5,692 Falun Gong Practitioners Arrested or Harassed in 2024 for Their Faith
(Minghui.org) Ms. Xie Xiaoting, an undergraduate student at the Zhongshan City campus of Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, was arrested on January 9, 2024, for removing a poster smearing Falun Gong from a bulletin board on campus. The police worked with the school leadership to interrogate her and ordered her to renounce Falun Gong, threatening to expel her if she didn’t comply. After she was released, the authorities frequently harassed her and followed her around. She was arrested again in June 2024 for reporting her persecution case to Minghui.org and held in custody for 15 hours.
Following Ms. Meng Chunying’s arrest on April 14, 2024, the Jinzhou City, Liaoning Province, resident, was taken to a hospital for a physical examination as required by the local detention center. Her right inner thigh was badly bruised from being kicked by the police. When she refused to give a urine sample, three male officers pulled down her pants and forcibly inserted a catheter to collect her urine.
Ms. Xu Zilan, a 91-year-old resident of Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province, was taking a walk at a local park in mid-October 2024 when she ran into a friend, Ms. Zheng Yingying, whom she hadn’t seen for years. They went to a tea house to catch up with each other, not knowing they were being followed by the police. Days later, the police broke into Ms. Xu’s home. They produced photos of her and Ms. Zheng at the tea house as well as images of her distributing Falun Gong informational materials at an unknown time. They interrogated her, raided her home, and confiscated her Falun Gong books and materials.
The above three cases are examples of the daily reality Falun Gong practitioners have been facing in China. Twenty-five years after the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) ordered the eradication campaign of Falun Gong, the persecution remains unabated, even when the country is plagued by economic challenges and soaring unemployment.
In 2024, in addition to the 164 death cases and 764 sentencing cases previously reported, Minghui.org also confirmed the arrests of 2,828 practitioners and 2,864 incidents of harassment.
With the top-down persecution policy of “destroying them physically, ruining their reputation, and bankrupting them,” the practitioners may be arrested or harassed at anytime, anywhere. Once in custody, they could be subjected to physical torture, brainwashing, or prolonged incarceration through prison sentence or simply arbitrary detention. Even after they are released, they still face ongoing harassment or financial persecution. Some were fired by their workplaces or had their pensions suspended. Some were evicted by their landlords. And some were under close surveillance and not allowed to travel.
PART 1. OVERVIEW OF NEWLY REPORTED ARRESTS AND HARASSMENT CASES
1.1. Practitioners in 30 Provinces, Municipalities and Autonomous Regions Targeted
China has 22 provinces, 4 centrally controlled municipalities (Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing), and 5 autonomous regions (Guangxi, Inner Mongolia, Tibet, Guangxi, Xinjiang, and Ningxia). Except for Tibet, all other 30 jurisdictions reported arrest and harassment cases in 2024.
Since the persecution of Falun Gong started 25 years ago, most of the northern provinces, including Hebei, Shandong, Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang, have been consistently carrying out the most severe persecution. The year 2024 was no exception.
Hebei, a province encircling Beijing, reported the most combined cases of 978, almost 5 times the average case per region nationwide (190). The persecution in Shandong, Liaoning and Jilin was also severe, with 687, 655, and 591 cases reported, respectively. Eight more regions registered three-digit cases between 129 and 472. Another fourteen regions had double-digit cases ranging from 12 to 96 and the remaining four regions had single-digit cases between 1 and 6.
Two group arrests were reported in Jilin Province, with at least 46 practitioners arrested in Changchun City between April and May 2024 and another 35 practitioners arrested in Shulan City on June 5.
In southwest China, 25 locals in Kunming City, Yunnan Province, were seized on June 6, 2024, in a police sweep dubbed the “6.6 Project.” Eight of them, aged between 67 and 87, were arrested by more than 30 police officers, while studying Falun Gong teachings at a private residence. The police monitored the targeted practitioners and collected evidence against them for at least six months before the operation.
