My Mother Is Upholding Justice and Conscience

I have just graduated from college. Far away from home, I suddenly received a phone call from my family, telling me that on July 19th, my mum was arrested by police from Changqing Police Station, Jiamusi City, Heilongjiang Province.

My mother's name is Wang Lixin. She is very kind and always helps others. When she was young, she was diagnosed with septicaemia, which usually leads to leukaemia. The doctors said that it was incurable and that she would not live much longer. She was hospitalised for a period of time but her condition did not improve, so she went home to try to maintain her health.

In autumn 1997, a relative introduced Falun Gong to my mother. She read Zhuan Falun, the main text of Falun Gong, began following the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, and her health started to improve. She often mentions that it was Falun Gong who gave her a second life.

Jiang Zemin's [former leader of China and instigator of the persecution] Communist regime began persecuting Falun Gong practitioners on July 20th, 1999. My mother went to Beijing twice to appeal for Falun Gong, hoping that the government would hear the voices of the people and stop the persecution.

In 2002, a dozen police officers from Changqing Police Station (a county sub-police station) suddenly surrounded our home and ransacked it. My mother was able to get away but could not return home. Officers from the Changqing Police Station subsequently came to our home every so often to threaten and harass us, and we could no longer live peacefully. Our shop, which we depended on for our livelihood, was also closed. My father was both upset and anxious about the situation. He also worried about my mother's safety. At that time, my father became ill. With this constant extreme fear, his mind was under tremendous pressure and he was afraid whenever someone knocked at the door, when the phone rang, or when he heard police sirens. After six and a half months, he passed away. Our situation became even tougher at that time. The Chinese Communist regime's persecution of Falun Gong completely ruined my family.

My mother was distraught over father's death but she stayed strong despite all the misfortune. In order to support me going to school, she took on many different jobs, including clothes store salesperson, hotel attendant, bus attendant, street cleaner, and painter. She bore so much pressure and many difficulties, and life was very hard for her. She was nonetheless able to face everything calmly, and this is because she practises Falun Gong and does everything by following the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. She always thinks of others first and handles everything around her with a practitioner's kindness and forbearance.

While my mother was a bus attendant, on one occasion she had to ask a group of passengers to buy tickets. However, the passengers not only refused to pay for tickets, but also cursed and beat her. A lot of her hair was pulled out during this incident and it was all recorded by the bus' video camera. When the incident was reported to management, they asked my mother to go to the hospital, but she wouldn't go. A reporter from the Transportation Radio Station came to our home to interview her and said, "We heard that you didn't go to the hospital because you didn't want to extort a payment from them. Why?" Her answer was very crisp, "I have faith, and in my heart there is Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance." Later, the people who beat my mother were prodded by their conscience and came to our home to apologise. My mother patiently talked to them and also told them about the persecution of Falun Gong and her own experience. She wished them all good futures. They were very thankful after talking to my mother.

Although I lost my father, my mother's meticulous care for me has made me feel that I am loved just as much as others. I feel proud to have a mother like her. But as kind as my mother is, she was still persecuted for telling others about the persecution of Falun Gong. When I heard the news of her arrest, I immediately took the train home. I was then told that the police had ransacked our home while no one was there. I went to Changqing Police Station to talk with the director and the person in charge, but they screamed at me, saying, "Your mother violated the law because she distributed flyers. She wants to overthrow the Communist Party and she also impeded law enforcement."

I then looked up a lot of legal information and also consulted some lawyers. I became clearer on the issue of Falun Gong, and the fact that there is no law that makes practising Falun Gong illegal. My mother did not violate any laws and all the flyers she handed out were merely telling people of Falun Gong's principles. Article 36 of China's Constitution says, "Citizens of the People's Republic of China have the freedom to believe in any religion." Claims by police that my mother violated the law have no basis because "no laws, administrative regulations, or regional regulations can conflict with the Constitution." On the issue of Falun Gong, these claims completely violate the "freedom of religion" principle stated in the Constitution.

Falun Gong is only persecuted in China. My mother is now being held in Jiamusi Detention Centre, and my relatives and I have decided to hire a lawyer to defend her.

There are many innocent people who are just like my mother. They need to be released and be able to return home to be with their families. Not until then will I stop exposing this persecution, and not until then will I stop awakening people's consciences. I will continue talking to various branches of authority, asking for the release of my mother, to give us justice, and to give me back an intact family.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2010/10/9/230771.html