Persecution Events Leading to the Death of Zhang Qingchao, a Well-Known Officer at Quzhou County, Hubei Province

Zhang Qingchao was well-known and considered a good person throughout many villages in Huaiqiao Township, Quzhou County, Handan District, Hebei Province.

After Mr. Zhang Qingchao was unjustly dismissed from his job, many villagers and friends went to the Huaiqiao Township government seeking justice. They inquired with the current Chinese Communist Party (CCP) local committee secretary to see why Mr. Zhang Qingchao was no longer employed there. The secretary replied, "He refused to sign the 'Four Statements' to renounce practising Falun Gong. If he signed the 'Four Statements' I would let him go back to work tomorrow." The so-called "Four Statements" were nothing but to force him to smear his belief, and trample on his own conscience.

Mr. Zhang Qingchao, was the vice secretary of the Communist Party Committee at Huaiqiao Township. He was persecuted many times for faithfully cultivating Falun Gong. He was sent to a forced labour camp twice and subjected to severe mental and physical torture. He passed away on March 7th, 2012.

After practising Falun Gong, Zhang Qingchao strictly followed the principle of Truthfulness- Benevolence-Forbearance to be a good person. He was dutiful at home, a hard-working employee at work, and a good person in society. For example, one day he rode his motorcycle home. At the edge of the road, he noticed a bag of cotton. He knew it had fallen from the tricycle he met before, so he picked it up and drove back three or four miles. He finally caught up with the tricycle. The tricycle owner asked with gratitude, “How much money should I give you?” Zhang Qingchao replied, “I am a Falun Gong practitioner, who follows the principle of Truthfulness-Benevolence-Forbearance. Just remember 'Falun Gong is good.'” The tricycle owner said, “It's hard to find a person as good as you in this current society. I'll let more people know that 'Falun Gong is good.'”

Zhang Qiangchao was born in Ma Village, Houcun Town, Quzhou County. He suffered from a variety of persistent diseases. Neurasthenia often tortured him all night, and caused a lot of pain. He also had some other diseases such as arthritis. He searched for many different ways to cure his diseases, but none were successful. After cultivating Falun Gong, his diseases vanished. He also quit his many bad habits like smoking, drinking alcohol, and playing mahjong.

On July 20th, 1999, the Jiang Zemin, [former leader of China and instigator of the persecution] group began a comprehensive and absurd persecution of Falun Gong. At the time, Mr. Zhang Qingchao was the deputy secretary of the Communist Party Committee at Huaiqiao Township, Quzhou County. He told villagers the truth about Falun Gong, and because of this, he was unjustly dismissed from his job. During the past 12 years, Zhang Qingchao has been repeatedly persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

In 2002, Zhang Qingchao was arrested by officers from Liangerzhuang Police Station of Qiu County while he spoke with people about Falun Gong in Qiu County. The police pressed an iron bar on his legs, then rolled it back and forth. They also savagely beat him. He was later transferred to the detainee centre of Qiu County. Zhang did not complain about such unconstitutional persecution, however, he protested with a hunger strike for several days, which caused his body to become extremely weak. The police held him for more than a month. Later, police from Qiu County and Houcun Town of Quzhou County went to Zhang Qingchao's home many times with the intention of arresting him again. Thanks to the upright protection of Zhang's neighbours, the police did not achieve their purpose. However, they never gave up persecuting him.

In the summer of 2004, officers from Houcun Town police station went to the Huaiqiao Village government where Zhang Qingchao worked and took him directly from his job. They sent Zhang to a forced labour camp in Handan and kept him there for a year and half. Zhang was subjected to various types of torture in the detainee centre. The slave labour there consisted of making flower circles from shortly after six in the morning until nine thirty p.m. There was almost no rest time at noon. In the morning, he only had two small steamed buns, a piece of pickled vegetable, and a ladle of rice porridge. At noon, he only had a ladle of vegetable soup, and two steamed buns. Sometimes there were tree leaves and bugs in the vegetables. In the afternoon, he was given only two steamed buns and a ladle of rice porridge again. He worked and ate in the same hall. The smell in the hall often made people choke. The detained Falun Gong practitioners were often hungry. Ordinary prisoners often rushed to scramble for the food which made late Falun Gong practitioners miss their chance for food.

At around 10:00 a.m. on September 13th, 2009, Zhang Qingchao was arrested by officers from the police station in Houcun Town, Quzhou County. He carried half a year's salary with him, 6300 yuan¹, which was stolen by the Houcun Town police. The police even wanted to further plunder his home, so they went to Zhang Qingchao's parent's home and deceived his mother, “We are from Zhang Qingchao's work department and looked for him to attend a meeting. But we don't know where he is living now.” His mother was duped and led them to Zhang Qingchao's home. There was no one home at the time. After tricking Zhang's mother into leaving, they went over the wall and stole Falun Gong books, a DVD player with monitor, and some cash. Zhang's mother felt very regretful later.

Later, when his elderly mother went to the police station to ask for Zhang's release, the police pushed her out the door, and informed her that Zhang had already been sent to the Handan Forced Labour Camp. Upon hearing the news, the 80-year-old mother fell ill. Intense remorse caused her to lose her appetite and often left her in tears all day. On November 15th, 2009, she passed away. However, the police did not even allow Zhang to attend his mother's funeral. When Zhang heard of his mother's death, he cried for three days and nights.

After returning home from the labor camp, Zhang Qingchao went to the Huaiqiao Village government to tell them the truth, intending to get his job back. However his request was denied. Because he needed to take care of his elderly father, the economic pressure significantly increased. Even in these circumstances, Zhang Qingchao still kept writing letters to the officers in the county government and hoped they could understand the truth about Falun Gong. However, they were poisoned by the CCP's lies too deeply and never arranged a job for Mr. Zhang Qingchao. They did not even provide him with basic living expenses. In suffering from great pain and pressure, Zhang Qingchao, passed away on March 7th, 2012, with physical and mental pain.

Those involved in the persecution:
Wang Xiaowei, secretary of CCP Huaiqiao Committee: +86-15830028288 (Mobile)
Li Lianjiang, vice secretary of CCP Huaiqiao Committee: +86-15188802608 (Mobile)
Wang Kunzhong, former secretary of CCP Huaiqiao Committee: +86-13932076698 (Mobile)
Duan Yuxi, 610 Office director in Quzhou County: +86-13031988506 (Mobile)

Note

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