Latest News from China - 01/20/2001

[Jilin Province] Jilin Province Arrests Practitioners in Large Numbers "English News Center": Jilin province has launched a campaign to effect mass arrests of Falun Gong practitioners. Every street administration committee was given an arrest quota. Right now, we know that many practitioners are detained in an Education Base in the Leshan area. Details of conditions in the Education Base are still unknown. Some practitioners were missing and some left home to avoid the illegal detention. [Changchun City, Jilin Province] Police Begins to Mass Arrest Dafa Practitioners Before the Chinese Lunar New Year, the police began to arrest Falun Gong practitioners on a large scale. Most of the practitioners were taken from home. Under this pressure, some practitioners have to leave their work units and families and become homeless. From another source, the police at Fenjin Labor Camp have transferred the determined practitioners to Weizigou Labor Camp. Insiders say that the police try to use this "transferring method" to transfer practitioners from one labor camp to another so that when the practitioners are found missing from the list, authorities can kill them secretly without taking responsibility. Relatives of these practitioners: please come out to request authorities to release the detained practitioners. We also hope the whole society to pay attention to this. [Shenyang City, Liaoning Province] Latest Movements of Persecuting Practitioners in Shenyang City Officials from all work units, local police stations, and community administrations went to the homes of practitioners under their jurisdiction and asked them to write promises that they would not appeal or distribute Dafa materials. They also forced the practitioners to pay a deposit, otherwise they would take the practitioners to a "transformation class" which lasted until January 15, 2001. Many former Dafa assistants and those who have gone to Beijing were already treated like this. We suppose this is a nationwide campaign toward Dafa practitioners. [Chengdu City, Sichuan Province] Chengdu Police Begin to Arrest More Practitioners At midnight January 18^th, Chengdu City Police broke into many practitioners' homes and took them away without any reason. After they took the practitioners, they ransacked the houses for "evidence". Many practitioners were detained with criminal charges. Around 12 o'clock midnight, over ten policemen came to a house on Jianshe road where practitioner Tang Hongmei lives. Tang's parents refused to open the door. The policemen began to smash the door from the outside and disturbed the neighbors. After more than two hours, the policemen took Tang Hongmei into custody. It is said she is detained on a criminal charge. On the morning of 19^th, I lost contact with many other practitioners. Perhaps they were arrested also. In the afternoon, Dafa practitioner Chen Yingjun was taken away by policemen from Niushikou police station. No further information about Chen Yingjun is known. Over ten practitioners from the Steel Pipe Factory were also taken away. We still don't know the actual number of practitioners that have been arrested this time. The dozens of practitioners who went to appeal during the days around the New Years are still in custody. Now, the authorities have begun to rampantly persecute practitioners again. But the practitioners are not moved by the evil force. They are determined to practice Dafa until the end of their lives. [Chongqing] Police Stretch hands to Beijing--- Chongqing Practitioner being Arrested in Zhongguanchun Beijing On January 9^th, 2001, I was walking with a few other practitioners on a street in Zhongguanchun, Beijing. About 2:00PM, I heard someone shouting: "The policemen are arresting innocent people again." Then, I saw practitioner Li Li (female) running ahead and several policemen were chasing her. When I arrived at the spot, three policemen had caught Li Li. Some of us tried to help Li Li out but failed. We then asked the policemen why they wanted to take Li Li with them. The police thugs said: "Her name is Li Li. She practices Falun Gong. She came to Beijing to appeal sometime ago. She is released and comes to Beijing again." Li Li questioned them: "What's wrong with practicing Falun Gong? Why can't I practice Falun Gong?" We kept on questioning the policemen and telling the truth to the people who surrounded us. Later the police car arrived and Li Li was taken away by force. We learned that those policemen are the vicious policemen of Chongqing City. In open public and in front of many people, the policemen dare to do such horrible acts toward a nice lady. This aroused much anger among the civilians. [Sichuan