Ten Years of a Life Lived in Fear

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has persecuted Ms. Yang Jine over the past decade for her belief. The police have ransacked her home six times and harassed her constantly. She once lived in exile for five months. They also forced her family to pay them 9,500 yuan¹. Her child would shiver at the sight of police and police vehicles, and would occasionally stay away from home, dreading another home ransacking.

Ms. Yang is 49 years old and lives in Datai Township, Fuping County, Hebei Province. She used to suffer from numerous illnesses, including heart disease, hepatitis, numbness in the left half of her body, and lower back pain. She had to undergo year-long medical treatment. After beginning Falun Gong practice in February 1998, her illnesses disappeared. She was amazed by Falun Gong's miraculous healing power and conducted herself according to Truth-Compassion-Forbearance.

Persecution begins

Ms. Yang and another practitioner from the same village went to Laiyuan County to hand out flyers in the spring of 2002, and someone reported them to the police. The police later went to Datai Township, arrested the other practitioner, and sent her to the Baoding Forced Labour Camp to be held for three years.

Laiyuan County police officer Luo and police officer Ma Baozhong from Fuping County went to Yang Jine's home the next day and tried to arrest her. She was not home, so they went to her husband's workplace at the Jinlongdong Stone Factory, and forced him to lead them to his home. They turned the home upside down but could not find anything Falun Gong related, so they threatened her husband and left.

Five days later, officers Luo and Ma Baozhong led a group of officers from their counties. They again went to Ms. Yang's home a few minutes after 11:00 p.m. They first surrounded her home. Then several officers climbed onto the roof, removed a few tiles, created a hole, and peeked into the house. Then they broke in. They could not find anything they wanted, so they threatened her husband, their son, and the grandmother.

Only their son was at home during the third home invasion. They could not find Ms. Yang, so they screamed at him and left.

Her husband was home alone during the fourth break-in. The police gave him an ultimatum--either turn his wife in or live with endless police harassment.

In the summer of 2002, Ms. Yang suffered a traumatic incident. She was handling a metal pole on her roof when she accidentally hit an electricity line that ran above her house. She was sucked into the air and crashed to the ground. Blood gushed from her nose, mouth, and ears. Her family rushed her to the emergency department. The doctor took an x-ray and said, "She has a broken jaw. I need to make an incision and keep the shattered bones in place with steel plates. I need an 8,000 yuan deposit for this procedure." When Yang Jine regained consciousness, she pulled out the IV tube and insisted on going home.

Her family took her home, and she did not receive any other medical treatment. Miraculously, her jaw healed completely after 20 days, leaving no scars behind. While she was recovering, Laiyuan County police agents again tried to arrest her. When they asked residents in a nearby village regarding her whereabouts, the locals said, "Why are you bothering her all the time? Don't you know that she is in very bad shape? She has never done anything illegal anyway." The police left.

Later on, the police told her husband to go to the station in Laiyuan County and demanded 5,000 yuan in exchange for ending their harassment. Her husband said, "My wife has not done anything to warrant this. You have created constant chaos in our lives, and now you are asking for more money. I don't have that kind of money. If you insist, I will bring her to you." The police then left them alone for a short period.

Five months of living away from home

Another round of persecution began in November 2005. The police conducted thorough searches for Falun Gong practitioners in the county, carrying a large photo of her and hoping that people would turn her in.

Li Yanjun from the Datai Police Station and other officers from the Fuping County Police Department and Datai Township government went to Ms. Yang's home again on November 16th, 2005. She was not home, so they confiscated Falun Gong books and materials. Eight officers, including Li Yanjun and officers from the county police department, broke into her home again only a few days later. No one was home, so they went to Datai Middle School and arrested her son. They subsequently ransacked the home. The vicious manner with which the police treated the teenager left him with psychological scars. He would shiver uncontrollably whenever he saw the police or a police car.

The police continued to harass the family and demanded that her husband turn her in. The family lived in constant fear. Ms. Yang left home to avoid the police and lived in away from home for five months. The police harassed the family even during these five months, and at one time they went to her home twice in one day. They extorted a total of 9,500 yuan from her family.

Officials from the Fuping County Broadcast and TV Bureau, and Han Leimei, an official from Datai Township government, went to Ms. Yang's home on September 25th, 2007, and destroyed the family's satellite dish on the roof. They said that they would have taken the television and DVD player if someone had been home.

The police and CCP officials harassed her and her family four times right before the 2008 Olympics. Once, official Yang Shujun, official Han Meilei from the township government, and officer Liu Zhihai from Datai Township Police Station coerced her to submit her ID card. Han Leimei threw a fit and threatened to arrest her if she refused to turn over her identification. On another occasion, official Zhang Guoli from Datai Township government and three officers from the police station went to her home and forced her to have her photo taken. They again threatened her on that occasion.

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/2009/12/30/215322.html