(Minghui.org) A Taiwan resident’s father has been denied family visitation, while serving a 3.5-year term in mainland China for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Mr. Bai Xuesong, of Anshan City, Liaoning Province, was arrested on January 20, 2021 and convicted on September 29, 2022. He was transferred to the Dalian City Prison in Liaoning Province on April 25, 2023 and is currently held in the fifth ward.
Mr. Bai’s only daughter, Ms. Bai Zongyue, told Minghui.org that before her father’s prison admission, he had already suffered severe persecution at the Anshan City No. 2 Detention Center, resulting in a weight loss of 20-25 kg (44-55 lbs) and an unsteady gait. As the Dalian City Prison is notorious in torturing Falun Gong practitioners, Ms. Bai is very worried about her father’s wellbeing.
Ms. Bai added, “In my mind, the law enforcement personnel should arrest criminals and ensure public safety and peace. But now they framed and jailed an innocent person who just wanted to practice his faith.”
Ms. Bai and her father
Becoming a Better Person by Practicing Falun Gong
Ms. Bai said that her father relinquished many bad habits and enjoyed good health after taking up Falun Gong in 1993.
“Qigong was very popular at that time. A friend of my grandfather’s gave my father a copy of Zhuan Falun (the main teaching of Falun Gong). He read it and became interested. The next morning he rode his bike to the park to look for a practice site. After he started to practice Falun Gong, he quit many bad habits, such as smoking, drinking and gambling. His friends and colleagues also said he became a different person.” Ms. Bai recalled.
Shortly after, Mr. Bai’s chronic enteritis disappeared and he never had to take any medication again.
“My father later found a job at a local securities firm. One of his colleagues once said to my mother, ‘your husband always gave up good career advancement opportunities so others could have them, but he never shunned away from helping his colleagues when they encountered difficulties.’ When my mother once went to his company, his manager and colleagues all said to her, ‘You are so lucky in marrying such a kind person.” Ms. Bai said.
Persecuted for Upholding His Faith
After the Chinese communist regime started the persecution of Falun Gong in July 1999, Mr. Bai went to Beijing in late December that year to appeal for the right to practice his faith and was arrested. He was later taken back to Anshan by his local police and held in the Haicheng City Detention Center.
Ms. Bai was only two years old at the time. “I can still remember the moment when my mother took me to the detention center to visit my father. We were separated by the glass and I only knew how to call ‘Dad’ to the phone.”
Mr. Bai was detained for 40 days, during which time he endured brutal torture. After his family petitioned relevant agencies and spent 70,000 yuan entertaining decision-makers in his case, he was finally released.
According to Ms. Bai, because her father’s ID was flagged, it was almost impossible for him to find a job, leaving the family in a dire financial situation. In 2009, he moved to Qinhuangdao City, Hebei Province to seek help from a relative. As Qinhuangdao is a coastal city and has many tourists, he ran a homestay business there and had decent income.
But the family’s peaceful life didn’t last very long. In April 2013, when Mr. Bai went to pick up a tenant, he was stopped by the police and had his bag searched. He was arrested again when the police found a Falun Gong booklet in his bag. At the Bataling Police Station, several officers beat him with a thick wood stick and held him in a metal cage. He was taken to the Qinhuangdao City Lockup on the next day. He held a hunger strike to protest the persecution. With his family’s strong effort to rescue him, he was released five days later.
Torture illustration: metal cage
Mr. Bai drove his wife, daughter, and parents to Qinhuangdao in the summer of 2014. As soon as he unloaded his luggage at home and was about to go to work, he was arrested by several dozens of officers on the lookout. They took him to the Bataling Police Station, snatched his car key and drove his car back to his home for a raid. He wasn’t released until midnight.
