The biggest annual Chinese Communist Party meetings come on the day when the National People's Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) are held. This year, they were held on March 3rd. In the days running up to the meetings, mass arrests of people labelled as “dissidents” were carried out throughout China. In order to distract public focus on major social problems, the police and 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong) issued orders to intensify the monitoring and persecution of Falun Gong.
According to information from the Minghui/Clearwisdom website, from the beginning of January to March 7th, 2011, at least 470 Falun Gong practitioners were arrested. Many more were followed, surveilled, and harassed by the authorities. During the last ten days of February in particular, the number of arrests increased all over China, and practitioners detained in forced labour camps or prison were subjected to a new round of abuse and mistreatment.
Slandering Falun Gong to Divert Public Attention from the Real Problems Facing China Today
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is experiencing a period of great crisis. People's dissatisfaction with the CCP is approaching the boiling point, due to worsening corruption, inequality, and inflation. The CCP truly feels that its power is threatened. It has strengthened its choke-hold on information both to and from the outside world by blockading the Internet, while ramping up it's propaganda machine for another round of inciting public hatred of the peaceful spiritual practice of Falun Gong.
For example, the police department director of a large steel corporation in Hebei Province revealed that the CCP central government passed down the order to submit the names of all Falun Gong practitioners because “Falun Gong wants to fight for power with the CCP.”
In another example, the police system in Sichuan Province ordered all officers to work overtime, patrolling the streets both in uniform and plainclothes, “to prevent Falun Gong from making trouble.”
All are attempts to distract public attention from the true social ills facing China today, slandering Falun Gong as a convenient scapegoat, and diversion, once again.
In fact, Falun Gong cultivators do not have any interest in political power. Practitioners cultivate according to the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, to be better persons of high virtue and good physical health. This brings only benefits to society, and poses no threat. In the past more than ten years of brutal persecution, practitioners have solidly held to their faith, even facing torture and imprisonment, continuing to patiently clarify the truth about the practice and the persecution it faces.
Further Examples of Intensified Persecution
Yi Bing, Xuanwu District CCP Political and Judiciary Committee Secretary in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province directly called all community administrations and “anti-cult” offices, instructing their personnel to step up the harassment and persecution of Falun Gong practitioners.
On January 7th, 2011, the Dongsheng District Police Department in E'erduosi City, Inner-Mongolia Region issued a “Notice to Assist Investigation” to all community administrations in the district, calling for people to report Falun Gong practitioners who distribute informational DVDs.
The Yilan County 610 Office in Heilongjiang Province issued a notice to escalate the persecution of Falun Gong on January 20th. The order went out to all work units in the county, ordering a close watch of Falun Gong practitioners during the period of the Two Congresses. They were told to stop practitioners from exposing the persecution of Falun Gong, and to report to the 610 Office daily during the Chinese New Year holiday. Work units were threatened with financial sanctions if they failed to comply.
The Shenyang City Police Department held a secret meeting on the afternoon of February 20th, the agenda to discuss hiring people to patrol residential buildings and arrest Falun Gong practitioners posting notices or passing out other materials.
The Zhengzhou City Police Department in Henan Province held an internal meeting on the afternoon of February 27th, to plan the arrest of Falun Gong practitioners using the combined effort of community administrations and police stations.
In addition to the areas listed above, close monitoring and threats of arrest were also reported in Beijing, Tianjin, and in the provinces of Jiangsu, Shandong, Hebei, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Hubei, and Hunan.
A Sampling of the 470 Arrests
Below are examples of some of the 470 arrests that happened from January to March 7th, 2011:
Peide Town Police Station officer Zheng Chengjin along with Mishan City (Heilongjiang Province) Domestic Security agents Li Gang and Yu Haiying, and others, arrested nine practitioners, including seven from Mudanjiang 855 Farm. The practitioners included Ms. Zhao Li, Ms. Zhang Xihuan, Ms. Guo Shuying, Ms. Sun Qilan, Ms. Sun Yuqin, Ms. Hu Xiuyan and Ms. Gong Hongmei.
