Full family photo of the Wang's in China, 1994. Pictured left to right are the two oldest daughters, mother Mrs. Aihua Liu, daughter Lydia Wang, son Steven Wang and father Mr. Guanghui Wang.

Mother of Steven and Lydia Wang

Pictured: Steven Wang (second to the right) and Lydia Wang (center right) with their mother (center) in China, 1996.

Mrs. Aihua Liu, a mother of four—including two U.S. citizens—was most recently arrested in July 2022. On March 10, 2023, Mrs. Liu was sentenced to four years by a court in Changsha without proper due process or family visitation rights. She is actively involved in civil disobedience, and family in China suspect she was detained for this reason.

Liu’s family also suspect she could be harassed due to her son Steven’s career with Shen Yun Performing Arts in America. The Chinese Communist Party has attempted to sabotage this performing arts troupe since 2006 to control the international community’s narrative on Falun Dafa and the persecution. Previously, because of Steven’s role in Shen Yun, Aihua’s daughter Lydia was placed in detention in 2011. Shortly after she was released, Lydia was able to immigrate to America and become a U.S. citizen.

Case Details

Aihua Liu / 刘爱华: Gender: Female, Born: November 12, 1954

Current status: Sentenced to 4 years, filed for appeal

Reason for Detention: Possession of Falun Gong books; distributing pamphlets and paper bills to raise awareness about the persecution. Article 300.

Past Detentions: 10 prior detentions in prisons and labor camps, most recently release in 2021.

Current Location: The No. 4 Detention Center of Changsha City

Family Residence: Her daughter Lydia Wang and youngest son Steven Wang are U.S. citizens living in New York, while her two oldest daughters still live in China.

Personal Background

Mrs. Aihua Liu was a middle school and high school teacher in Changsha City, Hunan Province. She lost her job shortly after the birth of her third child, Lydia, because the one-child policy was still in effect.

Mr. Guanghui Wang (husband) was also a teacher, who specialized in high school chemistry. Later, after Steven was born, Mr. Wang and Mrs. Liu opened their own family business. In 2009, Mr. Wang died after prolonged effects of torture took his life.

(Pictured: Steven (center left) and Lydia (far right) with their two older sisters in China, 1996.)

Lydia Wang (daughter) was harassed and arrested in 2011, after local police and Ministry of State Security authorities confirmed Steven was involved in Shen Yun Performing Arts. She moved to New York soon after she was released. Lydia has two children, 12 and 10, who have never met their maternal grandmother.

Steven Wang (son) went to boarding school at Chongqing Dance School and Chongqing University in China from 1999-2008. During that time, his parents were arrested, imprisoned, which led to him being unable to see them. Steven moved to New York in 2008 where he studied Chinese classical dance at Fei Tian Academy of the Arts and began his career at Shen Yun Performing Arts. In 2009, Steven was unable to return to China for his father’s funeral proceedings due to the Chinese Communist Party’s blacklist of Falun Gong practitioners like him. In 2017, he invited his mother to his wedding but she was arrested and barred from leaving China.

Pictured: Steven’s wedding in 2017. His sister Lydia (second to the right) was the maid of honor and Lydia’s daughter (far right) was the flower girl.

News & Action

Steven Wang being interviewed in 2021, recalling his experiences with persecution and his father’s death by the CCP.
  • 2018: Steven Sent Letters to New York Senators Charles E. Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand
    Steven Wang wrote, “My mother has been unjustly imprisoned in China only because she practices Falun Gong and I appeal to you for your whole support to free my mother from this detention and unite her with my family.”

    He requested for the senators to call the detention center to request his mother’s immediate release from illegitimate captivity and resolve the issue of his mother’s passport so that she could reunite with the family in the United States. At the end of the letter, Steven also included the names and contact information of the Chinese regime officials who were responsible for his mother’s detainment and torture (Full PDF).
  • October 29, 2021: Steven Made a Video About His Mother’s Case on Shen Yun Creations
  • November 2021: Interview with The Epoch Times
    “There were mass arrests and persecution,” Steven Wang recalled from when the persecution began in 1999. His family suffered, too. “Communist policemen broke into our home, threw a frenzy of punches and kicks. Then they abducted my parents and made a huge mess in our home, and took away all our books of Falun Dafa teachings.”

    His parents were both detained, in separate prisons. “Every time we went to visit them, they looked like they’d been starved. They never told me what it was like in there. They only told me they were doing fine. But you can probably imagine—you could tell from their withered faces that they’d been tortured,” he said.

    From that point, Wang never again experienced a stable family life. If his father was released, his mother would get arrested. “This persecution never ceased,” he said. He remembers spending New Year’s with his three older sisters and no parents at home.

    Eventually, Wang came to the United States to continue his dance career. While Wang was overseas, his father was tortured in prison and then released because the guards thought he might die while detained. In 2009, his father died from health complications, and Wang only learned of it a month later.

    “Cultivation is not a crime,” Wang said. “I could not go back to China, so all I could do was continue using art to expose this persecution.” Wang, like other members of Shen Yun, is unable to go to China. As individuals, they could face persecution, and as a group, the Chinese Communist Party won’t allow the company to enter China, for fear of its influence in spreading traditional culture.
  • April 2023: Interview with The Epoch Times
    Recently, the CCP sentenced the mother of one of Shen Yun’s principal dancers to four years in prison for her religious beliefs.

    The family hasn’t seen Liu since her arrest last July and knows little about how she’s faring. For months, authorities turned away their request for visits, citing Beijing’s strict COVID protocols.

    The criminal verdict dated March 1 cited Liu’s distribution of Falun Gong informational materials and discussion about the practice with locals as evidence of wrongdoing. She was also slapped with a 10,000 yuan ($1,500) fine, a hefty sum for someone living on her savings.

    “What would you want to arrest a 70-year-old for?” asked Wang. “It makes no sense.”

    Liu is now detained in Changsha No. 4 Detention Center. She is appealing her sentence, and Wang has initiated a petition hoping to garner more attention to her plight.
Shen Yun principal dancer Steven Wang’s mother was sentenced to four years in prison by the Chinese regime for her religious beliefs last month. Wang has been unable to travel to China himself because of security concerns. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)


Take Action

1. Sign Steven and Lydia’s Petition for Their Mother

Petition: Change.org

Their petition has already received over 1,000 signatures within 24 hours. Please take a minute to share the link and add your signature to support Mrs. Aihua Liu’s family.

2. Send a Letter to Congress

You can email or print this prewritten letter to urgently call upon members of Congress to press for the release of Mrs. Aihua Liu.

Send Letter to Lydia and Steven’s Senator (Schumer)Download

3. Mail an encouraging letter directly to Mrs. Aihua Liu

People who have survived Chinese prisons and escaped to the U.S. attest to the enormous difference it can make to hear from the outside world directly. It lifts the spirits of those wrongfully detained, and shocks local officials, making them wary of participating further in persecution.

An international letter requires two postal stamps. You can send cards directly to Mrs. Aihua Liu to the following address:

长沙市第四看守所
The No. 4 Detention Center of Changsha City
湖南省长沙市长沙县泉塘镇远大二路1736号, 邮政编码410131
No. 1736, Yuanda 2nd Road
Quantang Town, Hunan Province, 410131
China

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