(Minghui.org) With yet another Father’s Day upon us, I’m saddened to see that the persecution of Falun Gong, a spiritual and meditation practice, is still going on in China, 22 years after the Chinese Communist Party first started the suppression. Countless practitioners, including many fathers, have been denied the right to believe in Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and have been arrested, imprisoned, sent to forced labor camps, and even lost their lives. Families have been torn apart, and children have lost their parents.
On this special day for fathers, I want to commemorate those who have been persecuted for upholding their faith. I hope that the persecution will end soon and families can be reunited.
After Losing One Son, Elderly Father Devastated by Latest Arrest of Another Son
Mr. Yu Chunbo and his wife Ms. Li Fengxia (who does not practice Falun Gong) were arrested at home on November 12, 2020. Their home was raided. With the couple having been held in custody since, their young daughter has been left on her own. She misses her parents very much and is looking forward to their return every day. Mr. Yu’s father, in his 70s, went to different government and judiciary agencies to seek the release of his eldest son and daughter-in-law, but he was given the run-around. The couple were secretly tried on May 24, 2021, and are now awaiting verdicts.
Mr. Yu’s younger brother died in 2007 as a result of the persecution of Falun Gong when he was only 32. Mr. Yu and his wife’s latest arrest dealt a heavy blow to his father, who said, “The greatest tragedy is for a parent to see his children die before him! And now my eldest son, who was the family’s sole support, was taken away with my daughter-in-law and is being persecuted. Their daughter, who is in high school, has been left on her own. She is not only under academic pressure but has to deal with the fact that her parents are imprisoned. Without the love of her family and their financial support, she is in tears every day and under great mental stress.”
Mr. Yu’s younger brother, Mr. Yu Chunhai, started to practice Falun Gong in 1998. In the middle of the night in November 2000, the police broke into the younger Mr. Yu’s house and arrested him in his bed.
The younger Mr. Yu was given a two-year term labor camp term. When he was first held at Weizigou Forced Labor Camp, he was brutally beaten and tortured. An inmate once yanked his head down and forced him to bend over, while another inmate kicked him so hard that his head hit the wall and he passed out.
Mr. Yu was transferred to Chaoyanggou Forced Labor Camp in early April 2001. He was beaten, kicked, burned with cigarettes, deprived of sleep, and forced to cross his legs for extended periods of time. A drug offender named Xu Hui used a three-foot wooden plank to slash him dozens of times, causing his buttocks to bleed badly. The inmates openly declared that they just did what the prison guards and the prison director instructed them to do.
One month later in May, when Mr. Yu was near death from torture and was taken home. He passed away about nine months later, on January 21, 2007. He is survived by two young children, ages 2 and 8.
English Teacher and Father of Two Faces Prison Time
Mr. Zhang Jingyuan of Changchun City, Jilin Province, is an elementary school English teacher and father of an 18-year-old son and a 21-year-old daughter. He was arrested on July 15, 2020, and has been held in custody ever since. He was tried on April 9, 2021. His students are longing for his return. His frail mother in her 70s sits outside the house and looks toward the entrance of the village every day, hoping to see her son return.
Son Loses Both Parents in Three Years
The police in Anshan City, Liaoning Province, broke into the home of Mr. Wang Dianguo, his wife Ms. Yu Baofang, and their son Wang Yu on the evening of July 4, 2017. Ms. Yu was held in Anshan Women’s Detention Center and died 13 days later. It was not until an hour after Ms. Yu’s death that her son was allowed to see his mother one last time in the hospital. He was not allowed to get very close to her.
Mr. Wang was held in custody and not allowed to arrange his wife’s funeral. He was later sentenced to four years in prison. He died on June 16, 2020, two years after he was incarcerated.
Daughter Defends Father’s Integrity
Mr. Yang Jianlu of Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province, was sentenced to eight years in prison and fined 10,000 yuan on March 16, 2012. His lawyer pleaded not guilty on his behalf and presented a written statement signed by 415 villagers in support of Mr. Yang.
Mr. Yang’s daughter defended her father, saying that she had witnessed how he had made the family happy and harmonious after he started to practice Falun Gong and how he had taught her to be a good person despite the general moral decline. She also argued from a legal perspective that her father was not guilty for practicing Falun Gong and asked for his acquittal.
A Father’s Death
After Mr. Gong Piqi, a retired colonel in the Shandong Province Reserve Artillery Division, and his wife were both arrested on May 13, 2005, their daughter lost financial support and became homeless.
After their daughter later moved to the U.S., she couldn’t go back to China to visit her parents due to the persecution of their shared faith. On October 17, 2017, Mr. Gong was arrested again while visiting a fellow practitioner.
From outside of China, his daughter, Ms. Gong Xiaoyan, appealed for help but couldn’t keep the authorities from sentencing her 62-year-old father to seven and a half years in prison in August 2018.
On the evening of April 12, 2021, Mr. Gong’s family was suddenly informed by the Jinan Prison that he had died. They saw obvious injuries on his body. Blood was seen coming out of his ears and his head was swollen and wet.
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Over the past 22 years, there have been countless tragedies like this. What those fathers have suffered is beyond imagination. May more and more people pay attention to the persecution and help end it.
Related Articles:
Having Lost One Son to the Persecution of Falun Gong, Elderly Father Calls for Another Son’s Release
Arrested in a Police Sweep, Eight Jilin Residents Tried for Their Faith
Liaoning Man Dies in Prison Three Years After His Wife Died in a Detention Center
Hebei Man Tried for His Faith, Daughter and Local Villagers Testify in His Defense
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Category: Perspective