In 2015, Ms. Bai went to Taiwan to attend college. She stayed there during the summer 2016 for an internship. During the time, her mother travelled there to stay with her. “In late July, my father called me and wished me a Happy Birthday. But I didn’t expect that he would be arrested soon after and it was only after one year and a half that I heard his voice again.” said Ms. Bai.
According to information collected by Minghui.org, Mr. Bai was arrested on August 3, 2016 while buying things for another Falun Gong practitioner’s two daughters, who had lost their father to the persecution for his shared faith. Mr. Bai was sentenced to one year and eight months by the Lulong Court on October 10, 2017.
When Mr. Bai was helped by his family walking out of the Lulong County Detention Center on April 1, 2018 at the end of his term, he was emaciated (weighing less 110 lbs) and limped. It took him a long time to recover.
Ms. Bai recalled, because of Mr. Bai’s faith in Falun Gong, he was arrested and harassed at least six times since the persecution began. His latest arrest was on January 20, 2021, when he gave a ride to an older female practitioner to visit another practitioner in Anshan. The police on the lookout arrested him as soon as they arrived at that practitioner’s home.
Mr. Bai protested to the police and said that he didn’t violate any law. The police responded, “I will release you if you curse Li Hongzhi (the founder of Falun Gong).”
Mr. Bai later wrote in a complaint against the police, “What happened to the world? The police ordered me to curse people, or they would detain me. Aren’t the police supposed to arrest bad people?”
Sentenced to Prison
Mr. Bai was interrogated that night at the Fanrong Police Station. Wu Chunsong, the deputy chief, held him in a metal chair and kept slapping him in the face. Wu also hit his head with a coke bottle full of water. When Wu became tired, he ordered another officer in his 20s to beat Mr. Bai. A third officer Zhang Jian dragged Mr. Bai into the bathroom the next day and hit his head with a hard object. Mr. Bai was later taken to the Anshan City No. 2 Detention Center and sentenced to prison on September 29, 2022.
It wasn’t until March 30, 2023 that his family were allowed to see him for the first time, over two years after his arrest. They said he was emaciated and had lost at least 50 lbs.
Without his family’s knowledge, Mr. Bai was transferred to the Nanguanling Prison on April 10 and then the Dalian City Prison 15 days later.
Mr. Bai’s family filed an appeal on his behalf with the Anshan City Intermediate Court on April 14, 2023. They demanded that the judge uphold justice and acquit him, but to no avail.
Denied Visitation by the Dalian City Prison
In the past 24 years, Liaoning Province has been one of the top regions with the most severe persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. Countless practitioners were arrested and tortured. Many lost their lives as a result.
The gate of Dalian City Prison
Mr. Bai’s family traveled more than 160 miles from Anshan to Dalian on May 8, 2023 but was denied a visit with him. They called various departments of the prison to request the visitation, but to no avail. The family made another trip to the prison on May 23 and still weren’t allowed to see him. A prison guard emphasized that Mr. Wu wouldn’t be allowed any family visits, unless he renounced Falun Gong.
The prison called Mr. Bai’s mother in early June, alleging that their decision to deny his family visitation and correspondence was based on the “Interim Measures for the Management of Prisons’ Classified Treatment in Liaoning Province” issued on April 20, 2022.
Ms. Bai said, “I hope the international community and those who care about human rights can help us. I call for the Chinese Communist Party to immediately release my father Bai Xuesong.”
She added that by sharing her family’s story, she hopes to let more people know about Falun Gong, how it benefits its practitioners and their families, and how the communist regime has been persecuting them. “Such a great practice should be encouraged and celebrated, instead of being suppressed. I hope every innocent person who is currently incarcerated can be released soon and reunite with their family.”
Related Reports:
Liaoning Man Sentenced to 3.5 Years, Denied Family Visits in Prison
Liaoning Man Scheduled to Make Third Court Appearance for His Faith
Police Interrogate Liaoning Man and Harass His Family for His Faith in Falun Gong
Three Practitioners in Qinhuangdao City Arrested and Detained
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