Reported in February 2025: Eight Falun Gong Practitioners Die as a Result of Persecution
(Minghui.org) The cases of eight Falun Gong practitioners who lost their lives due to the persecution were reported in February 2025.
The eight newly-reported deaths include one that took place in 2023, four in 2024, and three in 2025. The deceased six women and two men, aged between 60 and 74, came from four provinces. Shandong had four cases, followed by Hebei (two cases) and Heilongjiang and Guangdong (one each). Due to the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) strict information censorship, the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners cannot always be reported on time, nor is all the information readily available.
The eight cases are representative of the physical, emotional, and financial suffering that the Falun Gong community has endured during the 26 year-long persecution.
One man from Hebei died in prison, while serving a 13-year term for practicing Falun Gong. A Shandong woman passed away two weeks after she was released from prison in serious condition. Her health rapidly deteriorated only four months after she was sent to prison. Another woman in Guangdong was denied medical parole after she developed uterine cancer while imprisoned, and she died two years after she was released.
Other than physical torture in prison, two of the practitioners were once held in psychiatric hospitals and subjected to involuntary drug administration, a common tactic used to persecute practitioners.
A man in Hebei was dealt a hard blow when the authorities stripped him of his pension in 2022. He had a stroke not long after and died two years later.
In addition to the practitioners’ own suffering, one woman lost three family members due to the persecution before she passed away.
Below is a brief summary of the eight death cases. The list of the deceased practitioners can be downloaded here (PDF).
Died in Custody
67-Year-Old Hebei Man Dies While Serving 13 Years for His Faith in Falun Gong
Mr. Zuo Hongtao, of Qinhuangdao City, Hebei Province, died on August 6, 2024, while serving a 13-year prison term for practicing Falun Gong. He was 67 years old.
Mr. Zuo was arrested on June 9, 2017, and sentenced to prison in January 2018. He was later admitted to Division 19 of Baoding Prison. He became critically ill on July 19, 2024, and was rushed to a hospital for emergency care. After he was discharged he was taken back to prison, where he died on August 6. The prison did not allow his family to see his body, and cremated it without their consent.
Deaths After Prison Release
Ms. Lin Jianping, of Qixia City, Shandong Province, was taken back into custody in mid-October 2024 to serve the three-year prison term she was sentenced to in March 2023 for practicing Falun Gong. She was abused in prison and in serious condition. The prison authorities released her on medical parole on January 30, 2025, and she died on February 13. She was 63.
Ms. Lin Jianping
Ms. Lin’s death capped her decades of suffering at the hands of the CCP because she upheld her faith. She was arrested on September 26, 2004, and given three years of forced labor. After her term expired, she was taken straight to prison to serve a three-year term without due process. She was brutally tortured while she was incarcerated.
After another arrest on February 6, 2022, Ms. Lin was put on house arrest and released on the same day. She was sentenced to another three years with a 5,000-yuan fine on March 29, 2023. Her appeal was rejected by the Yantai City Intermediate Court. She was not immediately jailed due to health reasons.
The police pried open Ms. Lin’s door in September 2024 and took her to a hospital for a physical examination. She was still deemed unfit for detention and sent home. Around mid-October 2024, the police tried again and managed to have her admitted to the Shandong Province Women’s Prison located in the capital city of Jinan.
Due to the abuse she was subjected to in prison, Ms. Li was in serious condition, disoriented, and confused. The prison notified her family on January 30, 2025 (the second day of the Chinese New Year) to pick her up. Her family drove her straight to a hospital for emergency treatment. She died at 2 a.m. on February 13, 2025. It’s not clear whether she died in the hospital or at home.
Drugged and Tortured in Prison, 74-Year-Old Woman Dies Less Than Two Years After Being Released
Ms. Wang Yuling, a Zibo City, Shandong Province, resident passed away on October 7, 2024, less than two years after she completed a prison term for practicing Falun Gong. Due to the physical torture and forced drug administration she experienced in prison, she struggled to recover and was in extreme pain before she died. She was 74.
After the Chinese communist regime began to persecute Falun Gong in July 1999, Ms. Wang was repeatedly targeted for upholding her faith. Because she went to Beijing to appeal for the right to practice Falun Gong in 1999, she was held in a psychiatric hospital, where she was injected with toxic drugs and subjected to electric shocks.
In September 2002, two months before the CCP’s 16th National Congress, Ms. Wang was arrested and again held in a psychiatric hospital, where she was again injected with and force-fed toxic drugs. The authorities later transferred her to the Zhangdian Detention Center and gave her a three-year labor camp term. While serving time at the Wangcun Forced Labor Camp, she was held in solitary confinement for an extended period of time, deprived of sleep, and forced to watch propaganda materials that slandered Falun Gong.
