The Persecution of Practitioners in Wangpo Township, Pingshan County, Hebei Province

The following is a compilation of incidents of persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in Wangpo Township, Pingshan County, Hebei Province

Gao Yunting and her husband, Gu Qinggen, were arrested while visiting relatives, their home ransacked

Mr. Gu Qinggen and Ms. Gao Yunting, his wife, are residents of Guqingtan Village, East Wangpo Township, Pingshan County. Ms. Gao started practising Falun Gong in 1998. Her husband started practising in 2003. He improved his temperament and, in the process of cultivation, symptoms of a stroke were healed.

On March 10th, 2002, the couple went to visit their relatives. On their way back in the evening they ran into Wangpo Police Station officer Huo Qinhui, who had beaten practitioner Jie Fengting to death (as reported at http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2007/11/11/91269.html).

The officer took them to the Wangpo Police Station. Police station chief Huo Sanshuan asked them who they had visited. Ms. Gao said, "Does a person have no freedom to visit relatives? I am not going to tell you." Huo Sanshuan, upset she dared to talk back, slapped her face violently. Ms. Gao said, "I am not going to tell you, even if you beat me." When Huo Sanshuan asked Mr. Gu, he also refused to answer. Huo Sanshuan threw Gu Qinggen to the ground, ordering, "Kneel, if you do not want to tell me." Then he called the county 610 Office¹.

The second day, Feng Qingfang, head of the Pingshan County Police Department's Political and Security Section, arrived. He and Huo Sanshuan and another person took Gao Yunting to her home. They searched it and confiscated her Falun Gong books, exercise music tapes, and 4,500 yuan² cash.

They then took her to the Pingshan County Police Department and handcuffed her to the stair rail for the whole afternoon, followed by handcuffing her to a chair at night and threatening her. The third day they locked her up in a detention centre.

During that time, Feng Qingfang demanded and got 5,000 yuan cash from Gao Yunting's family, without giving any receipt. Eighteen days later they transferred Ms. Gao to a brainwashing centre in the Magnesium Plant. While there, agents from the 610 Office demanded another 1,000 yuan from her family before releasing her.

Mr. Gu Qinggen was detained in Wangpo Police Station for 19 days even though he had not yet begun Falun Gong practice at that time, and his heart condition was serious. His health deteriorated. Their three daughters were very young, and their parents' plight weighed heavily on their minds. They would tremble from fright whenever there was any commotion outside.

On July 19th, 2008 a gang of people invaded their home. They included individuals from the county 610 Office, as well as Lu Shengfang from the Wangpo Township, Liu Erdan from the Guqingtan Village (Party Branch secretary), Cui Fengliang (Party Branch Committee member), and others. They broke down the door to Gao Yunting's home while no one was at home and ransacked the place. They confiscated all Falun Gong books.

During the Olympics, Party Branch deputy secretary Jiao Jianzhong, as well as Liu Erdan of the village and Cui Fengliang, went to Ms. Gao's home many times to harass the couple.

We demand that these Chinese Communist Party (CCP) personnel return the 10,500 yuan cash they extorted and return all the belongings they stole from the family. We ask for conscientious people to pursue charges against Feng Qingfang, Huo Sanshuan, Lu Shengfang, Liu Erdan, Cui Fengliang, and others for their crimes of breaking and entering and grand theft.

Mr. Gao Fengfeng was arrested many times, robbed, detained, and had large amounts of money extorted from him

Husband and wife Gao Fengfeng and Liu Xiting of East Wangpo Village, East Wangpo Township, began Falun Gong practice in 1998. Once he started practising, his condition of intermittent shock was healed and all his bad habits also disappeared. Their family was harmonious and they had good relations with others. They felt from the bottom of their hearts that Falun Gong is great. When the CCP started persecuting such a good cultivation way, Mr. Gao wanted to use his personal experience to explain the truth to the governing regime. He went to Beijing to appeal on July 21st, 1999, and was arrested at the west train station and then taken back to Baoding City.

As soon as he got out of the vehicle, he was surrounded by a group of armed police. He was beaten and kicked and taken to the Political and Security Section head, Feng Qingfang. The police took the practitioner's 200 yuan he had with him and then held him in a detention centre for six days.

In 2001, county policemen Huo Jinhui and Liu Wenming forced their way into Gao Fengfeng's home and searched it without showing any legal document. They threw his clothes everywhere and confiscated Falun Gong books, materials, an audio player, and other belongings. Mr. Gao and Ms. Liu Xiting were taken to the station and then handcuffed to the stair rail. Afterward, the police took Mr. Gao to the county detention for two weeks. Police officer Feng Qingfang also extorted 5,000 yuan cash from his family.

