[Minghui net]My name is Li Xia (alias). I am from Haiyang City, Shandong Province. Since Chinese President Jiang Zemin banned Falun Gong, I, like other practitioners, have experienced severe persecution. Here I would like to tell my story to the good-natured people.
First Detention: Upon hearing the news that Falun Gong was banned on July 22,1999, I felt it is my right and duty to go to Beijing and let the government know the truth. On July 23, I was arrested while reciting "Lun Yu" (translator's note: one of Mr. Li's articles) with other practitioners on Tiananmen Square. We were accused of "attacking XinHua Gate" (translator's note: the gate into the government building). I saw that practitioners who refused to get into the police vans were beaten so badly that they were bleeding. Even a woman who was seven months pregnant was not spared. We were first sent to Tiananmen Police Station, then to Fengtai Stadium, where thousands of practitioners from other parts of China were already being held. The temperature that day was 104F (40C). Practitioners were made to stand in the sun and were not allowed to drink anything, eat anything, or to use the lavatory.
I was taken back to Haiyang City by the city bureau in charge of receiving complaints. According to a city government directive, all practitioners brought back from Beijing were to be kept in the Militia Training Base of Haiyang City, unless they were willing to write a promise (translator's note: a promise to stop going to Beijing to complain as well as stop practicing Falun Gong). We were charged a lodging fee during our detention, which was raised from 8 Yuan to 20 Yuan for Falun Dafa practitioners. My factory sent two people to keep me "company", more accurately to keep an eye on me, because the factory was responsible for paying my boarding fees. I was detained for ten days and charged 600 Yuan (Chinese dollars, the monthly salary of an averaged worker in cities of China is about 500 yuan). From the Militia Training Base, I was placed in the dormitory at my factory. The head of the factory said that higher authorities told him to keep a 24-hour watch on me. Since I lived far away from the factory, they decided to keep me in the dormitory. Later, I was sent to a "conversion class" in a deaf-mute school for ten days. I was asked to give a deposit of 2000 Yuan, and told that the money would be returned to me if I promised not to go to Beijing on October 1 (translator's note: National Day in China). Then I was allowed to go home.
Second Detention: In November 1999, there was a requirement in Haiyang City for practitioners to write promises again. The factory asked us to sign contracts stating that if any piece of material related to Falun Gong was found at the home of a practitioner it would result in a fine of 1000 Yuan, and that anyone going to Beijing to visit government offices would be fined 2000 Yuan. I thought that such a contract was in violation of China's constitution, which guarantees a citizen's personal freedom and freedom of belief. Therefore, I refused to sign the contract. Consequently I was detained in the factory for a week. They even threatened to put me in jail.
Third Detention: On February 5, 2000, Chinese New Year's Day, I went with many practitioners to do the Falun Gong exercises in a park. We were arrested by police in Haiyang City and put in a detention house. I started a hunger strike on February 11, in order to get my Falun Dafa books back. On February 15, they allowed my family to take me home without any special conditions.
Fourth Detention: On February 17, I was again arrested for doing Falun Gong exercises in the park. This time, I was detained illegally for 15 days. Because our Dafa books were immediately confiscated from all of the practitioners, we went on a group hunger strike. During this time, my 95-year-old grandmother died on February 20. The following day my husband and mother-in-law came to the detention house, to ask for ask for my release so that I could attend the funeral. The policemen cursed at them and forcibly carried my mother-in-law out of the detention house. Then they shook their sleeves and went away haughtily. That afternoon, Haiyang police sent for doctors from the People's Hospital to force-feed us. However, we didn't passively allow ourselves to be forcibly fed. It took several policemen to hold onto a single practitioner. The buttons on my clothes were pulled off, and one leg of my pants was torn. My hands were bruised when they were cuffed to a special chair. Force-feeding was accomplished by inserting a tube into the stomach through our nostrils. We five practitioners were cuffed together that night, which made it impossible for any of us to get any sleep. They force-fed us twice while I was there.
Fifth Detention : The detention I just mentioned was finished on March 2. Since it was close to the date of two important state conferences, the Political and Law Committee gave orders to round up all practitioners and take them to the Militia Training Base. The public security organs, including the police, the procuratorate, and the court officers, took turns supervising us. People from each practitioner's place of employment also helped with the supervision. Males and females were living in one big room, which was a serious violation of human rights. Practitioners were often beaten for doing Falun Gong exercises. The police officer on patrol simply beat people on the head with his shoe, or kicked practitioner's hands. Sometimes they were forced to stand for long periods of time. In the morning, whenever a practitioner was caught doing the exercises, he would be made to stand until 10:00 in the evening. Once I was forced to stand with bare feet on a cement floor, and even kept standing while eating my meals.
