Name: Zhang Qingchao
Gender: Male
Age: Unknown
Address: Unknown
Occupation: Government official

Date of Most Recent Arrest: September 13, 2009
Most recent place of detention: Handan City Labor Camp
City: Handan City
Province: Hebei
Persecution Suffered: Detention, home ransacked, extortion, beatings, forced labor

(Clearwisdom.net) Mr. Zhang Qingchao was a government official (former Party Secretary) of Huaiqiao Town, Quzhou County, Hebei Province. He was persecuted many times after the persecution of Falun Gong began. On September 13, 2009, the Houchun Police Station in Quzhou County arrested him, ransacked his home, and sent him to a labor camp in Handan City. In 2004, Mr. Zhang was detained and persecuted at Handan Forced Labor Camp.

On September 13, 2009 at around 10:00 a.m., when Mr. Zhang left work to go home, officers from the Houchun Police Station arrested him and took his six months' worth of salary (6,300 yuan) that he carried. In order to ransack his home, the police went to Mr. Zhang's parents and told them that they were looking for him for a meeting. Mr. Zhang's mother believed them and took them to his home. No one was at home at the time. After driving her away, police broke in and took away a picture of the founder of Falun Gong, Falun Gong books, a TV/DVD combination player, and cash.

Mr. Zhang's mother later went to the police station and requested her son's release. The police sent her away, telling her that Mr. Zhang had already been sent to a labor camp in Handan City. His mother, in her 70s, could not withstand this traumatic news. She could not eat, and day after day she became weaker. Anxious and grieving for her son, she passed away on November 15. The labor camp officials would not even allow Mr. Zhang to attend his mother's funeral.

Prior to practicing Falun Gong, Mr. Zhang had several chronic illnesses such as neurasthenia, insomnia, and arthritis. These illnesses disappeared after he began practicing. As he continued to cultivate, he also eliminated many of his bad habits including smoking, drinking, and playing Mahjong.

On July 20, 1999, Jiang Zemin's regime started the massive persecution against Falun Gong. In these past 10 years, Mr. Zhang has been persecuted many times for his beliefs. When the persecution began, Mr. Zhang was the Deputy Party Secretary in Huaiqiao Town, Quzhou County. When he was discovered talking to people about Falun Gong, he was fired.

In 2002, when Mr. Zhang went to Qiu County to clarify the truth, he was arrested by police from the Liangerzhuang Police Station in Qiu County. The police used a metal bar to press down on his legs, beat him, and detained him at the Qiu County Detention Center. Mr. Zhang went on a hunger strike for several days to protest. He was detained for more than a month, during which time he became extremely weak. Police from both the Qiu County Police Department and the Houcun Town Police Station went to his home many times to attempt to arrest him. However, they failed after his neighbors helped him. However, the persecution did not end there.

In the summer of 2004, officers from the Houcun Town Police Station went to Mr. Zhang's workplace, the Huaiqiao Town government, and arrested him. They sent him to the Handan Labor Camp for a term of one and a half years. Mr. Zhang was tortured at the labor camp.