81-Year-Old Woman Placed under House Arrest after Planning to Attend a Shen Yun Performance in Taiwan

Beijing resident, 81-year-old Ms. Nie Zhen wanted to go to Taiwan to see a Shen Yun performance (a world-class traditional Chinese cultural show) and be reunited with her younger sister, whom she hasn't seen for many years. Her younger sister had arranged everything for her in Taiwan and bought her a ticket for the Shen Yun show to be presented on April 10th, 2011, in Kaohsiung. However, Ms. Nie Zhen was suddenly notified that she was forbidden to leave home.

Ms. Nie Zhen started practising Falun Gong in 1992. Although she is 81, she is in good health. Her younger sister, 78-year-old Ms. Nie Shuwen, lives in Taiwan. The two sisters haven't seen each other for ten years. Shen Yun Performing Arts is touring worldwide, but it is not allowed to be presented in mainland China. Ms. Nie Zhen wanted to see a Shen Yun performance, and when she heard that the company would be in Taiwan on March 12th, she asked her younger sister to buy her a ticket, and she would visit her younger sister at the same time. Ms. Nie Shuwen got all the necessary papers ready for her sister to enter Taiwan, and also bought her a ticket for the April 10th Shen Yun performance in Kaohsiung.

On April 6th, Ms. Nie Shuwen received a phone call from her niece in Beijing. Her niece said that Ms. Nie Zhen, her mother, had received the entry permit and proper documents mailed to her from Taiwan, and that she had gone to the Beijing Police Department on April 6th to follow the procedures to go abroad. But Ms. Nie Zhen was told that they wouldn't handle her case. When she asked why, the officer just said, “It doesn't meet requirements,” and refused to give her any further explanation. That same day, the 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong) called Ms. Nie Zhen and told her not to go anywhere, because they would have a conversation with her at any time. Ms. Nie Shuwen's niece also told her not to call Ms. Nie Zhen, because the call was likely to be monitored. She was afraid that her mother would be subjected to further harassment and persecution.

Ms. Nie Shuwen became very angry and said, “The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is so wicked. There are absolutely no freedoms or human rights in mainland China. A person is even not allowed to go abroad to see a Shen Yun performance or visit her relatives! How can an 81-year-old woman attending a Shen Yun performance terrify or threaten the CCP?”

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2011/4/12/43.html