Revealed Eight Years Later: Ms. Xu Wenling from Gansu Province Died in 2002

Name: Xu Wenling
Gender: Female
Age: 36
Address: Caijiaxiang #5, Lanzhou City
Occupation: Small business owner
Date of Death: October 2002
Date of Most Recent Arrest: December 2000
Most Recent Place of Detention: Brainwashing centre located in Yaoshuping Township Detention Centre
City: Lanzhou
Province: Gansu
Persecution Suffered: Electric shock, brainwashing, force-feeding

Ms. Xu Wenling had hepatitis when she was in her twenties. It developed into cirrhosis of the liver, and then into cancer. She was given emergency medical treatment on six occasions, spending more than 100,000 yuan¹ of her and her husband's savings, and they went into debt. She recovered from her illnesses after starting to practise Falun Gong in 1999, and was able to take care of her small business, which brought hope to her family.

After the persecution of Falun Gong started on July 20th, 1999, the Gongyuanxiang Neighbourhood Administration and Police Station constantly harassed and threatened her. This disrupted her ability to do the exercises regularly, and she started to feel unwell. Determined to have the legal right to be able to practise Falun Gong in peace, she went to Beijing to appeal in September 2000. The police arrested her and detained her for 15 days. The mental torture and physical labour caused her illnesses to recur. She firmly believed that if she could not practise Falun Gong, there would be nothing left for her. In December 2000, she went to Beijing to appeal again, despite her ailing body. The officers in Beijing arrested her and shocked her with electric batons. They shocked her until her body was covered with swollen lumps and her lips were burnt like charcoal. She refused to give in and went on a hunger strike for 18 days, during which time she was brutally force-fed. The officers knew that she was dying, and had the Lanzhou City police take her back.

Upon her return to Lanzhou City, Ms. Xu was detained at a brainwashing centre located in the Yaoshuping Detention Centre. Dong Jianmin, the Chengguan District Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Political and Judiciary Committee secretary, saw that she was in critical condition, and notified her family to pick her up.

Ms. Xu was not left alone, even at home. Gongyuanxiang Neighbourhood Administrator Li Bing, along with Zhang Xinhua and local police, kept harassing and threatening her. She was forced into hiding at her relative's home. In order to take care of her young son, she returned home in July 2001. The officers and neighbourhood administrators then began harassing her again.

Under long-term persecution, and being deprived of her right to practise Falun Gong, she died in October 2002 at the age 36.

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/2010/10/14/231013.html