(Minghui.org)

Name: Yao ChunlanChinese Name: 姚春兰Gender: FemaleAge: 92City: ShenyangProvince: LiaoningOccupation: N/ADate of Death: August 25, 2022Date of Most Recent Arrest: N/AMost Recent Place of Detention: N/A

Name: Li HuixiangChinese Name: 李会祥Gender: MaleAge: 60City: ShenyangProvince: LiaoningOccupation: Tricycle driverDate of Death: December 21, 2022Date of Most Recent Arrest: January 6, 2009Most Recent Place of Detention: Shenxin Forced Labor Camp

A mother and son in Shenyang City, Liaoning Province took up Falun Dafa (also known as Falun Gong) in 1997 and 1998, respectively. They both credited the practice for improving their health and changing them into better people. 

After the Chinese Communist Party ordered the persecution of Falun Gong in 1999, Ms. Yao Chunlan and her son Mr. Li Huixiang endured non-stop harassment for upholding their faith. Mr. Li also served a 1.5-year labor camp term. He died in December 2022, less than four months after his mother passed away.

Ms. Yao Chunlan

Mr. Li Huixiang

Mind and Body Uplifted by Falun Gong

Ms. Yao had five children and she lived with Mr. Li, her fourth child. 

Before taking up Falun Gong in 1997, Ms. Yao suffered from a severe stomach condition and back pain. A headstrong woman, she often had conflicts with Mr. Li’s wife, Ms. Zhang Jing. Falun Gong enabled Ms. Yao to regain her health and mend her relationship with her daughter-in-law.

Mr. Li, a tricycle driver, was addicted to smoking and playing mahjong and billiards. A year after Ms. Yao started practicing Falun Gong, he also became interested in the practice. Not long after he started to do the Falun Gong exercises, his frozen shoulder disappeared and he no longer spent long hours every day playing games outside. He became more responsible for the family and offered better service to his customers. Whenever his customers left something in his tricycle, he would immediately find ways to return it. After witnessing his changes, his wife Ms. Zhang began to practice Falun Gong as well.

Living by Falun Gong’s principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance, Mr. Li was always ready to help. He once helped a friend to buy a used tricycle and taught him how to drive it. When the friend mentioned that the lock on the tricycle didn’t work very well, Mr. Li travelled a long distance to buy a new lock for him. 

Many tricycle drivers saw each other as competitors, but Mr. Li always tried his best to help them, including helping them to buy new tricycles or repairing their tricycles.

One of his customers, an elderly woman, shared with him that she struggled with a severe stomach condition. He told her about Falun Gong and urged her to recite the auspicious phrases “Falun Dafa is good; Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance is good.” She did so and soon recovered.

Two Decades of Harassment and Persecution

From the day that the persecution started, the family never spent one day in peace. The police, local residential committee staff members and officials from the Political and Legal Affairs Committee kept coming to harass them and order them to turn in their Falun Gong books. The harassment often intensified around major holidays, political meetings or anniversaries related to Falun Gong.

After being reported for distributing informational materials about Falun Gong, Mr. Li was arrested on the evening on January 6, 2009. He was beaten and interrogated at the police station. His home was ransacked and his Falun Gong books were confiscated. The police gave him a 1.5-year forced labor term on February 25 that year and took him to the Shenxin Forced Labor Camp.

Worried about her son, Ms. Yao often had trouble falling asleep at night. After Mr. Li was released, the harassment continued. 

The police came again one day in 2019 and ordered Mr. Li to sign a statement to renounce Falun Gong. They threatened to arrest him if he didn’t comply.

On September 11, 2020, the village secretary came to his home and tried to persuade him to sign the statement. He again refused. Ms. Yao feared seeing him arrested again, and she suffered tightness in her chest and her legs couldn’t stop shaking.

During the “Zero-out” harassment campaign in 2021 that targeted every Falun Gong practitioner on the government’s blacklist, the authorities also tried to force Ms. Zhang to sign statements renouncing Falun Dafa. As she wasn’t home, the village officials ordered Mr. Li to sign on her behalf. He refused. The officers also took Ms. Yao’s photos at one time.

After each round of harassment, Ms. Yao would suffer chest tightness and uncontrollable trembling. It always took a long time for her to calm down. The mental distress took a toll on her health. She passed away on August 25, 2022. She was 92.

While Mr. Li was still mourning his mother’s passing, the police harassed him again two months later and attempted to take his photos. As he was also suffering many ailments due to decades of persecution, including high blood pressure, diabetes, systemic edema, as well as a condition with his heart and kidneys, the continued harassment caused his health to deteriorate quickly and eventually claimed his life on December 21, 2022. He was 60.

Perpetrators’ information:

Tian Bin (田宾), chief, Masanjia Police Station: +86-24-62242110Guo Yunshen (郭云深), officer, Masanjia Police Station: +86-15502613940Chen Kuifu (陈奎福), former chief, Masanjia Police StationLiu Wen (刘文), officer, Masanjia Police Station