As July 20 is coming, the communist regime is arresting and detaining Falun Gong practitioners on a large scale.

[Chengdu]

The police in Chengdu City arrested many practitioners on July 18. On the morning of July 18, local police stations forced practitioners to attend the so-called "study classes", and then detained them illegally. They staffed many practitioners in small detention rooms in the police station. It was very hot and humid inside. Later, many practitioners were transferred to different detention centers, such as Jiuru village detention center, Lianhua village detention center, etc. The police would not release them until after July 22nd, in order to prevent them from going to Beijing to appeal during this period.

To protest the illegal detention, the practitioners detained in Jiuru village detention center, Lianhua village detention center, and a dozen of local police stations staged a hunger strike.

[Henan]

The communist regime is implementing massive arrests of Falun Gong practitioners as July 20 approaches. In Zhengzhou City, at least more than 160 practitioners have been arrested, and it is unclear how long they will be detained. In other cities, there were also practitioners who got arrested. In some places, some practitioners' homes were ransacked three times within a few days. According to government officials, the central communist authorities warned that the workplaces of the practitioners and the local police stations would be harshly punished if the practitioners go to Beijing to appeal.

[Shanghai]

Recently, there have been many practitioners from Shanghai who went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. As July 20 approaches, Shanghai police is escalating their persecutions against Falun Gong practitioners. Practitioners would be sentenced to forced labor if they just go to Beijing once. If a practitioner went to appeal, he or she would be detained for one month at least, regardless his or her age. The residence committees and the local police stations also opened the so-called "study classes" again. Many practitioners are being closely monitored or followed.

According to the news from Shanghai labor camp, the practitioners detained there are required to do hard labor everyday. They are also forced to accept "brainwashing". They were warned that if they were not transformed at the end of their terms, their terms would be prolonged. The practitioners said that they would be happy to serve forced labor for their beliefs.

[Chongqing]

Recently, the local police stations, the resident committees, the street offices, and the work units are holding the so-called "study classes" and forcing practitioners to attend. The "study classes" will last till the end of July. The practitioners are demanded 60-100 Yuan fee everyday. The goal is to force practitioners to write the "four no" pledge (i.e., not going to Beijing to appeal, not getting together, not practicing in public areas, and not contacting with each other). Recently there have been about 90 such "study classes". Some practitioners were even sentenced to one to two years of forced labor for no reason.

[Chinese Newsnet] To commemorate the 25 Chinese Falun Gong practitioners who have been persecuted to death by the Chinese communist regime, some local practitioners and practitioners from Taiwan plan to hold candle light vigil in front of the Chinese consulate in San Francisco on July 17.

[Beijing]

At 10:30am of July 15, eight practitioners unfurled a banner of "Zhen Shan Ren" (Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance). Two practitioners were arrested, but the other six practitioners got out of the Square safely. See picture.

[Beijing]

At 9am of July 15, about 40 practitioners from Shandong, Beijing, Shenzhen, Hubei, Tianjin, and Henan unfurled a banner of 6 meters long, to defend the righteousness of Falun Dafa.

[Archeng of Heilongjiang Province]

Currently at least 40 practitioners are still being detained in the detention center of Archeng City of Heilongjiang Province. To protest the illegal detention, they have been on hunger strike for more than 10 days. When the police force-fed them, they even put wine in the salt water and corn porridge (Falun Gong advocates no drinking of wine). They claimed that the wine would destroy the cultivation energy of practitioners. Practitioners are suffering a lot. The police detain one male practitioner in each cell, and then encourage the inmates to torture practitioners in inhumane means.

[Chengdu]

Practitioner Zhong Fangqiong was sentenced to one year of forced labor after serving 11 terms of detentions.

[Chengdu]

Personal experience in detention center: This June, the police detained me and some other Falun Gong practitioners illegally in a detention center in Chengdu. Twelve practitioners were detained in one room. There was only one big bed in the room. There was one toilet, which was also used for washing hands, feet, and even faces. When there was no water, we had to use it to get water to drink. Gradually we got use to it, and we continued to study the Fa (from our memory) and practice the exercises. Because the police beat practitioners at will, we staged on a hunger strike. As a result, the police had to apologize. The food in detention center was terrible, and each of us lost weight very quickly. There were a lot of spiders and worms inside the room. In the beginning, I dared not sleep. But gradually I let go of my fear, and I was able to sleep well. The 15 days of detention passed by quickly. Although I will probably be detained again in the future, I am not afraid at all.

[Changchun]

July 11, Dr. Ji Ping of Jiling Industrial College of Changchun was detained for 15 days under the accusation of "distributing illegal materials".