Beginning in August 2024, officers from the neighborhood committee and police station in Tangshan City, Hebei Province, went to Falun Gong practitioners’ homes to harass them and take their photos. The practitioners were also ordered to write guarantee statements to renounce their faith. In some districts, officers would knock on every resident’s door and offer them cash to report Falun Gong practitioners. This resulted in some people secretly recording practitioners when they were out telling people about Falun Gong. If the practitioners happened to note themselves being recorded, the tipster would deny it and say nothing was recorded. When the practitioners tried to tell the person about Falun Gong, the person would record again.
While most practitioners were targeted in their home provinces, some were arrested by out-of-province police for raising awareness about the persecution.
Ms. Qiu Hongmei and Ms. Li Hongli, two retired workers from Shengli Oil Field in Dongying City, Shandong Province, vacationed together in Longsheng County, Guangxi Province, on May 13, 2024. They talked to people about Falun Gong while they were there and were arrested as a result. They were held in a detention center near Longsheng and denied family visits. The Longsheng police travelled more than 1,200 miles to their homes in Dongying City on May 21 and raided their places.
Also in southwest China, Ms. You Quanfang, a native of Pengzhou City, Sichuan Province, was arrested in late July 2024 and taken to a detention center in Lijiang City, Yunnan Province. Her ordeal stemmed from an earlier arrest on April 21, 2023, while visiting her daughter’s family in Lijiang. The police suspected her of distributing Falun Gong materials and detained her for 15 days. They continued to monitor her daily activities and didn’t allow her to go out unsupervised after releasing her on bail on May 5, 2023. She soon returned to her own home in Pengzhou. Due to continued harassment, she was forced to live away from home, only to be arrested again months later.
1.2. Arrests and Harassment Throughout the Year, Especially Around Politically Sensitive Days
The reported 2,828 arrests and 2,864 incidents of harassment all took place in 2024. Except 82 arrests and 81 harassment cases with unknown occurrence months, the other combined 5,529 cases took place throughout the year. In particular, the persecution between March and September was much more severe than the rest of the year. The monthly average of 613 arrest and harassment cases during the seven months (March – September) was nearly 2.5 times the monthly average cases (248) in the other five months (January, February, October, November and December).
The spiking of persecution cases in the middle of the year is related to several anniversaries about Falun Gong and the CCP’s annual political meetings. In March, the CCP held its two annual political meetings. “April 25” was the anniversary of a historic appeal by 10,000 practitioners outside of the central government compound in Beijing, demanding the release of a few arrested practitioners and a free environment to practice their faith. “May 13” was “World Falun Dafa Day” and also the anniversary of when Falun Gong was introduced to the public. “July 20” marked the 25th anniversary of the persecution. And “October 1” was the National Day holiday, when the CCP declared the establishment of the government.
1.2.1. Harassment During the “Two Sessions”
Between March 4 and 11, 2024, the CCP held its annual meetings of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the National People’s Congress (NPC), often known as the “Two Sessions.”
Ms. You Yuxuan, a resident of Qingdao City, Shandong Province, bought a train ticket on February 27, 2024, to go to Beijing on March 2 to have a dental procedure. The police found out about her ticket purchase through their big data surveillance and ordered her to return the ticket. She refused and was arrested on March 1, the day before her scheduled trip.
The Nong’an County Domestic Security Division in Jilin Province and its subordinate police stations arrested at least four practitioners during the “Two Sessions.” Ms. Yuan Jinglian’s husband returned home one day to see a big mess. The local detention center called him that night to say that his wife had been arrested. Another practitioner, surnamed Feng, was arrested while walking on the street on March 6, 2024, and detained for four days.
Mr. Luo Jiabin, a resident of Huaihua City, Hunan Province, had just returned from work at 6:30 p.m. on March 6, 2024, when he saw several officers outside his door. They said that higher-ups had ordered them to take photos of him at home to prove he had not gone to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. He urged them to stop persecuting Falun Gong practitioners, and they left.
