Jilin City's Changyi Education Bureau Demoted and Repeatedly Pressured One of the "Top Ten Schoolteachers of the Year" to Renounce His Belief in Falun Gong

Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Liu Fengchun was one of the "Top Ten Schoolteachers of the Year," the "Excellent Young Schoolteacher of Changyi Precinct," Chairman of Education at Changyi Precinct's Lianhua Elementary School, and a top-level schoolteacher. However, Lianhua Elementary School suspended him from his post when he refused to give up his personal, spiritual belief in Falun Gong. To make ends meet, Mr. Liu had no choice but to work as a salesman and a janitor. Eventually, they forced him to resign. The day that the school's shameful acts were exposed on the Minghui website (the Chinese version of Clearwisdom), many kindhearted people outside of China saw the news and called the school's principal Mr. Mou Zongliang and its schoolteachers that afternoon to question their unjust behaviour. Afterwards, the principal, the school's Party Secretary Ms. Hou Li, and the Chairman of the Laws and Regulations Department of Changyi Precinct's Education Bureau Mr. Li Guangyin plotted together to conceal their subsequent plan to pressure Mr. Liu Fengchun into giving up his belief in Falun Gong.

The principal thought he would be able to force Mr. Liu to resign if he demoted him from a teacher to a janitor at the school. His assumption was that Mr. Liu, an excellent teacher, wouldn't want to work as a janitor and would voluntarily leave the school. It was not until the principal received overseas phone calls that afternoon that he realized that the whole world now knew what he had done to Mr. Liu to force him to resign. Out of fear, embarrassment, and anger, he immediately phoned Mr. Liu and shouted over the phone, "Did I suspend you from your position? It's the school's Party Committee's decision!" Mr. Liu replied, "You are the school principal. You know very well that you are one of the decision makers."

Early the next morning, Mou Zongliang asked Mr. Liu to meet him at school. They talked from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Mou told Mr. Liu that he had received many phone calls and text messages on his mobile phone. Mou behaved with unusual politeness to Mr. Liu. He said, "I have your resignation letter. I have not processed it." During the meeting, Mr. Liu repeatedly explained the truth about Falun Gong to Mou. He also told the principal, "If the school will make reasonable arrangements for my return, I will be glad to return to work." Mou replied, "You may return to work, but there are a few conditions."

In order to appease the anticipated public criticism after Mr. Liu's return, the school management spread a malicious rumour among the schoolteachers that Mr. Liu had gone on a strike and that they did not suspend him from work.

The school principal Mou Zongliang, the school's Party Secretary Hou Li, and the Chairman of the Laws and Regulations Department of Changyi Precinct's Education Bureau Li Guangyin were in on the plot together. On June 9, 2005, Mou Zongliang and Hou Li asked Mr. Liu Fengchun to visit Changyi Precinct's Education Bureau with them. They told him that the bureau wished to see all three of them. As soon as they arrived at the bureau, however, Mou and Hou left. Li Guangyin came out and met with Mr. Liu alone. Li Guangyin had obviously approved of the suspension and tried to cover up for Mou by shifting the guilt to the victim. He started the meeting by asking Mr. Liu, "Who gave you the right to miss work for a month?" Next he said, "You will do what the school tells you to do. It is your problem if you refuse to follow orders. The Education Bureau now orders to you work as a janitor." In the face of these wrongful accusations, Mr. Liu did not back off. He told Li Guangyin, "I will not accept any unreasonable, unlawful arrangement." Li Guangyin became impatient and told Mr. Liu, "You are welcome to take the case up with the Head of the Education Bureau or even the Party Secretary of the bureau."

When they returned from the bureau on June 9, Hou Li ordered him to return to school immediately for janitorial work. In the afternoon, he returned to the schoolteacher's lounge. His former colleagues were surprised to see him and asked, "Why did you resign without telling us first?" Mr. Liu told them the truth, that the school principal and the school's Party Secretary had made him a janitor. They were very upset about what was done to him.

On June 10, Mr. Liu went to school to wait for his work order, but Hou Li told him that he must continue to work as a janitor. She also made him move his belongings to the dispatcher's office (similar to the front door/school guard's room) and told him that would be his "office." Mr. Liu went to Mou directly and questioned him about the arrangement. Mou told him, "It is the Party Secretary's decision. It is none of my business. They have made a decision. You should continue to work as a janitor."

In the morning on June 13, 2005, Mr. Liu went to see Li Guangyin again to question him about the unreasonable work arrangement. Li Guangyin told him, "If you promise not to practise Falun Gong in writing, you will have your job back. Otherwise, you will continue to work as a janitor." Mr. Liu answered, "I will never give up practising Falun Gong. You must reinstate me as a schoolteacher."

Mr. Liu Fengchun has decided that he has done nothing wrong in practising Falun Gong or following Falun Gong's cultivation principles of Truth-Compassion-Forbearance. In order to protect his rights, he is preparing to appeal his case.

Relevant information:

Hou Li, Lianhua Elementary School's Party Secretary: 86-432-7900495(mobile), 86-432-2784026(Home), 86-432-2758859(Office)
Mou Zongliang, Lianhua Elementary School's Principal: 86-13904424518(mobile), 86-432-2791737(Office), 86-432-2789343(Home)
Li Guangyin, Chairman of Laws and Regulations Department of Changyi Precinct's Education Bureau: 86-432-2551920(Office)

The school:

Lianhua Elementary School & Jilin City Martial Arts School in Changyi Precinct, Jilin City
Address: 1 Lianshan Alley, Changyi Precinct, Jilin City, Jilin Province 132002

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2005/6/15/104068.html