(Minghui.org) The Chinese Constitution stipulates that citizens have the right to education. However, after the persecution of Falun Gong started in July 20, 1999, the Chinese police have threatened to bar family members and relatives of at least 156 Falun Gong practitioners from attending school, working or having their businesses closed down, if the practitioners refused to renounce their faith.
Among the 156 cases, 10 took place in 2019, 66 in 2020, 49 in 2021, 29 in 2022, and 2 in 2023. The incidents took place in 26 provinces and centrally controlled municipalities. Hubei reported the most cases of 24, followed by Hebei (20), Shandong (17), Heilongjiang (13), Liaoning (12), and Sichuan (11). The remaining 21 regions had cases between 1 and 9.
Due to strict information censorship in China, information from Yunnan, Tibet, Hainan, Zhejiang, and Shanghai could not be collected at the time of reporting.
Below are snapshots of selected cases. The full list of practitioners who were threatened can be downloaded here (PDF).
Deliberately Provoking Family Conflicts
Ms. Su Deqin in the Langfang City Development Zone, Hebei Province was arrested at home by officers from the Huanqu Police Station on September 17, 2020. She was ordered to sign statements to renounce Falun Gong.
The officers planned to take her to the police station and threatened her that if she did not go, they would handcuff her and take her away in front of her two grandchildren. They said they would also prohibit the children from going to school, so that they would hate her.
Ms. Su’s husband was frightened and begged the officers not to handcuff or take her away. Ms. Su was worried that her two little grandchildren would be traumatized, so she went to the police station.
Grandson Expelled From School
On November 9, 2021, Xie Wenquan, director of the Jiulonggang Police Station, and officers from the Datong Police Department in Huainan City, Anhui Province, went to Ms. Li Wenlan’s (who is disabled) home in Caodianzi village. They ransacked her home and confiscated her Falun Gong books.
Ms. Li and her family were repeatedly harassed. Her grandson was expelled from high school because she practices Falun Gong. Under great pressure, Ms. Li’s son smashed her tricycle. Her family environment has become tense ever since.
In 2021, the universities that one of Ms. Li’s grandchildren applied for refused to admit him/her because Ms. Li refused to give up practicing Falun Gong. Her daughter’s family hated her because of this, which put her under great pressure.
9-year-old Girl Interrogated and Threatened at Police Station
On July 26, 2022, Ms. Fan Jinqing, a Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province resident in her 70s, was arrested at a bus station for talking to people about the persecution of Falun Gong.
The police ransacked her home and returned at 11 p.m. They woke up Ms. Fan’s granddaughter who had gone to bed and claimed that they were taking her to the police station to see her grandmother. The girl went with them. But instead of allowing her to see Ms. Fan, the police took her photos and recorded a video of her. They questioned her, asking whether she also practiced Falun Gong and threatened to expel her from school if she was also a practitioner. The police interrogated the girl until 12 a.m. and then told her relative to take her home.
Officials Threatened to Close Down Supermarket
On November 25, 2020, Ms. Chen Junqing of Baoding City, Hebei Province was harassed at home. The village Party secretary called Ms. Chen and her son to the office and had her son sign the guarantee statements on her behalf. They threatened her, saying that her son would not be able to go to college or join the army in the future. She replied that if her child could not be a soldier, he would go into business since her family owned a supermarket. The officials then threatened to close down her supermarket.
“Several Generations Won’t Be Able to Attend College”
The village official, Tang Zaidong, went to the home of Ms. Song Jihong of Rushan City, Shandong Province on November 2020. With the phone video recording turned on, Tang told Ms. Song to sign a statment to renounce her faith.
“You should sign it. If you don’t, you will affect the livelihood of several generations of your family. They won’t be able to attend college or join the army,” he said.
Ms. Song refused.
Tang went to Ms. Song’s home on June 4, 2021. Seeing that her youngest daughter was at home, he told her, “You and your children will be affected if your mother doesn’t sign the documents. Your children won’t be able to attend school or join the army. Your job will also be affected. You should sign it on behalf of your mother.”
Ms. Song told her daughter, “Don’t sign it. It won’t do you any good.”
Forced to Cut Ties with Children
Ms. Liu Qunhua, 76 and of Chengguan Town, Hubei Province, was arrested by officers from the Zhuhe Town Police Station in late 2022 for talking to people about Falun Gong. She was bailed out by her son-in-law and was released on bail.
Ms. Liu’s son-in-law constantly received harassing calls from the police and was threatened with losing his job if his mother-in-law refused to sign the statement to renounce Falun Gong. Ms. Liu’s son and daughter were also harassed and threatened with losing their jobs because of their mother. Ms. Liu was pressured to write a statement to cut ties with her children.
Neighborhood Committee Officer Threatened to Send Woman to Concentration Camp
Ms. Liu Changxiu, a Chongqing resident in her early 80s, was at home on December 17, 2020 when a man broke into her place. She asked him for his name and workplace.
The man refused to answer and instead said, “You were recorded by street cameras distributing materials during the pandemic. We didn’t arrest you because you are old. As long as you sign this document, nothing will happen. If you don’t, we will send you to the Northwestern China or the concentration camp in Xinjiang. It’s freezing cold there. We will also stop your salary and medical benefits. Your children’s jobs and your grandchildren’s studies will be affected. As long as you sign this, we won’t come again.”
Ms. Liu again asked the man for his name and workplace. He finally told her that his last name is Wu and works for the neighborhood committee (she later learned that he is Wu Junping, the head of the neighborhood committee). She told him that she would not sign anything and he left.
“Your Relatives’ Children’s Studies Will be Affected”
Agents of the Changzhi City Political and Legal Affairs Committee and police department in Shanxi Province went to Ms. Liu Huanlan’s workplace in November 2020 and tried to force her to renounce her faith, but she refused. The officers threatened to bar her relatives’ children from schooling, joining the army, and working.
They went to her workplace again on December 3, 2020 and tried to deceive her into going with them but she saw through their act. That afternoon, they went to her child’s school and followed her child home to harass them.
Village Committee Officer Threatened to Bar Tenant’s Children from School
Ms. Ni Xuewen of Hengshui City, Hebei Province, was harassed many times. The village officials told Ms. Ni’s tenants to stop renting her property and said if they continued to live there, their children wouldn’t be allowed to go to school anymore.
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