Ms. Ren Zhanhui, a resident of Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province, was talking to people about Falun Gong on March 11, 2024 when a passerby seized her and reported her to police. The police said her case was especially “severe” since she dared to promote Falun Gong on the last day of the “Two Sessions.” They gave her 14 days of administrative detention.
1.2.2. Harassment Before Anniversary of Historic Appeal
Prior to the anniversary of the historic April 25 appeal, the police and residential committee staff members in Beijing harassed many local practitioners, sometimes entering their homes to threaten them and take their photos. One practitioner noticed that two officers stayed outside her home to monitor her around the clock.
The harassed practitioners included Ms. Hu Xingxi, 82, Ms. Guo Meiying, 84, Ms. Xing Guiling, in her 80s, Ms. Qu Qizhen, in her 60s, Ms. Wang Cuijuan, in her 60s, and Ms. Hao Ruihua, in her 50s.
1.2.2. Surveillance and Arrests Before China’s “National Day”
Prior to the October 1 National Day holiday, the authorities in Shanghai began to monitor local practitioners around the clock since the end of September 2024. Most practitioners were monitored by four people, working in two shifts in a group of two. They were given electric bikes or cars. Most of such people were contractors hired through job placement agencies. They also signed confidentiality agreements with the local police stations. As soon as the practitioners went out, they followed them and reported their activities to the police.
Ms. Li Hong said she began to notice herself being followed when she went out on September 27, 2024. There were also people staying near the elevator of her apartment building. Ms. Chen Ping said the police told her she would be monitored between September 30 and October 7. Mr. Du Ting wasn’t allowed to leave his neighborhood during the first week of October. There were people staying outside of his home around the clock to monitor him.
In Yanqing District, Beijing, fourteen practitioners, including Ms. Yang Xiulan and Ms. Wu Fangling, were arrested on September 23, 2024. The police raided Ms. Yang’s place and dumped all items related to Falun Gong on the ground. Her two computers, a printer, some cash, and a cellphone were taken away. Two officers later returned and photographed the items at her home.
1.3. 1,067 Practitioners Older Than 60 Targeted
Among the 5,692 targeted practitioners, 1,067 of them were 60 or older, including 365 in their 60s, 498 in their 70s, 194 in their 80s and 10 in their 90s. The oldest practitioner, Ms. Liu Xinlan, 99 and of Meizhou City, Guangdong Province, was harassed at home on March 31, 2024. The police seized a copy of Zhuan Falun, the main text of Falun Gong.
Ms. Li Shulian, a 65-year-old Yan’an City, Shaanxi Province resident, has been bedridden since early 2020. She was carried away from her bed by the police on January 3, 2024. Her whereabouts are still unknown after a year.
Ms. Zhang Yuxia, a Changchun City, Jilin Province, resident in her 70s, was arrested on April 20, 2024. The police beat her so hard during the arrest that she lost hearing in one of her ears.
Ms. Zhang Xiuqun, a 70-year-old retired employee of the Shengli Oilfield in Shandong Province, was buying groceries on April 24, 2024, when two plainclothes officers suddenly appeared in front of her. They forced her down and held her to the ground. While stepping on her, the police snatched her purse and ordered her to turn in her cellphone. Four plainclothes officers then joined the pair and took Ms. Zhang to the police station.
When Mr. Wang Junheng, a 75-year-old resident of Yantai City, Shandong Province, was released on bail on May 20, 2024, after 37 days of detention, his family did not recognize him. He had been force-fed and beaten repeatedly after he went on a hunger strike to protest the wrongful arrest. His family took him to a hospital and the doctors found that one of his ribs was broken. He’s still in a lot of pain weeks later.
For three consecutive days between March 12 and 14, 2024, the police came to harass Ms. Liao An’an, an 88-year-old Baiyin City, Gansu Province resident. She was terrified and didn’t dare to go out.
