(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 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 (United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, 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 Zheng Yi, vice governor of Liaoning Province, member of the Liaoning Provincial Political and Legal Affairs Committee (PLAC), and Party secretary and director of the Liaoning Provincial Public Security Department.

Perpetrator Information

Full Name of Perpetrator: Zheng (last name) Yi (first name) (郑艺)Gender: MaleCountry: ChinaDate/year of Birth: November 1967Place of Birth: Yiliang County, Yunnan Province

Title or Position

Before April 2022: Party secretary of Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan Province

May 2023 – Present: member of Liaoning Provincial PLAC, vice governor of Liaoning Province, and Party secretary and director of the Liaoning Provincial Public Security Department

Main Crimes

While Zheng was in office, both in Yunnan Province and Liaoning Province, he actively promoted and implemented the CCP’s persecution policy against Falun Gong practitioners.

Under Zheng’s leadership, the Liaoning Provincial Public Security Department employed advanced technologies such as wiretapping, surveillance, facial recognition, and big data tracking to monitor and locate Falun Gong practitioners. Under the guise of “cracking down on organized crime,” “maintaining stability,” and “combating cults,” large-scale arrests of Falun Gong practitioners took place.

Zheng also leveraged public opinion and propaganda tools to defame and slander Falun Gong, inciting the general public to participate in the persecution. During his tenure the persecution in Liaoning Province was one of the most severe in China.

Planning and Directing the Persecution in Liaoning Province

To strengthen suppression of Falun Gong and curb its spread in rural areas, the Liaoning Provincial Public Security Department launched the “Anti-Cult Education Campaign in Villages” on April 17, 2023. The campaign aimed to “legally manage rural religious affairs, prevent illegal religious activities, and guard against the infiltration of cults into rural areas.”

The event was hosted by the Shenyang Municipal Public Security Bureau. The opening day was attended by key officials including the deputy director of the Liaoning Provincial Public Security Department and Li Yong, the deputy director of the Shenyang Municipal Public Security Bureau.

Zheng also orchestrated the “Anti-Cult Education Campaign” on college campuses, which was sponsored by the Liaoning Provincial PLAC, the Provincial Education Working Committee, the Provincial Department of Justice, the Shenyang Municipal PLAC, the Shenyang Municipal Education and Science Committee, and the Shenyang Anti-Cult Association. It was first rolled out at Shenyang University on September 12, 2024.

Large Scale Arrests and Harassment of Falun Gong Practitioners

After Zheng took office, the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in Liaoning Province further escalated. Nearly 1,000 practitioners in Liaoning Province were targeted. Large-scale arrests and harassment campaigns took place with the excuse of “combating cults,” “maintaining stability,” and “cracking down on organized crime.”

In the second half of 2022, at least 182 practitioners were arrested and had their homes searched.

In 2023, at least 336 practitioners were arrested, ranking fourth in the country behind Shandong Province (613), Jilin Province (561), and Heilongjiang Province (366). Additionally, at least 114 practitioners were harassed, the seventh highest nationwide.

In 2024, at least 389 practitioners were arrested, ranking second in the country, just behind Jilin Province (390). Another 266 practitioners were harassed, placing Liaoning fourth nationally.

In January and February 2025, 21 practitioners were arrested while 14 were harassed, ranking sixth and eighth nationwide, respectively. In March and April, another 41 practitioners were arrested, and 22 were harassed.

During Zheng’s three years of tenure so far, at least six large-scale arrests took place in Liaoning, and more than one hundred practitioners were targeted.

From July 12 to 26, 2022, the police in Benxi City arrested more than ten practitioners, including Mr. Zhang Guisheng, Ms. Qu Kun, Mr. Xu Shoufu, Mr. Zhong Hongdong, Mr. Tian Xiaofei, Ms. Wang Shufen, Mr. Liu Guocheng, Ms. Cao Dongmei and Ms. Guan and her husband Mr. Jia. All the practitioners’ homes were ransacked.

In May 2023, another group arrest (ten practitioners) took place in Changtu County, Tieling City. Seven practitioners were detained, including Sun Wanliang, Zhao Chunlin, Shi Guimin, Zhao Hongjie, Meng Guilan, Tian Wei, Hu Fengjun, and Zhang Chao.

Over 20 practitioners in Xinmin City were arrested on July 26, 2023. They all had their homes ransacked and some had their private cars, cell phones, cash, and bank cards confiscated. Most of the practitioners also reported being beaten and interrogated by the police. One practitioner’s teeth were knocked out.

On May 11, 2024, police in Chaoyang City arrested over 20 local practitioners, as well as two married couples from Chifeng City, Inner Mongolia – Mr. Lan Qingzhong and his wife Ms. Hu Xiuli, and Mr. Sun Xiaoming and his wife Ms. Zhang Fengxia.

