Cultural Revolution Redux: Authorities at Lanling Brewery in Shandong Province Publicly Denounce Falun Gong Practitioners with Slogans Hung from Their Necks

The authorities at Lanling Brewery in Mengyin County, Shandong Province have persecuted Falun Gong practitioners who work at the factory in a "Cultural Revolution" style. That is, they arrested and publicly denounced practitioners with name plates hung on the practitioners' necks.

Yu Hua, Song Bingfa, Wang Yongping, Li Li, Wang Hongyou, Zhang Yunxin, Xing Bo and Tian Jinling are all employees of the factory. They have benefited physically from practising Falun Gong, and they have abided by "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance" in their daily lives and work. As beneficiaries of the practice, these practitioners went to Beijing to appeal for justice for Falun Gong on July 20th, 1999 to help the government understand the facts about Falun Gong and to exercise their constitutional rights to appeal. These practitioners were sent back to their hometown immediately.

Wu Jun (the Party Committee secretary of the factory) and Zhang Shiguo (the deputy secretary) instructed Li Yinmin (security section head) and Chen Bin (deputy head) to detain the practitioners in a two-story building at the factory. The shortest duration that they held practitioners for was over 10 days. The longest was over a month. In February 2000, the police department noticed that Yu Hua, Song Bingfa and other practitioners had announced on the Internet their intent to continue the practice of Falun Gong. The police then informed the Lanling Brewery. The factory authorities then started another campaign of persecution. This time, the persecution site was located on the fourth floor of the office building. They emptied two rooms specifically for this purpose. They welded new grates on the windows and doors. They also assigned individuals to monitor the practitioners. They made the practitioners sleep on the floor and forced the practitioners to get permission to go to btoilet. The authorities also threatened the practitioners with demotions, suspending their salaries or officially laying them off. (The pay and benefits at the brewery was comparatively high at that time.) The authorities forced practitioners to read materials that slandered Falun Gong, and they limited the practitioners' family visits.

A few days later, evildoers from Lanling Brewery, Zhang Shiguo, Xu Zhigang (the chairman of the workers' union), Li Yinmin and Chen Bin forced practitioners to ride in a vehicle to town. The practitioners were told that they were going to observe, learn and emulate. In fact, they were trying to threaten the practitioners.

Their first stop was Jiuzhai Township. It was February, when it's very cold. At this location, Yu Hua, Song Bingfa, Wang Yongping, and Li Li witnessed this scene. Over a dozen people were forced to sit on the wet ground with both legs straight and both hands holding the tips of their feet. There were also quite a few practitioners in the yard; one of them was beaten to the point of being pale in the face and not able to sit up. Two persons had to hold the person up by leaning the person on the wheel of a vehicle that was parked there. That practitioner seemed to be unconscious; the practitioner fell down in a short while. The scene was horrible; it was just like the concentration camps seen in the movies.

Then they went to Duozhuang Township. The local government there was holding a public gathering to slander Falun Gong. Over 20 individuals were taken onto a stage with their arms twisted behind their backs. The perpetrators from Lanling Brewery, Zhang Shiguo, Xu Zhigang and Li Yinmin told the leaders of Duozhuang Township that they should denounce the practitioners from the brewery on the stage at the same time. They didn't allow the practitioners to go back to the vehicle until the end of the gathering.

Then they went to Taoxu Town. It happened to be the time of the town's grand country fair. A truck stopped at the fair, and many people surrounded it. Over 10 practitioners stood on the truck with giant white plates that read "Falun Gong element" hanging on the front of the practitioners. To be publicly humiliated--this is truly a repetition of the "Cultural Revolution."

As soon as the practitioners returned to the brewery, the Party secretaries and leaders held a meeting of the entire factory. They then applied the means that they had learned from those towns or townships to persecute the practitioners. Leaders Wu Jun, Zhang Shiguo and others were seated on the stage. Li Yinmin had the young security personnel take practitioners onto the stage with their arms twisted behind their backs. Li Yinmin shouted: "Lower your heads!" They forced the practitioners to kneel on one leg and pushed their heads down to touch the ground. The meeting lasted almost two hours. They even forced practitioners to give a talk, attempting to force them to slander Dafa.

Some employees were shocked by the meeting, saying, "Isn't this a repeat of the Cultural Revolution?" Some couldn't stand the injustice, saying, "What did these people do wrong; didn't they simply practise Falun Gong?" Others could not bear to watch the scene; they left very soon.

Ms. Wang Yongping had been detained for a month in 2000 after she went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. Then the factory authorities detained her at the factory for three months. She was again detained for 15 days in July. Then she got laid off. However, that was not the end of it; they continued to persecute her, which forced her to move from place to place to avoid being persecuted. Then the police, the 610 Office¹ and authorities at the factory arrested Ms. Wang again at her sister's home.

In 2001 the authorities unlawfully sentenced Mr. Song Bingfa, an employee of the brewery, to up to 10 years of imprisonment. His wife, Wang Yongping, and their child suffered each day. Ma Qianli (the Party secretary) and Xu Zhigang took this opportunity to further persecute Ms. Wang and the child by turning off the power and water to their home.

Tian Jinling continues to move from place to place to avoid persecution. Li Li has been detained several times and was forced to divorce and become homeless to avoid persecution.

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.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2007/6/8/156507.html