Mr. Zeng Yuxian, a 61-year-old resident of Cangxi County, Sichuan Province, was seized on July 24, 2024, while practicing driving with a friend. The police impounded his car and took him to the local detention center. Prior to his latest arrest, Mr. Zeng was repeatedly targeted for upholding his faith. He spent a total of 16 years and 9 months behind bars, including one forced labor term of two years and three prison terms. In addition to his forced labor term and three prison terms, he was also detained at various detention centers for a total of more than one year.
1.4. Practitioners From All Walks of Life Targeted
The practitioners came from all walks of life, including college teachers, engineers, doctors, post office workers, bank employees, prosecutors and judges.
Mr. Xie Mingguang, a former train engineer from Wuhan City, Hubei Province, was arrested in Lichuan City in the same province on February 8, 2024. His arrest came after he was reported for talking to people about Falun Gong during a short stay in Lichuan. The police deceived him into opening his door by pretending to be property management personnel. They ransacked his temporary residence in Lichuan and took away many of his Falun Gong-related items. The police promised his wife that they would release him on February 23, only to transfer him to the local detention center the day before his scheduled release. He was sentenced to three years in October 2024.
After Ms. Zhang Xiaohua, a 76-year-old retired librarian from Hubei University, was arrested in early February 2024. One of her former students, who now works for a Fortune 500 company outside of China, became extremely worried and called for her immediate release. He said that he met Ms. Zhang while he was in high school. He was stressed out while preparing for college entrance exams. Ms. Zhang often advised him to take it easy and do his best. He credits Ms. Zhang for making his success possible and teaching him to always remain upbeat.
Ms. Zhang Jinhua, a 58-year-old retired auditor in Shulan City, Jilin Province, had only begun practicing Falun Gong in 2023 after years of medical treatments failed to cure her numerous illnesses. She gradually recovered and was no longer severely underweight. She became energetic and walked briskly. She also had a rosy complexion. More than once her acquaintances marveled at her transformation after running into her on the street. She always told them her secret was practicing Falun Gong. Because of her courageous action, she was arrested on June 2, 2024, and sentenced to one and a half years in prison with two years of probation in December 2024.
PART 2. THE ERADICATION PERSECUTION POLICY
After Jiang Zemin, the former head of the Chinese communist regime, ordered the persecution of Falun Gong in 1999, he mobilized the entire country, including law enforcement, procuratorates, courts, detention facilities, schools, and businesses, to carry out his eradication policy of Falun Gong practitioners: “Destroy them physically, ruin their reputation, and bankrupt them.” Jiang set up the extralegal organization, the 610 Office, to work in tandem with the already-existing Political and Legal Affairs Committee (PLAC, also an extrajudicial agency) to implement his persecution policy. Both agencies were given the power to override the judicial system, and they resorted to excessive measures to ensure that the persecution penetrates all levels of government.
2.1. Ruin Their Reputation
The CCP has never stopped smearing Falun Gong since the persecution campaign started. While no law in China criminalizes Falun Gong or lists it as a cult, the communist regime has been using the cult label to justify its persecution of the practice and mislead the general public.
The tactics of the propaganda campaign included offering rewards to those who reported Falun Gong practitioners, requiring people to take part in signature drives defaming Falun Gong or write pledges to not engage in cult activities, posting anti-Falun Gong messages on WeChat (a popular instant messaging and social media platform), and displaying anti-Falun Gong propaganda on bulletin boards.
On February 28, 2024, the Xiangtan City PLAC and the Xiangtan City Police Department in Hunan Province jointly posted a message in multiple channels on WeChat. The message called for the general public to report practitioners of “evil cults,” including Falun Gong. Tipsters were promised a 500-4,000 yuan reward for each practitioner reported. The street committees and China’s three major telecommunication companies, including China Mobile, China Unicom, and China Telecom, also helped promoted the message.
In mid-April 2024, the Pingmei Shenma Holding Group Co. Ltd in Chifeng City, Inner Mongolia, ordered all of its employees to sign a pledge promising to not take part in “feudal,” “superstitious,” or anti-Marxist activities. The workers must also state their full names and IDs on the pledge. Those who refused to sign were threatened with job termination.
