Having Been Repeatedly Targeted for Her Faith, Destitute Shanghai Woman Arrested Again

(Minghui.org) After serving two prison terms totaling seven years and having her pension suspended, a 68-year-old Shanghai resident was arrested again on May 13, 2025, because she practices Falun Gong. Ms. Xu Nixia is currently held at the Baoshan District Detention Center and may be prosecuted again.

After the Chinese Communist Party ordered the persecution of Falun Gong in 1999, Ms. Xu has been repeatedly arrested for upholding her faith. She was sentenced to four years in 2006 and subjected to brutal torture and forced labor while in prison.

Fearing the persecution, Ms. Xu’s husband divorced her shortly after another harassment and home raid episode in April 2015. Her daughter also had a very bad attitude towards her. After Ms. Xu moved out of their home, the police kept harassing her and forced her to move several times. Even the landlord of the apartment that her father rented in 2014 evicted him due to pressure from the residential committee.

Ms. Xu was arrested again in early November 2018 and sentenced to three years in prison. Days after she was released in November 2021, the authorities held her in an apartment for a week and arranged two people to watch her around the clock, because Shanghai was hosting the International Import Expo.

In December 2022, the Putuo District Social Security Bureau ordered Ms. Xu to return the 190,000 yuan in pension payment she received during her two prison terms. The bureau claimed that according to a new policy, all retirees serving time in prison are barred from receiving any retirement benefits, even though this is not stipulated in the Chinese labor law.

Ms. Xu refused to comply, and the Social Security Bureau began deducting 1,833 yuan from her monthly pension check to pay back the “debt.” The 1,510-yuan pension she is now given every month is not even enough to cover her rent.

Ms. Xu was arrested again on April 29, 2024, while she was staying at the home of another practitioner, Ms. Gu Yueling.

Ms. Xu later rented a place in the Baoshan District. The authorities installed two cameras at her front door. Between September 29 and October 7, 2024, the authorities arranged people to stay outside of her home around the clock to monitor her. Her landlord gave one apartment unit facing hers to the monitors, who also followed Ms. Xu when she went out.

The 24/7 surveillance happened again in November 2024, when Shanghai held another International Import Expo.

Related Reports:

For Upholding Her Faith, Shanghai Woman Twice Jailed, Divorced by Husband, Disowned by Daughter, and Had Pension Reduced

Shanghai Authorities Intensify Surveillance of Falun Gong Practitioners During International Import Expo