Mr. Hua Lianyou's Hunger Strike to Protest Detention Has Lasted over 30 Days

Mr. Hua Lianyou and his wife, Ms. Tian Zongli, both Falun Gong practitioners in Tianjin, were arrested by officers from the Jiarongdao Police Station in Beichen and their home was ransacked. The order for their arrest reportedly came from the Tianjin City police station.

When Mr. Hua's attorney went to the Beichen police station to apply to see his client, he was told that Hua Lianyou was in the Ciji Hospital owned by the 1st Detention Centre in Caozhuang in the Xiqing District of Tianjin. When the lawyer saw him that afternoon, he discovered that Mr. Hua had started a hunger strike on May 23rd, over a month before.

Hua Lianyou said the 14 “cults” the Public Safety Ministry identified did not include Falun Gong, so he denied the charge that he was “interfering with the implementation of the law using a cult.”

Falun Gong guides people to become good. It is the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) that breaks the laws and makes use of the law to falsely incriminate good people.

Mr. Hua is now quite thin and a nasogastric feeding tube is stuck into his nose. The lawyer was worried about his health.

His wife, Tian Zongli, is in the Beichen District Detention Centre.

Mr. Hua and Ms. Tian were first arrested in February 2001 and were sentenced to five and four years in prison, respectively. Mr. Hua was treated brutally in prison. When he returned home in 2006, he appeared to suffer a mental disorder. After six months, he gradually recovered.

Mr. Hua and Ms. Tian started practising Falun Gong in 1997. Before practising Falun Gong, Mr. Hua suffered from lumbar disc protrusion. However, after practicing Falun Gong for only three days, his diseases were gone. The couple made great progress following the principles of Falun Gong. After the CCP starting persecuting Falun Gong in 1999, Mr. Hua Lianyou was hit by cars twice, once sustaining a fracture. However, he did not ask the drivers to compensate him, and the drivers were very grateful for his generosity. He told the drivers to thank Falun Gong but not him. He also lent them Falun Gong books so the could understand Falun Gong. After the fracture, Mr. Hua kept on learning Falun Gong and practising the exercises at home, and he recovered in a month.

Before being sent to prison, the couple delivered newspapers to newspaper sites. They worked hard and conscientiously, and their boss was very satisfied with their work. In 2001, they were recognized as “Advanced Workers” due to their excellent work. A short time after receiving the award, the couple was arrested by the Tonglou Police Station in the Hexi District of Tianjin. After the arrest, Mr. Hua's boss often called Mr. Hua's relative to ask when he would come back. The boss said that it was hard to find a good employee like Mr. Hua, who would work hard, take responsibility, and be worthy of trust.

Contact information for those involved in Mr. Hua's case:

Jiarongli Police Station, Beichen District, Tianjin: +86-22-26646570
Wu Chenghua, captain of the police station
Guo Yujiang, lieutenant
Liang Bin, officer in charge of the case

Pre-trial Department of Beichen Public Safety Branch, Tianjin

Li Guide, officer in charge of the case