CCP Officials in Laishui County (in Hebei Province) visited each practitioner's home in January 2011. They said that whoever declared that they would stop practising Falun Gong would be given a container of vegetable oil, a bag of rice, and a bag of flour. They were threatened that otherwise, their homes would be ransacked and they would be arrested. Laishui Town Police Station Director Li Jinpeng led five officers to storm into Ms. Liu Binhua's home. They tore down her family's New Year poster, took her Falun Gong books, and took her to the police station, where she was pressured to write a statement renouncing Falun Gong. Two other practitioners, Ms. Liu Xiufeng and Ms. Song Jinzhi, who were working in Changping District of Beijing, were arrested and taken back to Laishui County. They were ordered not to travel out of town to find work.
On February 17th, Huaiyang County (Henan Province) Domestic Security officers blocked and arrested many Falun Gong practitioners on the street. Many are detained in the Huaiyang County Detention Centre, while some were released after being extorted for 5,000 yuan1 cash.
Shimen Community (in Tianhui Town, Jinniu District, Chengdu City, Sichuan Province) 610 Office agents arrested Ms. Yuan Suchang and her son, and 4 or 5 more practitioners in the afternoon of February 23rd.
From February 25th-26th, the Domestic Security Division of the Baoqing County Police Department (in Shuangyashan City, Heilongjiang Province) arrested Ms. Wang Shuqing and two other practitioners from the 852 Farm. The Chaoyang Township Police Station and Ninth Group Security in the Fifth Team of the 852 Farm assisted with the arrests.
Paotai Town (Dalian City, Liaoning Province) CCP Secretary Wang Deshi called practitioner Mr. Wang Min to have a talk on February 28th. The next day, he also called Mr. Wang's wife and son to have a talk in the town government offices. There have been three practitioners arrested in Paotai Town recently, with more than a dozen practitioners being harassed. Two practitioners were forced to leave home to avoid persecution.
Wuxue City (Hubei Province) CCP Secretary Zhang Shejiao, 610 Office director Xu Zhengping and Chen Gangming, Police Department Director Hu Xiaoqing, and Qinglin Police Station Deputy Director Zhou Jinghua arrested 14 practitioners during the Two Congress time period. Among these, Ms. Zhu Jianfen, Ms. Wu Qing, Ms. Shao Chunying, Ms. Chen Xuezhen, and Mr. Tao Jinlong were arrested in January, and forced to undergo brainwashing for more than one month. Mr. Liao Yuanhua, Ms. Pan Baihui, Ms. Shi Liping, Ms. Lin Xinju, Ms. Liu Hanju, and Ms. Zhao Canmei were arrested on the morning of March 1st, 2011. These 14 practitioners are all detained in Wuxue City Detention Centre.
Shijiazhuang City (Hebei Province) CCP officers arrested six practitioners on March 2nd, they are Mr. Song Hongshui and his wife Li Huiyun, Ms. Jiang Yihui, Ms. Wang Suxin, Ms. Sun Yuzhen and her father. Ms. Li Huiyun is a first year Ph. D. candidate from Hebei Institute of Technology, but was dismissed and sent to forced labour just because she practises Falun Gong. Ms. Sun Shuzhen is a brand new practitioner, who has not learned the exercises yet. The six are currently being detained.
Datong City (Shanxi Province) 610 Office directors Liu Yi, Niu Quanxi and Sun Wenlong recently instructed the police departments of Yunquan District, Nanjioa District, Kuanqu District, and Chengqu District to arrest eight Falun Gong practitioners.
Confiscation of Practitioners' Property
Not only were 470 practitioners arrested. Many were also subject to search and seizure. Some examples:
Chengde City (Hebei Province) police arrested Ms. Zhao Baoli on January 5th. They took away a bank book, bank certificate, salary card and cash totaling more than 210,000 yuan. When her family went to request the return of their money, the police said that this was their “Falun Gong cash flow.”
On the afternoon of January 15th, the Jia Town (Guan County, Shandong Province) 610 Office and police arrested Mr. Wang Yibin and his wife at the store he managed in Wangtian Village. They ransacked his store, took 15,000 yuan in cash, a computer and two printers.
