(Minghui.org) Today's news from China includes incidents of persecution that took place in 8 cities or counties in 5 provinces, where at least 8 practitioners were recently persecuted for their belief.

1. [Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province] Ms. Wang Jian Faces Trial
2. [Yantai City, Shandong Province] Ms. Kong Xiufang Arrested
3. [Baicheng City, Jilin Province] Practitioner Tian Arrested
4. [Luzhou City, Sichuan Province] Ms. Yang Taizhen Placed Under Residential Surveillance
5. [Changchun City, Jilin Province] Ms. Liu Yingjie Arrested
6. [Jieyang City, Guangdong Province] Ms. Jiang Biyin Sentenced to Prison
7. [Linqing City, Shandong Province] Ms. Ma Shaojie’s Prison Term Ends
8. [Chongqing] Zhao Li Arrested

1. [Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province] Ms. Wang Jian Faces Trial

Ms. Wang Jian, a communications assistant engineer for the Harbin City Railway Bureau, who has been detained for five months, will be tried by the Yilan County Court on December 23, 2022.

Ms. Wang was arrested by officers from the Railway Police Department, the Bin County Domestic Security Division, and the Shengli Street Police Station on July 11, 2022. Her laptop computer, printer, Falun Gong books, and cell phone were confiscated. She was held in the Harbin City No. 2 Detention Center.

Ms. Wang was officially placed under arrest by the Yilan County Procuratorate on July 20. The Bin County Police Department turned her case over to the procuratorate on August 26.

Her case was brought to the Yilan County Court on September 26. The court originally scheduled her trial for December 2, but it was canceled due to the pandemic. Ms. Wang recently received a notice from the court and will face trial on December 23.

Officials at the detention center have not allowed Ms. Wang’s family members to meet with her due to the pandemic.

2. [Yantai City, Shandong Province] Ms. Kong Xiufang Arrested

On December 9, 2022, several strangers broke into Ms. Kong Xiufang’s home in Xitun Village, Gaoling Town, Muping District, and arrested her. Ms. Kong’s current whereabouts are unknown.

3. [Baicheng City, Jilin Province] Practitioner Tian Arrested

Practitioner Tian was arrested on December 16, 2022. Further information is pending.

4. [Luzhou City, Sichuan Province] Ms. Yang Taizhen Placed Under Residential Surveillance

Ms. Yang Taizhen from the Naxi District was arrested by officers from the Yongning Police Station at 9 a.m. on December 16, 2022, for distributing Falun Gong truth-clarification materials. She was questioned by the Naxi District Procuratorate. She refused to sign the interrogation transcript. Ms. Yang was placed under residential surveillance by the procuratorate and has since returned home.

5. [Changchun City, Jilin Province] Ms. Liu Yingjie Arrested

Ms. Liu Yingjie was arrested by security guards at the Children’s Park when she distributed calendars with truth-clarification content. She was subsequently taken to the Minkang Road Police Station in Nanguan District.

Ms. Liu refused to cooperate with the interrogation. The officers threatened, “We will go to your child’s school and your husband’s workplace to harass them, which will adversely impact your child’s education, employment, and ability to take civil service examinations.”

Meanwhile, the police collected Ms. Liu’s identity information. They violently pulled her hair, leaving a swollen wound of two centimeters in diameter on her scalp. Her forehead was bruised and swollen. Her hands, arms, and legs were bruised. After the officers got her family’s phone numbers, they called her brother and harassed him. They ordered her child to lead them to her home.

Officers from the Nanguan District Police Department and the Mingkang Road Police Station and auxiliary officers went to her home with a blank search warrant and ransacked the place. Ms. Liu refused to answer their questions or sign the interrogation transcript. In the end, the officers told her that she was given 15 days of detention, and released her late that night.

6. [Jieyang City, Guangdong Province] Ms. Jiang Biyin Sentenced to Prison

Elderly Ms. Jiang Biyin was sentenced to six months in prison and fined 5,000 yuan by the Jiedong District Court in November 2022. Ms. Jiang has hired a lawyer to appeal the sentence.

7. [Linqing City, Shandong Province] Ms. Ma Shaojie’s Prison Term Ends

Ms. Ma Shaojie, in her 60s, was taken to the Shandong Province Women’s Prison before Chinese New Year’s day on February 12, 2021.

She was arrested on September 13, 2019, for distributing truth-clarification materials. She was sentenced to three years and three months in prison. Her sentence ended on December 16, 2022, and she has returned home.

8. [Chongqing] Zhao Li Arrested

Zhao Li was arrested by officers from the Yubei District Domestic Security Division and the Xinpaifang Police Station on July 20, 2022, for mailing truth-clarification materials. Zhao was released on bail that night.