(Minghui.org) Ms. Zhao Hong'e, a model teacher from Fuchun Elementary School in Dandong, Liaoning province, has suffered various forms of persecution by the CCP because of her belief in Falun Dafa. Her husband, Tang Yiqing, was also subjected to severe persecution. Their young son Tang Shiyu, overwhelmed by the family's plight and placed under a great deal of stress, suffered a heart attack and passed away on May 25, 2003. He was only 14 years old. Zhao Hong'e and her husband are still imprisoned and suffering tremendously in the CCP's prisons.
Zhao Hong'e, 46 years old, was a model teacher from Fuchun Elementary School of Dandaong, a team leader of the grade she was teaching, and an excellent class counselor. She was recognized and given awards multiple times by her school and education board. In 1996, Zhao Hong'e began to practice Falun Gong. After beginning the practice, Zhao Hong'e required herself to follow the principles of Truth-Compassion-Forbearance. She had even better performance at work. At that time, at the beginning of each new school year, many parents came to her to ask that their children be placed in her class. She asked each of them to forgo the usual practice of sending gifts, sometimes extravagant, to teachers.
Zhao Hong'e's husband Tang Yiqing, 49 years old, was a worker from the factory of Fuchun Elementary of Dandong. Their son Tang Shiyu was a student at Fuchun Elementary of Dandong. He had congenital heart disease. In 2005, the hospital sent them a notice of his critical condition and said that he could only live for about six months. In 1996, someone introduced him to the practice of Falun Gong. After starting the practice, he became better every day. He could continue with his studies, and his grades were very good.
Suffering repeated arrests and persecution due to clarifying the truth
In July 1999, after the CCP began the persecution of Falun Gong, Zhao Hong'e, her husband Tang Yiqing and their son Tang Shiyu went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. They were arrested by police before they arrived in Beijing and sent back to their hometown. In Fuchun Police Station of Dandong, Tang Yiqing suffered a brutal beating by the police. One police officer kicked Tang Yiqing down to the floor and then hit Tang Yiqing with his fist several times. In September 1999, Tang Yiqing was arrested again because he was doing the exercises outside. He was detained for one month.
In November 1999, Zhao Hong'e and her husband Tang Yiqing went to Beijing to appeal again. They were arrested and sent to Dandong Detention Center. Zhao Hong'e was detained there for one month. Tang Yiqing was sentenced to one year of forced labor.
In 2000, while clarifying the truth about Falun Gong to people, Zhao Hong'e was reported and arrested by police. She was sentenced to two years forced labor and suffered persecution in Masanjia Forced Labor Camp.
In 2003, Zhao Hong'e was released and went back to school to work. On March 1st, the first of the new semester and right after she went to work, several plainclothes police officers went to her school. They said they wanted to investigate Ms. Zhao. The school leader found Ms. Zhao and told her about the police officers' request. Zhao Hong'e told the school leader, “I do not want to see them. There is nothing to investigate about me.” The school leader went back and told those plainclothes police officers, “She is a good teacher here. She will not cause any trouble.”
However the next day, several plainclothes police officers went to her school again. Zhao Hong'e realized that the police might persecute her again. She then told the school leaders and other teachers about her experiences and the persecution that she suffered in Masanjia Forced Labor Camp. She asked them to make their own judgment of what's wrong with being a good person by following the principles of Truth-Compassion-Forbearance. Many of them understood and supported Ms. Zhao, and the police's investigation never got off the ground.
Forced to become homeless
On the morning of May 8, 2004, Ms. Zhao was accosted outside of her school by two police officers. One of them told Ms. Zhao, “We are looking for you and want to investigate something.” Ms. Zhao said to the police officer, “I did not break the law. There is nothing to investigate.” After saying that, she walked towards the school.
The police officer blocked the gate to prevent her from going inside. Ms. Zhao tried to walk away and get to her class. At that point the school bell rang, and as students were going outside to do calisthenics, the other police officer grabbed Ms. Zhao. Ms. Zhao remained calm and said sternly, “Please, let go of my hand.”
While they were in stalemate, the principal walked out of the reception office and said to Ms. Zhao, “Let's go in and talk about it. If you stay there, it won't look good for the students.” She again asked the police officer sternly to release her, and then walked inside the school building. As she walked away, the police officer shouted at the principal for not stopping her from going inside. She later escaped through a side door.
Soon after, the police surrounded Ms. Zhao's parents' home, harassed her parents and ransacked their home. At night police stayed in her parents' home and waited for Ms. Zhao.
Ms. Zhao's parents are both over 70 years old. Her mother was so afraid that she slept somewhere else, and her father was so frightened that he could not sleep all night.
