Five-year-old Xiaoyu's Sincerest Wish

Xiaoyu just started going to kindergarten this year. One day when she was playing with her kindergarten friends someone mentioned what he wished for and then the others told what they wished for, too. When asked what she wished for, Xiaoyu replied sadly, "I wish there were no police. Then my dad could come back home and live with us, and my mum and grandma will not cry anymore."

Xiaoyu was born in a family that practises Falun Gong. Before she was born, her parents were arrested by the Laishui Town Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials and taken to the Laishui Town Government Building. The police brutally beat her parents to try to force them to give up cultivating Falun Gong. At that time, her mum was already four or five months pregnant with Xiaoyu. The police beat her mum so severely that she bled all over her white trousers. Xiaoyu's dad was also covered with bruises. Her grandmother constantly cried at home and she feared the police's brutal torture would cause Xiaoyu's mum to have a miscarriage. In order to protect the unborn Xiaoyu, her father decided to go back home and collect money to get Xiaoyu's mum released. Xiaoyu's mum became a hostage. The Laishui Town Government extorted 10,000 yuan¹ in cash and released Xiaoyu's parents.

After suffering this tribulation, Xiaoyu was born. But right after her birth, her father was arrested again as he left. He was sentenced to three years of forced labour. Xiaoyu did not even see her father after she was born. She had to rely solely on her mother. Because their living conditions were so difficult, Xiaoyu's mum had to take Xiaoyu to her aunt's home to live temporarily. One day, the police arrived to arrest Xiaoyu's aunt. The police seized her by the collar and brutally hit her in the face. Then the police dragged her to the police vehicle. Xiaoyu was so scared that she wet her trousers and screamed, her eyes wide with fright.

Xiaoyu did not see her father until three years later. She could already run by that time. His return made the whole family happy. But it did not last long. One day, Xiaoyu had not yet gone to kindergarten when she saw several police vehicles stop in front of her home. Many officers broke into her home to arrest her father. Xiaoyu was so terrified that she hid behind her mother and cried loudly. The police also threatened Xiaoyu. Her grandma covered for Xiaoyu's father, who was able to escape. The police then dragged and lifted her grandma into the police vehicle and threatened to imprison her.

Xiaoyu lost her father again. Her mum has been very busying taking care of her grandma and taking Xiaoyu to kindergarten. Immediately after dark, she locks the door, afraid the police will come and harass them again.

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.ca/mh/articles/2008/12/29/192492.html