(Minghui.org) Fifteen residents of Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province, were arrested on April 20, 2026, for practicing Falun Gong. Three have been released, but 12 are facing prosecution.
Officers from the Baiyun District Domestic Security Office and multiple local police stations carried out the arrests. All of the 15 practitioners are aged 60 or older, including Ms. Wan Mengying, her husband Mr. Wei Yingxin, Ms. Xu Runmei, Ms. Zheng Suqin, Ms. Tang Huiling, Ms. Xie Kunxiang, Ms. Wang Xin, Ms. Wu Xiulian, Ms. Shi Yawen, Ms. Li Wanyi, Ms. Xu Xiangzhi, Ms. Xu Xiuju, Ms. Wang Li, Ms. Fang Xiuqun, and Ms. Liu Fenglian.
The practitioners were targeted after being discovered to have talked to people about the persecution of Falun Gong and used paper currency with information about Falun Gong printed on the bills. The police had monitored the practitioners for nearly five months before the arrests.
Ms. Wang Li, Ms. Fang, and Ms. Liu were later released and cleared of prosecution.
Mr. Wei, Ms. Shi, Ms. Li, Ms. Xu Xingzhi, and Ms. Xu Xiujun were released on bail, and the remaining seven practitioners were held in custody. Their arrests were approved by the Baiyun District Procuratorate on May 27. The police submitted their case to the Liwan District Procuratorate in late August, charging the practitioners with talking to people about Falun Gong, printing informational materials, and holding “illegal gatherings.”
While in detention, Ms. Wan developed high blood pressure. She also suffered from malnutrition and became emaciated because she was not given enough food. She developed a toothache and became dizzy, fainting four times between June and July. Ms. Wan’s lawyer applied for her release on bail, but the request was denied.
Most of these practitioners have been targeted for their faith in prior rounds of persecution, and many have served time in prisons and forced labor camps.
Mr. Wei, 87, a retired scientist from the Baiyunshan Pharmaceutical Company, was arrested in 2005 and sentenced to four years in prison by the Yuexiu District Court in 2006.
Ms. Wan, 74, was given a forced labor term in 2001. She was tortured while serving time at the Chatou Women’s Forced Labor Camp. She was arrested again in 2025 and given five days of administrative detention, which wasn’t enforced.
Ms. Xie, 73, a former employee of the Xingang Street Police Station, was given 1.5 years of forced labor in 2001 for distributing Falun Gong informational materials. She was sentenced to 3.5 years and 4 years in 2005 and 2015, respectively. She served both terms at the Guangdong Province Women’s Prison.
Ms. Tang and Ms. Xu Runmei were both arrested in 2017 and 2019, after being reported for talking to people about Falun Gong. They were held in brainwashing centers and sentenced to one year in prison in 2019 by the Liwan District Court.
Ms. Wu was arrested in 2021 after being reported for talking to people about Falun Gong. She was detained for 15 days and fined.
Ms. Li was arrested in 2015 for filing a criminal complaint against Jiang Zemin, the former head of the Chinese Communist Party who ordered the persecution of Falun Gong in 1999. She was held at a brainwashing center.
Ms. Shi was arrested in 2008 and held at the Guangzhou City “Legal Education Center” (a brainwashing center).