Province] More Practitioners Step Out to Validate Dafa and Speak the Truth Now, the practitioners understand that they should not cooperate with or be led away by the malevolent while validating Dafa and telling the truth. Practitioners shall not give opportunity to the policemen or other people driven by malice to persecute the practitioners and thus add more Karma to themselves. This is the true compassion of a practitioner. All the practitioners who went to Beijing on New Years Day didn't tell their real names and addresses. They went on hunger strike to protest the illegal detention and brutal tortures and exposed the cheating of the police. In the end, the malicious police had no way out but to release them. Practitioners walked out of the detention center nobly Since a lot of practitioners went to Beijing during New Years day, the local authorities have increased the surveillance of Dafa practitioners at home. They dispatched more people to monitor practitioners both openly and secretly. They also added more people to patrol the streets, bridges and other public places to stop practitioners from painting banners or posting flyers. For example, many plainclothes policemen were at the exits of Chengdu railway station to search and arrest practitioners returning home. Many police vans were waiting nearby. Thus some practitioners were arrested there. [Beijing] Pinggu Detention Center Tortures Dafa Practitioners On December 27, 2000, one Dafa practitioner from Northeast China held up a Dafa banner on Tiananmen Square, and was arrested. After 4 days of hunger strike, he was released from Pinggu Detention Center. According to the Dafa practitioner, the Director of the Mafang Police Station in Pinggu yelled: "I can bury you alive. No one even knows your name." A policeman with police serial number 61575 who claimed to be the Head of the Public Security Bureau yelled: "The XX Party says you are not good, then you are not good. I can shoot you." In Pinggu Detention Center, the Vice Director instigated the male criminal prisoners into beating practitioners and burning them with cigarettes, and also gave orders on the scene. According to the practitioners who had been detained there for a long time, two female practitioners in No.2 female cell died from force-feeding about a week ago. Police cover the detailed information, and even the practitioners do not know each other's name and addresses. Now, a 22-year-old practitioner named Wang Lili has been on hunger strike for more than 10 days. The means used by Pinggu Detention Center to torture practitioners are the following: 1. Handcuffing two hands so tightly that the handcuffs cut into the flesh, and hang the practitioners up such that only the tips of their toes can touch the ground for at least 4 hours. 2. Not allowing practitioners to wear a warm coat but have them sit on the stone platform outside in the cold winter for several hours. 3. Put heavy shackles on practitioners and have criminal prisoners force the practitioners to run for 4~5 hours. 4. Put a heavy iron hat on practitioners. 5. Beat and strap practitioners' eyes tightly using handcuffs. 6. Stamp on practitioners' hands and heads with leather boots. [Beijing] Beijing Public Security Bureau Forbids Dafa Practitioners from Going Abroad A Dafa practitioner in Beijing planned to visit his wife, a practitioner in England, during the spring festival. Before his departure, his supervisor was informed that he should have the practitioner turn in his passport and forbid him from going abroad. His supervisor said that it is the order from the Public Security Bureau that Falun Gong practitioners are not allowed to go abroad in order to prevent them from seeking overseas political asylum. This practitioner was forced to cancel his airline ticket and his passport was confiscated. In addition, this practitioner's house was also confiscated by his work unit. Because several practitioners who came to Beijing to appeal have lived in his home in recent days, Beijing Public Security Bureau ransacked his home and beat him. There was blood left on the floor and his house was a mess because of the search. [Yantan City, Shandong Province] Practitioners Detained for Revealing Truth to People About 3:00~4:00AM on December 6, 2000, Dafa practitioners Zhang Shumei and Song Yu were arrested by Laishan district police while telling the truth of Dafa in Xianghe residential compound. They were detained for one month and were released on January 5, 2001. One week after they came back home, in the afternoon of January 12, 2001, 3 policemen from Laishan District Police Station went to Song Yu's home and tried to take Song Yu away. Song Yu's relatives were very