(Minghui.org) Recently, I had a long chat with four police officers and government officials at a tea house. This turned out to be a good opportunity to help them understand the truth, as well as get to know a Falun Gong practitioner on a personal level.
My father called me one day, telling me that five police officers and government officials had visited him and my mother. These authorities wanted to see me, but they missed me since I work in a different city now and no longer live at home. However, my father agreed to bring them over to meet me a couple of days later.
I flatly refused to meet them. My father wouldn’t accept this, though, because these officials had been willing to travel thousands of miles to see me. Seeing how determined I was, he even asked my sister to drive him and my mother to my place overnight to persuade me.
My mind was restless the next day. I was filled with fear. I had just been released from prison for practicing Falun Gong. On the day of my release, a group of people wanted to take me from the prison to “chat.” Although they did not succeed due to my family’s resistance, these people called my parents often afterwards, causing them lot of mental stress. I remembered that my father felt dejected after every call, and our house was filled with a gloomy atmosphere.
I knew that my fear would not solve the problem. Since I had no choice, I decided to face the authorities head-on. I knew that everything was in the hands of Master.
So, as promised, my father and I went to meet a group of four officials in a tea house. Throughout our interactions, the atmosphere remained relatively relaxed.
While they did try convincing me to give up Falun Gong, I was able to take the lead in the three-hour-long conversation and was ultimately able to give them the facts of the matter in great detail.
I would like to share some excerpts of our conversation, mainly between their lead Chen and me.
Shortly after exchanging greetings, one of them asked me, “We are not your enemies, are we?” I replied with a smile, “How could you be my enemies? I don’t have enemies. Since you’re here, you are all my friends.” I truly didn’t consider them enemies. I kept a pleasant demeanor throughout our conversation.
The authorities said that the reason they came was an article that detailed the persecution I suffered. It was recently published on a website outside of China and they wanted to verify whether I wrote that article and submitted it to the website. I told them I didn’t even know about this website, much less submit any articles to it.
Then they asked me to write a guarantee letter promising three things:
“First, confirm that you didn’t write that article, and have never been on that website. This also guarantees that you won’t visit the website in the future, or publish any articles on it. Secondly, confirm that you don’t partake in anything associated with Falun Gong...”
I stopped them, “Even a prison term can’t make me give up my beliefs, so it’s impossible to make me fulfill your second request. I will not adhere to your first request either, since I didn’t do anything wrong.”
They repeatedly asked me to write the guarantee letter despite my clear refusal. I realized that this was the main goal of their trip.
Since we were going nowhere on this topic, I gave them two of my requests: First, I demand that the district court and the city intermediate court revoke my verdict and acquit me. Secondly, I demand to be compensated. I asked them to relay my two requests to their superiors.
When they mentioned the Tiananmen Square self-immolation incident, I told them that it was staged. Chen immediately laughed at me. I couldn’t believe that after so many years, not even someone working with the authorities knew the truth.
I explained that the International Organization for Educational Development of the United Nations publicly pointed out in front of the Chinese delegation that the Tiananmen self-immolation was a hoax directed by the Chinese Communist Party. The Chinese delegation did not refute the accusation.
I also pointed out that it was highly unlikely for Wang Jindong, one of the alleged self-immolators, to have his winter clothes and pants burnt to a crisp while the plastic Sprite bottle between his legs was still intact. His hair and eyebrows were also untouched.
Chen scowled but didn’t say anything to the contrary. They then changed the topic.
They asked me why I persevere in practicing Falun Gong. I told them that Falun Gong is good, and I benefit from it. I described how my health and character improved after the practice, highlighting the fact that I had never embezzled a single penny during the years when I had been in charge of hundreds of millions of dollars of company assets.
The authorities agreed that I was a good person. But then they thought it had nothing to do with Falun Gong since many other people were good people too, like my parents and themselves.
I said to them, “I know you are all very kind and can hold up your character. But for me, it was all because I practiced Falun Gong that I was able to be good. It would have been impossible for me to be persistent for decades without the discipline of faith.”
