A Family of Three Generations Impacted by Persecution of Falun Gong

Based on an original report from Minghui.org

Mr. Shu Anqing started practicing Falun Gong in college. His rhinitis soon disappeared and his once poor memory improved. He was so impressed that he introduced Falun Gong to his parents upon returning to his hometown in Lu County, Sichuan Province, after graduation.

His parents soon regained their health too. His father, in particular, experienced his 90-degree hunched back straighten out, and his asthma disappeared. He was able to do farm work again.

Living by Falun Gong’s principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, the family also became more harmonious and considerate of others.

After the persecution of Falun Gong started in 1999, however, Mr. Shu was not only fired from his job, but also sent to labor camp detention twice, followed by three and half years of imprisonment. His father died from worrying about his repeated arrests.

Shu’s son has also been deprived of parental care because of the persecution. Because Shu was widowed when his son was 4 years old, Shu’s 77-year-old mother, Ms. Yang Wenxiu, helps to take care of the boy.

The boy has grown up in fear though, as in addition to arresting his father, local police repeatedly harassed Shu and his mother, increasingly during the recent “zero-out” campaign aiming to force every Falun Gong practitioner on the government’s blacklist to renounce their faith.

The latest harassment episode took place on May 24, 2021, when police first flew a drone over the family’s residence. Upon confirming that someone was home, they came to harass Yang. As Yang refused to renounce her faith, the police have installed surveillance cameras around her apartment building.

Award-Winning Technical Expert Loses Job For Faith

After graduating from college, Shu worked in the electric power bureau in his hometown. Before Shu became the director, there were two to four paid positions in Linzhuang Transformer Substation. After he came, however, all other positions were cut and he ended up doing the work of two or more people all by himself.

Furthermore, he earned the title of province-level Excellent Technical Expert during a technical competition, and won first place in the Luzhou City power transformation technology competition. His substation was also given the Excellent Substation award for the city.

But all these things changed after the suppression of Falun Gong began in July 1999. Officials then talked with Shu every day and urged him to give up the practice. They later threatened him to resign, otherwise, they said they would withhold everyone else’s bonus. Shu was forced to resign.

Arrest, Detention, and Harassment

Both Shu and Yang suffered tremendously during the past 22 years.

On July 22, 1999, Two days after the persecution began, officials went to Yang’s place and confiscated her Falun Gong books and a portrait of the practice’s founder. They returned to harass her from time to time.

After losing his job, Shu found a teaching job at a vocational high school. One day on the way home from work, he was stopped by agents from state security bureau and 610 Office. They ransacked his residence and detained him overnight.

In December 2000, the mother and son went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. Yang was detained for over three months before returning home. Shu was kept at the Xicheng Police Station in Beijing where he was beaten by police along with dozens of other detained practitioners. After being sent back, he was given a one-and-a-half-year labor camp term.

The guards at the Xinhua Labor Camp tortured Shu, trying to force him to give up his belief. The torture methods included beatings, humiliation, standing still for a long time, squatting, and brainwashing.

One day in November 2002, agents from the Lu County 610 Office and Yunjin Police Station came to Yang’s residence. They searched the place, confiscated an exercise cassette, and sent her to the Lu County Detention Center. She was later transferred to Nanmusi Labor Camp for a one year term. During Yang’s detention, the guards threatened her, swore at her, left her under the sun for long periods of time, and forced her to sit still on a small stool for a long time.

The frequent harassment made Shu lose his job at the vocational high school. To make a living, he helped people repair home appliances. Shu gradually earned a good reputation for appliance repair. His customers were very satisfied with the reasonable prices and high caliber of his work, frequently recommending his services to others.

But the Jiangyang District 610 Office in Luzhou City did not give up persecuting Shu. They stationed agents outside his repair shop and monitored him for long times. To avoid being arrested again, Shu had to leave his elderly parents and young child behind.

In 2012, police from Gulin County arrested Shu and planned to sentence him, dealing a heavy blow to Shu’s father, who lived in incessant stress and worry about Shu and their family. The elderly man became ill and later died while Shu was in prison.

For Yang and her grandson, life has also not been easy. Shu had been the family’s bread winner and Shu’s wife had died at a young age, so when he was on the run and detained, the family had no income.

On July 30, 2012, the Gulin County Court tried Shu and two other practitioners at the Luzhou Detention Center. Yang and her grandson also came to tell people the facts of Falun Gong outside the courtroom.

Yang told her grandson to tell the police that his father was a good person and had broken no law. The boy relayed the words to the police.

Frequent Harassment

It was not until May 2016 that Shu returned home after three and half years of imprisonment. Since then, the CCP officials have kept coming to harass him and his mother, especially after they moved to a community in Longnan Road several years ago. The agents came often and at any time, sometimes as late as 9 p.m. in the evening.

One day in 2020, local police asked Shu to come for a “talk” after work. When one officer was talking with him, another officer was taking pictures. A “red header policy” required police to collect practitioners’ personal information, ID card number, phone number, address, and picture as well as conduct periodic “talks.”

In addition, police also called Shu at work and went to his place to harass his mother.

Increased Harassment During the “Zero-Out” Campaign

The harassment worsened in 2021. Sometimes the police came once a week, but Yang refused to open the door.

On May 24, 2021, police flew a drone over Yang’s house to check if anyone was home. Upon confirming that someone was home, they descended on her house at around 4 p.m. that afternoon. Yang did not open the door.

When she went outside to take out trash an hour later, 7 or 8 men approached and surrounded her. Only one wore a police uniform.

The men claimed they were from the Hongxing Police Station and asked her to go inside her apartment unit to have a talk. Yang replied that they could just talk outside, and an officer said it would not be good for others to overhear their conversation.

Yang said there was nothing to hide from the public, but the police insisted they go inside her apartment. She agreed to allow three of them inside, but all of them followed inside. After she protested, the uniformed officer drove away the extra police.

Yang demanded to know the three men’s names and titles. No one responded. The one in uniform wasn’t wearing a police badge. They said they came to have her sign statements renouncing Falun Gong. Yang explained to them the practice of Falun Gong and how she had benefited from it over the years.

She said the practice taught her and other practitioners to be good people who never take advantage of others.

The police responded by saying that Falun Gong [was responsible] for the self-immolation on Tiananmen Square in 2001. Yang refuted that the event was a hoax staged by the communist regime to defame Falun Gong.

The police refused to listen and took out some prepared statements.

One officer said, “This is the task given to us to accomplish ahead of the Chinese Communist Party’s centennial anniversary. Every practitioner must sign…I don’t care if you do your exercises at home. As soon as you sign the documents, we’ll leave and will never bother you again.”

As Yang refused to comply, the police threatened that her grandson could have trouble getting into college or landing a job because of her choice.

They then questioned why she moved to their jurisdiction instead of staying within her own village. Yang justified it was a normal [Chinese] custom for parents to live with their children. She had moved to be with her son.

The police then told Yang instead of signing her name, she could draw a circle or press her fingerprints on the statements. Yang told them, “Even if you force my son to kick me out, I still wouldn’t sign my name.”

Days later, several surveillance cameras were installed around Yang’s apartment building.

Original Article: https://en.minghui.org/html/articles/2021/8/10/194543.html