Deputy Division Head Zhang Yuke and His Family Persecuted for Ten Years

Zhang Yuke was a deputy head in the accounting division of the SinoHydro Engineering Bureau One. In 1995, his son Xiao Wei, who had just graduated from college, suddenly developed spondylitis, a form of chronic inflammation of the spine and joints. The young man's condition quickly deteriorated. He experienced muscle atrophy in the lower part of his body, and the femur bones in both of his legs lost their function. He became paralysed and bed-ridden. Zhang Yuke's wife Yu Fengyun couldn't bear to see her son's suffering, and became mentally unstable. Zhang Yuke himself also suffered from many diseases. He had a serious case of insomnia, and frequently couldn't sleep at night. He also suffered from bronchitis, intense back pain, stomach problems, migraine, and joint pains. He took many medicines to control his serious haemorrhoids, and it was difficult for him to sit up straight at work. His entire family was living in a state of despair and hopelessness. In August 1996, all three of the family members started practising Falun Gong. Yu Fengyun returned to a normal and stable mental state, and she also recovered from other diseases that she suffered from. The son saw the re-growth of the muscles in his legs that had atrophied. He went from being unable to walk without support from another person, to walking slowly, and to finally walking on his own. Zhang Yuke also completely recovered from all the diseases he suffered from. He became healthy and energetic, and rededicated himself to his work. Falun Gong gave life and hope to the entire family.

On July 20th, 1999, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) led by Jiang Zemin began the groundless persecution of Falun Gong. After hearing the slanderous lies against Falun Gong, the family of three decided to go to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong and ask the regime to clear the name of Falun Gong. On October 28th, 1999, they went to Tiananmen Square in Beijing, held up a banner that they made themselves with the words "Falun Gong is Good" written on it, and cried out from their hearts, "Falun Gong is good! Falun Gong is a righteous practice!" The police surrounded them quickly, and repeatedly hit and kicked them. Xiao Wei was knocked to the ground twice.

The three were taken to the Tiananmen Police Department, and then to the Dongcheng Detention Centre in Beijing. A group of policemen at the detention centre forcefully held down Zhang Yuke's limbs and searched his body. When they saw that he had sewn some money into the waistband of his trousers, they cut open the waistband and confiscated his money. When the officers saw that Xiao Wei was wearing a small Falun Gong badge on his chest, they beat him repeatedly until he could no longer walk. The police then dragged him by his feet across a cold concrete floor for close to 100 feet, and threw him back into a cell. Zhang Yuke and his son both went on a hunger strike to protest the police brutality. While holding the hunger strike, officers hit them repeatedly with electric batons. Xiao Wei was force-fed with unknown substances twice. They were detained in Beijing for twelve days and then sent back to Changchun City. The Communist regime hasn't ceased its persecution against them since that day.

Mr. Zhang was the deputy head in the accounting division of his bureau. He was a master accountant, and served as the finance chief and chief accountant on a variety of major government development projects. Through practising Falun Gong, he not only became healthy physically, he also became a more moral person. He refused to accept bribes or kickbacks, and he was well-known as a good person of high morals by all who knew him.

After Mr. Zhang was sent back to Changchun, the main leaders in his bureau closely followed the regime's policy and stepped up their persecution against Falun Gong. At that time, Mr. Zhang was working as the finance chief on a major engineering project in the city of Shenzhen. Because he continued practising Falun Gong, a deputy head of his bureau named Chang Huansheng (who has since retired) personally made the long journey from Changchun to Shenzhen along with security person Mo Chun and two Shenzhen City policemen, and broke into Zhang Yuke's room in the middle of the night while he was asleep. They handcuffed him and took him away. He was not even allowed to put on his shirt or trousers. He was taken to the Shenzhen Airport wearing only underwear and a pair of bedroom slippers, and flown back to Changchun.

After Mr. Zhang was escorted back to Changchun, Che Zhizhong, the head of the Bureau Party Committee, and other officials directly participated in persecuting him. Because he refused to give up practising Falun Gong, the officials moved him out of his job and sent him to the local police station where he was detained for a month. He was then suspended from his job and received no pay for more than two years. In November 2001, even though he was no longer a paid employee, the bureau still worked with the Luyuan Police Station (now known as the Hepingjie Police Station) to arrest him and subject him to a year of forced labour at the Chaoyanggou Forced Labour Camp in Changchun.

