Crimes of Dong Xiaoyu, Secretary of Hebei Provincial PLAC, in Persecuting Falun Gong

(Minghui.org) Falun Gong practitioners in 45 countries submitted another list of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials who participated in the persecution of Falun Gong in July 2025, 26 years after the CCP ordered the persecution. The practitioners demand that their governments hold the perpetrators accountable, barring them and/or their family members from entry and freezing their assets.

These 45 countries include The Five Eyes (the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand), all 27 countries in the European Union (EU), and 13 countries on other continents. The EU countries are Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Belgium, Ireland, Austria, Denmark, Romania, Czechia, Finland, Portugal, Greece, Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Luxembourg, Croatia, Lithuania, Slovenia, Latvia, Estonia, Cyprus, and Malta. The remaining 13 countries are located in Asia, Europe, and the Americas: Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Switzerland, Norway, Liechtenstein, Israel, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, the Dominican Republic, and Paraguay.

According to a report published by the World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong (WOIPFG), the CCP highlighted a goal in a May 2024 meeting organized by the Ministry of Public Security: “Pay special attention to the cooperation between Falun Gong and Western politicians to sanction high-level Chinese leaders. Stop such behavior at all costs.”

Among the perpetrators listed was Dong Xiaoyu, secretary of the Hebei Provincial Political and Legal Affairs Committee (PLAC), member of the Hebei Provincial Party Committee, and chairman of the 7th Council of the Hebei Law Society.

Perpetrator Information

Full Name of Perpetrator: Dong (last name) Xiaoyu (first name) (董晓宇)Gender: MaleCountry: ChinaDate/year of Birth: January 1969Place of Birth: Unknown

Title or Position

July 2022 – January 2023: member of the Standing Committee of the Hebei Provincial Party Committee, secretary of the Hebei PLAC, secretary and director of the Provincial Public Security Department

January 2023 – Present: member of the Standing Committee of the Hebei Provincial Party Committee, secretary of the Hebei PLAC, and chairman of the 7th Council of the Hebei Law Society

Main Crimes

The PLAC is given superior authority to oversee public security and the judicial system. Since the CCP began persecuting Falun Gong in 1999, it has served as the central command office, implementing an institutional and systematic persecution policy.

After Dong became secretary of the Hebei Province PLAC in July 2022, he has continued to implement the persecution policy and directed large-scale arrests, harassment, and sentencing of Falun Gong practitioners.

At least 17 practitioners died as a result of the persecution since July 2022, including Song Naiwen (2022), Yang Zhixiong (2022), He Zhenheng (2022), Lai Zhiqiang (2023), Zhao Xiuhua (2023), Wang Jian (2023), Li Guibin (2023), Ni Wenxiu (2023), Wang Rong (2023), Gao Zhencai (2023), Zheng Wenchao (2024), Wang Huai (2024), Deng Xiuying (2024), Zuo Hongtao (2024), Lu Chunyang (2025), Feng Xiaoqi (2025), and Zhao Jiuzhou (2025).

Persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in Hebei Province from July 2022 to April 2025

From January to April 2025 alone, 15 practitioners were sentenced, 77 were arrested, and 204 were harassed in Hebei Province. The number of arrests and harassment incidents was the highest in the country during this period. Three practitioners, Feng Xiaoqi, Lu Chunyang, and Zhao Jiuzhou, died as a result of the persecution.

In the first half of 2024, four practitioners died from persecution; 25 were sentenced, 93 were arrested, and at least 491 were harassed. In the second half of 2024, eight practitioners died from persecution, 27 were sentenced, 105 were arrested, and 505 were harassed. Additionally, government officials at all levels, the 610 Office, PLAC, the police, and the judiciary systems actively held propaganda campaigns to defame Falun Gong.

In 2023, thirteen practitioners died from persecution; 97 were sentenced, 267 were arrested, and at least 472 were harassed. Seventy-two practitioners were extorted by the police for a total of 711,400 yuan.

