Four Chief Nurses at Huaian City Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital of Jiangsu Persecuted Relentlessly Over Many Years

Four chief nurses at the Huaian City Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital of Jiangsu, Ms. He Cuiping, Ms. Zhou Ling, Ms. Hu Yunqin and Ms. Li Jiuping, have been persecuted mentally, physically and financially by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) over the past 12 years for their perseverance in practising Falun Gong. Their families and friends were also harmed.

Ms. He Cuiping, 54, started practising Falun Gong in 1996. Ms. Zhou Ling, 51, started practising Falun Gong in February 1997. Ms. Hu Yunqin, 48, started practising Falun Gong in May 1997. Ms. Li Jiuping, 47, started practising Falun Gong in July 1997. The four were all chief nurses with years of experience. They were conscientious, responsible, diligent, had excellent professional skills and were considerate in their services. Everybody working at the hospital witnessed their excellent performance and their services were highly praised by their co-workers and patients.

The CCP started defaming Falun Gong and persecuting Falun Gong practitioners on July 20th, 1999. As people who had benefited from Falun Gong, the four practitioners wanted to explain the facts about Falun Gong to others. Over the last twelve years, they have been persecuted by the 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong) at city and district levels, the local police station and their workplace. They have been arrested, detained, tortured, forced to go through brainwashing and had various amounts wrongly withheld from their pay checks.

Their workplace actively cooperated with the 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong) during their arrests. The workplace made payments to the 610 Office, then deducted these amounts from their salaries. Every time the nurses were forced to undergo brainwashing sessions, one or two employees from their workplace would help to brainwash each of them, or miscellaneous members of society were hired to watch them. The cost of hiring those people and the board and lodge of 610 Office agents and all those who participated in the persecution were all paid out from their salaries. The workplace deducted over 1,000 yuan¹ from each of their salaries every time.

In the past few years, during holidays or so-called sensitive dates, staff from CCP departments at various levels had “conversations” with them, tried to force them to sign papers or have them detained. While other people were on holidays, the workplace always scheduled them to work. They were scheduled on one day, off the next, or to work half days. Thus they were kept from leaving town to visit their families over the holidays. When their children were about to go to school or look for a job, the authorities would come to harass and threaten them. In annual performance reviews, some co-workers secretly rated them as unsatisfactory or nearly satisfactory (An employee at their workplace can't have a salary raise if she is rated as unsatisfactory for a year or nearly satisfactory for two continual years). This was to persecute them financially.

Below is a brief account of the persecution that the four chief nurses suffered:

1999

Ms. He Cuiping, Ms. Zhou Ling, Ms. Hu Yunqin and Ms. Li Jiuping, four chief nurses at the Huaian City Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital of Jiangsu, went to the provincial government to appeal for Falun Gong on July 21st, 1999. They were taken back by local officers the next day. Wang Wenchang, party secretary at their workplace, and Gu Weichao, president of the hospital criticized them at an employee meeting. They tried to force them to promise not to practise Falun Gong any longer and demanded them to hand in Falun Gong books. Officers including Peng Zhengxin from the Qinghe District Police Department, Cai Zibing from the Zhabei Police Station and Qi Bin used surveillance on both Ms. He Cuiping and Ms. Zhou Ling and did not allow them to leave their homes. They often phoned them at midnight, especially during so-called sensitive dates. Ms. He Cuiping's son was admitted to a Police College in 1999. However, his admittance was revoked simply because his mother practised Falun Gong.

Ms. Li Jiuping went to Beijing with other practitioners to appeal for Falun Gong on December 26th, 1999. She was taken back by Cai Zibing from the Zhabei Police Station, Hu Xiaoling, Zhang Guanghu, and driver Wang Yijin from the hospital, and was detained for 15 days. After that, Gu Weichao, president of her workplace, and Wang Wenchang, party secretary at her workplace did not allow her to do nursing work for half a year and arranged for her to work in the hospital laundry instead. All expenses for the officials who travelled to Beijing to pick Ms. Li up, including gas, tolls, lodging, meals, taxi, travel allowance, etc., were deducted from Ms. Li's salary. On the top of that, they made false receipts and deducted an extra 800 yuan from Ms. Li's salary, which was later discovered by Ms. Li and they had to return that money. In total, over 2,500 yuan was deducted from Ms. Li's salary. Wang Wenchang directed somebody to secretly grade her as unsatisfactory in an annual performance review, which caused her to lose a salary raise.

