(Minghui.org) My name is Wang Xingmei. I am 64 years old, and I live in Wazhuang Village, Rizhuang Township, Laixi City, Shandong Province. Many years ago, after my youngest son killed himself, I was desperate and did not want to live anymore. My family lived in misery. I gained new hope after I began to practice Falun Gong. My family was very happy to see how I changed.
Since the persecution of Falun Gong began on July 20 , 1999, because I remained faithful to my belief, I have been sentenced to one year of forced labor, subjected to brainwashing twice, detained four times, and I've been incarcerated 14 times. My house has been ransacked numerous times, my personal freedom has been violated, and I have been threatened, had funds extorted from me, and my family’s phone has been tapped. I hope that after reading what my family and I have gone through, people will better understand the evil nature of the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
My family is blessed after tragedy
I learned Falun Gong on September 9, 1996. It was the happiest day of my life. Before I started to practice, I almost lost the chance to cultivate after a tragedy struck my family,
I had two sons. My eldest son was married, and my second son was 22. We were working hard, building our house in 1996, and I was exhausted. After coming home from his night shift work on the fourth day in the third month of the Chinese lunar calendar, my second son helped me work on the house and was consequently late for work the next day. Because I was so tired, I lost my temper and took it out on him. Unable to understand why I would treat him and verbally abuse him like that, my second son killed himself. It seemed to me that the sky had fallen down after my son was gone, and I collapsed. I lost my desire to live, punished myself, and attempted to kill myself, too. My husband had to stay home with me to look after me, and my eldest son and daughter-in-law also stayed home to take care of me. I refused to eat or drink anything. Worrying about me, as well as grieving over our second son, my husband sought to forget by drinking. My son and daughter-in-law did not know how to save our broken family. Soon after, I began to suffer from various illnesses such as hepatitis, nephritis, migraine, back pain, rhinitis, and stomach problems. I also lost a dramatic amount of weight, dropping from 120 Jin (about 132 lb) down to 87 Jin (about 95 lb).
In the afternoon on September 9, 1996, my husband asked me to take a walk, so I went out with our granddaughter. Passing by a day-care center, I saw a teacher there was reading Zhuan Falun. She let me hold the book, so I opened it and saw Master’s portrait. Immediately I said, “This Buddha portrait is so beautiful!” I saw that Master moved his eyes and was smiling at me. I told myself that I had been waiting for this for so many years and had finally found it. At that moment, a feeling of warmth flowed over my entire body, and all of a sudden, I felt wonderful. The feeling of overwhelming misery left me.
My husband was thrilled when I told him that I wanted to practice Falun Gong that day. My family had not seen me smile ever since my second son passed away. Delighted, my husband cooked dinner for our family to celebrate together. They were elated to see the change in me.
When I got up the next morning, I found out that all my illnesses had miraculously been healed. I could feel the magnificent power of Dafa. From that day on, I was healthy, and I also gained back the weight I had lost. Master had cured all the illnesses for me and helped me to obtain a new life. Master also saved my entire family. I told my daughter-in-law, “You can go to work with peace of mind now. From now on, you no longer need to worry about me.”
The CCP began to persecute Falun Gong
The persecution of Falun Gong began in July 1999. I went with two other practitioners to the provincial government office in Jinan City, Shandong Province, to appeal for Dafa, but I was arrested and detained in a school building where all the practitioners from different parts of Shandong Province were detained. The loudspeakers broadcast slander about Master and Falun Gong.
Crying, we selected a few practitioners to go talk to the guards. Our goal was to get them to stop slandering Master and Dafa and to release all practitioners. We also demanded to have an unrestrained environment so we could openly cultivate. We told the guards that the persecution was wrong. The guards replied that they did not have the power to release us, so we began to recite Zhuan Falun loudly. The guards enlisted police officers, and together they pulled us apart by grabbing our hair to drag us outside. They also kicked and punched us.
I was incarcerated in Laixi City Detention Center for seven days. Over a dozen of us were locked up in a small cell. The window of the cell was covered with wooden boards on the outside. It was so dark in the small cell that we could not see anything. The air was so congested that we were all sweating and found it hard to breathe. The guards ordered us to write guarantee statements to stop practicing Falun Gong. While I was incarcerated, police officer Liu Yongtao ransacked my house without a search warrant.
Not long after July 20, 1999, the deputy village head came to my house and told us that a reporter from the TV station in Qingdao City (the big city in Shandong Province) was coming to interview me. I told him, “If they want to ask me about how great Dafa is, I welcome them, but if they slander Dafa and Master, I won’t allow them to enter my house.” As we spoke, my husband rushed outside, so I followed him. We saw over a dozen people standing on the street waiting: there were government officials, and a photographer with a video camera ready to videotape. My husband, who was not a practitioner, asked, “Why are you here? When my wife was sick and bedridden, none of you came to see her and comfort her. After practicing Falun Gong, she hasn’t taken single pill or medicine. The Master of Dafa gave her her life back. Who in our village doesn’t know about this? You persecuted her, locked her up, and ransacked our house. You’re not even human beings anymore. Go away!” Without saying a word, they all left.
