Practitioner Mr. Zhao Baoting in Gansu Province and His Family Suffer Severely from the Persecution (Photo)

Mr. Zhao Baoting, his wife Ms. Bai Jinyu, his son Mr. Zhao Xudong, and his daughter-in-law, Li Hongping began practising Falun Gong one after another starting in 1998. Shortly after they started practising, Zhao Baoting and his wife's illnesses, including heart problems, blood thrombosis, vertebral disc extrusion, and frequent colds were gone. They experienced the miracle of Dafa and the whole family lived harmoniously. After July 20th, 1999, everything changed.

1. Mr. Zhao's Son, Zhao Xudong, died because of the persecution; daughter-in-law Li Hongping brutally tortured

Zhao Xudong started practising Falun Dafa in 1999. He lived his life following Truth-Compassion-Forbearance. On April 25th, 2000, Zhao Xudong went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. Police from the former Lanzhou Chemical Industry Company (currently CNPC Lanzhou Petroleum Chemical Industrial Co.) arrested him and locked him in the Siergou Detention Centre in Xigu District. Zhao Xudong went on a hunger strike to protest the arrest. His family visited Shi Qinglin and Wang Dingzhou, directors of the company, to ask for his release. Nine days later, he was released.

Mr. Zhao Xudong and his wife celebrating their daughter's birthday.

In October 2000, Zhao Xudong again went to Beijing to appeal for Dafa. Officers from the Qianmen Police Station arrested Zhao Xudong and beat him up. Officers slammed him with wooden rods and used high voltage electric batons to shock him for several hours. Zhao Xudong was black and blue everywhere and his eyes were swollen. The torture continued until Zhao Xudong fainted.

Later, Zhao Xudong understood the evil nature of Jiang Zemin's regime and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Near the end of 2000, Zhao Xudong filled out the "Application Form to Withdraw from the CCP."

In December 2000, police from former Lanzhou Oil Refinery (currently CNPC Lanzhou Petroleum Chemical Industrial Co.) arrested Zhao Xudong and his wife Li Hongping when they were distributing Falun Gong leaflets exposing the persecution. They were taken to the Xianfenglu Police Station. Ms. Li refused to cooperate with the interrogation and went on a hunger strike. Four days later, she was taken to the Xiguoyuan Detention Centre. Ms. Li still refused to cooperate. The guard on duty slapped her fiercely, forced her to wear an 80 lb. shackles and handcuffed her. Usually only death row prisoners are treated like this. Eight guards pushed Ms. Li down, trying to force feed her; some pushed on her legs, arms and head, others pried her mouth open with pliers, breaking her teeth. Ms. Li resisted in vain. The guards inserted a plastic tube down her throat and purposely moved the tube violently in her oesophagus and stomach causing her excruciating pain. When the food wouldn't go down the tube, a guard threatened to pour boiling water down to flush it. The plastic tube was covered with blood. Ms. Li suffered force-feedings twice a day. By the ninth day, Li Hongping was severely underweight and weak. Not wanting to bear the responsibility for her death, the police finally released her.

When Ms. Li got home, there was no one there. The house was covered in dust. Li Hongping realised something was wrong. After she asked around, she found her son. Yuan Jinming, head of the health division of the former Lanzhou Chemical Industry Company, had kidnapped and locked up her four-year-old son.

In 2001, a kind-hearted person told Ms. Li that the police were coming to take her to prison, so she escaped and lived a homeless life. Later, the national security of Chengguan Police Station arrested her and sentenced her to two and a half years in a forced labour camp. On October 15th, 2001, Ms. Li was taken to the Ping'antai Forced Labour Camp in Gansu Province. Li Hongping still refused to cooperate. The guards instigated drug abusers Shen Yanju and Chen Xiaohong to beat Ms. Li savagely and hang her up on a door frame for four hours. Ms. Li's arms were disabled. The guards still forced her to do slave labour. Ms. Li's face was bruised and her right eye bled internally because of the beating. While Ms. Li was in prison, her husband Mr. Zhao Xudong died because of the torture. One day before Zhao Xudong's body was cremated, the guards released Ms. Li under her family's strong demand.