Ms. Wang was arrested again in late August 2021 for talking to people about Falun Gong. The police extorted 2,000 yuan from her before releasing her and putting her on house arrest. Her home was also ransacked.
Ms. Wang’s last arrest was in July 2022, which resulted in a 1.5-year prison sentence. Because she refused to renounce Falun Gong, she was held in solitary confinement for five months at the Shandong Province Women’s Prison. Four inmates took turns monitoring her around the clock. They also ordered her to write articles to denounce Falun Gong every day. When she refused to comply, they grabbed her hand and forced her to write.
The guards also forced Ms. Wang to take unknown medications three times a day. The inmates force-fed her if she did not comply. Instigated by the guards, the inmates beat and verbally abused her at will. She was often forced to sit on a small stool motionless for hours and was not allowed to use the restroom.
After Ms. Wang was released on January 30, 2023, she was very weak and struggled with severe complications from being drugged in prison. The suffering often worsened at night, sometimes causing her to scream in pain.
Ms. Wang suddenly passed out on August 31, 2024, and she was taken to the hospital for emergency treatment. The doctor said she had multiple organ failure. She died two months later on October 7, 2024.
Guangdong Woman Denied Parole Despite Uterine Cancer, Dies Two Years After Eventual Prison Release
Ms. Qiu Hannong, a Heyuan City, Guangdong Province resident, developed uterine cancer while serving a four-year-and-three-month prison term for practicing Falun Gong. Her parole request was denied and she was not released from prison until her term ended in December 2022. Her condition kept deteriorating after she was released, and she died on December 14, 2024. She was 66 years old.
Since the onset of the persecution of Falun Gong in 1999, Ms. Qiu was arrested three times and incarcerated twice for a total of seven years and three months.
Ms. Qiu was first arrested on August 3, 2013, and her personal belongings were confiscated. She was arrested again in September 2013 for talking to people about Falun Gong, and was given a three-year labor camp term.
Her last arrest was on September 11, 2018. Her family went to the police department on September 21 to demand her release, but were intimidated and driven away. The police handcuffed three family members for several hours. Ms. Qiu was brought to the Yuancheng District Court on April 4, 2019, and was sentenced to a four year and three month prison term, with a 3,000-yuan fine.
Due to the persecution over the years, Ms. Qiu developed uterine cancer while serving time at the Guangdong Province Women’s Prison. Despite her condition, the prison refused to release her on medical parole. After she was released after serving the full term, her family did not allow her to resume practicing Falun Gong. Her condition kept deteriorating and she eventually passed away.
Deaths Due to Long-Term Persecution and Financial Devastation
62-Year-Old Hebei Man Suffers Stroke After Being Stripped of Pension, Dies Two Years Later
A Sanhe City, Hebei Province resident was stripped of his pension in 2022 for practicing Falun Gong. Having previously endured decades of persecution for his faith, the loss of his pension was the last straw that crushed Mr. Lu Chunyang. He had a stroke not long afterward and died on January 15, 2025. He was 62 years old.
Mr. Lu Chunyang
Mr. Lu, a former office director for the Sanhe City Export Company, and his wife, Ms. Li Yonglian, who once taught at the Fourth Elementary School in Sanhe City, both took up Falun Gong in 1997. After the persecution began two years later, they were repeatedly targeted for upholding their faith.
The couple went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong on July 20, 1999, the day the persecution officially started. They were arrested and driven to Baoding City, Hebei Province. They were kept outdoors under the scorching sun for an entire day. That night Mr. Lu was taken to his workplace and ordered to write statements to renounce Falun Gong. His wife was taken to a hotel before being moved to another hotel. Two days later, a city official ordered her to go on TV to smear Falun Gong. She refused, and her school administrators warned her of “difficult days ahead,” because she did not comply with the city official’s order. She was then brought to her school and held there, and not allowed to contact her family.
The couple and their daughter were sound asleep at 11 p.m. on September 23, 1999, when someone pounded on the door. Mr. Lu opened the door, only to see about eight officers rush in. They confiscated the couple’s Falun Gong books and seized his wife. Ms. Li was held at the Sanhe City Detention Center for an unknown amount of time.
Ms. Li and Mr. Lu were both arrested at work on August 28, 2000, and their home was raided. Mr. Lu refused to sign the criminal detention notice, and the police held him down and twisted one of his hands behind his back to be cuffed to his other hand, which was pulled over his shoulder from the front. He screamed in pain. While taking him to the detention center, the handcuffs cut into his flesh, and the police waited a long time before removing them. The marks from the wounds on his wrists remained for several months.