Traveling to Beijing to appeal for Dafa
I took the train to Beijing on September 20, 1999, to appeal for Dafa, but when the train stopped at Weifang before arriving in Beijing, I was arrested, brought back, and detained in Laixi City Detention Center. Later, police officer Liu Yong took me to Rizhuang Town and put me in a small, run-down room in the back of the township complex. He tried to force me to give up my faith. To protest the persecution, I went on a hunger strike.
I began traveling to Beijing again on October 23, 1999, to appeal for Dafa. This time I successfully arrived in Beijing, but was arrested in the end. The evildoers took the over 6,000 yuan in cash that I carried with me. Later I was brought back to Laixi City by officer Zhang Luning. I was once again held in the detention center for five days. On our way back to Laixi from Beijing, Zhang Luning tried to extort money from the practitioners he escorted, but none of us gave him anything.
Practitioner Ms. Yang Li recited Master’s lectures. One of the officers grabbed her by her hair and dragged her down to the floor. They then stepped on her head and kept swearing. Afterward, they shoved us all outside and forced us to stand without moving for an extended period of time. They kicked us on our knees while we stood there until they were exhausted.
Later, Liu Yongtao and Zhang Zhenhua, head of Rizhuang Township Political and Legal Affairs Committee, brought me back to Rizhuang Township Police Station and locked me up in the same run-down room along with the other practitioners who were brought back from Beijing. On freezing cold winter days, we were not given anything to eat. In the evenings, we slept on the cold cement floor. The vicious officers sexually harassed female practitioners in the evenings. They watched us and tried to force us to write guarantee statements to stop practicing Falun Gong. Eight days later, Liu Yongtao took me to Laixi City Detention Center and detained me there for ten days. I was locked up with prostitutes and forced to pay 15 yuan a day for “room and board expenses.”
Liu Yongtao and four other officers arrested me in my house again in December 1999, and locked me up in the police station. My family pointed out that what they were doing was illegal and were able to bring me home later.
I went to Beijing again in March 2000. This time, I was arrested at the Beijing Appeals Office and locked up in the Laixi Liaison Office in Beijing. Officer Liu Guanhong shackled me to a chair with handcuffs in the evenings. During the day, he tied me up to the heating pipes in a half squatting position so that I could neither stand up straight nor completely sit down. Later, officer Zhang Kangqi from the Rizhuang Police Station put me on the train heading back to Rizhuang and then held me in Rizhuang Police Station where I was tortured. A few of them stripped off my clothes, searched me, and took away the 120 yuan in cash that I had on me. They then dragged me out to the street and tied me up to an electrical pole. They forced my family to pay them and scolded and humiliated me with profanity. One officer wearing heavy leather shoes kicked me. I was tortured for seven days in the police station. Afterward, Liu Yongtao transported me to the detention center and detained me for ten days.
Before July 20, 2000, I told my husband that I had to go to Beijing again. I was heartbroken at home; Master was being slandered, and Falun Gong practitioners were persecuted: I had to go to Beijing to let all kindhearted people to know about the persecution. My husband sold 500 Jin of wheat for 0.47 yuan per Jin (had he waited for two more months, he could have sold the wheat for 0.70 yuan per Jin). He knew how I felt and that it was Master who had saved me and given me a new life. Validating the Fa was my most important task. Taking the money that he had made by selling the wheat (he did not keep a single penny), I wept. With tears in his eyes, he told me, “Go now. Take good care of yourself.”
Her arms around my neck, my granddaughter would not let me go. She cried, “Grandma, I’m afraid. Last time you went to Beijing to validate the Fa, officer Tian Wenbo and village security head Wang Fucui took 3,200 yuan from the village government, then went to Beijing to arrest you. A week later, they had spent all the money, but still couldn’t find you. One evening, a person named Shen Tao, called to threaten us. He said that, if they found you, they would break your legs. He also cursed. I know that Grandma is going to Beijing to validate the Fa, but I’m afraid.” Freeing our granddaughter from me, my husband told her, “Master is being slandered; Dafa disciples are being persecuted. Let Grandma go.” Finally letting go, my granddaughter continued crying, “Grandma, please take good care of yourself. I wish you a safe return. I will look for you every day.” I left my house and arrived at the train station. When I checked in, an officer took my ticket and asked why I was going to Beijing. I told him firmly, “You don’t have the right to ask me what I was going to do in Beijing.” He snarled, “If you don’t tell me, you can’t go.” I replied, “I must go today. If I fail to carry out this important task because of you, you’ll be the one who has to bear the responsibility.” He was completely shocked. When the train arrived, he handed me back my ticket, tapped me on my shoulder, and said, “Sorry.” I arrived in Beijing safe and sound.
