(Minghui.org)

Name: Zhang FengxianChinese Name: 张凤仙Gender: FemaleAge: 80City: ChengduProvince: SichuanOccupation: Former food factory workerDate of Death: December 18, 2025Date of Most Recent Arrest: November 29, 2025Most Recent Place of Detention: Chengdu City Detention Center

Ms. Zhang Fengxian’s heart had already stopped beating when she was taken to the hospital on December 18, 2025 for resuscitation. The 80-year-old resident of Chengdu City, Sichuan Province died only 19 days after being arrested for her faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

Ms. Zhang was seized at home by officers from the Funanxinqu Police Station on November 29, 2025. She was first taken to the Qingyang District Police Department, and transferred to the Chengdu City Detention Center in Pi County in the evening, for criminal detention. The police had intended to submit her case to the Procuratorate, with the charge of “undermining law enforcement with a cult organization,” the standard pretext used to frame Falun Gong practitioners in China.

It’s not clear what abuses Ms. Zhang suffered in custody which led to her death.

Ms. Zhang, born in January 1945, used to work at the Yaohua Food Factory. She began practicing Falun Gong in 1996, and soon recovered from nephroptosis, gastritis, and rheumatism. She remained healthy since, with no pre-existing conditions, before her death.

After the persecution started in 1999, local police and residential committee staffers kept harassing Ms. Zhang, and ordered her to write statements renouncing Falun Gong. They also forced her family to monitor her and prevent her from engaging in any Falun Gong-related activities. Her husband divorced her as a result. Her phone was also tapped. Her neighbors and friends stayed away from her to avoid being implicated.

Ms. Zhang was followed by Caotang Police Station officers on March 8, 2007, when she went out to talk to people about Falun Gong. The police raided her home in the afternoon and confiscated her Falun Gong books and a photo of Falun Gong’s founder. She was held at the Chengdu City Lockup for 15 days.

Ms. Zhang was arrested again in February 2010, also for talking to people about Falun Gong. Many of her personal belongings were confiscated and she was held at the police station for five hours.