angry with the police's actions and resisted with all their might. The police left with anger. Song Yu was forced to leave home and stay away. In sharp contrast with Song Yu's family is Zhang Shumei's family. When police went to Zhang's home, Zhang was not at home. She was doing business in Fu'an Market. Zhang's daughter, who is about 20 years old, led the police to the market and police arrested her mother. A reminder to all practitioners: While telling the truth to people, please do not forget your relatives! Right now, the whereabouts of Zhang Shumei is unknown. We hope the relevant people can pay attention to this. [Laiyang City, Shandong Province] Laiyang City Court Sentenced Five Dafa Practitioners in a Show Trial under Fabricated Charges At 8:30AM on January 18, 2001, Laiyang City Court held a show trial for five Dafa practitioners including former Falun Dafa contact person Song Suguang. All of them were sentenced under the fabricated charges of "Disrupting the application of state law". The sentence term for Song Suguang is 10 years; Wang Mingxiang, 8 years; Liang Shaobo, 8 years; Du Nianhai, 8 years; and Song Jilong, 7 years. About 40 people attended the trial. Among them, three fourths were police who impose strict control on attendees. Only Song Suguang was tried in the big courtroom, the other four practitioners were all tried in separate small rooms. During the trial, Song Suguang's appeal was stopped by the judge and Song was not allowed to speak. Now, they are still detained in Laiyang Detention Center. Executive Section of Laiyang City Court, Phone: [phone] Record Section of Laiyang City Court, Phone: [phone] Political Work Section, Phone: [phone] Office phone: [phone] [Qingdao City, Shandong Province] Police Break into a Practitioner's Home and Steal Yang Lihua is an employee of No. 14 Clothing Factory of Laixi, Qingdao City, Shandong Province, and 29 years old. She went to Beijing to appeal on December 16, 2000. On the morning of December 19, 2000, she was escorted back from Beijing to Political Work Section of Laixi City Public Security Bureau by the supervisor of her work unit. The police asked several people who had turned in Dafa books to work on her transformation. Yang Lihua was very determined and did not accept it. The Chief of the Political Work Section saw that she was still not transformed, then said they would send her to Qingdao City Prison. At that time, Yang Lihua thought she should not be taken away by the malevolent authorities, thus she escaped while being followed. In the afternoon, she went to practitioner Gao's home. Practitioner Gao was not at home during the day. When coming back at night, Gao found that the glass door of the balcony was broken, the door was smashed open, and the audio player, Falun Gong music tapes, book "Zhuan Falun", etc. were missing. According to his neighbors, at about 7:00PM, two policemen broke into his home by jumping over the wall of the courtyard. Now, the whereabouts of Yang Lihua is unknown, she has probably been taken away by police. [Laixi City, Shandong Province] Four Dafa Practitioners Are Tortured and Put in Critical Condition The Police Sub-station of Hetoudian Town, Laixi City, Shandong Province is a vicious place where Dafa practitioners are being persecuted. The Secretary of Hetoudian Town XX Party Committee and the Director of the Police Sub-station participated in the persecution in person. In order to prevent Dafa practitioners from going to Beijing, the police hired a locally notorious thug, Qu Renfa, as a policeman to persecute the practitioners. The thug Qu is an idler, over 40 years old, and is very cruel in nature. He lives on bullying and oppressing the masses. He drinks wine before beating people. When beating people, he looks vicious and violent. He has beaten many practitioners to a point close to death. Recently, four practitioners suffered from intolerable torture and are in critical condition. We hope that all kind-hearted people pay attention to the matter and stop the vicious action of the Hetoudian Town Government. Qu Renfa and other culprits should be punished accordingly, based on the law. Law and order must be restored. The phone number of Office of the XX Party Committee, Hetoudian Town, Laixi City, Shandong Province: (86)(532) 5481048 Police Sub-station: (86)(532) 5481151 [Qixia City, Shandong Province] Police Sentence More Dafa Practitioners to Labor Camp On January 16, 2001, the Political Security Section of Qixia City Police Station sentenced several more Dafa practitioners to Wangcun Labor Camp, Zibo City. They are: Wu Lanxiang, female, 44 years old, works in Qixia Cotton Mill. Bing Weili, female, 27 years old, is from Xiejiagou, Qixia City.

