Medical College Teacher Persecuted for Practising Falun Gong--His Wife and Child Now Missing

Name: Wang Lidi
Gender: Male
Age: In his forties
Address: Xianning City, Hubei Province
Occupation: College Lecturer
Date of Most Recent Arrest: September 5th, 2005
Most recent place of detention: Fanjiatai Jail
City: Shayang County
Province: Hubei
Persecution Suffered: Detention, interrogation, extortion, forced labour, brainwashing, denied visitation, beatings, forced labour, torture, forced to stand still for an extended time, sleep deprivation, home ransacking, imprisonment, solitary confinement, loss of wages

After the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) began persecuting Falun Gong in 1999, Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Wang Lidi was detained many times and his home was frequently ransacked. He was forced to attend brainwashing sessions three times, sentenced to forced laboured twice, and sentenced for one term in jail. After he got out of jail, he found out that his wife and son had been taken away, and he could not determine their whereabouts. Mr. Wang was also fired from his work, because he believed in Falun Gong and followed the tenets of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.

Mr. Wang was a lecturer at Xianning Medical College. He and his wife Jiang Yajia began practising Falun Gong in 1995, and their son was born in December 1998. All of his immediate family members are Falun Gong practitioners. Below is an account of what they have suffered in the past 12 years at the hands of the brutal Chinese Communist Party.

Detention Before July 20th, 1999

After the April 25th gathering¹ in 1999, Mr. Wang, who was a volunteer contact person, was detained by the Xianning City Public Security Bureau and held on the fourth floor of the Xianning Medical College's administration building. Collaborators from Xianning Medical College's Security Section, including Chief Xiong Zongheng, Administration Office Director Huang Xuliang, and Organisation Department staff member Li Hua, and Xianning Public Security Bureau Wenquan Branch police officer Jin Guoxin, interrogated him for the entire afternoon and would not let him go.

Detained for Appealing in Hubei Province Government on July 20th, 1999

On July 20th, 1999, the day the persecution of Falun Gong began, Mr. Wang, along with his wife and their 8-month-old son, went to the Hubei Province Government to appeal for the practice. For this they were forced into a police car in front of the provincial government building. The police saw their baby, and let them get out of the police car.

When they returned home, Du Zhixiang, director of the Political Security Department of the Wenquan Branch of Xianning Public Security Bureau, police officer Yi Hongjun of Yihaoqiao Police Station, Liu Bo of Xianning Medical College's Security Section, and others went to Mr. Wang's home to harass him and his family. The police took away all their Falun Gong exercise instruction videos and hand-written texts. The police asked them where they had been. When they heard that they had gone to the provincial government to appeal for Falun Gong, officer Du Zhixiang forcibly took Mr. Wang to Yihaoqiao Police Station, and locked him in a small cell for two days and a night without giving him anything to eat. Later local Falun Gong practitioners brought food for him. Inside the small cell, a TV was on around the clock that continually played programmes that slandered Falun Gong.

The next afternoon, Du Zhixiang, Jin Guoxin, and another young police officer interrogated Mr. Wang while dangling a pair of handcuffs in front of him. Du Zhixiang also cursed at Teacher Li Hongzhi, the founder of the practice. Mr. Wang immediately asked him to stop repeating those dirty words. Du Zhixiang and Zhang Pei sent Mr. Wang to Shuangheqiao Detention Centre and held him for seven days.

On the seventh day, Mr. Wang was taken back by Xianning Medical School's Security Department and he found out that 200 yuan² had withdrawn from his salary.

Forced Brainwashing Sessions in Xianning Medical College in August 1999

Soon after Mr. Wang was released, Xianning Medical College held brainwashing sessions and required all the teachers who are Falun Gong practitioners to go. They also required everyone to write an “ideology report.” Mr. Wang instead wrote a poem that upheld Falun Gong, and gave it to Huang Xuliang, director of the Medical School's President's Office, and the person responsible for holding the brainwashing sessions. Huang was very angry after reading the poem and threatened to send Mr. Wang to a detention centre.