We were arrested in Beijing after some spies reported us. The police kicked and beat us and then dragged us onto police vehicles. I was taken to a remote area where more than a dozen undercover officers threatened me and demanded to know where I was from. At midnight, a person came in and viciously shouted at me while banging on the table. After that, Shen Tao and Li Maosheng from Laixi City Liaison Office in Beijing took me to their complex in where about seven or eight practitioners had been incarcerated. Shen Tao and Li Maosheng kicked us, then they repeatedly struck practitioner Li Delong’s face with a leather shoe. When they got tired, they tied Li Delong up behind the door with handcuffs. The next day, Shen Tao struck practitioner Ding Yuzhi whose chest turned black and blue after being hit. In the afternoon, Wang Tao hit practitioner Zheng Hongfen.
Liu Yongtao took advantage of our situation and extorted 3,000 yuan from our village office so he could spend it on his trip to Beijing. He even took his son with him to Beijing! Those evildoing officers even took my last 30 yuan. I asked them, “I worked hard to earn that money. Don’t you feel guilty about taking away my hard-earned money?” After they returned from their trip, they took us back to Laixi City Detention Center to detain us for 15 days. My husband told me after I was released, “Several evildoers came to extort money from me, but I refused to give anything. They planned to take our cow, but I picked up a shovel to prevent them, so they left empty handed.”
Liu Yongtao often came to my house to harass my family after July 20, 1999. He monitored my house and frequently called our home phone in the middle of the night. If I went to my son’s house in the city, he would follow me all the way there. Once, I took my granddaughter to my son’s house with a bag of sweet potatoes in the fall of 2000. At the bus stop, officer Tian Wenbo showed up with a few other officers. While talking on the phone, he told the other officers to snatch my bag. They took Dafa books, and ripped my bag. Many people were watching. Ignoring the onlookers, Tian Wenbo dragged my granddaughter and me into the police vehicle. Terrified, my granddaughter cried out. They locked us up in the police station. Liu Yongtao took the bag of sweet potatoes. About 24 hours later, my family came to the police station to demand our release. My family said that if they did not release us, their illegal conduct would be made public. Afraid of being exposed, they finally let us go.
However, one day soon afterward, while we were working in our field, those thugs broke into our home once again and stole Master’s portrait and Dafa books after ransacking our house.
Locked up in the brainwashing center
The head of the police station, Liu Hongzhai, came to my house with several other evildoers from the local government in March 2001. They attempted to force me to denounce my faith once again. When I told them about the miracles that happened to me after I practiced Falun Gong, they would not listen. Liu Hongzhai sent someone to my house the next morning and told me that the village Party head wanted to talk to me for only half an hour. I knew that they were lying to me, so I refused to go. My husband told me to go because I could use the opportunity to clear up things. As soon as I was near their office, a dozen people, headed by Liu Hongzhai, rushed towards me. Grabbing my arms, they shoved me into a police vehicle.
They took me to Laixi City 610 Office. After dragging me out of the car, they carried me up to the second floor. My pants were torn, my shirt buttons were ripped off, and my arms began swelling. Three people watched me around the clock, even when I went to use the toilet. I went on a hunger strike to protest the illegal arrest. Wang Shouhua from the 610 Office and Shao Jun from Political Security Section instigated over a dozen people to attack me every day. When their efforts were futile, Wang Shouhua and Shao Jun gathered over a dozen people, among whom were police officers and government officials, to attack me. Shao Jun read letters written by collaborators. I then loudly recited Master’s new lecture, “Coercion Cannot Change People’s Hearts.” Afterward, they gathered over a dozen “transformed” former practitioners from Qingdao Forced Labor Camp to brainwash me. I pointed out their wrongdoings to the evil path takers. After their efforts failed, they then switched to being kind and cajoling to try and "transform" me. They brought in my son. Seeing I was in such poor condition from being tortured, my son wept. I told him, “Go home, Son. Please don’t cry. Your mother will soon walk out of here with dignity.”
The next day marked the 13th day of my hunger strike. Under Master’s protection, and with righteous thoughts, I left the brainwashing center. With fellow practitioners’ help, I stayed in a secure location doing what I should. The evildoers from the brainwashing center could not find me. Taking my picture, they searched for me everywhere. From then on, I could not return home.
On the day I was arrested, my husband went to the village office to look for me that evening, but did not see me anywhere. He asked village Party head Wang Fuhao where I was. Angrily he told Wang, “You persecute good people. Aren’t you afraid of being punished some day? You know that Falun Gong practitioners are good people, but you dare not tell the truth to anyone. Instead, you choose to carry out the regime's orders against your own conscience because you’re afraid of losing your position, even if it means assisting the bad people and committing crimes to persecute a good person. If Xingmei doesn’t come home anytime soon, I won’t let you spend a single day in peace.” Bringing along our seven-year-old granddaughter, my husband went to Wang Fuhao every day to demand my return. Whenever they had Party committee meetings, my husband would take my granddaughter there to expose their vicious deeds.
