"She Was Sent to a Remote Place and May Never Return" (Photos)

David Matas, a member of a Canadian independent investigation team, held a press conference and a forum in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur on October 10th, 2006, to introduce an investigative report about the harvesting of organs from living Falun Gong practitioners by the Chinese Communist Party. It attracted the attention of people from all walks of life. As an eyewitness, Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Chen Jing talked about her involuntary blood test and how she was persecuted. One of the practitioners jailed with her "was sent to a remote place and may never return." Below is her testimony:

The testimony of Chen Jing at the open forum sponsored by the Malaysian Bar Association	Chen Jing (far left) describes her experience of being persecuted in China

My name is Chen Jing. I am from Guangdong Province in China. I now have asylum under the United Nations. I was sentenced to three and a half years in prison by Chinese authorities because of my belief in and spreading the facts about Falun Gong.

I have experienced many things in the seven years since the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) began its persecution of Falun Gong. Some of these experiences serve as supporting evidence of the CCP’s extracting organs from unwilling Falun Gong practitioners. I began to practise Falun Gong in November 1995. Falun Gong is very effective in improving one’s health. It teaches people to be good and quickly elevates people’s moral standards, and thus attracted many Chinese people who wanted to become better people, I being one of them. There were many people practising Falun Gong at that time. People generally believed that the reason for the persecution was because the number of Falun Gong practitioners exceeded that of the CCP’s membership list. CCP membership was 60 million at the time.

After July 20th, 1999, many people who had benefited from Falun Gong went to Beijing to appeal to the government on its behalf. From 1999 through 2002, everyday a large number of people went to Tiananmen Square and the Appeals Bureau in Beijing to appeal to the authorities. These practitioners, carrying nothing but a peaceful hope, were arrested and taken to the local police station. As a practitioner, I went to Tiananmen as well at the end of 1999. At the time, plainclothes and uniformed police were everywhere. I was forced into a 10-person police van that was filled with practitioners, and we were taken to a local police station. A few dozen practitioners were locked in a big cage, while more practitioners were being pushed in. The police interrogated them in small batches, mainly asking them their names and where they came from. Most practitioners would not reveal their names because they thought they would be sentenced to prison or forced labour if they did. I do not know where those who refused to identify themselves were sent. I saw over a hundred practitioners that day who would not disclose their identities. Later I saw on the web that thousands of practitioners were missing in China. Where had they been taken? The Chinese authorities would not give us a satisfactory answer.

On April 17th, 2001, I was arrested by the national security bureau and the local police because I was spreading the facts about Falun Gong. They deprived me of sleep at the police station for seven days and nights straight. When I said firmly that I would take legal action against the police for their torturing me to force a confession, they said wryly: "You may not be able to get out alive. Who are you going to sue then?" I thought at the time that they were only trying to scare me. When I recalled their words after I had read on the web that living Falun Gong practitioners' organs were being extracted, I realised that it might not have been just a threat.

In jail I met a practitioner who would not disclose her name. She probably never came out alive.

In September 2001, I was held in Hall #37 in Zhuhai City Jail. There were three female halls connected to each other. It had been peaceful until that day. I could hear cursing and shouting from the guards in Hall #35, followed by the sound of inmates being beaten. It was quite noisy. Listening closer, I knew that a practitioner who would not disclose her identity (later the police and other inmates all called her "No-name") had arrived. I also knew that she was on a hunger strike in protest. There were two other practitioners in the hall that I was in, one named Zhang Qingyun, the other Wang Zhijun. After a quick discussion among ourselves, we yelled: "Stop persecuting Falun Gong practitioners!" Things calmed down the next day. Two to three months later, an inmate named Ahong came to our hall. After we got more familiar with each other, she told me things about "No-name." She said: "Since your yelling, the police moved her to Hall #14, lest she affect Li Chunyan (who was a student from Tsinghua University, also in Hall #35). She kept on with her hunger strike. The police tortured her with a method called "ride the airplane." I and a few others were asked to monitor her. After her hunger strike, the police opened another hall (Hall #34) and put her there to facilitate her administration." This is what Ahong told me at that time.

During the Chinese New Year 2002, the guards sent me to post some pictures at each female hall, since I had been an art teacher. I went to Hall #34. At first I did not know which one was "No-name." A good-looking lady of about 30 brought me a chair. It was a very ordinary thing to do, but immediately a few inmates pushed her away, and the head of the inmates warned me not to talk to her. I sensed right away that she was "No-name," so I watched her more closely and got an impression of her. Around June 2002, I heard from other inmates that "No-name" had been sent out. I thought that she had been released.

