Ms. Wang Lan, 56, Tells Her Story -- Ten Years of Persecution

Name: Wang Lan
Gender: Female
Age: 56
Address: Kunming City, Yunnan Province
Occupation: Retired
Date of Most Recent Arrest: July 28th, 2005
Most Recent Place of Detention: Yunnan Province Secondary Women's Prison
City: Kunming
Province: Yunnan
Persecution Suffered: Brainwashing, imprisonment, home ransacked, interrogation, detention

Ms. Wang Lan from Kunming City was born in 1954. Before her retirement, she worked as a nurse, doctor, and organ cadre. She began practising Falun Gong in 1995 and was among the first practitioners in her province. She was co-ordinator of the Yunan Province Falun Gong Volunteer Learning Centre before the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) started the persecution. On July 20th, 1999, the day the persecution began, Ms. Wang experienced her first arrest and home search. Two days later, she was arrested again and detained for 100 days. On January 23rd, 2001, she was arrested and held for 15 days. The authorities attempted to forcibly "transform" [forcibly renounce Falun Gong] her. Her "transformation" story was altered to fit propaganda and reported in major news media. On July 28th, 2005, she was arrested and sentenced to four years in prison. Her pension, benefits, and insurance have been revoked.

Ms. Wang recounts her persecution ordeals:

1. Home Searched, Arrested, and Interrogated

At around 5:00 a.m. on July 20th, 1999, I was awakened by banging on the door. When I opened it, a dozen officers rushed in, went to every corner, and began searching my home. They made a mess of my home. I asked what they were doing. Someone answered, "We are conducting a legal search." I asked which law specified the search was legal. They took all Falun Gong materials, tape players, my household residency registration booklet, and photo albums. Of these items, the last three were later returned. In the ten years that have passed, I was never given a list of items that were seized.

Before they took me to the Xishan Police Department, an officer ordered me to sign the search warrant. I refused. He said that I could write comments on it. I wrote first that I didn't agree to the search. Second, it was not wrong to be a good person. Third, I didn't agree to the seizure of my property and arrest. I was released that night.

To protest this mistreatment, many practitioners visited the appeals offices and government agents or continued practising the exercises in public. On July 22nd, 1999, I read a Falun Gong book in a public open area near the south gate of the Cuihu Public Park. More and more practitioners came. Officers from the Domestic Security Division soon came and called for buses. Some practitioners left, but many stayed.

Officers began arresting us. Two policewomen dragged me to a car, and I was taken to a basement where there were many others. Someone asked me why I went to a public place to study Falun Gong and do the exercises after I was told not to. I replied that Falun Gong gave me health and taught me to be a nice person and be a good member of society but never asked anything of me in return. So I was willing to stand up for Falun Gong when it was mistreated. I was also standing up for my rights. They asked me which one was I choosing, the CCP or Falun Gong. I answered without hesitation that I chose Falun Gong.

I was taken to the Xishan Police Department and made to watch TV programs that slandered Falun Gong. After watching the programme from CCTV (China Central Television), someone asked me what I thought about it. I asked why it was such a one-sided story. Why not let practitioners offer their opinions? I was subsequently taken to the Kunming City No. 1 Detention Centre.

I was interrogated many times at the detention centre, and I saw many other practitioners imprisoned there. Officers paid special attention to three things in the interrogations: first, the organisation of Falun Gong; second, financial sources for the handouts; third, the reason for the gathering in Cuihu Public Park on July 22nd. I told them that there wasn't a Falun Gong organisation. There was only loose management, no collections of money or materials, no list of names, and no dues. We called it management, but it was actually just a volunteer service, with no leadership involved. These facts were not worth hiding. The volunteer service was provided by warmhearted practitioners, many of whom I didn't even know. Police and tax agents conducted many investigations concerning financial issues and confirmed that the volunteer learning centre and I had not been engaged in any illegal activities. Concerning the gathering, the public park had enough space for many people and was easy to access. Our gathering, which involved studying the Falun Gong teachings and exercising, didn't block traffic or interrupt government functions, but was a place where we could express our opinions. This is what the government opposed.

Finally, three people had a sincere talk with me. I learned from them that co-ordinators of sub-centres all over the province had been arrested. I couldn't hold back my tears. So many kind, innocent people were arrested. My heart was broken. When I asked why they arrested so many people, they said that it wasn't their will. The authorities at the top wanted to outlaw Falun Gong, so they wanted me to say something. I replied that I would do it with three conditions. Otherwise, I preferred to go to prison. The three conditions were: to release all practitioners including me, to not report my words in the news, and no politics. The three who were present agreed.