On April 17, 2024, the authorities in Jilin City, Jilin Province ordered all residential areas to post a notice in every apartment building. The notice called for residents to report practitioners of evil cults and promised as much as 5,000 yuan in reward money. Street committees across the city were also instructed to launch an online signature drive on the same day, requesting residents to sign Falun Gong-defaming statements.
In Guangdong Province, the Public Security Bureau on April 29, 2024 issued a notice titled, “Reward Measures for Reporting Illegal and Criminal Activities Involving Cults,” promising 100,000 yuan to each tipster who reported someone suspected of participating in cult activities. The notice took effect on June 6, 2024 and will expire in five years.
Having made tote bags bearing slanderous content targeting Falun Gong last year, the PLAC in Fenxi County, Shanxi Province, had a new initiative in 2024 to make disposable paper cups with similar content slandering Falun Gong and distributed them at various gatherings, such as weddings or funerals.
2.2. Destroy Them Physically
2.2.1. Violence During and After Arrests
While arresting the practitioners, the police unscrupulously threatened them, saying things like “I’ve long been put on the perpetrators’ list and I’m not afraid of retribution,” “You reported us police and we must take revenge on you,” and “We will starve you into a fossil and burn you down.” Some police officers even bragged that if the practitioners were tortured to death, they could just report their deaths as suicide. As a result, the police never shied from using any torture trying to make the practitioners submit after arresting them.
Four police officers broke into 74-year-old Ms. Huo Guilan’s fourth-floor apartment in Baoji City, Shaanxi Province, on the night of April 11, 2024. They dragged her downstairs to the first floor, bumping her body repeatedly against the concrete steps. Her entire body was covered in bruises. One of her ankles was severely injured and swollen. She had difficulty walking afterwards and limped in pain. The bruises did not subside for more than three months.
The police did not allow Ms. Huo to change her clothing or shoes. They shoved her into their cruiser and drove her to the detention center. She developed serious conditions, including dizziness, back pain, vaginal bleeding, chest pain, shortness of breath, and other symptoms. Her hearing and eyesight kept deteriorating. Her family applied for bail, but their request was rejected.
After Ms. Li Li and Ms. Shi Rui, of Cangzhou City, Hebei Province, were taken to the detention center following their arrests in mid-April 2024, the guards instructed the inmates to strip them naked to search them, twice a day. Ms. Li went on a hunger strike to protest the strip-search and became emaciated after about two weeks. Only then did the guards stop the humiliating searches.
In Xiangtan City, Hunan Province, a 71-year-old woman was roughed up by seven male officers, after being arrested on May 21, 2024. In order to collect Ms. Li Mengjun’s blood sample, fingerprints, footprints, and body temperature, seven officers forcibly grabbed her arms and legs and pressed her fingers onto the biometrics machine. It took the police several hours to collect everything they needed. They also took blood from her against her will.
2.2.2 Involuntary Drug Administration
Ms. Wang Lijun, 54, of Wenling City, Zhejiang Province, was arrested on February 23, 2024. At a secret detention location, she was tricked into drinking a cup of water. In no time her stomach started to hurt. The pain was so intense that she rolled on the mattress. She said she had never been in such pain her whole life and she wondered if she’d die that day. About 30 minutes later, the discomfort spread to the rest of her body. She felt as if something was crawling all over her with stuff regurgitating from her stomach to her mouth. She fought the pain for about four hours until she fell asleep.
The next morning she was offered rice congee. She ate it and did not feel anything. The guards gave her water with lunch. She had decided to not drink any water at the secret location, but the lunch was so salty that she took two sips of the water again.
Ms. Wang immediately felt something was wrong again. Compared to the night before, the same symptoms were a bit less severe as she did not drink the whole cup. She had no doubt that the water she was given was laced with unknown drugs. She did not drink the water that was brought to her with dinner.