Appealing in Beijing, Detained, Put In Brainwashing Centre, and Subjected to Forced Labour

Seeing that the medical college was monitoring him more closely, Mr. Wang decided to go to Beijing and appeal to the central government leaders, and let them know the real situation in his area. On the evening of August 16th, 1999, taking their 9-month-old son with them, the couple stepped onto a train to Beijing.

When they arrived in Beijing, they rented two small rooms in Xiaweigou, Chaoyang District. On the evening of August 26th, 1999, with the help of Xiaweigou Police Station and village leaders, Song Ruisheng, deputy director of the Wenquan Branch of the Xianning Public Security Bureau, led several police officers and broke into the rooms that Mr. Wang was renting. The police arrested them and sent them to Changping Asylum in Beijing. Mr. Wang was put into a male cell, and his wife and infant son were put into a female cell. At the time, the 9-month-old child was still breast feeding, but the official still put them in jail anyway. They were given only two meals per day, each meal consisting of just a corn bun and a cup of vegetable soup.

On August 28th, 1999, Song Ruisheng, Jin Guoxin, and Xiong Zongsheng took Mr. Wang's family back to Xianning by train. Mr. Wang was taken directly to Shuangheqiao Detention Centre. His wife and son were held in the security section of Xianning Medical College.

In Shuangheqiao Detention Centre, Mr. Wang went on a hunger strike to protest the persecution and insisted on doing the Falun Dafa exercises. There were 17 other practitioners being held there, and they were also protesting with hunger strikes and continued to do Falun Gong meditation. Li Mingbo, the party secretary of Xianning, then ordered to separate the detained Falun Gong practitioners. Mr. Wang was transferred to Maoershan Detention Centre, where he continued to protest with a hunger strike and insisted on doing the exercises. Jail guard Xu handcuffed him with a pair of rusty handcuffs and also threatened to force-feed him. The jail police also forced him to do manual labour. On the fifteenth day, his detention period was over. The jail police extorted 500 yuan from him for “the cost of his food.” He was then taken out of the detention centre by a Xianning Medical College car and sent to the "131 Project " Brainwashing Centre.

The "131 Project " Brainwashing Centre was initiated by Xianning Committee, specifically aimed at “transforming” Falun Gong practitioners in the medical field. In there, the Falun Gong practitioners could not be visited, make phone calls, go out, or visit each other, and could not practise Falun Gong. Every day, the staff organised sessions in which Falun Gong practitioners are forced to read articles that are full of lies and slander about Falun Gong and its Teacher. They also tried to force Falun Gong practitioners to write “thought reports.”

People involved in persecuting Falun Gong practitioners:
Xianning Organisation Department: Director Tu
Xianning Medical College: Director Huang Xuliang of the Administration Office; Zhang Junxi of the Student Affairs Office
Public Security Bureau Wenquan Branch: Police officer Xie
Xianning Bureau of Justice: Wang
Two female police officers

In the brainwashing sessions, cursing, kicking, beating, face slapping, and forced standed were commonplace. Police officer Xie often taunted, “If you die, it's less significant than if a dog died.” Mr. Wang was detained in the brainwashing centre for 37 days. He later found that they took 5,700 yuan from his wages (of which 3,700 yuan was for the “living expense” of the 37 days in the brainwashing centre, and 2,000 yuan was for what the police spent when they arrested Mr. Wang in Beijing.)

On October 10th, 1999, because Mr. Wang would not give up his faith in Falun Gong, he was transferred from the “131 Project” Brainwashing Centre to Maoershan First Detention Centre. People involved in transferring him included Du Zhixiang of the Public Security Bureau Wenquan Branch Political Security Department, Jia of Xianning National Security Bureau, as well as others.

At the detention centre, Mr. Wang was placed with death-row criminals, and the murderers were told to torture him. The prisoners brutally beat him, and tortured him by not letting him sleep and taking away his meals. On December 31st, 1999, Du Zhixiang sent Mr. Wang and two other practitioners (Xu Changhong and Wu Weihua) to Xianning Guanbuqiao Forced Labour Camp, where they were tortured for one year.