They emphasized that practicing Falun Gong was illegal now and asked me to stop. I clarified to them, “There is no law in China that prohibits people from practicing Falun Gong, and Falun Gong has always been legal in China. Many lawyers in China have defended Falun Gong practitioners during the past decade, such as that renowned lawyer in our province, who has been defending Falun Gong practitioners since 2015.”
Chen asked, “Has he ever won a case?”
I said no, but added, “But that doesn’t mean he won’t tomorrow! I have great faith in him.”
They remained silent.
I told them that I have been constantly harassed after I was released from prison. In fact, on the day after I returned home, the staff members from the local residential community came to harass and videotape me. I was stopped at the train station while on my way to my hometown and my luggage was arbitrarily searched.
I also asked them to stop calling my father as it was a source of mental stress to him. They pointed out, “We’re always friendly to him. You can check with him.”
“He did tell me that your attitude was good towards him,” I said. “But the purpose of you phone calls was enough to stress him out. He is too old to bear that pressure.”
When we talked about our personal lives, they asked me why I remained single since I was good-looking. I responded that I didn’t want to have another person who’d have to live in fear for my safety.
They were surprised at my answer, looking at each other. One person said, “She’s smart.” I told them, “I knew exactly how brutal the persecution of Falun Gong is in China. Since I chose this path, which is not easy, why should I bring another person in just to worry about me?”
Before they left, they told me that they had a good chat with me and would like to stay in touch. I responded that I would always welcome them as friends, but not for anything “work” related.
“I believe my parents also wanted me to become a person of high moral character,” I began, “and I persist in practicing Falun Gong because I have benefited from it. To give an example, let’s say that I was your friend, and you helped me when I was in trouble. But one day you were framed and everyone around you said that you did something bad. In that case, do you want me to lie about you to save myself, like everyone else, or do you want me to tell the truth?”
“Even though I would suffer consequences, I think you must want me to tell the truth,” I continued. “As for me, to pay back your debt of friendship, I must also speak out. We have a saying in China, don’t we? ‘When you receive a drop of kindness, you should repay it with a spring.’ This is the baseline of human morality.”
As I was talking, I saw the complicated expression on Chen’s face. I could feel that he was shocked, which I didn’t expect. Then he said to me, “You may go now.”
I was surprised to hear this, as I had told them several times before that I needed to rush back to work, but they all wanted me to stay.
So I said, “Sure! I’ll take my leave then.”
Chen cracked a smile.
“You don’t sound determined!” he said. “Be loud about it, and say, ‘I’m leaving!’ And then step out the door without looking back.”
I was astonished and said louder and more firmly, “I’m leaving!”
“No, that’s not firm enough! Like you really mean it!”
I said in a more aggressive tone, “I’m leaving!”
“Very well,” he said, satisfied.
He asked his subordinates to see me to the door of the tea house.
Although I have been in prison for a few years, I have no hatred for the law enforcement officials who put me there. Instead, I feel sorry for them.
I remember Officer Lin, who brought a dozen of people to my house to arrest me and raid my belongings. He and another officer carried me by my arms downstairs from my home, while I shouted “Falun Dafa is good!”
However, when I caught a glimpse of his face, I saw he was quivering and his features were distorted. At the police station, I told him that Falun Gong was legal and that there was no longer a statute of limitations for civil servants mishandling cases.
The next time, he came to see me alone. He told me while sobbing that he did not want to arrest me and that it was truly against his will that he had to. He gave me the name of the person who gave the order. He also said that he admired my character and wanted to have a friend like me, but he was afraid that his superiors would learn that he befriended a Falun Gong practitioner.
After I was released from prison, I went to see him to retrieve my confiscated belongings. He kept defending his actions and repeated that his colleague ordered him to arrest me.
I realized that these law enforcement officials might feel miserable because they have to persecute good people just to keep their jobs. They are in the most pitiable position, as they have to pay for their sins in the future.
As to why Chen was shocked to hear what I said to him in the last part of our conversation, I imagine that too few people around him are still trustworthy. After all, who wouldn’t enjoy being surrounded by people of good character?
My father, who attended the conversation with Chen, changed his attitude toward me after that meeting. He no longer nags or stops me from doing Dafa work.