On the third day, Ms. Wang’s eyes began to hurt and shed tears. There was also excessive mucus. She had difficulty seeing. Her back also hurt. For the next few days she felt exhausted. She did not drink any more water. She noticed the water sometimes smelled acidic and other times looked green.
Months after her release on March 22, 2024, she still felt dizzy and struggled to keep her balance as she walked. Her teeth are now so loose that she can’t even bite into an apple. She also cannot stay home alone due to panic attacks and she’s lived with a relative for more than four months. Her eyes still hurt and tear, and her vision is blurry.
Ms. Liu Binghuan was arrested at her rental place in Qingyuan City, Guangdong Province, on the night of September 29, 2024. She was taken to the Cihang Psychiatric Hospital, tied up, and repeatedly injected with sedatives.
The police took Ms. Liu to the detention center the next day, but she was denied admission after a mandatory physical examination found she had a systolic blood pressure of over 200 mmHg (when a normal range is 120 or lower). Instead of releasing her, the police took her to the Qingyuan City Third People’s Hospital (another psychiatric hospital). She was again injected with sedatives, along with unknown drugs. She had temporary memory loss as a result, and became dazed and confused.
2.3. Bankrupt Them Financially
2.3.1. Denied Pension, Low-income Subsidy and Opportunity to Work
Since the Chinese communist regime began to persecute Falun Gong in July 1999, Ms. Gao Jie, a 66-year-old former elementary school teacher in Chongqing, has been arrested for her faith around ten times. Her husband feared being implicated, and divorced her. Their daughter struggled to put herself through college. Ms. Gao’s parents were harassed by the authorities and died in distress.
When Ms. Gao was released on January 3, 2024, after completing her second prison term, she was denied a low-income subsidy and also faced constant police harassment when she tried to find odd jobs to make a living.
In early March 2024, only a few days after she began working as a personal care aide for a retired teacher, the authorities harassed her at her employer’s home. She had no alternative but to quit her job. She then landed another personal care aide job for a family in Chengdu City, Sichuan Province, more than 200 miles away, only to be arrested again two weeks later and ordered to leave Chengdu. She returned to her home on March 31, 2024.
Ms. Gao found another job as a home aide in Chongqing in mid-July 2024. After the police found out about it, they began to monitor her. She was arrested on July 24, 2024, as soon as she took out a 20-yuan bill to pay for her groceries, when the police monitoring her noticed a Falun Gong-related message printed on the bill. Her current whereabouts aren’t known.
Ms. Zhao Xianchang, a 54-year-old resident of Guanghan City, Sichuan Province, has served two forced labor camps totaling five years (2000-2002 and 2004-2007) since the persecution of Falun Gong started in 1999. Her employer, the Guangshan Third Middle School, terminated her shortly after her arrest in June 2004. They also set to zero her years of service in her future retirement benefit calculation formula, essentially rendering her with no pension.
2.3.2. Hundreds of Thousands of Yuan Confiscated During Police Raids
During the arrests of Mr. Li Zhuozhong and his wife Ms. Liao Yuanqun, of Xingning City, Guangdong Province, on April 19, 2024, the police spent over three hours searching their place. They confiscated more than ten printers, over 20 boxes of print paper, boxes of Falun Gong books and informational materials, as well as 200,000 yuan in cash.
Ms. Yin Qiuzhen, of Mishan City, Heilongjiang Province, was recorded by surveillance camera spraying messages about Falun Gong on utility poles on May 2, 2024. She was arrested four days later and her 540,000-yuan bank deposit certificate was taken away.
Mr. He Hongjun and his wife Ms. Fu Wenhui, of Chaoyang City, Liaoning Province, went to Mr. Lan Qingzhong’s print shop in Chifeng City, Inner Mongolia (about 100 miles away) on May 11, 2024. As soon as they arrived, plainclothes officers from Chaoyang City rushed in. They confiscated Mr. Lan’s printers, computers, and 320,000 yuan cash, as well as the 120,000 yuan cash from the couple. Hours later, the police escorted Mr. He back to his home in Chaoyang City and seized another 91,000 yuan in cash, his home keys, car keys, and other items.