On March 8th, 2002 Mr. Gao Fengfeng was taken to the township police station by officer Huo Jinhui and others. He was held in the county detention centre for more than 40 days. While there, police many times pressured Gao's family and extorted money from them. They threatened his family that, unless they paid the extortion, they would send Mr. Gao to a forced labour camp. On April 8th, 2002, Chen Erjun, a police department deputy head responsible for persecuting Falun Gong, together with three others, extorted 550 yuan, ostensibly for their meals and drinks; afterwards, Chen Erjun extorted another 2,000 yuan. At about 7:00 p.m. that same night, Political and Security Section head Feng Qingfang extorted 500 yuan. At 2:00 pm on March 13th, 2002, Feng Qingfang extorted 5,000 yuan from them again. On April 25th, Feng Qingfang extorted another 1,000 yuan, and the same day at 4:00 pm, Wangpo Township agent Du Yunbo extorted 700 yuan for the 610 Office. This amounted to 9,650 yuan, and no receipt was ever given.

In the winter of 2003 Wang Guolin, the township Political and Security Committee head, deceived Gao Fengfeng to get him to come to his office. He then sent him to a brainwashing centre in Wentang Township, where Gao Fengfeng was mistreated for six days and had another 100 yuan extorted from him.

Gao Baidan's whole family suffered from the persecution

Gao Baidan and Chen Huafeng, husband and wife, of East Wangpo Village, East Wangpo Township, Pingshan County, started practising Falun Gong in September 1998. Prior to the practice, hepatitis made it difficult for Ms. Chen to even walk. She also had back pain and gynaecological disease for many years, but after she took up the practice, she became healthy without treatment. Ms. Chen changed from a person that depended on others into a person able to shoulder the heavy burdens of family life. Mr. Gao Baidan ran a small business away from home. He strictly followed the standards of Truthfulness-Benevolence-Forbearance and improved his way of doing business. He discarded the dishonest habit of a small business owner short-changing goods in a transaction.

On July 20th, 1999, the Communist regime began the large-scale persecution of Falun Gong. Mr. Gao went to Beijing to appeal. Police intercepted him at the west train station without due cause. Political and Security Section head Feng Qingang eventually took him back to the Pingshan County Police Department by vehicle. They detained him for three days and extorted 200 yuan before releasing him.

In October 1999, as the couple worked in the fields, about a dozen people, including police officers Feng Qingfang and Hu Yuetao, as well as Jiao Jianzhong, Yang Sanguo, and Liu Wenming from the township government, and Ho Jinhui and Zhao Zhijiang from Wangpo Police Station, went to Gao Baidan's home to ransack it. They took copies of Zhuan Falun and other Falun Gong materials and took Mr. Gao to the police station. Police chief Huo Jinhui slapped his face several times while yelling at him. He grabbed his collar and asked him whether he still wanted to practise Falun Gong and then hit on his chest with his fist. Mr. Gao backed up several steps and fell on a bed. The bed collapsed from the impact. Later on he was handcuffed to a large tree in the township government yard. In the evening they took him to a restaurant in Meng-Er village where he was handcuffed for 24 hours. The next day they took him to the county detention centre and held him for 45 days. He was released only after Feng Qingfang had extorted 5,000 yuan from him.

One day in the autumn of 2000 Mr. Gao was called to see Feng Qingfang again. Feng told him to sign a document that was pre-filled in: "Failed to respond when called last time." Mr. Gao said, "That is not true. You only called me this time, and I am here now. When was the last time?" Facing the question, Feng Qingfang and Hu Yuetao said, "Just sign it. It is only a formality. You can go home as soon as you sign it." Gao Baidan believed them and signed the document. They used this signature as evidence to extort another 5,000 yuan from Mr. Gao.

In 2001 after the period during which he was on bail awaiting ended, Mr. Gao went to the county police department to ask for the return of the 5,000 yuan from Feng Qingfang. He replied, "Because you did not respond to a call when you were on bail awaiting trial, the money has been confiscated." With this dirty trick, the police took the possession of Gao Baidan's money.

Gao Baidan went to the county authorities to appeal and recounted the above situation, but when the officer on-duty learned that he was a Falun Gong practitioner, he shifted the responsibility onto others and did not want to deal with the case. Later on, Mr. Gao went to the anti-corruption department of the Procuratorate. When he recounted the circumstances, the official on duty said, "We will take care of this case." When the officer was about to make a record, he asked, "Why were you detained?" Gao Baidan said, "Because I practise Falun Gong." Hearing "Falun Gong," the official said, "There are special stipulations about Falun Gong from above, and it is beyond our capability [to help you]." Gao Baidan's 5,000 yuan was gone forever.

In July 2004, while Mr. Gao and his wife were not home, township official Lu Shengfang and two agents from the county 610 Office ransacked their home once again. They confiscated a set of Falun Gong lecture CDs, and other Falun Gong materials.

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/2009/1/26/194192.html