have any opinion against it. Only Liu Sheqing, the Secretary of the County Discipline Inspection Commission did not agree." I therefore intended to talk to Liu Sheqing, but I heard that Shen Xiongwei, the deputy secretary of the County Discipline Inspection Commission, was the one in charge of the 610 Office in the county. After several tries, I found him. I sent him an application for my son's release on medical bail and he looked at it. He felt sympathy and told me that he would give me an answer in a week. After a week, he gave me his answer saying, "There is a disagreement from the upper level." I said, "There doesn't have to be any disagreement from the upper level. The 610 Office in Shaoyang City should release my son with the agreement of the county and the town."

Later, I found out it was Wang Ruobo, the Party Secretary of the county, who did not agree to my son's release. There was no way to get my son released on bail for medical treatment. Because of this, again and again my son lost precious time that he needed for treatment.

What was heartbreaking was the fact that without any trial, without giving his family any written judgment, while he was seriously ill, my son was wrongfully charged with "disturbing the social order," and was sentenced to one year of forced labour.

At the beginning of February 2002, Yaoyuan was transferred to the Xinkaipu Forced Labour Camp in Changsha City, Hunan Province. With such a sick and disabled body, I did not know how he managed to live through a whole year of prison life.

In June, my entire family went to the labour camp to visit Yaoyuan. His complexion was as yellow as wax and he was skinny like a piece of firewood. His white clothes had turned yellow. He was weary from illness. We could only cry with dry eyes. Later, we heard that in October he began coughing up blood in his prison cell, but he was not given any medical treatment. They just let him be sick.

After enduring a year of labour camp with great difficulty, Yao Yaoyuan was released on January 30, 2003 when his term finally ended. He coughed and spat in the car several times and it was clear that his health was in very poor condition. On the eighth day back home, Yaoyuan coughed up a large amount of blood. We hurriedly sent him to the People's Hospital in Shaodong County for emergency rescue with infusions and oxygen therapy. The CT scan and X-rays showed that his lung had several big holes in it and he had an infection in his trachea. The doctor's diagnosis was Secondary Pulmonary Tuberculosis. Six days later, he coughed out a huge amount of blood again. That left his body severely lacking blood. He was given a transfusion of 400 cc of blood immediately. He was also injected with several bottles of protein. Yaoyuan was hospitalized for a month, which cost 10,000 yuan. When his condition was getting slightly better, with the permission of the doctor, he went home and took the medicine we bought for treatment.

During the time he was treated at home, a person was sent from the town to monitor him [to make sure he did not practise Falun Gong]. They paid Muo Zhihua from our village 100 yuan per month and asked her to come to my home once every three days.

On the night of May 20, 2003, Yaoyuan spat up a huge amount of blood again. The blood was all over the quilt, pillow, blanket and the mosquito net. He lost consciousness. He was sent to the Central Hospital of Shaoyang City for emergency rescue. The medical expense was 500 yuan each day, but his condition did not get any better. He spat up a lot of blood again at 9 o'clock on June 4, 2003. Although he was helped immediately, Yaoyuan passed away because he had lost too much blood. This time the medical expense was over 5,000 yuan.

Who on earth has given me such a big tribulation? My family has been torn to pieces. My family is broken and my son is dead. The happy life I dreamed of having in my old age has been destroyed.

I thought, "If the officers from the local police station and the town government had not so foolishly assumed, based on their mere guesses, that "going out to find a job" was "appealing" and "establishing contacts," then the result would not have been that my son was subjected to brainwashing for 10 months and sentenced to one year in a forced labour camp. Then his illness would not have led to his death.

If it were not for Wang Ruobo, the Party Secretary of Shaodong County, depriving my son of his right to be released on medical bail, then the precious time he needed for treatment would not have been delayed and it would not have caused this unrecoverable tragedy.

My wife and I are nearing our seventies. I have a serious coronary disease. Losing my son in my old age leaves me in deep sorrow. How can we suffer this in our old age!

Note:

(1) "Reform or Transform" Implementation of brainwashing and torture in order to force a practitioner to renounce Falun Gong. (Variations: "reform", "transform", "reformed", "reforming", "transformed", "transforming", and "transformation")

(2) "Yuan" is the Chinese currency; 500 yuan is equal to the average monthly income of an urban worker in China.

(3) "The 610 office" is an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.org/mh/articles/2005/4/11/99383.html