On March 5th, 2011, Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Zhou Xiangyang, a former engineer from Tianjin City's No. 3 Exploration Design Institute, was arrested and taken to Tianjin City Guangbei Prison for a second time. Police officers in the prison tortured him brutally, including attaching him to an iron ring and shocking him with electric batons. In Mr. Zhou's hometown, Changli County in Qingdao City, 2,300 villagers signed petition letters to help him. This was reported overseas and generated a lot of attention. The Chinese authorities, afraid that the public would learn the truth about the persecution, instigated police officers to harass those who signed the petitions.
The villagers who signed the petitions went to appeal in court. They were very animated and even openly showed their resentment for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). This made the CCP very nervous. When Mr. Zhou's family members submitted a letter to the judicial department in Tianjin City, Changli County, and Qihuangdao City, there was no reply. There was also no response from the Tianjin Procuratorate after a perfunctory investigation. The areas where the petitions were signed spread from the local village to close to ten townships in the same county. The number of people who signed the letter grew to 2,300. The impact has been growing. Those who didn't know Mr. Zhou also signed the petition.
Many people had thought about speaking up for Falun Gong before, so this time they were very happy to help a practitioner. Overseas media also reported on this phenomenon. When villagers were interviewed, they were very outspoken and expressed their resentment of the CCP. Some said, "This Party is truly evil, truly evil!" The petition letter has become well-known and a hot topic for the locals. Many people were happy that, under the reign of the CCP, they were able to express their stand in an upright manner. Some also posted poems to praise local people.
Instilling fear is a common practice used by the CCP and is also a true manifestation of its own fear. It was recently said that those who signed the petition have been continually harassed. Around October 19th, two police officers from Matuodian Township Police Station in Changli County, Qingdao City, on the Houmatuo Team were investigating the petition. These two officers went to see the person in charge of the village. He took them to the clothes manufacturing factory run by Mr. Zhou's brother. The factory manager called the team leader over, and the police began challenging villagers who signed the petition with a photocopy of the petition in hand, saying, "You signed the letter for him. Are you opposing the Party or what?" One villager replied, "We signed the petition to help Mr. Zhou. If they came to you for help, wouldn't you sign it?! The person in charge of our village should also put his stamp on it." The police officers left.
At about 4:00 p.m. on November 3rd, two officers from the Changli Township Police Bureau and two officers from the Matuodian Township Police Station went to talk to Mr. Zhou's older brother and sister-in-law. They asked about the petition and took note of what they said. Mr. Zhou's older brother admitted that he started the petition. The officers tried to have him sign the notes they took, but his father stopped him. At around 6:00 p.m., the CCP people left after saying that they'd come back.
On November 4th, government officers and officers from Matuodian Police Station went to Mr. Zhou's home to harass them, asking, "Who wrote the petition? Who sent it out? Who made the photocopy?" The notes they took that day were left at the police station. They asked Mr. Zhou's older brother to come and sign the notes, and said that if he didn't have time, then they'd come to his home again. People from the police bureau said that this order came from the top and then was filtered to each level below. They also mentioned a few practitioners who had signed the petition, saying that they'd look for them. Later Mr. Zhou's father took his older son away from their home.
People appealed to the government by using a petition, totally for the benefit of others. This should be encouraged by the government and society. It also shows that people have some hope that the government will do the right thing. However, the CCP does not respect the will of its citizens, and instead interprets the action as opposing the Party, which is patently ridiculous.
It's been said that this appeal supported by 2,300 people from the Qinhuandao District on behalf of Falun Gong practitioners is the first time everyday people in China have supported Falun Gong openly and on a large scale in the past 12 years. It has made the core CCP leadership very nervous. Therefore, people from Tianjin City and Hebei Province 610 Offices have paid a lot of attention to this. They are trying to oppose the will of the citizens and instilling terror to prevent this matter from spreading. On October 29th, people from Tangshan Domestic Security Division arrested Mr. Zhou's wife, Li Shanshan, and took her to Tangshan Brainwashing Centre. She was subsequently transferred elsewhere, and her current whereabouts are not known.
Local people and overseas media have been paying a great deal of attention to this matter.
Head of Matuodian Township Police Station: +86-335-2069242
Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2011/11/6/248808.html
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