In November 2002, I was sent to Shaoguan Prison in Guangdong Province. Because I refused to declare that I was a criminal, I was put in solitary confinement for a month. Afterwards I was put in Team #14, where Ahong happened to be also. The shower facility in the prison was an open room big enough for over 100 people. It was a market-like atmosphere during shower time. Because of our past relationship, Ahong always found opportunities to chat with me, and I asked her about "No-name's" situation. I knew that Ahong’s family was rather well-off financially and often bribed the guards, including one female guard named Ms. Wu. Ahong called Ms. Wu "Aunt Wu" and was often called out by her for a chat. The guards often half-knowingly let Ahong in on some news. I asked Ahong if "No-name" had been released. Ahong said that because she did not disclose her name, they could not sentence her to forced labour or a prison term, and she was indeed sent out and not in jail anymore. But Aunt Wu was certain that "No-name" was not sent home, but rather she was sent to a "special place". Ahong said with a sympathetic tone: "You are quite lucky. You will be released when your term is up. Aunt Wu told me that "No-name" probably would never get out of the place where she was sent." I thought that the place she was referring to was the local brainwashing centre and therefore did not pay much attention.

I was released in October 2004. I was not allowed to go home because I had not been "transformed¹". The 610 Office² in Zhuhai City sent me directly to the local brainwashing centre. I did not see "No-name" there. On December 25th, Christmas Day, I was temporarily released to my family because I was awfully weak. At home "No-name's" mother was introduced to us. She brought with her a photo, which I recognised right away. Her mother told me: "My daughter’s name is Yuan Zheng. She came here to see me right after she was released from Masanjia Forced Labour Camp. She went to Tiananmen Square in September 2001 and has not returned since." I told her that her daughter was brought to the jail in September 2001, and also shared with her the things that Ahong told me. I told her to go to the 610 Office to ask for Yuan Zheng's release. Later I met her a few times. She wanted me to go and visit the 610 Office with her, but I was preparing to escape from China at the time and did not want to get into trouble, so I did not go. I kept looking for information about Yuan Zheng after I came abroad, especially after the news about the CCP’s organ harvesting broke out. I kept contacting Falun Gong practitioners in China, but uncovered no news on Yuan Zheng. I am concerned about her safety. Perhaps she was killed for her organs.

I want to describe some of my other experiences. I have said that on November 30th, 2002, I was brought to Shaoguan Prison from Jail #2 in Zhuhai City, Guangdong Province. I remember that there were a dozen or so people in the car, of which nine were Falun Gong practitioners. Among the nine, five were from Jail #1. Li Yanfang, Jiang Yuxia, Ma Yan, and Li Chunyan were from Tsinghua University, Liu Mei was a graduate student from the Chinese Science Institute. The remaining four were Zhang Qingyun, Zhou Jing, myself, and another person whose name I cannot remember. When we were sent to the prison hospital, they forced us to go through a physical examination, which included a chest x-ray and blood test. When we asked the police why there was a need for a physical examination, the police said that it was routine. I remember that only Falun Gong practitioners went through the physical examination, while other inmates apparently remained in the car. In April 2003, I was sent to Guangdong Provincial Women's Prison, where they also gave me a physical examination that included a chest x-ray and blood test, but not when I first arrived.

My sister's circumstances are unknown. Her name is Chen Li. She was a senior in the Art Institute of Shantou University in Guandong Province. She twice went to Beijing to appeal after the persecution began in 1999. The second time she went, she was sentenced to 18 months in prison and was taken to Zhaoguan Prison in Guangdong Province at the beginning of 2000. She was sent to Sanshui Women's Forced Labour Camp in Guangdong Province after her release from the prison. During her three periods of imprisonment, she endured all kinds of torture and gained a painfully deep insight into the CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong. Because of my escape from China, CCP officials were worried that my sister would do the same. In the process of looking for me, they arrested her after she had fled our home in fear of her safety. According to my family, she was sent to Sanshui Law and Order Study Class in Guangdong Province, which is basically a brainwashing centre designed to persecute Falun Gong practitioners. So far the CCP authorities have denied all visiting requests. It has been over half a year and no one knows if my sister, Chen Li, is still alive or not. She was very healthy, and I am truly concerned about her safety. Is it possible that she, too, is a victim of the CCP's organ harvesting?

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. "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.ca/mh/articles/2006/10/18/140465.html