(Clearwisdom.net) The 60-year-old couple Mr. Yi Tingxu and his wife, Ms. Xie Shunfang, are Chinese peasants living in Mengyin County, Shandong Province. Ms. Xie Shunfang used to suffer from a serious skin disease, as well as a thyroid disease. When her illness was most serious, her tongue was so stiff that she was not even able to speak clearly. She also had difficulty walking and, due to numbness in her hand, could not hold anything.
Mr. Yi Tingxu used to suffer from unbearable pain in his left arm as a result of many years of heavy labor. He also suffered from acute gastroenteritis and bronchitis. A few months after he started practicing Falun Gong, all these diseases, which had plagued both him and his wife for years, gradually disappeared, and they were cured without any doctor's help.
On the fourth day of the 2001 Chinese New Year, under the coordination of CCP (Chinese Communist Party) Secretary Yi Tinggong in Nanyu Village, Mr. Yi Tingxu was arrested by Deputy Secretary Li Jintian of Yedian County and a police officer named Zhang. They took Mr. Yi to a house where many other practitioners were illegally detained. That night, Li Jintian forced Mr. Yi to squat on the ground, which was covered with a thick layer of snow, where he had to remain for several hours. The officers did not allow him to eat for three days. On the third day, police instructor Wang Haifeng and police officer Zhang beat Mr. Yi. Wang slapped his face so hard that he suffered hearing loss. On the fourth day, the Yedian county CCP committee extorted 5,000 yuan from Mr. Yi, and 2,000 yuan from Ms. Xie Shunfang before releasing them. In that region of China, 2,000 yuan is equivalent to almost half a year's income for peasants.
Officials from the Yedian Police Station sent Mr. Yi to the Mengyin Police Station and held him in custody for 12 days. After that, they detained him in a brainwashing center for over two months before he regained his freedom.
During the 2001 Chinese New Year, Mr. Yi Tingxu's daughter, Ms. Yi Xifang, went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. She lost contact with her family for a long time. She had worked at Jiazhuang High School and Principal Wang Fasheng told Mr. Yi Tingxu that the school needed travel expenses to look for his daughter in Beijing. He asked Mr. Yi to pay 2,000 yuan. The CCP fired Wang from his position as principal using the excuse that the school had someone on staff who appealed for Falun Gong. When the CCP also took part of Wang's wages, he asked Ms. Yi Xifang's family to pay him 2,000 yuan in order to compensate him for his loss.
After more than a month, Ms. Yi Xifang was found in a detention center at the north end of Beijing. She was taken back to her hometown by Wang Mingxin, the police chief of Jia Zhuang Town. The same evening upon her return, she was sent to the Mengyin Interpol Battalion and beaten severely. Her eyes were swelled alarmingly. She was held in detention for one month. Later on, the high school and CCP committee in Jiazhuang plotted to send her to a 610 Office brainwashing center. In June 2001, personnel at the Mengyin 610 Office detained Yi Xifang for two years. Then they ordered her to pay 10,000 yuan for her release. One month after this stalemate, personnel from the same office extorted 5,000 yuan in cash from her father and forced him to write a note for another 5,000 yuan before they let her go home.
Just this year, the CCP extorted a total of 16,000 yuan from Mr. Yi's family. This is a substantial amount for low-income Chinese peasants. This caused them extreme financial difficulty for a considerable period of time.
During the latter half 2001, Jiazhuang High School merged with Daigu High School. The new school principal, Wang Mingshun, did not allow Ms. Yi Xifang to return to work because she had been detained in a brainwashing center. During the holidays, the officials frequently disturbed and harassed the Yi family. In order to prevent Ms. Yi Xifang from finding a job outside the school, Wang Mingshun confiscated her diploma. In June 2004, Wang organized a group of people from the CCP committees of Daigu Town, Yedian, the Mengyin 610 Office, and the Mengyin County Public Security Bureau that was headed by CCP Party Secretary Yi Xichen in Nanyu Village. Claiming they wanted to discuss Ms. Yi Xifang's return to work, they arrested her and her parents, Mr. Yi Tingxu and Ms. Xie Shunfang, while they were working in the field and took them into the village office. Then they illegally searched their home and confiscated Falun Gong books and a new watch they had just purchased. Three days later, personnel from the 610 Office allowed Mr. Yi Tingxu to go home. After they had extorted 3,000 yuan, they also released his wife, Ms. Xie Shunfang. Two weeks later, Ms. Yi Xifang was able to leave the detention center with righteous thoughts. However, as of today, officials at the Daigu High School have not allowed her to resume her job. Officials from the school often harass the family in order to find out Ms. Yi Xifang's whereabouts.