Li Chonglin, male, over 30 years old, is a middle-school teacher of Guzhendu Village, Qixia City. Zhang Yimin, male, over 50 years old, is from Hanqiao Village and a member of XX party. Zhang Keli, female, 26 years old, is from Qixia City. Sun Shuli, male, over 40 years old, is from Tao Village, Qixia City.

[Qingzhou City, Shandong Province] A Vicious Person Doing Wrong Deeds Brings Calamity to His Whole Family Shi Ming, male, is from Huanglou Town, Qingzhou City, Shandong Province. He has been serving as a thug for the malicious Jiang Zemin since April 25, 1999. Shi Ming is cruel in nature and is notorious in Huanglou Town. He not only brutally persecutes Falun Gong practitioners, but also bullies the common people. Good will be rewarded with good, and evil with evil. Shi Ming had 2 car accidents last year. Last fall, his father died suddenly. On January 3, 2001, his dog, which was meek originally, broke away from its tether and ran towards his mother and bit her face. His mother tried hard to protect her face with her hands. The mad dog bit her hands and body, injuring her seriously. Indeed, a vicious person doing wrong deeds will bring calamity to his whole family. [Fengrun County, Hebei Province] Dafa Practitioners Arrested Last October Are Still Being Detained in Xiaobali Transformation School Those Dafa practitioners arrested last October are still being detained in the Xiaobali Transformation School. It was heard from the family members of these practitioners that the School will allow the practitioners to go home for the Chinese Spring Festival if each of them paid 2,000 Chinese Yuan (US $250, the yearly average income in rural area is less than 2,500 Yuan). However, they would have to return to the School on the third day after the festival. All these Dafa practitioners were determined not to cooperate with such a vicious persecution! Some of those practitioners who had previously given pledges wrote letters to declare those pledges invalid; consequently, they were escorted back to Xiaobali Transformation School again. [Nangong City, Hebei Province] Police Illegally Detain and Fine Dafa Practitioners to Prevent Them from Going to Beijing During Chinese Spring Festival The chief of a police sub-station in Nangong city illegally detained an over 70-year-old lady in the sub-station as a hostage and requested 3,000 Yuan as ransom just because he feared that her son, a Dafa practitioner, would go to Beijing to appeal. The practitioner was forced to flee. In order to prevent Dafa practitioners from going to Beijing to appeal, and to extort money from them, each police sub-station in Nangong city illegally detained most Dafa practitioners from New Year's Day until Chinese Spring Festival (January 24, 2001) regardless of whether they had gone to Beijing or not. Police illegally fined Dafa practitioners who had been to Beijing to appeal 5,000-6,000 Yuan (about US $ 600-730) and 2,000-3,000 Yuan for those who had not. We appeal to the kind-hearted people from all circles to stop the vicious actions of the police. [Pinggu County, Beijing] Police in Pinggu Detention Center and Mafang Police Sub-station Torture Dafa Practitioners It has heard that the director and police guards in Pinggu Detention Center ordered criminal prisoners to put handcuffs and shackles on Dafa practitioner Yuan Xiaofang from Ningde City, Fujian Province on November 22, 2000. Then the prisoners pulled Yuan Xiaofang back and forth on the ground, and beat and kicked her, causing her feet to bleed. The guards and the Director were pleased to know that the criminal prisoners treated practitioners this way, and told the criminal prisoners: "The more brutally you beat Dafa practitioners, the better. We can reduce your detention term accordingly." Upon hearing this, the prisoners became more brutal and cruel, and treated Yuan and other Dafa practitioners even worse. [North China Oil Field] Inhumane Leaders of the Oil Field Send 2 More Dafa Practitioners to Labor Camp and Detain Many Others As the Chinese Spring Festival is coming, it is time for the whole family to join together. However, the Officials of North China Oil Field sentenced two Dafa practitioners to 3-years forced labor. They are: Wu Zhidong, employee of the Second Oil Production Plant, and Guo Yongzhen, employee of the Oil Well Measurement Plant. Wu Zhidong's wife, Zheng Shuyan, was illegally sentenced to 3-years forced labor in Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province