One time, the head of the procuratorate was on duty. Seeing that the practitioners were sitting together, he became angry and ordered us to squat in front of a wall. When we wouldn't obey, the police on patrol threw us to the ground and kicked us in the back of our knees. Instead of squatting, we just sat on the ground. Seeing our actions, a police officer pulled me up by my collar and then tamped me to the ground. The person who was supposed to keep an eye on us during our custody was frightened by the brutality and started to cry. Since they couldn't stop us from doing the exercises, they cuffed us to a horizontal bar in the courtyard for the whole day, until 10 o'clock that night. We were held so high that I could only stand on my tiptoes. Eventually both of my hands became swollen and purple due to the pressure and lack of circulation. My right thumb felt numb from time to time for six months after. The wind was strong at night, but the people from my factory were not allowed to give me a coat. Three other practitioners suffered this same treatment. During the 15 days I was detained there, one of the head officers of the criminal police team brought me to another room for interrogation. Because I kept silent, they cuffed me onto the back window in the corridor of their office building. My hands were cuffed at my back, and then pulled up by a rope until my arms couldn't be raised any more. They said they would not let me go unless I started talking. That evening, I was sent to the courtyard of the Armed Police Institution, where there were people specifically designated for dealing with Falun Gong. They would beat people for seemingly no reason. A couple of practitioners were beaten for three days and nights before being sent to a jail for criminal detention. Those who beat people most violently were Wang Renjie, Qu Chenggang, and Yu Zhenggao. After being there for two days and a night, I was taken back to the Militia Training Base. This illegal detention lasted for 15 days. My factory paid 1000 Yuan for my board, for which they then charged me. They made me write an IOU and embezzled two months of my salary, the only salary I had received for a while because my factory had not paid us for several months.
Sixth Detention: On March 19, I visited my mother and described to some grannies in the village about my experiences while in custody. On March 28, when I was working in the field with my parents-in-law, the police came and told me to go to my home. I refused to give my signature, so they searched the house and confiscated several Falun Gong books. They wanted to take me to the political security office of the police department. My father-in-law tried to stop them. Yu Zhenggao choked my father-in-law, who was in his sixties, and pressed him to the ground. Yu also threatened to handcuff me. They didn't get any information from me at the political security office, so they sent me to the detention house. This time I was kept for 17 days. The extra two days were added because my family couldn't pay the detention fee. I was taken home by 110 (translator's note: police that deal with emergencies).
Seventh Detention: I read a few articles about Falun Dafa to some women in the village in front of my house. Because of this, Liu, chief of the political security office in the police department, sent the director in charge of public order to ask for me through the administration office of our village on July 13. I was working in the field when they arrived and asked me to get in the van for questioning. I refused. Seven or eight officers picked me up, carried me into the van, and took me to the political security office. Again, they didn't get any information from me. Yu Shanli, head of the office gave an order to send me to a detention house for criminal detention. But they didn't tell my family. So my son was left at the kindergarten till seven o'clock in the evening with no one to pick him up. My family thought I was missing. The following day my parents-in-law learned of my whereabouts and went to the police to ask for my release. They lied to them by saying I had confessed to a crime.
Eighth Detention : On October 30, 2000, I went with other practitioners to Beijing to validate Dafa. On November 3, in Tiananmen Square we refused a policewoman's request to curse Master and were taken to Tiananmen Police Station. Later, we were sent to Jing Yin hotel by Haiyang Beijing Office and held there for seven days. Then, I was sent back to Hanyang City and kept for 19 days in the detention house. The only money I had on me was 130 Yuan, which was confiscated by the police at the Haiyang Beijing office. They said it was used for meals and a train ticket. None of my money was returned to me.
I was generally acknowledged to be a good worker in my factory and a good wife and daughter-in-law at home. People in my village all praised me. Now I suffer so much persecution just for following Truth, Benevolence, and Forbearancethe great law of the cosmos. What's more, the persecution is becoming ever more severe. Some people staged a "self-immolation" in Tiananmen and claimed they were Falun Dafa practitioners. All the good-natured people, will you simply sit by and watch? They are persecuting Falun Gong practitioners today; who will they persecute tomorrow? Isn't there a saying that "fire at the city gate may ultimately kill fish in the city moat"(translator's note: in a disturbance, innocent bystanders may get into trouble, too.)?
Wake up, all police, government officials, and staff! For your future, do not follow Jiang Zemin to persecute Falun Gong practitioners. Leave for yourselves a route of retreat and accumulate some merit and virtue. Master Li said in "Further Comments on Superstition":
"Mankind! Wake up! The vows of Gods throughout history are being fulfilled. Dafa is evaluating all lives. The path of life is under one's own feet. A single thought of his own will also decide his own future."
"Treasure and cherish it. The Fa and the principles of the universe are right in front of you."
Telephone Number of Political and Law Committee in Hanyang City: 86-535-3222558.
Yu Shanli,
Political Security Office of Police Department
86-535-3223228