Husband arrested and sentenced to prison; son passes away
On July 13, 2002, a police officer from Dandong City Security Bureau lied to Tang Yiqing, saying that they wanted him to fix their TV, and tricked him into going to a place near Dandong City Stomatology Hospital. He was then arrested. After they arrested Mr. Tang, they tortured him and tried to force him to confess to wrongdoing. Mr. Tang sternly refused their request. After Mr. Tang was arrested, his family members did not know his whereabouts. After many inquiries, they learned that police officers had sent him to the detention center. Without any formal legal procedures, he was sentenced to four years at Dongling Prison of Shenyang, where he suffered brutal persecution. He was beaten to the point of being covered with cuts and bruises, but never renounced his belief. Six months after he returned home in 2006, there were still visible marks on his legs.
In 1995, their son Tang Shiyu was diagnosed with heart disease and the doctor said he could only live for about six months. In 1996, after Tang Shiyu obtained Falun Dafa, he became healthier day after day. He could go to school like other children. After practicing cultivation, Tang Shiyu strictly required himself to do well. Each day he studied the Fa and did the exercises.
After Jiang's regime started the persecution of Falun Dafa in July 1999, he saw his home ransacked five times, and his father and mother arrested and sentenced to prison. Shiyu endured tremendous mental pressure and anguish, and he suffered a heart attack. On May 25, 2003, Tang Shiyu passed away when he was only 14 years old. At that time, Tang Shiyu's father was still in prison. Father and son never had a chance to see each other one last time.
The couple arrested again and tortured in prison
On the morning of September 25, 2007, a police officer from Dandong City Police Station searched Mr. Tang while he was on his way to work and then arrested him. Then with the help of Wang Kaichun, the director of Maokuishan Police Station of Zhenxing District, Cong Shulong, the assistant director, staff member from Hongfang Residential District and the security people, they forced their way into Mr. Tang's home and arrested Ms. Zhao. The police ransacked their home and took away their computer and other personal property. Mr. Tang and his wife were sent to Baifang Detention Center in Dandong City for further persecution. Every day Ms. Zhao's father went to Maokuishan Police Station and asked them to release his daughter and son-in-law, but was turned away each time.
On December 13, 2007, without notifying the family, Zhenxing District Court of Dandong City held a trial for both Mr. Tang and Ms. Zhao. When the trial began, Ms. Zhao fainted due to a heart attack. Even so, Zhenxing District Court still secretly held a trial for both of them and sentenced Ms. Zhao to 9 years and Mr. Tang to 8 years. Ms. Zhao is being detained in Liaoning Province Women's Prison, and Tang Yiqing is detained in Benxi Prison.
In Liaoning Province Women's Prison, each Falun Dafa practitioner was monitored by five to six inmates and were not allowed to speak, and if they did, they were beaten. They were only allowed to use the restroom once a day. The food that practitioners' families sent to them was either taken or thrown away by police. Ms. Zhao was often detained in the isolation cell. When practitioners were detained in that kind of cell, they were given four egg-sized buns each day with two strips of pickles. They were not allowed to drink water, to wash and brush their teeth, or to change their clothes. Each day they had five minutes to use the restroom. They had to relieve themselves in their pants if it was too late. Each day they had to sit in the corner on the cold floor assigned to them. They were not allowed to sit cross-legged or move. At night, there was no bed, only a tattered cotton sheet to cover themselves with on the floor. In the winter, it was extremely cold. In the summer it was terribly hot and stifling to endure. There were mosquitoes biting them, and their bodies were covered with itchy red dots.
During the new year period of 2009, Ms. Zhao was detained in an isolated cell by police officer Liu Jie for one month. In 2011, Ms. Zhao and another Falun Gong practitioner were reciting the Fa. Prison guard director Zhang Xiaobing saw that and sent them to the isolation cell for three months. Three months later, when they returned to their team, the prison guard arranged a public criticism meetings for Ms. Zhao.
In Liaoning Benxi Prison, since Mr. Tang did not “transform” and firmly insisted on his belief, his teeth were knocked out during a beating. Falun Gong practitioners were forced to write “guarantee statements” to renounce the practice, subjected to brainwashing, and forced to write “thought reports.” Police would beat those practitioners who did not “transform”. Some of their ribs were broken due to the beatings. Police officers would kick them and hit them with wooden sticks, wooden boards, rubber tubes, or leather belts for a long time. During the winter, police officers would strip off the practitioners' clothes, leave the windows and doors open, and then spray them with freezing water. Police officers would not allow practitioners to go to sleep for several days, with twelve people in six shifts taking turns to monitor and torture them.
The tragic suffering of Ms. Zhao's family is only the tip of the iceberg in the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners by the CCP in the past 13 years. More crimes are still unknown to the world due to the CCP's deception.