In Guanbuqiao Forced Labour Camp, in the first three months police forced Mr. Wang to do formation training. Mr. Wang was forced to train for over ten hours each day. At night, he was forced to sit straight on small stools until midnight, and during this time he was not allowed to close his eyes or say or do anything. Sometimes, the police would interrogate him for the entire night. He was forced to get up at 4:00 or 5:00 a.m. and was again forced to stand still and recite the “ten not-to-do rules.” If Mr. Wang refused to recite them or did not remember them, this would be used as an excuse to punish him physically. The punishment included carrying pond scum, making bricks, digging up and carrying dirt, carrying excrement, unloading cement, and so on. Even when the skin of his shoulder became split and his entire shoulder swelled, they would not let him rest. When the police saw that he still would not be “transformed” [forcibly renounce Falun Gong], he was transferred to Shayang Forced Labour Camp, where his torture continued.

In the Qilihu Forced Labour Camp in Shayang, guards Tian Ming, Hu Wei, and Li Qingshan arranged for many former Falun Gong practitioners who had turned against Falun Gong, to continually monitor Mr. Wang and not let him sleep. They tried to manipulate Falun Gong teachings to confuse his thoughts and mind.

Mr. Wang's wife Jiang Yajia and their son were not allowed to go home after they were sent to Xianning Medical College's Security Department. Ms. Jiang's supervisor from Jiangyu County Material Chemical Industry Bureau was also called in to pressure Ms. Jiang. She had to choose between practising Falun Gong and her job. Without any hesitation, Ms. Jiang chose practising Falun Gong. She was then immediately fired. As her husband was detained and she had lost her job, she had no income. It was extremely hard for her to make a living and raise her 9-month-old son. When the police ransacked her home, they took away 3,000 yuan in cash and refused to give her a receipt.

Mr. Wang Is Detained for Writing to Police in May 2001

After Mr. Wang returned home from the forced labour camp, he wrote several letters to Guanbuqiao Forced Labour Camp, Shayang Forced Labour Camp, and Du Zhixiang from the Security Bureau Wenquan Branch. He also personally delivered his letters to the medical college's security section chief Xiong Zongsheng and Wenquan Branch police officer Jin Guoxin to tell them the facts about Falun Gong. However, the deputy directors of Wenquan Branch, Song Ruisheng and Du Zhixiang, ordered the Yihaoqiao Police Station chief Zhang Pei to arrest Mr. Wang. Zhang brought several officers with him and arrested Mr. Wang at his office. Zhang also got help from the medical college security department staff member Liu Bo. Mr. Wang was held in Shuangheqiao Detention Centre for 15 days. After 15 days, the medical college security department had him taken to his home, where he discovered that another 3,000 yuan was taken from his salary card for the “cost of food” while being detained.

July 2001, Mr. Wang Detained in Tongshan Detention Centre, Shizishan Detention Centre, Brainwashing Centre, and Shayang Detention Centre

On July 9th, 2001, the medical college's Medical Image Department chair, Le Yongsheng, who was Mr. Wang's supervisor, reported Mr. Wang to the Security Department. Xiong Zongsheng of the Security Department then reported it to the police station.

On July 12th, 2001, Du Zhixiang led a group of people and broke into Mr. Wang's home. They ransacked his home, took away Falun Gong texts, and also took away 5,000 yuan in cash that was on the bookshelf. They did not give him any receipts. Mr. Wang's wife tried to figure out why they were arresting Mr. Wang. In response Du threatened that they would arrest her, too. Mr. Wang was detained in Yihaoqiao Police Station. On July 14th, Song Ruisheng transferred him to Tongshan County Detention Centre.

In Tongshan County Detention Centre, Mr. Wang insisted on doing the exercises, as well as telling others about the persecution. When the jail police saw this, they punished him physically, but he just kept on doing the meditation. Director Xu of the detention centre ordered the jail personnel to move Mr. Wang to another cell and told some prisoners to torture him. A young teenage prisoner brutally hit Mr. Wang in the chest with his elbow, which broke his ribs. As a result, Mr. Wang could not lie on his back, could not turn around, could not speak normally, and could not cough for 12 days. It was very painful. When he was taken to the detention centre, he was wearing summer clothes, so he only had a pair of shorts, a sleeveless shirt, and a pair of slippers once it became winter. Because he was not allowed to make phone calls, write letters, or have visitors, he had no way to get some warmer clothes. Some kind-hearted people saw this and gave him a pair of trousers, a coat, and a pair of cloth shoes that allowed him to make it through the winter. On November 12th, 2002, Yihaoqiao Police Station officers Yi Hongjun and Jin Guoxin transferred Mr. Wang to the Hubei Province Shizishan Drug Rehabilitation Labour Camp. He was there for a year and a half. Later, Mr Wang found out that the medical college security department took another 3,600 yuan from his salary card for “food expenses” over the four months he was in Tongshan Detention Centre.