In the second half of 2022, seven practitioners were sentenced, 176 were arrested and 539 were harassed. Song Naiwen and Yang Zhixiong died of torture they suffered in prison.

Select Death Cases

Case 1: 49-Year-Old Man Dies in Custody, Family Forced to Take 180,000 Yuan Compensation in Exchange for Their Silence

Mr. Zhao Jiuzhou, a 49-year-old resident in Li County, Hebei Province, was arrested in 2016 for protesting the persecution of his mother because she practiced Falun Gong. He became mentally disabled after being given an injection while in custody. He was arrested again in September 2024 for writing messages supporting Falun Gong on utility poles and died in custody on April 26, 2025. His family was forced to accept 180,000 yuan in compensation and sign a waiver stating that he died of natural causes and that they would not hold his perpetrators responsible. They buried his body on April 28, 2025, with a police officer video-recording the entire process.

Case 2: 80-Year-Old Woman Released on Parole in Critical Condition, Dies Three Months Later

Ms. Wang Rong of Chengde City, Hebei Province, was sentenced to three years in 2021. She became seriously ill while serving time in the Hebei Province Women’s Prison. She was rushed to the hospital in August 2023 for a ruptured kidney and bleeding, as well as rib fractures. The doctors said there was no hope, and she was taken home.

Ms. Wang’s family noted that she was wearing a diaper with blood oozing out onto her legs, and there were bruises on her head and temple. She had edema on her back, and dimples appeared wherever the skin was pressed. In her final months, Ms. Wang lapsed in and out of consciousness. She had no strength to sit up and could only lie in bed all day long. She died on November 15, 2023.

Case 3: Family Suspects Foul Play in 72-year-old Man’s Sudden Death in Jidong Prison

Mr. Wang Jian, a resident of Zunhua City, Hebei Province, was arrested at home on July 6, 2019, and later sentenced to seven years in prison with a 5,000-yuan fine. He appeared to be fine and in good spirits when his family visited him on March 19, 2023. However, the family received a surprise phone call from the prison on April 3, 2023, with the news of his death. He was 72 years old.

Mr. Wang had large areas of deep bruises around his ears and on his back, as well as some bruises on the back of his right hand. There was a circular mark on his chest and some scratches on his back. When the coroner turned his body over, fluid came out of his left ear.

The prison claimed that Mr. Wang had died suddenly of a disease, but without specifying the disease. To the family, the bruises on Mr. Wang’s head and back seemed unusual and not caused by a normal disease. They asked if they were caused by torture or other mistreatment that the prison was trying to hide.

Case 4: 80-year-old Woman in Critical Condition While Imprisoned, Dies Days After Being Released on Medical Parole

Ms. Li Guibin of Qinhuangdao City, Hebei Province, was sentenced to four years at the age of 76 for practicing Falun Gong. In mid-April 2023, two years after she was taken to the Hebei Province Women’s Prison, her son was informed by the prison that she was dying. He rushed to the prison and took her to a hospital in Shijiazhuang (where the prison is located) after the prison agreed to release her on medical parole.

After two days of treatment, Ms. Li was taken home (about 370 miles from Shijiazhuang) and admitted to a local hospital. She died shortly after on April 16. She was 80. According to someone who saw her body, she was merely skin and bones after two years of imprisonment.

Case 5: In a Vegetative State and Denied Medical Parole for Two Years, a Hebei Man Dies Two Months Before Prison Release

Mr. Lai Zhiqiang’s wife waited seven long years, eager to reunite with him, only to learn on January 3, 2023, that he had died two months before his scheduled release from serving a wrongful term for his faith in Falun Gong.

According to Mr. Lai’s wife, who wasn’t allowed to see his body until the next day, he was curled up, and his face had been injured. Five guards held her back to keep her from getting close to or touching him. They refused to return his body to the family and deceived his daughter into signing a consent form to have his body cremated.