Mr. Lu’s employer stopped his pay in September 2000, when he was still in detention. After he was released in mid-December 2000, they did not allow him to return to work, and formally fired him in 2002. His wife lost her job in 2000. The authorities also slandered the couple on TV.
After losing their jobs, the couple worked at an orchard to make a living. Mr. Lu was arrested while working at the orchard on September 25, 2002. Two younger officers punched him in the head, resulting in a huge bump and subsequent headaches. He yelled, “The police are beating people!” They stuffed his mouth with sand and carried him to a minivan. He was not even allowed to put on his coat and shoes.
The police drove Mr. Lu to a hospital to get some medicine for his head injury. He was found to have extremely high blood pressure. The police ignored his condition, carried him to the van, and drove him to the Langfang Brainwashing Center, where he was held for 20 days. His former employer, the Sanhe City Export Company, was ordered to pay the brainwashing center 8,000 yuan in exchange for his release.
Mr. Lu’s father was traumatized by his son’s persecution and fell ill. The older man was hospitalized several times, and died in 2009. Mr. Lu’s mother developed dementia and required round-the-clock care. She died in 2015. Mr. Lu’s daughter grew up witnessing her parents’ persecution, and her school performance declined as a result of the trauma.
For the next few years, Mr. Lu and his wife endured non-stop harassment. In 2022, the Sanhe City Human Resources Department reduced their years of service to zero, effectively resetting their pension amounts to zero. Mr. Lu was so devastated that he had a stroke not long afterwards. He never recovered, and died on January 15, 2025.
Ms. Hu Keling filed a complaint in 2015 against former Chinese dictator Jiang Zemin, for launching the persecution of Falun Gong that resulted in her arrests and abuse. The Laixi City, Shandong Province resident was subjected to close police surveillance afterward and had to move from one place to another. The unstable life plus the mental pressure took a toll on her health, which started to decline in 2018. She did not recover, and died in November 2024. She was 60 years old.
After the persecution began in 1999, Ms. Hu went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong on February 14, 2000, and was arrested. Her husband, then a bureau-level government official, feared being implicated. He kicked and punched her after she returned home.
Ms. Hu made another trip to Beijing on September 27, 2000, and was arrested again. The Beijing police shocked her on the neck, cheeks, and the back of her hands with electric batons, resulting in permanent burn marks on her neck.
Ms. Hu was arrested on December 28, 2001, and her husband divorced her the next day. She was taken to the Laixi Detention Center and held there for an unknown amount of time. After she was released, she had no home to return to, and lived in poverty for the next nine months.
Ms. Hu was arrested at the train station while boarding a train to Jinan, the capital city of Shandong Province, on September 24, 2002, and taken to the police station. The police tried to get her admitted to the Wangcun Labor Camp three days later, but failed. They then tried to take her to a brainwashing center, but the guards there also refused to take her.
The police then worked with her employer, the Laixi City Experimental Middle School, and took her to the Laixi Second Hospital’s psychiatric department. She was immediately tied to a bed and given an injection. She became drowsy afterward and slept all night. Starting the next day, she was forced to take unknown drugs or receive injections every day. She was not released until January 29, 2003. Her school ordered her to cover all the medical expenses during the four-month hospital stay.
Ms. Hu once described her ordeal. She said that she entered the hospital healthy but by the time she left she was nearly psychotic from the drugs. By the time she was released, her limbs were stiff, her vision was blurred, and she felt numb and emotionless. Her face was pale and thin, her eyes lifeless, and her entire body trembled. She didn’t have any menstrual periods at the hospital. Six months after she was released, her feet were still so swollen that she couldn’t wear shoes. The knuckles on all her fingers were still enlarged and deformed.
Ms. Hu Keling’s deformed knuckles.
Not long after the spring semester began in 2006, Ms. Hu’s school demoted her to work at the library, per instructions from the Laixi City Education Bureau. The Laixi City 610 Office issued an order to suspend her pay and only give her a 380-yuan monthly stipend. The school accountant even withheld the stipend.
More than ten officers arrested Ms. Hu at school again on July 13, 2006, and held her at the Dashan Detention Center. Eleven days later she was put under house arrest and taken back to her home, a school-issued apartment unit on school grounds. About eight people guarded her home day and night, and the price of their meals was deducted from her pay, which had been reinstated at the time. The school broke her windows and installed two metal bars to prevent her from escaping. She nonetheless managed to scale a wall and escape on July 26, 2006.