The moment Mr. Wang entered the doors of the Shizishan Drug Rehabilitation Forced Labour Camp, the guards forcibly took off all of his clothing to conduct an extremely invasive body search. This check was performed just to humiliate him. They then instructed two prisoners to take Mr. Wang to the workshop and to force him to stand facing the wall until mealtime. He stood there for five hours. In the days that followed, he was made to perform forced labour in the workshop. His eyes were extremely nearsighted and as he did not have his glasses, he could not complete the work. Since Mr. Wang would not give up his belief in Falun Gong, the prisoners assigned to watch him used all kinds of ways to torture him. One time in the restroom, he made eye contact with another Falun Gong practitioner and immediately a collaborator slapped him in the face. As he could not finish his forced labour due his eyesight problem, the jail police said he would have to “pay for the losses.”

In March 2003, the Shizishan Drug Rehabilitation Forced Labour Camp invited over twenty people from different specialist fields. One “specialist,” Bi Huiqiong, was known for his ability to “transform” Falun Gong practitioners. These twenty “specialists” were brought in to transform Mr. Wang. Even facing so many people's attacks, Mr. Wang was not moved at all and firmly upheld his belief in Falun Gong.

In May 2003, several collaborators from Hubei Province Brainwashing Centre, led by Bi Huiqiong and officer Tian Ming, went to stay in Shizishan Drug Rehabilitation Forced Labour Camp. Tian Ming ordered six of them, including five women and one man, to go after Mr. Wang. They would not let him sleep or rest and took turns arguing with him. They also made Mr. Wang read fake texts that they said were written by Teacher Li. Mr. Wang was tortured both mentally and physically.

On June 1st, the forced labour camp decided to send Mr. Wang to Hubei Province Brainwashing Centre (so called Tangsunhu Holiday Village). Mr. Wang was severely tortured in the brainwashing centre. When he was sent back to the forced labour camp, officer Zhang Guorong went to the home of Mr. Wang's parents and forced them to come to the forced labour camp. The police pressured Mr. Wang’s parents to try and convince their son to give up Falun Gong. Even the commissioner Yan Jinggan went to personally talk with Mr. Wang. He said, “If you just say 'I will stop practising Falun Gong' in front of my superiors, I will not bother you anymore and you can practise Falun Gong at your will.” Mr. Wang would not follow their orders. The police had no way to “transform” Mr. Wang and were afraid that he would affect other Falun Gong practitioners, so they sent him to Shayang Forced Labour Camp, where they continued to torture him. Mr. Wang was assigned to the Third Section.

On January 13th, the medical college sent a car and brought Mr. Wang back home. Later, he found out that the medical college withdrew 300 yuan from his salary card as “transportation costs.”

Arrested in September 2005, Detained in the Shayang County Fanjiatai Jail

Mr. Wang was taking his son to school at noon on September 5th, 2005, when he was arrested by several police led by Zhu, who was the director of a local police station branch. They had been monitoring him for some time. Mr. Wang was first held in the second floor of Yihaoqiao Police Station. Officer Pi Jian searched Mr. Wang's pocket and took away his key. The police then opened his office door and took away a desktop computer. They then entered his home and ransacked it. They did not find anything. Mr. Wang’s son was very scared and kept crying the whole time. In the afternoon, Du Zhixiang and several other officers transferred Mr. Wang to Hubei Province Brainwashing Centre in a police car.

Mr. Wang was locked inside a room alone at the brainwashing centre, and not allowed to go outside. He went on a hunger strike to protest the persecution. He was held there for 37 days. On October 12th, 2005, Du Zhixiang and Yi Hongjun transferred him again, this time to Shuangheqiao Detention Centre. Song Ruisheng then ordered him to be taken to the Maoershan Detention Centre.