Mr. Lai of Tangshan City, Hebei Province, was arrested on March 31, 2016, and secretly sentenced to seven years. His elderly mother was so traumatized that she passed away shortly after.

Mr. Lai suffered a stroke in 2019 from being tortured in custody, but the prison denied his family’s multiple requests to visit him. When his wife was finally granted a visit in January 2020, she was heartbroken to see that the guards had to carry him out. He could hardly move. He didn’t appear to recognize her and didn’t respond when she cried.

According to an insider, Mr. Lai was held in the prison clinic for nearly six months and was force-fed every day. The guards kept the feeding tube in his stomach. His lips became very dry and cracked. Some of the nurses occasionally used a towel to drip some water into his mouth. He often had tears in his eyes when they did that. He also moved his lips but couldn’t speak.

Mr. Lai’s family demanded medical parole for him, but the prison claimed that they had to wait for their superiors to make the decision. Meanwhile, they charged the family several thousand yuan, claiming it was needed to pay Mr. Lai’s medical bills.

Mr. Lai’s condition further deteriorated in 2020, and he contracted a lung infection in August 2020. He was in a vegetative state and had difficulty breathing. When the prison took him to the hospital, the doctor did a tracheotomy on him, but nothing else. The doctor implied that there was not much hope for him to recover.

Despite Mr. Lai’s condition, the prison always kept him shackled with heavy chains. He was taken back to the prison after over a month in the hospital, only to be taken back to the hospital on September 9, 2020, even before his trachea was closed.

Mr. Lai’s family kept applying for medical parole for him. The prison claimed that the justice bureau had denied the request. When his family went to the justice bureau themselves to submit the request, they were stopped at the door and not allowed to talk to anyone.

Case 6: Husband and Wife Pass Away Three Months Apart

When Mr. Gao Zhencai was released on January 2, 2023, after serving a 3.5-year term for his faith in Falun Gong, he was emaciated, nearly blind, and incapacitated. His wife, Ms. Xu Suqin, was not home to greet him, as she had passed away a month earlier due to the mental distress of the persecution. Mr. Gao died less than two months later on February 26. He was 71 years old.

Mr. Gao of Tangshan City, Hebei Province, was arrested at home on July 3, 2019, and sentenced to 3.5 years on November 11, 2020. Because Ms. Xu and their daughter frequented the police station to seek justice for Mr. Gao, the police and residential committee staff members constantly harassed them and ordered Ms. Xu to sign statements renouncing Falun Gong. When she refused to comply, the police attempted to force her daughter, who doesn’t practice Falun Gong, to sign them on her behalf.

In addition to the harassment, the authorities also instigated Ms. Xu’s neighbors to monitor her. Sometimes they followed her when she went out. When her friends came to visit her and bring her food, her neighbors would go over and warn her that her friends were no longer allowed to visit.

Due to the mental distress, Ms. Xu began to suffer from persistent fever and systemic edema. She gradually lost the ability to care for herself and passed away in mid-November 2022.

Select Cases of Arrests and Sentencing

Case 1: Hebei Woman Detained for 14 Days and Force Fed

Ms. Qiu Liying, of Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province, was arrested on April 17, 2024. While interrogating Ms. Qiu in the Shijiazhuang Case Handling Center, the police restrained her in a metal chair and put her wrists in electric handcuffs. She felt electricity going through her body, but the police denied it was electric handcuffs.

Ms. Qiu started a hunger strike the day of her arrest and continued on after she was taken to the Shijiazhuang City Second Detention Center on April 19. On April 22, the sixth day of her hunger strike, the detention center guards began to force-feed her every day. She continued her hunger strike and sustained severe health damage as a result of the brutal daily force-feeding. She was released under house arrest on May 1, 2024, two weeks after her arrest.

Case 2: Police Plant “Evidence” to Frame Hebei Woman

Ms. Li Guoying from Zhengding County, Hebei Province, was sentenced to five and a half years and fined 30,000 yuan on March 31, 2025. She is now appealing the verdict.