The education bureau formally terminated Ms. Hu in early 2007. Before that, they repeatedly denied her of promotions even though they acknowledged she was an outstanding teacher. She lived in destitution in her final years.
73-Year-Old Shandong Woman Dies After Suffering Years of Persecution for Her Faith in Falun Gong
Ms. Lu Guijuan, a 73-year-old resident in Zhucheng City, Shandong Province, died on February 25, 2025, after suffering years of persecution for practicing Falun Gong.
Ms. Lu served a three-year forced labor term (2001–2004) and a 6.5-year prison term (2009–2015). She was also held at a brainwashing center three times for a total of about 30 days, and at various other facilities for a total of 210 days. Her home was raided numerous times and her personal belongings valued at 91,000 yuan were confiscated. The cash seized from her home and the fines levied on her amounted to 202,284 yuan. When she was not in detention, she was under close surveillance and was constantly harassed. The endless persecution eventually claimed her life.
Ms. Lu and her husband were both arrested on March 30, 2009, during a police sweep. Their computer, printer, over 100,000 yuan in cash, along with other valuables were seized by the police. They were then taken to a brainwashing center. The guards suspended Ms. Lu by her wrists from the top of a bunk bed with only her toes touching the ground. The torture lasted 24 hours a day for several days straight. Her legs and feet became extremely swollen and she couldn’t put on her shoes.
Torture reenactment: Suspended from a bunk bed with feet barely touching the ground
Ms. Lu was transferred to the Zhucheng City Detention Center in mid-April 2009. Her systolic blood pressure shot up to 230 mmHg (a normal range is 120 or lower) in September, but the guards refused to release her. Her husband was summoned to the Zhucheng City Court on December 28, 2009, and taken straight to the same detention center as soon as he arrived at the courthouse.
The Zhucheng City Court sentenced Ms. Lu to a 6.5-year prison sentence, and her husband to 3.5 years on April 9, 2010. Their appeals were denied and they were admitted to Jinan Prison. While visiting them in the prison, their family learned that Ms. Lu’s systolic blood pressure was still about 230 mmHg.
Ms. Lu suffered further damage to her health during her prison term. She struggled to recover after she was released in 2015. She died on February 25, 2025.
Implication on Family
Ms. Han Shujuan, a Jiansanjiang, Heilongjiang Province resident passed away on July 30, 2023, after she endured decades of persecution for practicing Falun Gong. She was 60 years old.
Ms. Han worked for the brick factory associated with the Qixing Farm. After she and her husband, Mr. Shi Mengchang, took up Falun Gong in May 1996, they stopped fighting with each other, and their family life became harmonious. After witnessing their changes, more than 30 members of their families also began to practice Falun Gong, including Ms. Han’s father, Mr. Han Zhenkui, father-in-law Mr. Shi Dianli, her mother-in-law Ms. Wang Qingrong, sister-in-law Ms. Shi Xiuying, and brother-in-law Mr. Shi Mengwen.
After the persecution began in 1999, Ms. Han and her husband were arrested and detained multiple times. Ms. Han was detained at a brainwashing center for 183 days. She also served a three-year labor camp term, and was sentenced once. Mr. Shi served two labor camp terms for a total of five years, a prison term of two and a half years, and was detained in various facilities for another ten months. Their son, Mr. Shi Qilei, had to quit high school at the age of 16, and work to support himself.
In addition to the couple, Mr. Shi’s brother, Mr. Shi Mengwen, was given a two-year labor camp term in November 2000 and sentenced to five and a half years in 2008 and three years in 2014. When he was detained, his ten-year-old daughter lived on her own and often only had instant noodles to eat, as her mother was working out of town. The girl’s grandmother, in her 70s, had to travel between three places to take care of her husband, grandson, and granddaughter.
The Shi brothers’ sister, Ms. Shi Xiuying, had her home ransacked multiple times. She developed stomach cancer while she was held at the Qinglongshan Brainwashing Center in October 2010. She was released in critical condition and had to have a gastrectomy to remove three quarters of her stomach.
Devastated by the repeated persecution of the extended family, Ms. Han’s father passed away in January 2012, her father-in-law died in 2015, and her mother-in-law passed away in January 2023, six months before Ms. Han died.
Front row, left to right: Mr. Shi Qilei, Mr. Shi Dianli, Ms. Wang Qingrong, Ms. Liu Limin (Mr. Shi Qilei’s wife)Back row, left to right: Mr. Shi Mengwen, Mr. Shi Mengchang, Ms. Han Shujuan, Ms. Shi Xiuying
Related Report:
Reported in January 2025: 13 Falun Gong Practitioners Die as a Result of Persecution