(Minghui.org) Ms. Zhang Xiuying, a Falun Gong practitioner from Shanghai, was arrested in July 2016 for telling people about the regime's persecution of Falun Gong. She has been illegally detained since then.
During this Chinese New Year, when her family held a reunion, her young grandson asked where she was. The adults didn't know what to say to him.
Healed of Painful Illness After Learning Falun Gong
Before she found Falun Gong, Ms. Zhang had many diseases including cervical (neck) lymph nodes and hyperplasia of the breast. She was not able to bend over. She couldn't stand up after sitting for a while. She couldn't work and had to retire at the age of 40.
She tried many treatments including acupuncture, chiropractic, acupressure and herbal remedies, but nothing worked. The skin on her lower back turned black. Doctors said surgery was too risky and could cause permanent paralysis. She simply had to endure the pain.
Fortunately, soon after she learned Falun Gong, she completely recovered. Her moral character improved as well, as she applied the teachings to her daily life.
Persecution Brings New Suffering
The communist regime launched the nationwide persecution of Falun Gong in July 1999.
Local residential committee officials and the 610 Office made several attempts to force her to give up her belief in Falun Gong. She was once forcibly taken to a brainwashing center, where she was detained for one week and pressured to write statements renouncing her faith.
Ms. Zhang was sentenced to five years in prison on August 20, 2001, for publicly displaying the words “Falun Gong is good.”
Her husband then went into a state of severe depression and had to quit his job at Shanghai Yuangyuan Shipbuilding. Her mother missed her deeply and passed away without getting to see her again.
Officials from her residential committee put up a banner slandering Falun Gong in front of her family's home, like what happened to “enemies of the state” during the Cultural Revolution.
During her five years in Songjiang Women's Prison, Ms. Zhang Xiuying suffered inhumane treatment including being deprived of sleep, verbal abuse, forced to stand for extended periods of time, being forced to copy prison rules, and heavy labor