In January 2001, while the father Zhao Baoting and his wife Bai Jinyu, and Li Hongping were all imprisoned for practising Falun Dafa, Zhao Xudong took his four-year-old daughter to Beijing to look for them and to appeal. Police at the train station caught Zhao Xudong. The officers handcuffed and tortured him. Later, Li Mingxiao, head of the 610 Office¹, and Yuan Jinming, head of the health division of the former Lanzhou Chemical Industry Company, took Zhao Xudong to Siergou Detention Centre in Xigu District. A captain in the camp forced him to work, beat him and ordered inmates to torture him. His ribs were broken and his chin was dislocated. The inmates tied him to a bed. He had problems breathing and was in extreme pain. He went on a hunger strike. Seven days later, he was emaciated and disfigured. His physical health was breaking down. To avoid responsibility, Li Mingxiao and Yuan Jinming temporarily released him.

When Zhao Xudong was imprisoned, Yuan locked his four-year-old daughter in his office in an office building. A kind person bought food for the child and let her sleep on a bench. At night, the child cried for her parents. The local residents overheard her cries, for it was loud. The officers threatened to send the child to an orphanage.

Li Mingxiao and Yuan Jinming colluded with Xianfenglu Police Station and Xigu Public Safety Bureau and planned to arrest Zhao Xudong. Yuan and two people from Zhao Xudong's workplace went to Zhao Xudong and Li Hongping's place and told Zhao Xudong that his workplace needed him. He refused, for he felt something was wrong. Yuan and the other two left. Ten minutes later, one of them came back claiming he lost his keys at their place. Ms. Li felt something was wrong and locked the door from inside. Immediately several people rushed up the stairs to their door and threatened to break into the house. Ms. Li started shouting at the door step about the police arresting good people, trying to get the neighbours' attention. The police forcibly took Ms. Li away to the police station. The police threatened her in the car that they would torture her to death in a forced labour camp. Li Hongping refused to cooperate at the police station and was let go the same day.

After Ms. Li got home, she and Zhao Xudong decided that he should leave home since he was a police target. The next day, as he was about to leave, Yan Jinming and his gang were already waiting outside and arrested him. They put Zhao Xudong in the Gansu Province Ping'antai Forced Labour Camp and sentenced him two years. He was locked in the second brigade. The Captain tried many times to force him to write statements to renounce Falun Gong, but he refused. The guards beat Zhao Xudong, deprived him of sleep at night, forced him to do slave work during the day, and ordered inmates to break his leg with an iron bar and beat him with wooden rods and branches. Zhao Xudong was crippled, his body was covered with wounds, his face was swollen, and his arms and hands were injured. During ten months in the camp, Zhao Xudong didn't write even one word the authorities tried to force him to write. He was later sent to a hospital on medical parole.

In December 2003, Zhao Xudong, his mother Bai Jinyu and several practitioners were at home when Pei Huaiguo, Wang Jun, and about 25 officers from the Lanzhou City Public Safety Bureau broke in their house and arrested them all. They were taken to the Hotel of the Gansu Province Security Department and locked in separate rooms. Police tortured Zhao Xudong to provide evidence of their "crime." Mr. Zhao refused to cooperate and shouted: "Falun Dafa is good!" Police intensified the torture. Everyone in the hotel, including his mother Bai Jinyu, heard Zhao Xudong's painful screams.

Zhao Xudong went on a hunger strike to protest the persecution. On December 10th, 2003, Mr. Zhao and two other practitioners were taken to the Hualinshan No. 2 Detention Centre and tortured. The minute Zhao Xudong went into the detention centre until he died of the torture, he was handcuffed and shackled. The handcuffs and shackles were chained together at the back so Zhao Xudong had to bend his back 90 degrees 24-hours-a-day. This type of torture is used only for death row prisoners. Three to four inmates took turns monitoring Zhao Xudong daily. They force-fed him every three days with overly salted noodles. The force-feeding often lasted two hours. The inmates inserted a plastic tube from his nose or throat roughly and carelessly. They pierced oesophagus and lungs in the process of the violent force-feedings. Zhao Xudong suffered excruciating pain daily. On February 5th, 2004, the force-feeding started at 5 p.m. and the food still wouldn't go down by 7 p.m. When the guards took him to the hospital, there was no heartbeat.