Ms. Liu Cuixian, a Kunming City, Yunnan Province, resident, was arrested at home on June 6, 2024, while studying Falun Gong books with seven other practitioners. The police confiscated 100,000 yuan in cash from her and froze her bank account with several million yuan in it.
2.4. Everyday Life Disrupted
The persecution of Falun Gong practitioners isn’t only limited to arrests, detention or torture, but also involves major disruption to practitioners’ everyday lives.
2.4.1. Close Surveillance and Travel Restriction
To feed information into the big-data surveillance system, the police didn’t only collect common biometrics from the practitioners such as facial features, fingerprints, height, and weight, but also recorded their voice, gait, and irises. Some practitioners reported having their irises scanned while going through train station security.
For some practitioners, even using their IDs or transportation cards to take buses, subways or trains would result in revealing their daily activities to the Chinese police, who can track when they went to certain places, who they were meeting with or whether they did anything to raise awareness about the persecution. Some police also installed surveillance cameras near the practitioners’ homes or attached location tracking devices on their electric bikes.
Mr. Wang Yonghang, of Dalian City, Liaoning Province, took the high-speed rail in Shanghai in mid-January 2024. As soon as he sat down on the train, the train police came to check his luggage, even after he had already passed security checks. When he arrived at the station in Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province, his ID triggered an alarm when he swiped it at the train station exit. Several officers standing on the side came over to check his luggage again.
Ms. Liu Hongli, 69, was already in her seat in the sleeping compartment on a train at the Xi’an City Train Station in Shaanxi Province on August 19, 2024, when three plainclothes officers demanded to check her identity. They ordered her to open her bag and then checked her phone and wallet. After discovering a Falun Gong amulet in her wallet, the officers ordered her off the train and to carry her luggage with her. They also took her ID and phone. Ms. Liu told the officers that she was on her way to see her 90-year-old mother, who was in intensive care in the hospital, but the officers insisted that she get off. She eventually missed that train and had to change her ticket to a later time.
After Mr. Jia Linquan, who was studying in Japan, returned to his home in Pingshan County, Hebei Province, in September 2023 to celebrate the Mid-Autumn festival with his family, the local police kept coming to harass him and forbade him from leaving the country. After he was denied boarding a flight in the Pudong International Airport in Shanghai on January 18, 2024, his local police said to him, “People like you aren’t allowed to leave the country. You are on the big data watch list. Too bad that it didn’t discover you when you left for Japan last time.” On November 25, 2024, Mr. Jia found that his one-year travel restriction had expired. He quickly purchased a ticket and flew to Japan on November 27. The police came to harass his family again two days later.
2.4.2. Non-Stop Harassment to Shandong Family
A family in Weifang City, Shandong Province, has endured 25 years of constant harassment for upholding their faith in Falun Gong. Prior to the “Two Sessions” in March 2024, the police called Ms. Li Zuping and ordered her to report to them with her husband’s, Mr. Xian Chunwei, prison release certificate.
Mr. Xian and Ms. Li were previously arrested on January 6, 2016, and sentenced to 4 and 3.5 years on September 6, 2016, respectively. After Mr. Xian was released in early 2020, he was forced to live away from home to avoid constant police harassment. Unable to find him, the police often called Ms. Li and intimidated her.
The police called Ms. Li again on August 30, 2024 and demanded to know Mr. Xian’s phone number. Ms. Li refused to tell them. That same day, the police also showed up at Mr. Xian’s sister’s home and attempted, unsuccessfully, to get his phone number and whereabouts.
A group of officers knocked on Ms. Li’s door the next day. She wasn’t home, and her father, who was living with her, was unable to open the door due to his mobility issue. The police knocked on Ms. Li’s neighbor’s door, who also refused to open the door. The police waited a while downstairs and came back to bang on Ms. Li’s door again. They did this several times in the morning and finally left when no one opened the door on their last attempt at around 1 p.m.