Sentenced to forced labor
As soon as I returned home in the summer of in 2001, Shen Tao, and Liu Hongzhai came to our home with a gang of thugs. They ransacked our house, and took away my Dafa materials and other personal belongings.
They took me to the Laixi Police Station. I refused to collaborate with them when Shen Tao demanded to register my name. He then wrote down my name himself. I snatched the form from him and tore it into pieces. After that, a few officers came to put handcuffs on me, and I was locked up for 60 hours. Afterward, I was taken to the detention center, where I went on a hunger strike. With Master’s merciful strengthening, I was able to leave that place in seven days.
Liu Hongzhai once again broke into our house with his gang before dawn on August 6. They dragged me out of bed. An officer restrained my husband so that he could not help me. Wearing only my underpants and a shirt, I was shoved into a police vehicle. After letting go of my husband, the officers ran to the vehicle and drove me to the 610 Office, where the head, Yu Ruichen, ordered the guards to put me in handcuffs. Afterward, they escorted me to the forced labor camp to try to "transform" me. On our way to the labor camp, Wang Shouhua verbally abused and insulted me. As soon as I was dragged into the labor camp, an evildoer came and hit my face. I was then locked up in a small cell, where I was prohibited from sitting or moving. The guards verbally abused me and slandered Master and Dafa. Refusing to listen to them, I walked towards the door, but they dragged me back. Every day, they tortured me by forcing me to sit on a small stool without moving. They also deprived me of sleep. Over a dozen people took turns brainwashing me. Suffering from torture for an extended period of time, I could not study the Fa, and hence my thoughts failed to be righteous. All those factors coupled with lack of sleep, and my thoughts became disoriented. Eventually, under the pressure, I signed my name on the guarantee statement, which put a stain on my cultivation path. However, instead of abandoning me, Master saved my life once again.
Police and government officials conspire to do evil
Four people broke into my house in July 2007. They asked my husband where I was. He replied, “Why do you want to know where she is? Get out!” Two of them restrained my husband while the other two rushed into our house, snatched Master’s portrait, and ran out. Breaking free from the two who were holding him, my husband began to chase them, but they got into their car and escaped. My husband saw deputy village security head Wang Xusheng inside the car.
I posted truth-clarifying banners along the main road on the west side of the village on the evening of May 11, 2011. Deputy head of Rizhuang Township Police Station,Geng Bingsheng and officers Sun Ronggui and Li Shihua arrested me and took me to the police station. They tried to photograph me with handcuffs on, but I refused to comply. My arms were swollen since they squeezed them so tightly. Then they dragged me into a room and slammed my head against the wall. One of them grabbed my shoulders, and the other one held my mouth to take my photograph. The back of my head was bleeding. I was handcuffed to the heating pipes the entire evening. The next day, Geng Bingsheng, Sun Ronggui, and Li Shihua took me to the Township Government building and tried to take my photo next to an electrical pole with truth-clarifying banners. That afternoon, they took me to Laixi City Hospital to have a physical. My blood pressure was 260 over 120. One doctor said it was too high, but I was still held in the detention center for 15 days. They extorted over 630 yuan from me.
Village security head Wang Fucui came to my house with Geng Bingsheng, Li Shihua, and another person in the morning on May 12 and ransacked it. Wang held my husband at the door. They took my copy of Zhuan Falun, DVDs, banners, and many other personal belongings.
During lunch time, my husband went to Wang Fuhao’s house. He said, “You and your gang have persecuted my wife for so many years.” Wang Fuhao hid inside his house. My husband then went to Wang Fucui’s house. Wang Fucui and his wife hit my husband, chasing him out of their house, and continued beating him on the street. Seeing my husband being abused, some villagers were very upset.
Parties involved in the persecution
Shen Tao, Laixi City Liaison Office in Beijing: +86-13793229166, +86-532-2067030, +86-532-8483613, ext. 7387
Shao Jun, Political Security Section: +86-13708960338, +86-532-8461499 (Home)
Liu Hongzhai, head of Rizhuang Township Police Station: +86-13806425899, +86-532-8463850 (Home)
Liu Yongtao, officer from Rizhuang Township Police Station: +86-13335030766, +86-532-8467118 (Home)
Liu Guanghong, officer from Rizhuang Township Police Station: +86-13969827568, +86-532-8480776 (Home)
Laixi City Political and Judiciary Committee office: +86-532-8405597
Wang Shouhua, head of Laixi City 610 Office: +86-13963970187, +86-532-8405586 (Home)