Li Kui, head of the 4th prison ward, often instigated Qiao Bing to beat Zhao Xudong fiercely on the chest with his head covered in a bag. Qiao often ate the food Zhao Xudong's father sent him and tortured Zhao Xudong at the same time. Zhao Xudong often moaned in extreme pain because of the frequent beatings, force-feeding and torture. One time, a guard covered Zhao Xudong's head with a bag and sat on his back beating him with a brick wrapped in a sweater. Zhao Xudong's father, Zhao Baoting, sent him food every several days. Zhao Xudong often shared it with his roommates. His roommates said, "It's hard to find anyone this kind anymore. Zhao Xudong was innocent. The CCP tortured him to death. It is too vicious!"

After Zhao Xudong died, the detention centre didn't inform his family immediately and waited until February 7th. To destroy evidence and silence the witnesses, the guards sent all Zhao Xudong 16 cellmates to other prison wards and closed down that cell. In the notice to Mr. Zhao's family, it said: "Acute respiratory failure. The patient went into a coma. There was no damage to the head, no blood or unusual discharge in the ears, nose and mouth. There were no cuts on the skin and no bruises. Doctor's signature: Cheng Huanyang; nurse's signature: Shan Ruifang; Hospital: Gansu Province Forced Labour Camp Hospital." However, when the family saw his body, there was blood in his eyes, nose, mouth and ears. There were cotton balls in his nose and ears and a blood clot in his mouth. Zhao Xudong's back was bruised and there was an apparent wound on the side of his head. Two-thirds of his black hair had turned white in less than two months. His body was reduced to skin and bones. He used to weigh 156 lbs.

The guards in the Second Detention Centre of the Lanzhou City Public Safety System (the Hualinshan 2nd Detention Centre) tortured practitioner Mr. Zhao Xudong to death.

2. Mr. Zhao Baoting and Ms. Bai Jinyu arrested and tortured

Mr. Zhao Baoting went to Tiananmen in Beijing to appeal in January 2001. Officers from the Haidian District Detention Centre in Beijing arrested him and tortured him until he was unconscious. At a temperature of about -20oF, the officers took turns beating him and pouring cold water on him. Later, Mr. Zhao was sent to the Siergou Detention Centre in Xigu District and tortured for three months.

In December 1999, Ms. Bai Jinyu went to Beijing to appeal. Officers from the former Lanhua Public Safety Division took her back to Lanzhou and locked her up. They tried to brainwash her into giving up Truth-Compassion-Forbearance. Ms. Bai said, "I benefited from the practice and my illnesses are gone. The old saying tells us "If someone is your teacher for a day, he is your father for the rest of your life. I cannot betray my conscience." Fifteen days later, Ms. Bai was released.

In November 2000, Xu Jin from Ms. Bai's workplace went to her home and told her the supervisor wanted to see her. They took Ms. Bai to the public safety division on the 2nd floor in an office building. Over 70 officers surrounded her and the two family members who went with her. Li Mingxiao, former head of the 610 Office and deputy head of the public safety division, told Ms. Bai she was sentenced to a year in prison because she went to Beijing in December 1999. Li Hongping, Ms. Bai's daughter-in-law, tore the sentence letter apart. By noon, the building was empty, and the officers forcibly took Ms. Bai to the Ping'antai Forced Labour Camp. However, the camp refused to admit her because she didn't pass the physical check-up.