Ms. Li’s sentence stemmed from her arrest on July 18, 2023, while she was on her way home from work. The police targeted her after a man reported her for distributing Falun Gong informational materials. The police raided her home that night. No one was there, so they ordered the property management to open the door.

The police later took Ms. Li back to her home. She noticed items that did not belong to her. Apparently, the police planted “evidence” to frame her. When she tried to reason with them, they shoved her against the furniture, and she passed out.

When Ms. Li finally came to, she found herself in the Zhengding County Domestic Security Division. The police ordered her to sign the list of confiscated items. She refused to comply because they didn’t let her verify the items. They pried open her fist and forced her to fingerprint the document. She was extremely weak and did not have the strength to resist. The “fingerprinted” list of confiscated items later became evidence against her.

Ms. Li was tried by the Zhengding County Court on March 6, 2024, and sentenced on March 31, 2025.

According to insiders, Ms. Li’s case was submitted to the Shijiazhuang City Intermediate Court for review before the verdict was issued. By law, the trial court is given full authority to decide the case without having to consult the higher court.

Case 3: 58-Year-old Hebei Farmer Sentenced to 8 Years for Raising Awareness of Persecution of Falun Gong

Ms. Li Wenyue, a 58-year-old farmer in Bazhou City, Hebei Province, was arrested around May 2023, after the police discovered that she had posted information online exposing the persecution of Falun Gong. She was sentenced to eight years by the Bazhou City Court.

Case 4: Hebei Woman Loses Appeal Against Lengthy Prison Sentence, Physician-Husband Awaits Indictment

Ms. Ju Yuxia and Mr. Zhang Hongqian, of Xingtai City, Hebei Province, were arrested on July 6, 2022. Due to torture in custody, Mr. Zhang’s entire body was swollen, particularly his genitals. Although he gradually recuperated after medical treatments at home, he was still emaciated and weak. He was slow to respond and became confused. He also fell for no reason.

The local court sentenced Ms. Ju to 7.5 years around May 2023, and her appeal was rejected by the Xingtai City Intermediate Court. When her lawyer visited her in the Xingtai City Prison Hospital on July 5, 2023, he noted that she had become gravely ill and incapacitated as a result of the abuse she suffered while in custody. Her legs and eyes were very swollen. She complained about feeling dizzy and weak. She couldn’t open one of her eyes and gradually lost vision in the other eye. The hospital doctors also diagnosed her with proteinuria (protein loss in urine, a sign of damaged kidneys).

Select Defamation Cases

Case 1: Petition Drive, Seminars, and Propaganda Display in Shijiazhuang City

From June to October 2023, the Qiaoxi District PLAC launched campaigns to demonize and defame Falun Gong through online petition drives, seminars at Shijiazhuang Vocational and Technical College, Hebei Engineering and Technology College, and other universities, and public displays and material distribution. Thousands of students were forced to participate.

In addition, the PLAC also built the “Qiaoxi District Anti-Cult Square” and a reporting hotline. More than a dozen exhibit boards were placed in the square, displaying misinformation about Falun Gong and its founder.

Case 2: Chengde City Police Send Text Messages to Demonize and Slander Falun Gong

On April 17 and April 21, 2024, the police in Chengde City sent text messages to the public. It smeared Falun Gong and posted rewards for the public to report on the practitioners.

Case 3: Propaganda Billboard in Chicheng County, Zhangjiakou City

Ordered by the Hebei Provincial PLAC, the police, court, and procuratorate in Chicheng County, Zhangjiakou City displayed billboards on main streets throughout the county to demonize Falun Gong on April 15, 2024.

Case 4: Propaganda Billboard in Mancheng District, Baoding City

In April 2024, the PLAC in Mancheng District, Baoding City, displayed 18 billboards on the sidewalk in Fuxing Park. The billboards demonized Falun Gong and encouraged locals to report the practitioners.