in September 2000. Now Wu Zhidong has also been sent to forced labor camp. Only their son, who is attending a high school, is left at home. During Wu Zhidong's detention, the local TV station continuously broadcast news that the Bureau Leaders "kindly visited" him, trying in vain to cover the truth of the real event. Guo Yongzhen, female, 37 year old, was illegally detained on December 26, 2000. After she held a hunger strike for 9 days, the Bureau Leaders feared that she would die and released her for house arrest, during which time she had been well taken care of. However, she was sent directly to Tangshan Labor Camp 9 days later. In the so-called "Transformation Class" of the North China Oil Field, doctor Liu from Chaheji Clinics and teacher Li Aihua from the Technical School were detained for 15 days just because they tried to give an explanation. Li Qixuan from Second Prospecting Plant was detained for 15 days because of his refusing to attend the class. Currently, the officials of North China Oil Field are persecuting Dafa practitioners more and more brazenly. The most vicious one is Li Shizhen, the director of Political Security Section of the police department. He often brutally abuses Dafa, beats female practitioners including He Yajun and male practitioners such as Li Qixuan etc. We want to ask those officials currently in positions of leadership: where is your conscience? Like one officer has said: "You Falun Gong practitioners live with human dignity and noble characters. But we are dogs and have upper level administrators who are also dogs." Human being, why should you live like a dog? Why can't you live with your own conscience and dignity? [Tanggu District, Tianjin City] All Dafa Practitioners in Tanggu District, Tianjin City Are Detained Recently, in order to prevent Dafa practitioners from going to Beijing to appeal during the Spring Festival (Lunar Chinese New Year), the beastial police of Tanggu district, Tianjin city evacuated a drug rehabilitation center, illegally arrested all the Dafa practitioners in their area, and put them into the drug rehabilitation center for forced transformation. Meanwhile, a farm in Dagang district, Tianjin city has been converted to a Forced Labor Camp for Dafa practitioners. All the practitioners who have been to Beijing to appeal or distributed Dafa materials were detained there. [Wuhan City, Hubei Province] Dafa Practitioners Validate Dafa in Wuhan City 1. On December 18, 2000, when vice Premier Li Lanqing was inspecting (Huazhong) China Central University of Science and Technology in Wuhan city, some Dafa practitioners hung banners reading "Falun Dafa is good" on the electric poles on campus. The police of the university security department were so frightened that they immediately deceived 8 practitioners into going to the university security department by calling for a "meeting" for "instruction". They then detained the practitioners and interrogated them. It is said that the practitioners were transferred to a detention center in Hankou district, Wuhan city afterwards. Not only did the public security department of Wuhan city restrict the practitioners' family members from visiting the practitioners, the university also blocked the information about the practitioners and has admitted no responsibility. The current status of these practitioners is unknown. 2. Dafa practitioners were arbitrarily arrested in scores before New Year's Day in Wuhan city. The mass arrest is still going on at present. The people in charge are: Hanjiadun police sub-station, Dunkou district, Wuhan city: Superintendent Liu: phone number 86-27-83831802; Domiciliary police Sun Yifeng: phone number 86-27-83844710; Domiciliary police Yu Wei: phone number 86-27-13007196258; Police station of Dunkou economic development district, Wuhan city; Superintendent Mao: phone number 86-27-84953267; Captain of Criminal Investigation squad: Yuan; [Zhengzhou City, Henan Province] Police In Zhengzhou City Forcibly Take Away Dafa Practitioners Many practitioners who were illegally arrested for going to Beijing to appeal before New Year's Day are not yet been released. They are still being detained at Qiliyan and Heizhuang. Their family members must pay 1000 Yuan RMB (120 USD, two months' average salary for urban residents in China) before they are allowed to visit the practitioners. The Spring Festival is coming and the public security departments, offices, work units, resident