A Family in Xiahuai Town, Pingshan County, Hebei Province, Subjected to Ruthless Persecution

Ms. Qi Suqin, 35, lives in Pangjapu Village, Xiahuai Town, Pingshan County, Hebei Province. The other villagers knew her family for their poor health. Her father's legs and wrist caused him constant pain, and he also had a stomach condition. He was thin and weak. He never stopped taking different medications to try to cure his illnesses. Ms. Qi's mother was also weak and took medicine on a daily basis. They spent most of their money trying to treat their illnesses. Their circumstances were strained.

Fortunately, in 1997 the whole family began practising Falun Gong. They lived according to the principles, "Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance." The family became free of health problems and never again took medicine. Their living conditions greatly improved. However, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) authorities forbid people from practising Falun Gong and won't let people live a better life. In 1999, the CCP regime started the savage persecution of people who cultivate themselves according to "Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance."

In August 1999, Ms. Qi Suqin planned to go to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. She was arrested on her way to Beijing and taken to a big yard in Shijiazhuang City. With many other practitioners, Ms Qi was left out in the direct sun. Then she was sent back to Pingshan to a police station. Because she and other practitioners refused to give up their belief, they were put in a detention centre overnight.

Xiahuai police station head Wang Xintang and village official Zhang Taishan went to Ms. Qi's home to conduct a search and confiscated Falun Gong books, exercise tapes, and other items. Then they detained Ms. Qi for two weeks and extorted 300 yuan¹ from her without providing a receipt.

In December 2000, she went once again to Beijing to appeal. She was arrested and taken to the Huairou Detention Centre where she and many other practitioners had to stay in the yard outside. Everyone had to wear a numbered piece of cloth on his or her back. Her number was 1033. Then the guards searched everyone. They used force to remove practitioners' clothes and searched them individually. If they found a practitioner carrying something [the guards did not like], they cut up or tore their clothes apart. They also arbitrarily beat the practitioners.

Later on, the guards locked a dozen people in a small room that had only one large metal board bed. The only pass-way connected to the toilet was about one person wide. If practitioners refused to eat the food they provided, the guards would throw the food into the room. At night, if the guards discovered practitioners doing the exercises, they would order people to bring several basins of cold water to throw on the practitioners. Water ran all over the bed. The guards then turned on a fan to freeze the practitioners. In the winter, the radiator in the room was cold.

Someone named Fu from Xiahuai Town eventually transferred Ms. Qi to Pingshan in the Beijing reception centre. (Ms Qi saw another practitioner there, Mr. Feng Hongming from Bailing Village. He had been severely beaten. He sat on the floor and was handcuffed to one of the legs of the bed.) From there, she and other practitioners were returned by vehicle to the Pingshan County Police department. She wasn't wearing handcuffs because the authorities had run out of them. Ms. Qi escaped in the dark as the vehicle drove through the countryside.

The same night, Xiahuai Police Station officials dispatched people to arrest Ms. Qi's father and bring him to Pingshan. They also went to her relatives' homes to search for her but couldn't find her. The village authorities proceeded to keep her home under surveillance. Xiahuai Town Marshal Chen Yuefeng, CPC Committee Secretary Zhao Zhengfang ,and officers from the local police station went to Ms. Qi Suqin's home to harass her family, over and over again. They also attempted to extort 2,000 yuan from them. Ms. Qi's brother paid them 1,200 yuan he had earned from his hard labour in the brick kilns. The officials said it was not enough, so they confiscated and drove his tractor away, saying once the balance of 800 yuan was paid, he could have his tractor back.

Ms. Qi's family tried their best to borrow money and eventually collected the 800 yuan with great difficulty. They finally got the tractor back, but didn't get a receipt for the 800 yuan. Later, Pinshan Police Department agents extorted another 1,000 yuan from them without providing a receipt.

Pinshan Police Department agents also brought Pinshan TV station photographers to Ms. Qi's home to make a video. They said the family lives in such poor conditions because they practise Falun Gong.

Once, Xiahuai administrators dispatched a dozen people in the middle of the night to break into Ms. Qi's home, arrest everyone in the family, and take them to the town's administration office. Ms. Qi's mother was in custody for six days before she was released.

Note

1. "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.cc/mh/articles/2008/6/9/179944.html