On the morning of January 18th, Sujiadian Town (Xixia City, Shandong Province) police arrested three practitioners and took them into custody. The practitioners are Ms. Li Shulian, Ms. Han Hongying, Ms. Li Xinju. The police threatened to take them to forced labour if their families refused to give them 6,000 yuan cash.
Persecution Escalating in Jiamusi City Prison – Two Practitioners Die in Custody
In parallel with the campaign to arrest practitioners, the degree of persecution forced upon Falun Gong in prisons and forced labour camps has escalated. For example, Jiamusi (Heilongjiang Province) Prison set up a “Harsh Management Ward” for the purpose of achieving an 85% “transformation” [forcibly renounce Falun Gong] rate among the practitioners held there. Two practitioners died soon after the Harsh Management Ward was established. Briefs describing the deaths and some of the other cases follow:
Since February 21st, selected practitioners have been taken to the Harsh Management Ward, including Mr. Wang Lansheng from Jixi City, Mr. Fan Qiang from Baoquanling City, Mr. Fu Yu from Jiamusi City, Mr. Shang Xiping from Huanan County, Mr. Liu Junhua from Jiamusi City, Mr. Chen Dong from Jiansanjiang Farm Corp, and Mr. Liu Zhenchang from Hegang City. They assigned several prisoners to watch each practitioner, trying to force them to write statements that they will stop practising Falun Gong. Practitioners were deprived of visitation rights and were not allowed to call home. They were also denied the right to buy daily necessities at the prison store, and even were denied use of the toilet.
Mr. Qin Yueming died within five days after being sent to the Harsh Management Ward (see http://clearwisdom.net/html/articles/2011/3/10/123724.html). He entered the the ward on February 21st, and died on February 26th. The prison administration said he suffered a heart attack.
Mr. Yu Yungang, who was also held in the ward, was soon in critical condition. At around 3 p.m. on March 1st, 2011, Mr. Yu passed out due to torture, and was rushed to the Second Hospital affiliated with Jiamusi University. He went through Craniotomy surgery, in which the doctor took out a piece of skull from his head. His family was issued a “Notice of Critical Condition” and told to prepare for the worst. After the surgery, Mr. Yu was sent to the Intensive Care Unit, which was heavily guarded by plainclothes officers as well as officers in uniform. The doctors and nurses were all quiet about this case, and nobody could enter Mr. Yu's room without permission. After making an urgent request, his family was allowed to visit briefly, but Mr. Yu could not recognize them. The doctor gave Mr. Yu additional emergency treatment on the afternoon of March 3rd. By the afternoon on March 5th, several dozen officers surrounded the ICU, and did not allow his family to contact any outside people. The officers took Mr. Yu's clothes from his family and quickly changed Mr. Yu, and were about to carry Mr. Yu away. Only then did his family realize that he had died. They demanded to view his body in the ICU room, but were rudely refused. Officers carried his body downstairs and into a police vehicle, and asked his family to sign the death certificate. His family was very angry at this treatment and refused to sign, and repeated their demand to wait for all of his family to arrive and allow them to see the body. The deputy prison director said, “I will only give you five minutes to view his body.” After Mr. Yu's family saw him in the vehicle for five minutes, the vehicle sped off quickly.
Practitioner Mr. Shang Xiping used to be the deputy director of the Huanan County Forestry Police Station. He was taken to the Harsh Management Ward on February 21st, where he has been on a hunger strike to protest the brutality. He was force-fed and given intravenous injections. His health is severely compromised as a result.
The brutality has not been limited to the Harsh Management Ward. Mr. Hou Xicai used to be a guard who worked in Mudanjiang City Prison, but because he practises Falun Gong, he is detained in Jiamusi City Prison. At around 7 a.m. on February 17th, Mr. Hou delivered a letter exposing the persecution of Falun Gong to the Fourth-Section-Second-Ward guards while getting breakfast. Guard Ren Yanfeng grabbed Mr. Hou and took him back to the office, brutally punching and kicking him while cursing, until Mr. Hou passed out on the floor. In addition, practitioner Mr. Jiang Botao in the First Section of the Ninth Ward was brutally beaten the night of February 28th.
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://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2011/3/10/237401.html
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