2000

Ms. He Cuiping, Ms. Zhou Ling and Ms. Hu Yunqin practised Falun Gong in public at the Shuidu Square on the morning of July 19th, 2000. Chen Zhimeng, chief of the Security Section of their workplace reported this to president Gu Weichao. Gu directed Chen to report to the Zhabei Police Station. Officers including Cai Zibing, Wang Hongya, Wang Anjin from the Zhaobei Police Station, Wang Jianhuai, Zhu Liquan, and Peng Zhengxin from the Political and Security Section of the Qinghe District Police Department arrested the three practitioners and held them in a detention centre for 15 days. They were not allowed to talk to each other, not allowed to practise Falun Gong exercises, and forced to do hard labour to manufacture cotton slippers in very hot weather. They were not allowed to go to bed unless they finished their quota. Otherwise, they had to work at night too. It was said that the products they were making were going to be exported overseas and would make money for the detention centre. The detention centre authorities also forced their families to hand in 190 yuan for each of them to cover their board and lodge. However, what they had to eat was steamed rice or congee made from mouldy rice.

The persecution continued after they came back to work. President Gu Weichao did not allow them to do nursing work and withheld their salaries. Gu directed Chen Zhimeng to read them newspapers defaming Falun Gong every day and forced them to talk about their understandings. They tried to explain the facts about Falun Gong to Gu and Chen, and explain to them the principle of good being rewarded and bad being punished. Gu rained down curses on them. They were forced to cut grass under baking sun, clean doors, windows and stairs. Chen directed them to the work and kept cursing them. Some employees could not stand this and scolded Chen, “Everybody knows that they are good people. On what grounds do you treat them like this? Where has your conscience gone?” Gu Weichao also revoked their positions as chief nurses and made them work at the field clinic on night shifts.

Ms. Li Jiuping went to Beijing again to appeal for Falun Gong on October 1st, 2000. She was taken back to the local by Fang Ke from the Qinghe District 610 Office and officers from the Jiefanglu Police Station, and detained for 15 days. 3,000 yuan was deducted from Ms. Li's salary to cover their expenditures including gas, tolls, meals and lodging.

In November 2000, the Huaian City 610 Office held a brainwashing session at City Human Resource Bureau Training Centre. Ms. Li Jiuping and other practitioners were forced to attend the brainwashing session and held there for a month.

The hospital actively cooperated with the 610 Office. At the end of 2000, the hospital authorities forced Ms. He Cuiping, Ms. Zhou Ling and Ms. Hu Yunqin to attend a brainwashing session held at City Human Resource Bureau Training Centre and drove them there. The practitioners were held there for a month, during which time, they were forced to run, march , and listen to lectures defaming Falun Gong every day. They were not allowed to do Falun Gong exercises. All of this was done in an attempt to force them to stop practising Falun Gong. Ms. He, Ms. Zhou, Ms. Hu and other practitioners went a hunger strike together to protest their detention. They refused to read articles or listen to TV programmes that defamed Falun Gong. They were released before the Chinese New Year. Ms. He, Ms. Zhou and Ms. Hu were given a grade of “nearly satisfactory” in their performance evaluation at the end of the year.

Ms. Li Jiuping, Ms. He Cuiping and Ms. Zhou Ling Persecuted in 2001

Ms. Li Jiuping and Ms. He Cuiping were taken to the brainwashing centre at City Human Resource Bureau Training Centre in April, 2011 and underwent brainwashing for a month. Two inmates watched each practitioner around the clock and there were people giving various speeches each day defaming Falun Gong in an attempt to brainwash practitioners. When their goals were not achieved, they would gather and concentrate an attack on a single practitioner, or interrogate practitioners individually.

On July 19th, 2001, Wang Jianhuai and Peng Zhengxin from the Qinghe District 610 Office barged into Ms. Li Jiuping's home, confiscated her Falun Gong books, and took her to the city detention centre. She was transferred to the Lianshui County Detention Centre two days later. She went on a hunger strike to protest the persecution and was consequently handcuffed, shackled and force-fed. 15 days later, she suffered from stomach bleeding and was released. One week after the release, she was taken to the City Law and Order Education Base, a brainwashing centre set up by the city 610 Office. The rooms in the center looks like cells in a prison. Steel fence surrounded the centre, which was equipped with an big iron gate. Ms. Li was held there for three months, during which period two practitioners managed to escape. They suspected that Ms. Li had some inside knowledge about this, so they hung her up in the air from about 11 p.m. to over 3 p.m. the next day. They later sent Ms. Li to a room in the Chinese People's Liberation Army 82 Hospital. One of the perpetrators, Zhou Qishen, told Ms. Li that they planned to watch her in turn and deny her of sleep for 10 days. Four days later, all the perpetrators caught severe colds. They had to give up their plan and send Ms. Li back to the brainwashing centre again. After October 1st, 2001, officers including Fang Ke from the Qinghe District 610 Office attempted to frame Ms. Li and planned to send her to a forced labour camp for one year and a half. They did not succeed.

