60-Year-Old Hunan Woman Arrested for Practicing Falun Gong, Dies 19 Days Later

Ms. Wang Qingxiang, a 60-year-old Falun Gong practitioner in Hunan Province, tragically died on September 24, 2024, just 19 days after she was arrested by the Yiyang City police.

Ms. Wang’s sudden and unexplained death has left her family in shock and grief.

According to Weiquanwang, Ms. Wang was arrested in front of her home by a group of policemen and taken to the Yiyang City Detention Center despite having critically high blood pressure. Eleven days later, her family received an urgent call from the police instructing them to take her home. When her family arrived at the Fourth People’s Hospital in Yiyang City, they found Ms. Wang shackled at the feet and guarded by two female officers. Frail and barely able to walk, she was transferred to another hospital, where she passed away a week later.

Previous Detentions and Labor Camp Terms

Ms. Wang began practicing Falun Gong in September 1996. However, after the Chinese regime began persecuting Falun Gong in July 1999, she became a target of relentless persecution. Over the years, she was repeatedly arrested and detained for upholding her faith.

In 2000, Ms. Wang traveled to Beijing to appeal for the right to practice Falun Gong. This appeal led to her abduction and detention in multiple facilities, including the Yuanjiang City Detention Center, the Huangmaozhou Brainwashing Center in Hunan, and the Haidian District Detention Center in Beijing. She was eventually sent to the Baimalong Forced Labor Camp in Hunan Province, where she remained until the end of 2001.

From 2002 to 2024, Ms. Wang endured repeated, extralegal detentions across a range of oppressive facilities, such as police stations, detention centers, brainwashing centers, and labor camps. During this period, she was held twice more at Baimalong Forced Labor Camp, one of these terms for at least 15 months, simply for speaking to others about Falun Gong.

Subjected to Torture

Ms. Wang endured severe torture in previous detentions prior to 2024. At the Haidian District Detention Center in Beijing, guards subjected her to brutal abuse, including kicking her in the eyes, hanging her by her wrists, and forcing her to hold a martial arts horse stance for extended periods.

During her time at the Baimalong Forced Labor Camp, Ms. Wang was compelled to perform grueling labor for at least eight hours a day without pay. Additionally, she was detained in at least two brainwashing centers for “transformational education,” a process described by experts as a form of psychological abuse designed to break individuals’ spirits.

Ms. Wang also faced financial extortion and forced drug administration. In 2009, Yuanjing City police officers extorted nearly 20,000 yuan (~$2,920 USD) from her. In 2012, while detained at Baimalong Forced Labor Camp, she was forcibly administered neurotoxic drugs, further contributing to the physical and psychological toll of her persecution.

Deadly for Female Practitioners

Ms. Wang’s case exemplifies the genocidal nature of Beijing’s persecution of Falun Gong, particularly its brutal treatment of women in detention. Between the ages of 35 and 60, Ms. Wang faced violent repression to the point of death, all imposed by the Chinese regime simply for practicing Falun Gong_—a spiritual practice that combines meditation and gentle exercise with a moral philosophy centered on the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Tolerance (or in Chinese, Zhen 真, Shan 善, Ren 忍).

As of October 1, 2024, Minghui.org has published 117 newly reported cases of Falun Gong practitioners who lost their lives to persecution for their faith in China in 2024. Among these victims, 78—68 percent— were women. Due to strict information censorship, the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners is not always reported on time, and much of the information remains inaccessible.

These cases highlight the human rights issue in the Chinese regime and can assist other entities, such as human rights groups and democratic governments throughout the world, in recognizing the perpetrator’s crimes and developing corresponding studies and policies.