committees in the districts of Zhengzhou city received the order from the higher authorities to prevent practitioners from going to Beijing to appeal once again. Thus, they dispatched specially assigned personnel to monitor the practitioners closely and go to practitioners' homes to "transform" them. They not only interfered with practitioners' everyday lives, but also applied pressure upon and disturbed practitioners' family members to various degrees. These specially assigned personnel brought with them the documents from the higher authorities, saying that they are allowed to treat Falun Gong practitioners arbitrarily. Some of the practitioners in Guancheng district have been forcibly taken away and put into "transformation classes". Phone numbers of the Party Committees of the five districts of Zhengzhou city: Jinshui district: 86-371-3932512; Erqi district: 86-371-6960497,86-371-6965412; Zhongyuan district: 86-371-7447115; Guancheng district: 86-371-6223892; Mangshan district: 86-371-3935082,86-371-3936566. [Mainland China] A 10-year-old Little Dafa Practitioner Helps Teacher Li Zhen (pseudonym) is a 10-year-old Dafa practitioner from a certain village. His aunt and mother are both Dafa practitioners. His aunt frequently brings Dafa materials to his school for him to transfer to his mother and other fellow practitioners. One day on his way home after school, some of his classmates saw the posted Dafa banners and wanted to rip them off. Li Zhen spoke to them with justice: "This are Dafa banners and Dafa practitioners are all good people. Don't do it! This is the business of the grown-ups, not your business! If the grown-ups will not do it, neither should you." In this way, he safeguarded Dafa by preventing the wrongful behavior of his classmates. Sometimes fellow practitioners would come to his home to share experiences in the evening. He always listened to them very seriously. He was also quite concerned about his father who did not study Fa, so he petitioned the fellow practitioners: "Aunt, please come again and urge my father to study Fa as well." Afterwards his father also started to study Fa. When he heard that fellow practitioners were going to Beijing to validate Dafa one after another, he felt even more anxious and cried to his mother: "It is really tough for our Teacher! When I am on winter vacation, please bring me to Beijing to validate Dafa." His mother asked him: "Can you unfold a banner?" He replied steadfastly: "Yes, I can." His mother then asked: "Will you be afraid if police beat us?" He once again replied steadfastly: "Not at all!" The pure heart of this10-year-old little Dafa practitioner in helping Teacher in this human world and safeguarding Dafa is truly admirable. [Xingtai City, Hebei Province] Looking for Dafa Practitioner Yu Suyue Dafa practitioner Yu Suyue from Xingtai city, Hebei province went to Beijing to peacefully appeal during New Year's Day and was followed by plainclothes police and illegally arrested by police from Haidian district, Beijing. Later, someone who claimed to be from a Beijing police department called her parents at home, saying that Yu was disobedient. Yu's current status is unknown and we don't know how she is being tortured by the vicious police. We call upon all kind-hearted and righteous people to extend their helping hands and to assist her in escaping the control of the malicious police as soon as possible and returning home safely. Her 6-year-old child is still waiting for her at home. [Jinchang City, Gansu Province] News from Jinchang City, Gansu Province Since July 1999, the local government of Jinchang city, Gansu province has continuously intensified the crackdown on Dafa practitioners. Up until now, about 100 innocent people have been detained and about 25 of them were sent to Lanzhou city. Every time a Dafa practitioner was arrested for safeguarding Fa in Beijing, the local government of Jinchang city had to send somebody to Beijing to take the practitioner back. All the related expenses were charged to the Dafa practitioner. Presently, some of the arrested Dafa practitioners have been detained at "transformation classes", where they are forced to do burdensome labor with little pay; some of them have been secretly taken away from their homes and directly put into jail. Fearing that the people in mainland China would know the truth, it was decided once again to try to conduct "transformation classes" to "transform" the practitioners.