Sufferings of a Teacher Couple Who Devoted Themselves to Education

During 11 years of the communist regime's persecution of Falun Gong, many families have been destroyed; some of the family members left, and some died. Mr. Xiao Sixian's family is one of the many.

Mr. Xiao Sixian, born in 1968, lives in Shiqiao Town, Jiahe County, Chenzhou City, Henan Province. After graduation from Chenzhou Normal School with a major in mathematics he became a teacher at the Shiqiao Middle School. At the end of 2007 and the beginning of 2008 he was invited to teach at Yuwei Middle School in Xisui County, Guizhou Province. He married the school's principal, Ms. Wu Shengying.

Ms. Wu Shengying graduated from Chenzhou Normal School with a major in Chinese. She was arrested and was held at the Anren Detention Centre in 2003 for practising Falun Gong. Her father paid several hundred thousand yuan¹ to get her released.

Yuwei Middle School, where both she and her husband worked, was then close to bankruptcy. Ms. Wu invested a million yuan in 2006 to put the school under her charge. Two years later the school had become famous in the local area because of the great improvements in student scores.

1. Ms. Wu Shengying was forced to have an abortion at eight months and sentenced to six years in jail

Two students reported Mr. Xiao Sixian and his wife to the police as Falun Gong practitioners. On July 12th, 2008, when the couple was informing people about the true nature of Falun Gong in Erlang Township, the local police searched their motorcycle and arrested them. Their motorcycle, valued at more than 5,000 yuan, was confiscated. They were held at the Xishui Detention Centre. Five days later, the pregnant Ms. Wu was allowed to go home under house arrest. Many people from the county government, the police department, and the town government stayed at her home to watch her closely. She was forced to abort her eight-month-old foetus and was sentenced to six years in prison.

2. Mr. Xiao Sixian was arrested, beaten, and sent to forced labour several times

Mr. Xiao had been arrested in 2000 and held at the Jiahe County Detention Centre for eight months. He was then sent to the Chenzhou City brainwashing centre for one month. Soon after his release he was captured again, and many valuable personal belongings were confiscated. The following people were involved his arrest: Wang Sheqing from the Jiahe County Police Department; Ren Leijing, head of the Jiahe County People's Congress Committee; Wang Zhiqiang, deputy of the Politics and Law Committee; and O Zhibin, head of the Shiqiao Police Station. They kicked and punched Mr. Xiao and sent him to the detention centre. O Zhibin took the new motorcycle from Mr. Xiao's home and kept it for himself. Another police official confiscated a second motorcycle. Mr. Xiao was later subjected to one and a half years of forced labour and sent to Xinkaipu Forced Labour Camp in Changsha City.

Mr. Xiao was arrested again on November 24th, 2005, while eating at Shiqiao Middle School. Six police agents and officials beat him: Lei Zhibao, head of Jiahe County 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong); Liao Hebin, head of Jiahe Domestic Security Division; O Zhibin, head of the Shiqiao Police Station; and officer Liao Sanbing. Mr. Xiao lost consciousness, and the abusers threw him into the police vehicle.

Many teachers and students in the school witnessed the savage behaviour of the police. Police head O Zhibin went to the school and intimidated them to keep them quiet. The school became a target for CCP officials who harassed and threatened the teachers and students, telling them they would be subjected to brainwashing. Kou Mingli, head of Xisui County; Wang Mengjia, head of the county education bureau; and the officials from the county police department held a rally to slander Falun Gong. They demanded that all teachers and students attend. Everyone was required to sign an anti-Falun Gong statement. They gave orders that a newspaper article dedicated to criticising Falun Gong be prominently displayed at the school and that there be a regular evening meeting targeting Falun Gong. They compelled the school's legal representative Mr. Du Yueqiang to recite the Communist Party constitution. All teachers' phones were bugged in order to check who practised Falun Gong. Eight people from the education bureau went to school. They investigated all the students in the class that Mr. Xiao Sixian had taught, and investigated the curriculum.

Mr. Xiao's family members are all Falun Gong practitioners. They have frequently been harassed, including having their homes searched, being detained, and having funds extorted from them. Mr. Xiao Sixian's salary was frozen, and school officials took away the couple's assigned apartment. His family members were held at the Jiahe Detention Centre, Linwu Detention Centre, and Guiyang Detention Centre.

Mr. Xiao's first wife, Luo Qiaohong, died as a result of torture in 2001. She was locked in a small metal cage in a detention centre where she could neither stand straight nor lie down. She died on December 5th, 2001, at age 28.

Mr. Xiao's father Xiao Zhibao, 68, is a farmer in Shiqiao Town, Jiahe County. He had been praised as a provincial model for years. Mr. Xiao was diagnosed with incurable leukaemia, but he recovered through Falun Gong practice. He and his wife went to Beijing in 2000 to appeal on behalf of Falun Gong. They were arrested and turned over to officials from the Chenzhou Liaison Office in Beijing. Their personal belongings and 900 yuan cash were confiscated. Chen Bingzhi and Deng Xin from the Chenzhou Domestic Security Division were said to have stolen goods and money worth several hundred thousand yuan. Mr. Xiao Zhibao was sentenced to one year of forced labour and sent to the Xinkaipu Forced Labour in Changsha City.

Now Mr. Xiao is sentenced to six and a half years in prison and is being held in No. 6 Ward of Dujun Prison, Guizhou Province. His wife, Ms. Wu Shengying, was sentenced to six years in prison. She is currently held at the Armed Police Hospital.

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.org/mh/articles/2010/5/4/222828.html