(Minghui.org) A female police officer called me one morning and told me that they wanted to take photos at my house because I'd just moved in, and they needed to confirm every household's actual address, the number of family members, each member’s workplace, and so on. She said that this applied to everyone.
I told her that I had never heard of such a thing, given that many people bought and sold houses in our community. She insisted that it was really the case, so I asked for references. She said that she could not release any references, claiming that it would violate the privacy act. I did not believe her, as a friend of mine had bought a new house after selling his old one and had not mentioned this so-called rule.
I told her I would cooperate only if it applied to everyone in the community. If, on the other hand, I was singled out because I practiced Falun Gong, I would not comply.
A Violation of Privacy
Someone pounded on my door a few days later, claiming to be from the local security office. It was a middle-aged man and then two police officers walked out from behind the stairs.
The younger officer began to take pictures with his cell phone. I told him that he was violating my privacy. When he said he was carrying out official business, my wife told him that he was violating the law. I said I would call a hotline to report him. He stopped.
I asked for their identification cards and recorded their names and badge numbers.
“You came to my home without an appointment,” I said. “It is against Article 39 of the Constitution, which says: ‘A Chinese citizen's residence is free from intrusion. It is against the law to enter citizens' homes illegally.’”
They said someone had called the other day. This confirmed my suspicion that the so-called “residence verification” was just part of the “door-knocking” campaign.
True Intent
The older officer admitted that they wanted to find out if I still practiced Falun Gong. I did not respond directly.
“The Constitution guarantees citizens freedom of belief,” I said. “Can there be anything wrong with my behaving according to Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance?
“If Falun Gong had not helped so many people improve their moral standards, humanity might have already been destroyed because of corruption and degeneration. Then we wouldn't have the good fortune to meet each other today.
“Take me, for example. I quit smoking, drinking, and gambling after I began to practice Falun Gong. I no longer fight with my wife. Don't you police wish that there were more good people?”
Quoting the Law
The older officer said that the government had banned Falun Gong. I asked him to show me the articles of the law. He could not.
I said that although the National Assembly is our supreme governing body, Jiang Zemin, the former head of the communist regime, put himself above the law. What he said was not based on facts. Over 200,000 practitioners and their family members have filed criminal complaints against him with the Supreme People's Procuratorate and the Supreme People's Court.
I reminded him that Xi Jinping abolished the forced-labor system after he came into power. Many practitioners who were persecuted regained their freedom. Many government executives changed their positions on Falun Gong after they learned the facts. I urged them to think clearly and be responsible to themselves – especially since everyone is now, by law, responsible for his or her actions throughout their lifetimes.
They shook my hand and said goodbye. I patted their shoulders and said, “I hope you will be nice to Falun Gong practitioners.”
The younger officer nodded his head.
A Police Officer Apologizes
There was a knock at my door a few days later, and I opened it to see four people standing there, one of them a policewoman.
She said, “Two officers came here the other day. They were young and not very polite. I came here to apologize for them.” I said that was not necessary, that all I wanted was for them to follow the law when they executed the law.
I was a bit unsettled after they left. After 18 years of persecution, it was most unusual for the police to apologize to a practitioner. Perhaps the police have found their conscience. Perhaps they've realized that the “knocking on doors” campaign was illegal. Perhaps the current regime wants to distance itself from Jiang and his cronies.
Perhaps the fact that Falun Gong is embraced in over a hundred countries has told them something. Perhaps Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance inspired them. Perhaps they've heard the rest of the world condemning the Chinese Communist Party's persecution of Falun Gong. Perhaps they were scared after Zhou Yongkang, Bo Xilai, Wang Lijun, Xu Caihou, Guo Boxiong, and Li Dongsheng were punished for persecuting Falun Gong.
Whatever it was, the important thing is that they seemed to understand the ramifications of continuing to persecute practitioners.
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