While Mr. Wang was being held at Maoershan Detention Centre, the Xingan District Prosecutor's Office of Xianing City prosecuted him. He was brought to trial at the district court. Mr. Wang defended himself during the trial session and shouted out “Falun Gong is good.” He was brutally beaten by court police and his mouth was bleeding. The district court ruled that Mr. Wang “broke the law and administrative regulations.” Mr. Wang was sentenced to three years. He did not accept the verdict and appealed to the intermediate court. The intermediate court, under pressure from the 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong), upheld the verdict. After about eight months in the detention centre, Mr. Wang was sent to Hongshan Jail Triage Centre in Wuhan City on June 23rd, 2006.

In the triage centre, medical workers drew a lot of blood from him. The police forced him to do manual labour. Over twenty prisoners had to stay in one little room in the hot summer. He was assigned to so much labour, and his nearsightedness only made his suffering worse. He was often sweating all over his body. He also suffered from frequent cursing and beatings by the other prisoners. On June 26th, he was sent to Fanjiatai Jail's “newcomer section.”

In the newcomer section, as many as six prisoners continuously monitored Wang and did not allow him to step outside, talk to others, possess paper or pen, do exercises, or get in touch with his family. He was tortured so badly that at least three different times he was rendered paralysed. He could not stand up, walk, or even turn his body. In February 2007, he was transferred to the Section 4 of Fanjiatai Jail.

In the Section 4, Mr. Wang was put on “special watch.” There were at least 30 prisoners monitoring him at one point or another. In an attempt to “transform” him, the jail invited police from Shayang Detention Centre to come over. One of them was Yu Bangqing. However, after talking with Mr. Wang, Yu gave up on trying to “transform” him. During this time, Hubei Province Brainwashing Centre had several police officers coming over, including Gong Jian and He Wei. He Wei, as well as another female officer, talked with Mr. Wang for several hours. On April 11th, 2009, the instructor of the Section 4, Xiong Zuyong, wanted to send Mr. Wang to Hubei Province Brainwashing Centre, but the brainwashing centre did not want to accept him. Thus, Mr. Wang was sent home.

During the period that Mr. Wang was sentenced and in jail, his 70-year-old mother tried everything to bring her son back. On one of her trips she was so exhausted that she could no longer move. She was completely distraught, and her nose started bleeding profusely. Fortunately she was helped by a kind person and survived the trip.

Mr. Wang Returned Home on April 11th, 2009 to Find His Wife and Son Missing

On April 11th, 2009, after being released, Mr. Wang discovered that his wife and son had long since disappeared. It was said that right before the 2008 Olympics, they went to Beijing to appeal and disappeared. When Mr. Wang returned home, everything was gone and he did not even have a blanket to sleep under. His home was covered in dust.

Mr. Wang and his elderly mother went to the medical college, police station branches, city security bureau and branches, and the state security section to ask for the whereabouts of Mr. Wang's wife and son. They all tried to deny responsibility and said they did not know.

Xianning Medical College Took Away Mr. Wang's Right to Teach

When Mr. Wang first got out of jail, he was extremely skinny. The medical college wanted him to write a pledge to give up Falun Gong or they would not give him back his job. Mr. Wang would not write it and thus the medical college just treated him as a temporary worker. He was not allowed to teach. Everything he had in the past was taken away, and he was labelled as a “Falun Gong element to be placed under surveillance.”

Financial Persecution

Since July 20th, 1999, Mr. Wang has suffered financial persecution every time he was persecuted physically. In the past 11 years, the police have extorted 13,100 yuan in cash from Mr. Wang. Counting his salary and benefits, the total loss is close to one million yuan. The police have also ransacked his home many times and taken many belongings, including Falun Gong texts, videotapes and cassettes, clothing, and so on. The police never left a receipt.

Note

1. "April 25th": This refers to the "sensitive" anniversary of April 25th, 1999, on which date ten thousand Falun Gong practitioners peacefully gathered outside the Zhongnanhai compound (China’s central government building) and successfully appealed for the release of forty-five practitioners who had been arrested in Tianjin City.

2. "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/2011/2/1/235606.html