In December 2000, Ms. Bai went to Yongjing County in Linxiazhou to see a few practitioners. One of the practitioners' family members who didn't know the truth of Falun Dafa reported her. The Yongjing County Public Safety Bureau arrested Ms. Bai and sent her to the Bureau. Officer Nan Jihong handcuffed her to a window frame over night with the window open. The weather at the time was freezing cold. The next day Ms. Bai was taken to a detention centre and she was found with a Falun Dafa book. Nan scolded her, and Wu (first name unknown), head of the detention centre, slapped her fiercely. They handcuffed Ms. Bai to a tree in the yard. Bai Jinyu had to sleep on a rough bare "bed" for 39 nights without bedding. Ms. Bai's daughter in law, Li Hongping, found out where Ms. Bai was and brought her a comforter. In the 76 days Ms. Bai was in the detention centre, Nan tried to force her to admit that she had distributed Dafa materials. Ms. Bai refused to cooperate. Bai Jinyu asked Wu why he didn't release her since he did not have any so-called evidence. On February 28th, 2001, Nan transferred Ms. Bai to Li Mingxiao, former officer of the Lanzhou Chemical Industrial Company. At the time, Bai Jinyu was severely underweight and could not walk normally. Li, instead of sending Ms. Bai to the hospital or home, transferred her to the Ping'antai Forced Labour Camp and sentenced her to one year. After Ms. Bai was released from the camp, it took a lot of effort to get her belongings back from Nan and the thirty thousand yuan² in her bank was withdrawn.

In December 2003, the Lanzhou City Public Safety Bureau arrested Bai Jinyu and her son Zhao Xudong. The guards made up threatening stories to scare Ms. Bai, and tried to force her to admit that she was "guilty" for practising Falun Gong. At the same time, they tortured Mr. Zhao and forced Ms. Bai to listen to her son's screams. The guards tortured Ms. Bai so savagely that they shattered her right ankle. Her right ankle bent outward at a 90 degree angle. Also, her lower spine was fractured during the torture. Bai Jinyu was taken to the hospital for surgery. The incision was 6 inches long. A 5-inch long, 1-inch wide plate and ten, 2-inch long screws were put in her leg and remained there for over three years. The implants were removed after she was released.

After several months in the camp hospital, Ms. Bai still wasn't given a pair of walking shoes to help her recover. When Chen Ling and Guo Yujie, procurators from the Qilihe Procuratorate, went to the hospital to collect a deposition from her, they asked her why she jumped out of the kitchen in prison and broke her leg on December 8th. Ms. Bai realised that the special agents in the Lanzhou City Bureau lied to the procurators about what happened. She used her injuries to explain what really happened to her.

Later Ms. Bai was transferred to a detention centre. Liu Jiang and other special agents locked her in a room with no air on hot summer days and scolded and threatened her for hours.

In the Qilihe Court, Ms. Bai told the judge (last name Tang), "How come the charge statement didn't mention how they tortured my son Zhao Xudong to death and how they crippled my leg?" The two procurators Chen Ling and Guo Yujie's answer was to say Ms. Bai's question was irrelevant to her trial.

Ms. Bai was crippled and her son was killed. It was all because of the persecution. She was physically unable to take care of herself and her mental condition also suffered. However, the Qilihe Procuratorate Court colluded with the Lanzhou City Public Safety Bureau to sentence Ms. Bai to three years in the Gansu Province Women's Forced Labour Camp. With the support of a stick, Ms. Bai had to drag herself to do physical work for over 12 hours a day. She survived with her strong belief in Falun Dafa.

Those who participated in the persecution:

Xu Yulin, director of the Hualinping Second Detention Centre
Li Kui, captain of the Hualinping Second Detention Centre
Qiao Bing, inmate
Fei Huaiwei, Wang Jun, Liu Jiang, Yao (first name unknown), all officers from the Lanzhou Public Safety Bureau
Nan Jihong, officer from the Yongjing County Public Safety Bureau
Li Yong, officer from the Xianfenglu Police Station in Xigu District
Li Mingxiao, head of the 610 Office and deputy director of the public safety division in the former Lanzhou Chemical Industrial Company
Yuan Jinming, former employee in the health division of the former Lanzhou Chemical Industrial Company
Chen Ling, Guo Yujie and Judge Tang from the Qilihe Procuratorate

Note

1. "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.

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

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2007/5/28/155766.html