Ten practitioners in Fushun City, including Mr. Wang Nanfang, Mr. Zhou Shuyou, Mr. Wang Zexing, Ms. Hu Fengju, Ms. Hu Mingli, Mr. Liu Haitao, Mr. Wang Guogang, Ms. Huang Yuping, Ms. Li Suqin, and Ms. Lai Chunlian, were arrested on July 12, 2024, by officers from the Liaoning Provincial Public Security Department, the Fushun City Police Department and the Qingyuan County Police Department. All of them were indicted and face trial by the Wanghua District Court.

Between June 2 to 3, 2025, over 30 practitioners in Jinzhou City and nearby regions were arrested, including 15 in Linghai City, 7 in Beizhen County, 5 in Heishan County, and 6 in Yixian County.

Large-Scale Sentencing of Falun Gong Practitioners

The Liaoning Provincial Public Security Department and its subordinate agencies work hand in glove with various levels of procuratorates and courts to prosecute Falun Gong practitioners. The number of practitioners sentenced in Liaoning Province ranked second in the country for three consecutive years in 2022, 2023, and 2024.

Eighty-three practitioners were sentenced in 2022, 139 were sentenced in 2023, and another 105 were sentenced in 2024. In 2025, 15 practitioners were sentenced in January, followed by 13 in February, 12 in March, 6 in April and 8 in May.

Four employees of the Huanxiling Oil Refinery of Liaohe Oil Field in Panjin City were sentenced to prison on September 7, 2023. Ms. Liu Yan was sentenced to two years and fined 5,000 yuan; Ms. Liu Benling, 77, was sentenced to one and a half years and fined 4,000 yuan; Mr. Liu Qingjiang, who is Ms. Liu Yan’s younger brother, was sentenced to one year and three months and fined 3,000 yuan; and Ms. Li Chunsheng, 76, was sentenced to one year and fined 2,000 yuan.

Nine practitioners in Changtu County who were arrested between May 15, 2023 and August 31, 2023 were sentenced to prison on March 25, 2024. Mr. Sun Wanliang was sentenced to two years. Ms. Zhao Chunlin, Ms. Meng Guilan, Ms. Shi Guimin, Mr. Zhao Hongjie, and Mr. Geng Ming were each given one year. Mr. Tian Wei was sentenced to eight months. Mr. Wang Huafeng and Mr. Liu Zhiyong each received four months and both were released after serving time. All nine were also fined, but the amounts are not known.

Three Shenyang City residents were sentenced to prison by the Dadong District Court on March 27, 2024. Ms. Yu Guichun, 72, was sentenced to eight years. Ms. Li Yongmei was given five years. Ms. Zhang Yujin, 79, a retired professor at Shenyang Ligong University, was sentenced to four and a half years. The police revealed that they had been following the three women and monitoring their phone calls for six months before they arrested them over the course of two days in September 2023.

Six practitioners in Linghai City were convicted on December 30, 2024. Mr. Wang Guiling, 69, was sentenced to five years and fined 7,000 yuan. Ms. Meng Chunying, 53, and Ms. Liu Yurong, 63, were sentenced to four and a half years and fined 6,000-yuan. Ms. Liu Jingju, around 70, and Ms. Jing Suming, 74, were each given two years and fined 4,000 yuan. Mr. Wang Zhoushan, 53, received one and a half years and was fined 3,000 yuan.

The six practitioners were all arrested on April 14, 2024. The police monitored them for months before arresting them. They followed the practitioners on foot and installed surveillance cameras near their homes, in some cases, placing tracking devices on their electric bikes. The police also went to Dalian City in the same province to interrogate Ms. Liu Yurong’s landlord. He was terrified and accused Ms. Liu of implicating him.

Mr. Qu Pengcheng and Mr. Fu Chongchun, of Dengta City, were sentenced to prison on April 1, 2025. Mr. Qu was given eight years and Mr. Fu received two and a half years.

Numerous Falun Gong Practitioners Persecuted to Death

During Zheng’s three years in office, many Falun Gong practitioners were persecuted to death in Liaoning, including Mr. Teng Yuguo, Mr. Liu Dianyuan, Mr. Yan Xuguang, Ms. Wang Yan, Ms. Cui Yajun, Ms. Wei Xiuying, Ms. Lyu Chunyu, Ms. Liu Shuyuan, Ms. Zhang Fuzhen, Mr. Tian Xiaofei, Ms. Liu Xinying, Ms. Huo Xiuqin, Mr. Li Huixiang, Ms. Liu Hongxia, Ms. Wang Wenfang, Mr. Zhou Shaotang, Mr. Song Gang, Ms. Sun Guihua, Mr. Zhao Changfu, Mr. Zhai Yongchi, and Mr. Wang Zhongsheng.

Ms. Wang Yan died on May 9, 2025, while serving a four-year term in the Liaoning Province Second Women’s Prison.

The following are select death cases.

Case 1: Liaoning Woman Dies After Authorities Keep Trying to Take Her Back into Custody to Serve a 5-Year Prison Term for Practicing Falun Gong

Two women from the Linghai City Court went to Ms. Wei Xiuying’s home on the afternoon of November 28, 2024 and demanded that she sign some paperwork. Her husband was beyond infuriated as his wife died around 10 p.m. the night before, after repeated attempts by the authorities to take her back into custody to serve a five-year prison sentence for practicing Falun Gong.

