(Minghui.org) A 54-year-old resident of Tianjin was harassed for her faith in Falun Gong, right before she was about to travel to the U.S. to attend her daughter’s college graduation ceremony.
Ms. Liu Qingkun applied for a U.S. visa in early April 2024 and was approved. On May 7, 2024, the day before her trip, two officers from the Meijiang Police Station approached her at her workplace, the Tianjin Construction Bank, and questioned her about her upcoming trip. The police said that they found out about her flight tickets through the mass database, and they had attempted to invalidate her tickets, but to no avail.
An officer called Ms. Liu at 7 p.m. that day and ordered her to either go to the Meijiang Police Station or the residential committee. She refused to comply with the demand. The officer showed up at her door at 8 p.m. with a female colleague. They said that they’d escort Ms. Liu to the airport the next day; otherwise she might be intercepted by other police agencies on her way there. The two officers didn’t leave until 9:30 p.m.
Ms. Liu didn’t contact the police when she left home the next day. The police managed to find her sister’s phone number listed in her visa application. They called her sister, pretending to be her coworker at the bank, and asked about her itinerary. It’s not clear whether Ms. Liu successfully traveled to the U.S.
Ms. Liu has faced constant harassment in the past few years by the Meijiang Police Station, her residential committee, the Hexi District Police Department, and the Hexi District Political and Legal Affairs Committee. The officers often intimidated her and attempted to force her to renounce Falun Gong. Pressured by the authorities, her manager had regular talks with her about her practicing Falun Gong, and also monitored the places she went after work. The long term harassment caused tremendous mental pressure and fear for Ms. Liu and her family.
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