Ms. Zhou Ling was taken to the brainwashing centre by agents from the city 610 Office and the Domestic Security Division in August, 2001. They tried to coerce her to say where she got the Falun Gong materials. Yang Shiyu, Peng Zhengxin, Pan Shaojun, Zhang and another officer from the Qinghe District Domestic Security Division took turns to torture her. They did not allow her to sleep for 2 days and three nights. Ms. Zhou Ling was held for over two months this time.

In the brainwashing centre, practitioners were held individually in separate rooms. Each room was locked from the outside. Officers could enter each room anytime,but practitioners were not allowed to leave their rooms at will. Two inmates from each practitioner's workplace watched the practitioner and did not allow practitioners to talk to each other.

Ms. Hu Yunqin Taken to Brainwashing Centre Twice in 2002

Ms. Hu Yunqin was working night shift on December 29th, 2001. Wang Jianhuai from the Qinghe District 610 Office and Guan from the Zhabei Police Station tricked her colleague to call her and to tell her that somebody was waiting for her at the gate of the hospital. When Ms. Hu went to the gate, she was dragged into a police vehicle and taken to the brainwashing centre called City Law and Order Education Base. She was held there for a month. In October, 2002, Ms. Hu was again taken to the brainwashing centre and held there for a month.

Four Chief Nurses Taken to Brainwashing Centre in 2003

Ms. Hu Yunqin was taken to the brainwashing centre for the third time in March, 2003.

In the brainwashing centre, agents took turns to have conversations with Ms. Hu and did not allow her to take any breaks. They forced her to read books and watch videos that defamed Falun Gong and forced her to write her understanding about those books or videos. They tried to coerce Ms. Hu to renounce Falun Gong practice and threatened that if she refused to do so, her family members' jobs or eligibility of attending schools would be at stake. The parties involved in the persecution include Wu Jiansheng, Xu Guoping, Zhao Kai, Ren Xuebin, Chen Shihai, Chen Shibiao, Yang Shiyu and Wang Jianhuai from the Qinghe District 610 Office, Cai Zibing from the Zhabei Police Station, Sun Jianchang and Zhou Qishen from schools, two females from the Procuratorate and the Court.

Ms. Hu Yunqin went to see Yan Jiashun, president of the hospital at that time, during May and June in 2003, and asked for the return of salaries that the hospital had withheld and 5,000 yuan housing finance that the hospital owed her . She explained the facts about Falun Gong to Yan. Yan would not listen. He directed the Security Section and cooperated with the City Health Bureau and the City 610 Office to hold Ms. Hu Yunqin and Ms. Li Jiuping at the second floor of the hospital's cafeteria and forced them to undergo brainwashing there. Parties involved in the persecution included Yan Jiashun, party secretary Chen Zhiming, Security Section Chief Wei Yujie and Chen Zhimeng, Zhang Lixin and Lu Meilun(Current party secretary of the Huaian City Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital of Jiangsu) from City Health Bureau, Chen Shibiao from the City 610 Office and Sun Jianchang from the District 610 Office.

Yan Jiashun claimed, “I have not had any achievements at work. If I can have several people transformed, that will serve as my big achievement.” He wanted to get some political capital by persecuting Falun Gong practitioners. He found Ms. Hu Yunqin's daughter and threatened her for several hours claiming that he would have the school principal dismiss her. Ms. Hu's daughter had just been admitted to the provincial key high school.

After being held in the hospital for over ten days, Ms. Hu Yunqin and Ms. Li Jiuping were transferred to a brainwashing centre located at the Chutian Hotel. The City 610 Office got several tens of officers to watch them in turn. Officers changed their shifts every two hours. Miscellaneous people were also hired as inmates to watch Ms. Hu and Ms. Li around the clock. The weather was hot. Ms. Hu and Ms. Li were not allowed to have any sleep or any water for three days and four nights. They were only provided with some leftover food.

City 610 Office, Health Bureau and the Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital collaborated to take these four chief nurses to a hotel in Zhailongshanzhuang on December 21st, 2003

That afternoon, Wei Yujie, chief of security section of the traditional Chinese medicine hospital, guided eight or nine agents including Wu Jiansheng and Cai Zibing to the hospital in two police vehicles. They dragged Ms. Hu Yunqin and Ms. Zhou Ling to the vehicles. Wu Jianzheng pulled Ms. Hu's hair and pressed her head to the ground.

