Assistant Professor at Tsinghua University Reveals How She Was Persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)

My name is Mrs. Wang Jiuchun. I was an assistant professor at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China. I was first a lecturer and later worked in the Technology Development Division of Tsinghua University. Once I started practising Falun Gong in 1994, I changed completely, both physically and spiritually. I was in poor health and had many diseases, including allergies that led to asthma. When it was severe, I could not lie down to sleep but had to sit up throughout the night. Not only did I become healthy after practising Falun Gong, but my mind was purified. I lived by Falun Gong's principles of "Truthfulness, Benevolence, Forbearance," and my moral standards kept rising.

In July 1999, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its head Jiang Zemin began brutally suppressing Falun Gong practitioners. About fifty practitioners at the Falun Gong Assistance Centre in Tsinghua University were arrested and later sentenced to prison or forced labour camp terms. Among them, one practitioner was beaten to death. Other practitioner professors at Tsinghua University were placed on long-term surveillance. I was taken to a brainwashing centre six times, detained at the police department twice, and imprisoned in a forced labour camp for a year and a half. My home was ransacked twice by the police. I was subjected to severe physical and mental tortures. I was ordered to give up my belief in "Truthfulness, Benevolence, Forbearance" and to sign the three statements (statements promising to give up one's belief). I suffered depression, mental distress, and symptoms of memory loss due to the torture.

The following is some persecution that I experienced.

1. The Party Committee at the University Colluded with Police to Forcibly Take Me to a Brainwashing Centre

When the CCP's persecution against Falun Gong practitioners started, the party committee at Tsinghua University followed Jiang Zemin closely. They later followed Jiang Zemin's order "to ruin [Falun Gong practitioners'] reputations, bankrupt [them] financially, and destroy [them] physically" and "beating to death is counted as suicide," persecuting practitioners one by one. I was a special target for them to suppress. Because I refused to give up my belief in "Truthfulness, Benevolence, Forbearance," they terminated my job and ransacked my home, stealing Falun Gong materials. They took me to a brainwashing centre. They repeatedly told me the lies about Falun Gong fabricated by the CCP and forced me to watch fabricated news on television. They also forced me to write reports every day by threatening me and depriving me of sleep.

After a month I came out of the brainwashing centre and the party committee colluded with police to put me into another brainwashing centre. The party committee set up a group of seventeen people to promote the CCP's persecution. The people included scholars from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Academy of Natural Sciences, deputy dean of the School of Humanities in Tsinghua University, and division chiefs, professors and assistant professors at Tsinghua University. These "experts" said, "You can eat, drink, call on prostitutes or gamble, but you cannot practise Falun Gong." They tortured me with twenty-one days of forced-brainwashing.

2. Severely Persecuted After Displaying a Banner on Tiananmen Square

In December 2000, I went to Tiananmen Square to display a Falun Gong banner. I raised the banner above my head and shouted "Falun Gong is Good! Falun Gong is Good!" The police surrounded me and took me to the Tiananmen Police Station, alternately dragging and pushing me along. I was fascinated by other practitioner's courage. A male practitioner climbed out of the rear window of a police car, displaying a banner with "Falun Gong is Good" while running and shouting. He was surrounded by a gang of police officers and beaten. Then he was handcuffed and put in foot shackles. But he was not afraid at all. At the courtyard of the police station, a female practitioner took out a small tape player to play Falun Gong music. The sound filled the entire courtyard.

Later I was taken to Huairou County Detention Centre, in Beijing. The police there used many torture instruments to beat people. They stripped us female practitioners naked and let the male criminals look at us through windows. When I had just put on a shirt and pants to cover my body, a policewoman around thirty called me to go out. I was then pushed out before I could put on shoes. Without warning, this policewoman started slapping my face. My eyes were dazzled, ears ringing and my face swelled. It was very cold outside, but I was forced to stand on the cement in my bare feet in only a thin shirt and trousers for the entire day. I had no food or water. I lost consciousness due to the cold and hunger. I felt someone put some tablets into my mouth and then pour in cold water. All of sudden my heartbeat quickened and my entire face became numb. I was then thrown into a cell full of people.

Under this lawless torture, I had no option but to hold a hunger strike to protest and request an unconditional release. However, the police said, "We'll throw you into the backyard to feed the dogs..."

3. Being Arrested at Home Again

Before the Chinese New Year of 2002, the Beijing police started frantically arresting Falun Gong practitioners to meet their quotas. One day they broke into my home and ransacked it several times. They took me to the Seventh Division Beijing Police Department, which imprisoned only criminals to be executed. I was stripped naked there again and pushed into a dark empty cell for more than an hour. Then I was tortured repeatedly for a month.

