The Ongoing Persecution of Older Practitioner Ms. Tang Mingbi from Chongqing City

Name: Tang Mingbi
Gender: Female
Age: 64
Address: Hechuan District, Chongqing City
Date of Most Recent Arrest: July 31st, 2008
Most Recent Place of Detention: Jiangbei Shimahe Women's Forced Labour Camp
City: Chongqing
Persecution Suffered: Forced labour, brainwashing, beatings, torture, extortion, detention

Ms. Tang Mingbi started practising Falun Gong in 1997. She used to suffer from many illnesses, including rheumatoid arthritis, gastritis, chronic shoulder pain and she had problems with her eyes. These ailments all disappeared soon after she started practising. Moreover, her personality also changed, as she has become very cheerful and was always considerate of others.

Since the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) started persecuting practitioners on July 20th, 1999, Ms. Tang has been arrested many times by agents from the Hechuan District 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong) in Chongqing. She has been sentenced to a forced labour camp twice, held in a detention centre six times and sent to brainwashing centres five times.

On March 23rd, 2000, Chen Li, an officer from the Heyang Police Station in Hechuan, arrested Ms. Tang at her home and took her to the Hechuan Meat Processing Plant Brainwashing Centre. She was detained there for five days. Lan Qifeng and several other officers from the Hechuan Domestic Security Division later arrested Ms. Tang and sent her to the Hechuan Detention Centre for 15 days. They also forced her family to pay 1,000 yuan¹ before releasing her.

Chen Li and officers from Heyang Police Station broke into Ms. Tang's home on January 21st, 2001, arrested her and took her to the Dongjintuo Brainwashing Centre. Detained practitioners had to sign a statement that the self-immolation incident on Tiananmen Square² was true. When Ms. Tang refused to sign, they then tried to force her family to sign, but none of them would. She was detained there for 15 days.

Zhang Xiangqiang and other officers from the Heyang Police Station arrested Ms. Tang at her home on August 21st, 2001. She was taken to the Hechuan Domestic Security Division, where she was asked if she was still practising Falun Gong. She said, “Of course. Falun Gong is such a good practice.” Lan Qifeng then slapped her in the face hard several times. He cursed her and shouted, “I'll beat you to death and throw your body into the river. The central government gave us secret instructions a long time ago: Any practitioner who is persecuted to death will be regarded as having committed suicide.” Ms. Tang replied, “You police beat good people in broad daylight, but good will finally be rewarded and evil will meet with retribution.” Lan Qifeng became exasperated upon hearing those words. He picked up a mop, wiped the floor and his shoes with it, then shoved it into Ms. Tang's mouth and secured it there. He then handcuffed Ms. Tang between two chairs. Lan Qifeng and Zhang Xiangqiang whipped her with a wire tube until she had lacerations all over her body. They interrogated her for a whole day and didn't give her any food or water.

Lan Qifeng and several other officers took Ms. Tang to the Hechuan Detention Centre that night. A month later, they sent her to the Maojiashan Women's Forced Labour Camp for one year, and did not inform her family.

Zhao Wenli and officers from the Hechuan Domestic Security Division broke into Ms. Tang's home on February 2nd, 2003. They arrested her and took her to the Hechuan Detention Centre, where she was detained for 27 days.

On July 16th, 2003 Zhao Wenli and Chen Li contacted Ms. Tang and told her to go to the Heyang Residential Community Office. When she arrived there, they tried to get her to sign a guarantee statement not to practise Falun Gong anymore. Ms. Tang refused to sign. Chen Li and two others then grabbed her hands and forcibly took her fingerprints.

Zhao Wenli, Chen Li and other officers broke into Ms. Tang's home on April 20th, 2004 and dragged her out to the courtyard. A neighbour shouted, “She is a good person. Why are you arresting her?” Chen Li replied, “She practises Falun Gong.” They pushed her into a police car and took her to a brainwashing centre in the Shizi Seniors Home on Nanjin Street in Hechuan. She was detained there for 95 days.

On the morning of December 25th, 2004, Zhao Wenli, Jiang Yun and four officers arrested Ms. Tang and took her to the Shizi Seniors Home Brainwashing Centre. When they searched her cell, they found Falun Gong materials. She was then transferred to the Hechuan Detention Centre, where she was detained for 15 days. They then returned her to the brainwashing centre. Ms. Tang resisted the brainwashing and refused to sign any documents. She was sent to the Nanshan Brainwashing Centre in Chongqing, where she was detained until March 31st, 2006, when the brainwashing centre was closed down.

Six unidentified people dragged Ms. Tang into a car with no license plates while she was walking in the street on the morning of July 31st, 2008. She was taken to the Hechuan Domestic Security Division, where she was searched and had her belongings confiscated. They took her to the Hechuan Detention Centre the same night. Ten days later, Ms. Tang was sentenced to one year of forced labour and was taken to the Jiangbei Shimahe Women's Forced Labour Camp in Chongqing. Her family were not informed of her whereabouts and only found out where she was through their own inquiries. When her family members went to the labour camp to see her, guards Su Chang, Jia Zheng and others turned them away.

Note

1. "Yuan" is the Chinese currency; 500 yuan is equal to the average monthly income of an urban worker in China.

2. The "Tiananmen Self-Immolation" an incident on Tiananmen Square in January 2001 whereby four people set themselves alight and the Chinese Communist claimed they were Falun Gong practitioners, yet there was video evidence to strongly disprove this claim.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2011/6/20/-242731.html