They barged into Ms. Li Jiuping's and Ms. He Cuiping's homes that night and took them to Zhailongshanzhuang. Perpetrators included several tens of agents from the City 610 Office, City Government, the Domestic Security Division of the City Police Departments, the Qinghe District 610 Office, the Domestic Security Division of the District Police Department, police stations, community officers, the traditional Chinese medicine hospital, Health Bureau, City No.2 Hospital, the mental hospital and others. They changed shifts every two hours to watch the four of them. They also forced Ms. Li Jiuping's and Ms. He Cuiping's family to beat and curse them.

Yan Jiashun and Chen Zhiming made a statement to them one night that they were dismissed from their workplace. Yan also mobilized cadres at the hospital to try to transform [forcibly renounce Falun Gong] them in turn. Chief nurse general Zhu Lin clamored in a staff meeting, “we will not allow them to come back even during Chinese New Year.”

Agents persecuted the four chief nurses with various means including framing them with lies, making rumors, deception, threatening, luring and torturing. Wei Yujie and Chen Zhimeng contributed the most malicious schemes. During a time when the land was covered with snow and ice, agents moved their beds away and would not allow them to sleep. The four chief nurses were held in separate rooms and each of them was watched by two hired miscellaneous perpetrators who cursed and insulted them every night with low and vulgar words.

Fang Ke from the Qinghe District 610 Office cursed Ms. Zhou Ling violently. Cai Zibing wanted to burn Ms. Li Jiuping with cigarette ends. Ms. Li Jiuping and Ms. He Cuiping went on a hunger strike to protest the persecution. Doctors from the City No.2 Hospital brutally force-fed them many times. Ms. Li refused to cooperate. As a result, her throat was damaged and bled. Her blood soaked through big towels in the hotel. Wei Yujie still shouted, “Put it in! Put it in!” A female inmate from Shandong Province was so scared she started crying. She said, “It is too cruel.” Wei shouted, “She feels pity for them. Let her go.” The female inmate was dismissed later.

After being tortured for seven or eight days, Ms. Li Jiuping developed the symptoms of headache and palpitations, and she passed out. She was rushed to the City No.2 Hospital.

During this period, Ms. Hu Yunqin was not allowed to sleep for six days and seven nights. Agents from the local 610 Office cursed and beat her every evening. Lu Meilun, director of the Health Bureau, asked her to choose between her job and Falun Gong practice. Ms. Hu said, “I want both. My practice does not conflict with my job. I practise in my spare time.” For several evenings in a row, Lu tried to force her to write a resignation letter which Ms. Hu refused. Lu said, “Do you think that we can not dismiss you if you don't write a resignation letter?” Ms. Hu answered, “It is not wrong to be a good person. If you dismiss me today, I will got to Beijing to appeal tomorrow.” They were afraid that they would lose their jobs if Ms. Hu went to Beijing to appeal. Management in the hospital often told their employees, “Now all governments, bureaus and workplaces at various levels have to sign a liability statement. If a Falun Gong practitioner from a certain place goes to Beijing to appeal, the local officials will lose their jobs. If any workplace has any employee practising Falun Gong, all employee bonus' will be deducted. We have signed a liability statement. Because these four nurses practise Falun Gong, we have lost our title of "Civilized Enterprise". All employees at a Civilized Enterprise are rewarded with the salary of one extra month each year. All our employees have lost that benefit. This is all caused by the practitioners.” The CCP implicated all people to benefit or suffer together and used this strategy to stir up people's hatred towards Falun Gong and push them to participate in the persecution. This time, four chief nurses were held for a month. They were released one after another before the Chinese New Year. After they got back to their workplace, they were not allowed to work for one week as a means of punishment.

Ms. Li Jiuping and Ms. Zhou Ling Taken to Brainwashing Centre Again in 2005

On April 18th, 2005, Cai Zibing and others went to the Huaian City Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital of Jiangsu. They asked head nurse Zuo Jinghong to call Ms. Li Jiuping and tricked her to go out. Then they took Ms. Li to the brainwashing centre in Xinghua, Jiangsu Province that was set up by the Provincial 610 Office. In the brainwashing centre, Xu Jianping from the Provincial 610 Office threatened Ms. Li. Ms. Li went on a hunger strike to protest the persecution. She was consequently force-fed many times. Her throat had great pain and she spit out pus and blood. She was persecuted for a month that time.