My husband was so upset that he could not get any information about my whereabouts though he kept looking for me. My mother, who was over 80, worried about me constantly and cried.

A month later, I was taken to the hostel of the Centre for Space Science and Applied Research, at the China Academy of Sciences. Jiang's group provided twenty thousand yuan¹ as special funding to persecute me. They sent eleven policemen to threaten and try to bargain with me. After I rejected them, they bugged the room. Then they sent five people to persuade me in two shifts. They did not allow me to sleep and held my arm to sign the "three statements" by force. My blood pressure increased and I started to experience heart trouble.

Two weeks later, they took me to the dispatching centre for forced labour camps. I was forced to squat, with two hands holding my head down. We were forced to recite the rules of the dispatching centre and would be punished if we couldn't. We were forced to squat in "army corps" posture if we acted slowly. I was forced to work until 2:00 a.m, and then called up at 4:00 a.m. to start the next day's work. I was also taken to brainwashing classes after work. The guards forced me to sign the guarantee statement² and copy, listen to, and watch materials that slandered Falun Gong. When I closed my eyes, the guards ordered criminal inmates to kick and beat me.

4. Being Tortured into Critical Condition at Beijing Women's Forced Labour Camp

Fifteen days later I was taken to the Beijing City Legal Training Centre, or "Transforming³ Camp." Guard Li Jirong from Beijing Women's Forced Labour Camp led bullies and brainwashing staff to surround me, forcing me to watch the video and listen to slanderous Falun Gong materials. They deprived me of sleep. They forced me to sign the "three statements" and copy the articles defaming Falun Gong. My blood pressure went to 190. Five days later, I was put into a solitary confinement cell less than 18 square feet in size, without any sunlight. There were monitoring cameras in the cell. I was imprisoned there for three months. Eating, drinking, and relieving myself were all done inside the room. My back, thighs, and legs all festered. My legs and feet swelled. I was not allowed to change clothes for three months. In the end, I was in critical condition with high blood pressure, an irregular heartbeat, and absent-mindedness.

Even though I was this weak, at that point the CCP sent me to the Beijing Women's Forced Labour Camp and imprisoned me in the Fourth Division. Two inmates were ordered to be my personal tormentors to watch me around the clock. As a newly arrived Falun Gong practitioner, I was taken to lengthy brainwashing classes every day. My personal guards prepared the "three statements" and forced me to copy them. I was forced to do intensive physical work from 4:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. The forced labour camp made inmates work long hours so that they could export the products and pocket the profits. Every inmate had a high quota to meet. We pulled the thick threads out from sweaters, knitted gloves, and put a rubber cover over fish food. We couldn't straighten our fingers due to the intensive workload. Sometimes we were only allowed to sleep two or three hours to meet a deadline. We were also forced to reclaim wasteland and carry manure. Many people were exhausted and had back pain, swollen legs and feet, and hair loss.

But to deceive the public and international community, the Beijing Women's Forced Labour Camp created fake scenes for foreign visitors to see. This was to create the image that the CCP "educates, saves and moves" people. The forced labour camp even called itself a "School to Create New People." But actually, inside the forced labour camp, people were mentally and physically tortured, and some were even killed.

5. Being Closely Monitored after Being Released

I was released after a year and a half in the forced labour camp. Before I left, the guards forced me to say bad things about Falun Gong. The police from Beijing City Police Department were present. After I came out of the forced labour camp, staff from Tsinghua University's 610 Office⁴, security office, and the party committee came to escort me back. That afternoon, the Technology Development Division ordered me not to report to work. The director of the Technology Development Division and the chief of the office headed a "Helping and Educating Committee" to persecute me. The "Helping and Educating Group" included the party deputy secretary and staff from the CCP's Department of Organization and Technology Section. They monitored me around the clock. And there were two security guards monitoring me and a police car stationed outside my building around the clock as well. My personal freedom was greatly restricted. With the help of many people, I was able to escape from China and come to freedom overseas in 2004.

I strongly condemn the CCP's persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. I strongly condemn the CCP's massive arrests of Falun Gong practitioners using the excuse of the Olympic Games. I also appeal to all just people around the world to stop the CCP's brutal violence.

Note

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

2. "Guarantee Statement": A statement to declare that one is remorseful for practising Falun Gong and guarantees not to practise Falun Gong again, not to go to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong, and never again associate with any Falun Dafa practitioners.

3. "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")

4. "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/2008/4/8/176037.html