Because he refused to give up practising Falun Gong, Mr. Zhang was tortured repeatedly at the labour camp. His body became completely swollen and covered with scabies, and he could no longer sit or stand on his own. It was also too painful for him to lie down in a normal position. He could not even bend his own fingers. The labour camp was afraid that he would die soon, so they released him early. After he went home, he persisted in practising Falun Gong. Several months later, all the scabies on his body miraculously disappeared.

Mr. Zhang's wife Yu Fengyun was also repeatedly persecuted by the local police because she persisted in practising Falun Gong. From July 20th, 1999 to 2000, she was arrested and detained by officers from the Luyuan Police Station three times, and finally subjected to one year of forced labour at the Heizuizi Women's Forced Labour Camp in Changchun City. After she was released from the labour camp, she was arrested again in December 2001 and subjected to another year of forced labour at the same labour camp.

On March 8th, 2005, Yu Fengyun was once again arrested by officers from the Luyuan Police Station. Mr. Zhang went to the police station many times looking for his wife. The officers there were extremely rude and refused to let him visit her or tell her where she was. On March 20th, he finally was able to talk to the head of the police station, who told him that she had been sent to the local detention centre. Mr. Zhang went to the local detention centre on March 21st to visit her, but was told that she hadn't been detained there. He went back to the Luyuan Police Station, and was told that she had been sentenced to two years at the Heizuizi Women's Forced Labour Camp. He finally was able to visit his wife at the labour camp on the morning of March 22nd, a full 15 days after she first vanished. It was the third time that Ms. Yu had been sent to the labour camp.

Because of the persecution, some of Mr. Zhang's son Xiao Wei's illnesses recurred, and he lost his ability to take care of his daily living. After 2001, when both of his parents were sent to the labour camps, Xiao Wei had to take care of himself for more than twenty months. He once went to the Luyuan Police Station asking for his parents to be released, and the police pushed him outside onto the ground covered with snow. Xiao Wei was unable to get up by himself, and yet the police refused to help him, saying that he was pretending. Kind-hearted passers-by were brave enough to criticize the actions of the police, and the police finally took Xiao Wei to the No. 208 Hospital. They put him in the emergency room and left. It took more than 24 hours for his relatives to locate him at the hospital's emergency room.

In February and March 2002, Xiao Wei once again returned to the police station asking for the release of his parents. After the police refused to listen to him, he went home and hung a banner from the window of his home with the words, "Falun Gong is a Righteous practice!" and "Return My Parents to Me" written on it. The police from the Luyuan Police Station broke into his home twice and ransacked it. The police used iron bars to pry open the security door outside of his front door, and broke down the wooden front door with so much force that all the concrete next to the door frame fell down and a big hole was left on the wooden door. The police then rushed into his home and pushed him down to the ground face-down, tied his hands together, and began ransacking his home. They confiscated two chopping knives, two pairs of scissors, a metal flat file, pens, ink brushes, a personal safe, three tape players, business cards, family photographs, and other personal property. He only had 500 yuan in cash at home, and had hidden the money in two places. The police found both hiding places and took all the money, but only recorded 200 yuan on their list. 300 yuan was missing. During the time that both his parents were in the labor camp, Xiao Wei's sole source of financial support came from relatives and fellow Falun Gong practitioners. The 500 yuan was all the money that he had to live on.

Over the last ten years, the three members of the Zhang family rarely were able to live together under the same roof. Even during the short periods of time when they were all home, the local police routinely went to their home to harass them, ransack the home, and curse them with foul language. In July 2006, Zhang Yuke had no choice but to sell his home in Changchun and move to his hometown in Lalatun, Huaide County, Liaoning Province. In 2008, the regime escalated the persecution under the name of upholding security for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. In March 2008, a group of policemen from Gongzhulin broke into Zhang's home, arrested the couple, and confiscated all the valuables in the home. They even stole Mr. Zhang's employee savings card (which was later recovered by Zhang's relatives). Zhang's wife was sentenced to two years in prison, and remains in prison to this day. Zhang Yuke was sentenced to four years at the Jilin Prison, where he has been repeatedly tortured. For the last several months, he has been tied against the bed and force-fed daily.

During the 2002 Chinese New Year, Mr. Zhang was detained at the Changyanggou Forced Labour Camp in Changchun City, and his wife was detained at the Heizuizi Women's Forced Labour Camp in Changchun City. Xiao Wei spent the Chinese New Year all by himself. During the 2009 Chinese New Year, Zhang Yuke was detained at the Liaoning Prison, and his wife Yu Fengyuan was detained at the Liaoning Women's Prison. Xiao Wei once again spent the Chinese New Year at the family's home town by himself.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2009/8/2/205736.html