Ms. Hu Yunqin and Ms. Zhou Ling Persecuted in 2008

Wei Yujie, chief of the Security Section of the Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital; Chang Shulin, chief of the Domestic Security Division and from the Qinghe District 610 Office; Wang Jianhuai and Bi from the Domestic Security Division and five or six officers from the Zhabei Police Station barged into Ms. Zhou Ling's home at the end of January, 2008. Ms. Zhou refused to sign the arrest warranty. They searched her home and confiscated Falun Gong books, two mobile phones, two MP3 players and two USB disks. They arrested Ms. Zhou. Wang Jianhuai gave a hard hit on Ms. Zhou's head. A big bump immediately developed on Ms. Zhou's forehead. Her eye started bleeding and her face became blue. They handcuffed Ms. Zhou and dragged her away. The cuff cut her flesh and her hand was bleeding. Ms. Zhou was sent to a detention center that afternoon. That same night, they went to Ms. Zhou's home again and confiscated her son's computer, then went to her office and took the rest of her Falun Gong books and materials. One month later, she was sent to the brainwashing centre located at a hotel of a party school where she was locked to a Tiger Bench² and was not allowed to sleep for several days straight. Zhao Kai from the 610 Office and others turned on the TV and let it play around the clock so that nobody could hear what they were doing.

After Ms. Zhou Ling was released, they put her under surveillance and her salary was reduced by one level. During her workplace's 30th anniversary in 2008, all employees including all contractors and all retirese were given 400 yuan. Ms. Zhou, who has been working for the hospital for over 20 years, did not receive a penny.

In February, 2008, Xu Guangshun, director of the CCP Office at the Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, and Wei Yujie, chief of the Security Section, had a “conversation” with Ms. Li Jiuping and Ms. Hu Yunqin, and wanted to conduct a search at Ms. Hu's office. They then used an ambulance to take Ms. Li and Ms. Hu to the Qinghe District Domestic Security Division and had a “conversation” for two hours.

On the morning of April 15th, 2008, five or six officers including Chang Shulin, Wang Jianhuai and Xu Feng barged into Ms. Hu Yunqin's workplace. They handcuffed Ms. Hu and took her work badge, pocket watch, three pens, a mobile phone and home keys. Wang Jianhuai grabbed the handcuff and dragged Ms. Hu into the police vehicle. The cuff cut inside Ms. Hu's flesh and her hand was bleeding. Her white work uniform was colored with blood. Wang Jianhuai slapped her in the police vehicle. Ms. Hu was sent to the Zhabei Police Station. Five officers, guided by security section chief Wei Yujie, went to Ms. Hu's home and took her computer, DVD/CD burner, USB disk, DVDs/CDs, Falun Gong books and Falun Gong materials. Ms. Hu was held in the City Detention Centre for 15 days.

In the detention centre, every morning when guards check cells, all inmates must shout, “Stand up, Greetings, Cadre!” then report their id numbers. Ms. Hu Yunqin refused to do so. Guard Wang cruelly beat her, slapped her, hit her head and face. As a result, Ms. Hu suffered from incontinence, headaches, and nausea. She had a feeling of seeing flashes of light and her eyes, nose and mouth were bleeding. Her left eye's vision dropped from that point and couldn't see things clearly. She constantly saw black dots.

Wang Jianhuai called Ms. Zhou Ling and tricked her to go to the Qinghe District Domestic Security Division on May 20th, 2008. They then sentenced her to one year of forced labor and sent her to a local house of detention. After being released in a year, Ms. Zhou Ling went to her workplace and asked to resume her job. Lu Meilun, party secretary, wanted to fire her with the excuses that she failed yearly evaluation for two years in a row. Ms. Zhou asked president Wang Linsen for help. Wang asked her to write her understanding about Falun Gong. She wrote three letters to Wang to explain the facts about Falun Gong. However, Wang did not arrange her to go back to work and did not give her any salary either. It was not until the end of August 2009 when she was finally able to go back to work at ward. In the end, the hospital authorities decided to deduct her salary for a year, the length of the period that she had been detained, demote her position from chief nurse to nurse and decrease her salary by two levels, according to so-called documents from a higher level. Now Ms. Zhou is deprived of several thousand yuan each year. She was the eldest among those who work at the field clinic at that time. The leadership at the Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital has changed several times. It wasn't until this year that the four chief nurses were transferred to their appropriate positions.

The four chief nurses have suffered tremendously physically, mentally and financially in the past 12 years. They have been severely persecuted and they family members and friends were also badly harmed.

Note

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

2. "Tiger Bench": Prisoners are forced to sit on a small iron bench that is approximately 20 cm (6 inches) tall with their knees tied together. With their hands tied behind their backs or sometimes placed on their knees, they are forced to sit straight up and look straight ahead without movement for long periods of time.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2011/10/26/248362.html