One evening thereafter, guards led me to a conference room. Dozens of people were already there, some of whom I knew. They pronounced the charges against me, then asked if I had any objections. I said no. I was then released. Other imprisoned practitioners were released afterward.

2. "Transformed"

On Chinese New Year Eve 2001, I was arrested again. My home was searched, and I was held at the Laifeng Mountain Resort in Wenquan Town, Anning City, Yunnan Province. They attempted to force me to "transform." Collaborators, who were former practitioners, assisted. During this period, I could not see my way out. While struggling in darkness, some of my thoughts slipped. My heart was full of sadness because I didn't want to abandon my longing for Truthfulness-Benevolence-Forbearance. Persecutors thought the "transformation" was a success. They wrote an article "Conquering the Last Fortress" and bragged everywhere. It was said that a documentary of Wang Lan's "transformation" path was put together and used to poison people who didn't know the truth.

It happened many years ago. I will not acknowledge any of my words or actions which happened under the persecution and were against Falun Gong. It is a crime when one wants to control another's mind.

3. Four-year Sentence

In July 2005, I travelled with friends. On our way to our last stop, Lhasa, a friend gave a girl a card that said "Falun Gong is good" in a gas station in Bomi County, Tibet. Officers from the Bomi County Police Department arrested three of my friends. They searched our car and found 198 pieces of self-sticking paper with Falun Gong teachings written on them. The rest of us went to the police department and requested their release. We asked why they were arrested. A deputy director answered that they could arrest any practitioners. In front of the police department gate, we asked him to show us the legal document that verified his statement, but he could not show it. We attracted many bystanders. The police had officers from the Domestic Security Division arrest us. This shocked the locals. The police ordered us to sign the arrest warrants that night, but we refused. We were subsequently held in the Linzi area of Tibet. Interrogation produced no results, and the case was reported to the Ministry of Public Security. There were ten people in our travel group. Our case was taken over by the ministry.

After I was transferred back to Yunnan Province, I was held at the Kunming City No. 1 Detention Centre. Police searched my home. Soon after I was held at the centre, a guard again asked me to make a choice. I answered that I had made my choice and I would not do it again. The guard said the legal process was rolling. I replied that I had committed no crime and had nothing to fear. I soon developed dizziness, and it became worse. I was taken to a hospital and was diagnosed with cerebral atrophy. My health was so bad that when I was transferred to the prison the first time, I was not admitted. I was sentenced to four years in prison and was imprisoned in the Yunnan Province Secondary Women's Prison.

4. Monitored

On March 12th, 2010, an officer from the Donglu Police Station visited me at home. He told me that I was on the list of people to be monitored.

During ten years of persecution, many Yunnan Province practitioners, like Mr. Kong Qinghuang and Mr. Shen Yueping, lost their lives. Others were paralysed as a result of torture, and many others suffered long-term financial persecution. I am currently being deprived of my pension and other benefits.

In early April 2008, two cadres from the human resource office of the Kunming City General Union paid me a visit in prison. They showed me a document signed by the CCP secretary of the city general union, Zhang Guanghua. The subject was my benefits. The main idea was that, because I still followed Falun Gong after repeated so-called "education," all my benefits would be suspended while I was imprisoned. After I was released, the benefits would resume if warranted by my behaviour. I told them that, while I was imprisoned, I didn't care about the benefits, but after my release, I should have what I was legally entitled to. The cadres ordered me to accept the document and sign a receipt, but I refused.

In early December 2008, Yang Li, president of the city general union; CCP secretary Zhang Guanghua; and organ CCP secretary Lu Yugang visited me in prison. I told Yang that the way that they were treating me was illegal and I would not accept it. Yang said that they would follow the law.

In March 2009, I appealed to the Yunnan Province High Court and sent copies to the provincial Procuratorate, the provincial Political and Judiciary Committee, and the city general union. Three months passed and nothing happened. I then sent them the facts about Falun Gong. In July, I learned that I had been taken off the official list of retirees. I filed a memo asking them to correct that error.

By March 2010, another six months had passed without any feedback. I called Yang Li, and organ CCP secretary Lu Yugang answered the phone. He denied that my name had been removed from the list, so I asked where my pension was if I had not been delisted. He said that they had the approval of the 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong) to stop all my benefits. When I asked why, he said it was because of my involvement in Falun Gong. I asked what law justified that action. He said that it was not good to argue on the phone. I asked if the suspension included the benefits that I bought for myself, such as retirement insurance, medical insurance, and the housing fund. He said yes. I asked why I was not informed of the document signed by the 610 Office. He said that I was informed while I was in prison. When I said that I didn't sign it, he replied that, since I didn't sign it, someone else had signed it for me.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2010/4/16/221636.html