Name: Gao Yuxiang (高玉香)
Gender: Female
Age: Unknown
Address: Lianhua Village, Shulan City of Jilin Province
Occupation: Unknown

Date of Most Recent Arrest: October 28, 2009
Most recent place of detention: Nanshan Detention Center, Shulan City
City: Shulan
Province: Jilin
Persecution Suffered: Reeducation through labor, Detention, Home Ransacked, Extortion, Beatings, Force-Feedings

(Clearwisdom.net) Ms. Gao Yuxiang was subjected to two years of forced labor. After she was released, in order to avoid further harassment from the police, she left her hometown for years. At around 7:00 pm on October 28, 2009, she was again arrested by the police. Her 76-year-old mother, who lived with her, was threatened by police officers and witnessed her daughter's arrest. She fell sick and passed away on November 8, 2009.

1. Practicing Falun Gong

Gao Yuxiang's husband was lazy, had a bad temper and often beat and scolded her. Before she practiced Falun Gong, she had many diseases such as a liver disease, stomach disease, cerebritis, pleurisy and so on. Her blood pressure was not normal, which caused her to often lose consciousness. The family spent a lot of money for her medical treatments, but all to no avail. They had borrowed much money to pay her medical bills.

In July 1996, Ms. Gao Yuxiang started to practice Falun Gong. All her diseases disappeared shortly thereafter and she felt new hope for life. She was no longer angry toward her husband, no matter how much he scolded and beat her. Her husband was moved by her attitude and her miraculous recovery. He stopped maltreating her and even started to support her practicing Falun Gong. The family became harmonious and peaceful.

2. Persecuted for her beliefs

After the communist regime started its brutal persecution of Falun Gong on July 20, 1999, Gao Yuxiang went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. She was subjected to two years of forced labor because of her appeal.

After she was released from the forced labor camp, local police officers from the Lianhua Township Police Station often went to her home and harassed her. She had to leave home and work away from her hometown. After she was sent to the labor camp, her husband resumed his old bad habits of drinking and smoking, and often stayed away from home. Their teenage daughter, who was only 14 years old at that time, quit school and had to start to work in order to survive.

Ms. Gao once went back to her home town during a farming season. Police officers from the Lianhua Police Station heard about it and drove in two police cars to her village to look for her. Luckily, she was not at home at that time. They searched her house, specifically looking for her photos. They took her ID, which they have not returned to her since then. To avoid further persecution, Ms. Gao leased her land out. Her house was often empty, however, the police still kept looking for her. They often went to her mother's home to inquire about her whereabouts.

In 2006, when her daughter was getting married and had to return in order to transfer her resident registration in the local police station, she was threatened by officers that they would not handle her request unless her mother returned or she handed over photos of her mother. Her daughter had no other choice but to give them the photos they wanted. Due to this situation, Ms. Gao was unable to attend her daughter's wedding.

In 2009, in order to take care of her mother, who was old and weak, Gao Yuxiang took her mother to live with her in a small rented house in Shulan City. Later, she was arrested again.

According to Ms. Gao's mother, the following incident happened. On the morning of October 28, 2009, there was no running water in the house. Ms. Gao and her mother managed to have breakfast and lunch eating dry food. In the afternoon, she went out to fetch some water. A group of policemen arrived at her home and knocked at the door, but Ms. Gao's mother refused to open the door. The police didn't leave until they had arrested Ms. Gao, when she returned from fetching water. They found the key in her pocket and opened the room. They confiscated two laptops, a laser printer, a color printer, a new cell phone, an old cell phone and some cash. When Ms. Gao was taken away by the police, her mother held her daughter's hand tightly, but was dragged away forcefully, which caused her to fall on the ground. The old woman was sent back home, and that evening she didn't eat anything and was sleepless the whole night. Her old diseases returned and she had a heart attack and pain in her stomach.

Ms. Gao's family was officially informed on October 29 about her arrest. On November 2, Ms. Gao's mother went to the police department accompanied by her granddaughter. She was informed that her daughter had committed multiple crimes, which frightened the old woman. She pleaded with the officers and told them that her daughter follows the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and would never harm anyone or any living being; how could they accuse her of so many crimes? In the afternoon, they drove her out of the police department.

Since that day, the old woman fell sick and never recovered. She was sent to the Shulan Hospital on November 5 to be treated for her heart problem and passed away on November 8. The family had continued to plead with the police authorities to allow her to see her daughter one more time, but were unsuccessful.

Ms. Gao had been on a hunger strike at the Nanshan Detention Center for over 19 days. She suffered from brutal force-feedings and one of her arms was injured due to being beaten. Currently, she is very weak.

Related work units and personnel:
Shulan City Police Department:
Li Shaobo, head of the police department: 86-432-68224808 (Office), 86-432-68231063 (Home), 86-13804441999 (Cell)
Zhang Guoxin, deputy of the police department: 86-432-68230606 (Office), 86-432-68219988 (Home), 86-13904445400 (Cell)
Li Wenxin, head of the police department's Party committee: 86-432-68224739 (Office), 86-432-68228100 (Home), 86-13904445186 (Cell)
Song Shining, head of the domestic security division: 86-13804440886 (Cell), 86-432-68229027
Lianhua Police Station:
Wang Shuxin, head of the police station: 86-13654456622 (Cell)
Li Shubo, police officer: 86-13804440766 (Cell), 86-432-68218294
Shulan City 610 Office: Zhang Haifen, head of the 610 office: 86-13944665027 (Cell); Luan Zhongxiao, deputy of the 610 office