Six Practitioners Die from Persecution in Hebei, Xinjiang, and Shanghai

In 1995, Wang Shuhua, and her husband Wu Jinfu, were fortunate to learn the practice of Falun Dafa. Ms. Wang, a 50-year-old retired worker from the No. 3 Cotton Mill in Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province, used to have many illnesses. She was often forced to take a lot of time off from work. At the time, medicine was her only hope for survival. However after practising Falun Gong, all of her illnesses disappeared, and happiness once again returned to her family.

Since the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) launched its persecution against practitioners of Falun Gong back on July 20th, 1999, Ms. Wang and her family have suffered a great deal. Ms. Wang and her husband went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong, but they were detained and imprisoned several times. The police arrested Mr. Wang's husband and tortured him because he practised the Falun Gong exercises in the Hebei Theatre on Chinese New Year's Eve of 2000. He was sentenced and imprisoned in the Tangshan Prison for five years. Ms. Wang was also arrested while distributing literature exposing the persecution about Falun Gong and sent to a forced labour camp. She was released due to her poor health condition, but she soon became the target of regular harassment by the police. Ms. Wang was forced into homelessness for two years, during which time her daughter lost her job and gave birth to a child. The endless persecution against her and her family, along with the worries and hardships this produced, eventually made Ms. Wang fall ill. She suffered from ovarian cancer and died on November 21st, 2005.

Mr. Li Xiaojing, 69, was a retired worker from Kashi City of Xinjiang Province. He began to practise Falun Dafa in 1996, but has suffered from physical and mental persecution ever since former president Jiang Zemin's regime launched the suppression of Falun Gong. In May 2000, Chinese authorities imprisoned Mr. Li several times and extorted tens of thousands of yuan¹ from him. Mr. Li's home was searched a dozen times and he was imprisoned for more than a month right before Chinese New Year's Eve 2001. The persecution has also harmed Li Xiaojing's children. Mr. Li was forced into homelessness in 2001 to avoid further persecution. He died on September 5th, 2005, in Gangu County of Gansu Province.

Mr. Qiu Zhihua, 53, was born in Shanghai. Mr. Qiu began to practise Falun Gong in 1996. He was active in revealing the truth about the persecution of Falun Gong, and in July of 2000, he was detained. His house was searched by the authorities. After his release Mr. Qiu continued to practise Falun Gong, but was frequently harassed by the police. Under this endless mental and physical persecution, Mr. Qiu died in January 2005.

Mr. Tang Zhenxue, 70, is another veteran Falun Gong practitioner. He used to suffer from encephalitis, which often made him vomit. Mr. Tang had difficulty walking and had to be assisted by his family members when he first went to practise the Falun Gong exercises. At home he had to hold onto the bedside while practising the exercises. He became capable of walking on his own within a month of learning Falun Gong and began to do some farm work. After the persecution began, the authorities confiscated Mr. Tang's Falun Gong books and videotapes and threatened him not to practise Falun Gong. Under the prolonged and tremendous pressure, Mr. Tang had a relapse of his illness and died.

Ms. Jin Mingshu, 70, was a retired worker of the Wangqing County Department Store of Jilin Province. After she began to practise Falun Gong in 1996, all of her numerous illnesses disappeared without any medical treatment. Since July 20th, 1999, the local police and officials of the 610 Office² constantly harassed and intimidated her. Ms. Jin was arrested and interrogated three times since 2002. Due to repeated torture, Ms. Jin suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and died in February 2003.

Ms. Zhang Yuqin lived in Jilin City, of Jilin Province. After Ms. Zhang started practising Falun Gong, her severe long-term diabetes disappeared. She had only practised Falun Gong for a short period of time and did not have a thorough understanding of Dafa when the persecution began. When other Falun Dafa practitioners were persecuted, she stopped practising Falun Gong. As a result, Ms. Zhang had a relapse of her diabetes. Her illness turned into uremia until another Falun Gong practitioner who had been forced into homelessness took a job helping her with the housework. Ms Zhang was encouraged to return to the path of cultivation. One day, the authorities went to her house and arrested her fellow practitioner, and harassed and threatened Ms. Zhang. Ms. Zhang could not bear the tremendous pressure and her illness returned once again. She died in November 2002.

Note

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

2. "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://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2005/12/17/116718.html