Ms. Wei, around 76, was arrested on May 25, 2021 and was released on bail after she failed to pass the physical exam. She was sentenced to five years and fined 10,000 yuan on February 24, 2023. She lost her appeal two months later. The authorities repeatedly attempted to take her back into custody, including the aforementioned episode on November 28, 2024, the day after she died.

Case 2: 51-Year-Old Man Dies Four Months After Serving 4.5 Years

Mr. Zhao Changfu, a 51-year-old man in Lingyuan City, died on July 18, 2023, four months after he finished serving 4.5 years for practicing Falun Gong.

Mr. Zhao’s prison sentence stemmed from his arrest on August 22, 2018. The procuratorate twice returned his case to the police citing insufficient evidence. But the police fabricated more evidence and persuaded the procuratorate to indict him on May 9, 2019. The local court sentenced him to 4.5 years and fined him 2,000 yuan weeks after a secret hearing on June 5, 2019.

Mr. Zhao was subjected to brutal torture since the day of his arrest, and his health quickly declined. He was hospitalized multiple times throughout his incarceration, yet the authorities refused to approve his family’s request to have him released on medical parole to seek better treatment.

Mr. Zhao’s condition worsened in late 2021. He became blind in one eye, and the other eye had blurred vision. He could only see things within three feet with the one eye. His legs were severely swollen and his calves oozed fluid. Two other hospitals in Shenyang were better equipped to treat his condition, yet the authorities only allowed him to use the Shenyang City No. 4 Hospital, which was overcrowded at the time. While Mr. Zhao waited for a bed his eye condition worsened. He was then allowed to have eye surgery at the He Eye Hospital at his own expense.

After a bed became available at the Shenyang City No. 4 Hospital around April 2021, Mr. Zhao was admitted there. As soon as he got better, the authorities moved him to the Xinkang Prison Hospital, where he served the remainder of his prison term.

Every where he was taken, be it various detention facilities or hospitals, Mr. Zhao was always given a large number of injections or pills, which had severe side effects and caused damage to his body. An inmate once saw a nurse give him a large number of pills and took a look at them after she left. He told Mr. Zhao to not take a particular pill because he saw it before and knew it would not be good for Mr. Zhao. This inmate used to be a prosecutor and had inside knowledge of how the regime used involuntary drug administration as a means of persecuting people.

After Mr. Zhao was released on February 21, 2023, he never recovered. He was also traumatized by the fear that his wife, also a Falun Gong practitioner, would be arrested again. She was arrested with him on August 22, 2018, but was released much earlier, on January 30, 2019. Prior to that, she was arrested multiple times over the years, also for practicing Falun Gong. His own physical suffering and the anxiety about his wife’s well-being eventually took his life on July 18, 2023.

Case 3: Wrongfully Convicted Woman Dies Days After Being Denied Medical Parole

Ms. Liu Hongxia, of Dalian City, was denied medical parole despite her critical condition, and died on November 8, 2022. She was 47.

Ms. Liu was arrested on October 28, 2021, for putting up posters about Falun Gong. She started a hunger strike on February 14, 2022 to protest the persecution, and was later taken to the Xinhua Hospital. She was tied to a bed, force-fed, and injected with unknown drugs. She also was not allowed to have any visitors, including her lawyer and family.

On July 13, six days after she was taken back to the detention center, the Ganjingzi District Court sentenced her to four years in prison. When her lawyer was finally given a pass to visit her after the sentencing, she couldn’t remember her hospital stay but did know that she had been force-fed and given the injection.

Ms. Liu was admitted to Xinhua Hospital again in late August and was moved to an intensive care unit in late October. The doctors issued a critical condition notice for her. Her family applied for medical parole for her on October 25, but the court and the detention center denied the request.

Ms. Liu was extremely weak when her family was allowed to visit her on October 29. She began to bleed from her mouth and nose on November 4. Thinking that she would die in a few days, the doctor told her family to bring her child to see her for the last time. The visit was monitored by a police officer. Ms. Liu passed away on the morning of November 8.

Case 4: Cancer-stricken Man Dies Days After Being Denied Medical Parole, Remains Shackled as He Dies

Mr. Teng Yuguo, of Shenyang City, was arrested on October 13, 2020, and sentenced to five years by the Yuhong District Court around February 2021. He developed colon cancer and incontinence around May 2022 while he was incarcerated in the Dongling Prison. Despite his condition, the prison authorities refused to release him on medical parole. He was so weak that he did not have the strength to sit up. He also could not have bowel movements.

Mr. Teng passed away at the age of 67 on December 2, under tight surveillance. After he died the guards did not allow his family to get close to his body or dress him. They hired a company to prepare his body. Also under tight surveillance, Mr. Teng’s body was taken to a funeral home and cremated on December 4.

His wife could not fall asleep for days and often burst into tears. She said as soon as she closed her eyes, she saw her emaciated husband, still shackled as he lay dying in the heavily guarded hospital bed.