(Pictured: Steven Wang (second to the right) with his mother (center) and three older sisters in China, 1996.)
New York—The Falun Dafa Information Center has received notice that Mrs. Aihua Liu, the mother of two US citizens in New York, was sentenced to four years in China in March in connection with her faith in Falun Gong. The Center is calling for her immediate release and requesting assistance in obtaining information from the Chinese government about Mrs. Aihua Liu’s exact whereabouts and the charges against her.
On March 10, 2023, a local court in Changsha, Hunan Province, sentenced Mrs. Liu. She was detained on July 7, 2022 and held at Changsha No. 4 Detention Center for eight months. Her family in Changsha has not seen her since July 2022, and the lawyer they hired was pressured to not take the case. Instead, a lawyer chosen by the court represented Mrs. Liu. This is the 11th time that Mrs. Liu has been detained by Chinese authorities since the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) launched its campaign to eradicate Falun Gong in 1999. Based on prior detentions, she is at severe risk of torture.
“I feel shocked, angry, and helpless from my mom’s sentencing.
When will the endless persecution of peaceful, kind-hearted Falun Gong practitioners by the Chinese Communist Party stop?”
—Lydia Wang, Aihua Liu’s daughter
It is unclear how the trial proceeded or what Mrs. Aihua Liu was sentenced for. Her family suspects it may have been due to her participation in information dissemination about the Chinese regime’s persecution of Falun Gong. Liu’s family also suspects she may have been targeted due to her son’s career as a dancer with the New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts company.
The CCP has attempted to sabotage this performing arts troupe since 2006 to control the narrative reaching the international community about traditional Chinese culture and because dance pieces depicted in the show have highlighted the persecution of Falun Gong. According to Mrs. Liu’s family, since at least 2011, local police and the Ministry of Public/State Security branch in Changsha have been aware that her son, Steven Wang, is a principal dancer with Shen Yun.
In 2017, Mrs. Liu tried to attend Steven’s wedding in New York, but Chinese authorities arrested her before she could leave China. It has been 10 years since Steven and Lydia have seen their mother. Their father died in 2009 from the aftereffects of the torture he experienced in detention for his faith.
