(Minghui.org) Four Falun Gong practitioners in their 60s and 70s in Shifang City, Sichuan Province were harassed in August and October 2020, for their faith.
The harassment of the practitioners was part of the “Zero-out campaign,” which has been sweeping across China during the past few months. In the premeditated harassment, the authorities target every practitioner on the government’s blacklist and order them to renounce their faith, which has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Below are the details of the four harassment cases.
Ms. Liu Shengying
Ms. Liu Shengying, 74, was arrested on August 29, 2020, after she was reported by a vegetable vendor for spending banknotes containing printed messages about Falun Gong. Under the extreme situation of information censorship in China, many practitioners are using creative ways to raise awareness about the persecution, including printing messages on banknotes.
After officer Liao Shiqiang came, he held Ms. Liu to the ground and handcuffed her, before taking her to the police station. The police then searched Ms. Liu’s bag and confiscated her 880 yuan of banknotes.
Upon hearing about her arrest, one of her neighbors came to the police station and reported having seen Ms. Liu bringing home bags of stuff that she suspected of being Falun Gong materials. The police then ransacked Ms. Liu home, but it’s not clear if any of her belongings were confiscated.
Ms. Liu's grandson-in-law, who used to work in the police station as an officer, asked her to sign a statement to renounce Falun Gong. He warned that Ms. Liu would face prison or even torture if she didn’t do so. She became very scared and signed the statement against her will. She was released at around 7:00 p.m. that evening.
Ms. Zhou Min
On October 14, 2020, Ms. Zhou Min's son received a call from the local 610 Office, an extralegal agency created to persecute Falun Gong. The caller asked him to tell Ms. Zhou, 65, to go to their office and sign the statement renouncing Falun Gong. The caller promised that they would remove his mother from their list if she signed the statement. Ms. Zhou’s son refused to comply and hung up the phone.
Ms. Xu Kairong
Ms. Xu Kairong, in her 70s, was harassed at home on October 26, 2020, when she was working to grow wood ear mushrooms. The police first said they came to check how she was doing. Then one officer warned her not to walk around.
Knowing that he was referring to her going out to talk to people about Falun Gong, Ms. Xu responded, “I have my own feet, so why can’t I walk around?” She went on to say that the Chinese publication bureau had revoked the ban on Falun Gong books in 2011 and that there was nothing wrong with her spreading information about the practice.
She urged them not to participate in persecuting Falun Gong as they’d be held accountable for their actions. When the officers expressed disbelief in her comment, Ms. Xu asked them to write down their names so she could seek justice against them in the future. The officers refused to reveal their identities and repeated that they were just there for a welfare check. They then left.
Mr. Wang Daguo
Mr. Wang Daguo, 72, was harassed by three officers and three community workers at around 1:00 p.m. on October 28, 2020.
Police officer Zhang Yong said that they came to visit him and to also conduct a census. Another officer surnamed Zhou attempted to take Mr. Wang’s photo, but he refused to comply and said that the police were violating his rights.
As the police insisted on taking Mr. Wang’s photo, Mr. Wang also took the photos of the officers. When he started to clarify the facts about Falun Gong, the officers left.