Ms. Li Zuping’s door was badly damaged after being kicked by the police.
Ms. Li’s front door.
2.4.3. Shanghai Police Order Landlord to Evict Falun Gong Practitioner
Ms. Chen Wei returned to her rental apartment in Haitangcun Community, Pudong New Area, Shanghai at around 3 p.m. on February 7, 2024, to find police seals on the door.
Police seals on the door.
Both seals read “Pudong Branch of Shanghai City Police Department.” There was also a note saying “please contact officer Wu of the Cailu Police Station ASAP.” The Cailu Police Station reports to the Pudong Branch.
Officer Wu’s note on the door.
Ms. Chen called her landlord Ren (alias) and learned that officer Wu Kanchen had come to look for her at around 10 a.m. that day. She was not in and Wu called Ren on the spot, ordering him to evict Ms. Chen because she is a practitioner of Falun Gong. Wu named Ms. Chen as being a cult member, a groundless accusation used to attack Falun Gong since the persecution began in July 1999, despite no law criminalizing Falun Gong or classifying it as a cult in China.
Wu also asked if Ren had a key hidden anywhere near the rental unit so that he could go inside. Ren replied that there was no spare key around. Wu then ordered Ren to call him as soon as he terminated Ms. Chen’s lease. Wu said he’d personally come to check the rental unit after Ms. Chen was evicted. Wu also warned Ren to check all of his future tenants’ backgrounds to make sure they were not Falun Gong practitioners.
2.5. Persecution Extended to Family Members
With the all-around persecution, the practitioners’ family members also share the same mental pressure. Some turned against the practitioners to avoid being implicated. For those family members who support the practitioners to uphold their faith, they sometimes became a target themselves.
After Ms. Xu Guoqin, a Mudanjiang City, Heilongjiang Province resident in her 70s, was forced to live away from home in late September 2024 to avoid being sentenced for distributing Falun Gong materials, the police arrested her daughter and forced Ms. Xu to turn herself in.
Outraged by the police’s despicable act, Ms. Xu’s husband suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and passed away. Having been taken to the local detention center, Ms. Xu wasn’t allowed to attend his funeral.
Ms. Zhang Xiaojia, the daughter of a Falun Gong practitioner in Shantou City, Guangdong Province, was detained while passing through customs in Hong Kong, after she was found to have Falun Gong materials in her luggage. She was deported to a police station in Shantou.
Ms. Zhang, who doesn’t practice Falun Gong herself, called her family at 12:40 p.m. on October 16, 2024, after boarding the high-speed rail from Shantou to Hong Kong. Her family was unable to reach her after that. At around 4 p.m. the next day, they were informed that Ms. Zhang was denied entry to Hong Kong, after customs officers found Falun Gong materials in her bag. She was sent back to a police station in Shantou.
Mr. Tian Pengfei is one of the over 70 Chaoyang City, Liaoning Province residents seized by the police during a group arrest on May 11, 2024. While most others were targeted for practicing Falun Gong, Mr. Tian, the owner of a computer shop, doesn’t practice Falun Gong himself, but supports his parents in upholding their faith. During his arrest, his five-year-old son was terrified. The boy cried in fear and kneeled in front of the police, “Please, don’t arrest daddy!” The police still handcuffed Mr. Tian and followed him as he biked his son to kindergarten. The scene caused quite a commotion with many parents and teachers watching in horror.
Related Reports:
Reported in October 2024: 435 Falun Gong Practitioners Arrested or Harassed for Their Faith
Reported in September 2024: 552 Falun Gong Practitioners Arrested or Harassed for Their Faith
1,219 Falun Gong Practitioners Arrested or Harassed for Their Faith in July and August 2024
2,714 Falun Gong Practitioners Arrested or Harassed for Their Faith in the First Half of 2024