(Minghui.org) During Xu Datong’s two-year tenure as director of the Shaanxi Provincial Public Security Department, he ordered the Shaanxi Provincial Public Security System to persecute Falun Gong practitioners. This resulted in at least 119 practitioners being arrested, 143 harassed, 62 having their homes ransacked, 1 sent to Ankang Hospital (a psychiatric hospital), and 1 persecuted to death.

Perpetrator Information

Full Name of Perpetrator: Xu (last name) Datong (first name)Chinese Name: 徐大彤Gender: MaleDate/Year of Birth: February 1970Place of Birth: Tianjin

Title or Position

January 2021 – March 2023: deputy governor of Shaanxi Province, director of the Public Security Department, deputy secretary of the Shaanxi Provincial Political and Legal Affairs Commission

Present: member of the CPC Committee of the Ministry of Public Security, vice minister, and deputy director of the National Narcotics Control Commission

“Zero-Out” Campaign, Slandering Falun Gong

At Xu’s instigation, police departments in Shaanxi Province conducted the “Zero-Out” campaign against Falun Gong. The police spread propaganda slandering Falun Gong among the subdistrict offices and community staffers to incite hatred against the practitioners, and ordered staff members to participate in the persecution.

Xu also ordered police stations to organize activities to slander Falun Gong. For example, on January 10, 2021, the Lintong Public Security Bureau in the Daiwang District of Xi’an City had police officers exhibit posters and banners and distribute flyers to spread misinformation about Falun Gong. A total of 400 flyers and 200 booklets were distributed.

Many police stations worked with communities and towns to set up bulletin boards with information that slandered Falun Gong.

One Death

One Falun Gong practitioner was persecuted to death during Xu’s tenure.

Ms. Zhao Xiulan from Hanzhong City was arrested five times: in 2012, 2013, 2017, and twice in 2018. On April 26, 2021, as Ms. Zhao left home, she was dragged into a police car by officers on the lookout for her. They forced her to undergo a physical exam that included a blood test and other lab work. They then took her to the Mian County Procuratorate and tried to prosecute her for talking to people about Falun Gong two years earlier.

The police harassed Ms. Zhao on June 9, 10, and 16, 2021. Because she refused to open the door, they tried to get information about her from her neighbor. Ms. Zhao passed away on October 22, 2021. She was 75.

119 Practitioners Arrested, 24 Sentenced

During Xu’s tenure, 119 practitioners were arrested in Shaanxi Province. Of those 119, 24 were sentenced, including 8 practitioners in their 70s and 80s.

Below is a list of practitioners who were sentenced, organized by city:

Xi’an City: Ms. Lei Xiaoli, Ms. Jin Rong, Ms. Liu Caixian, Ms. Song Qiuxia, Ms. Li Xuesong (72), Ms. Kou Juying (72), Ms. Dong Guijin, and Mr. Miao Zhongjun

Baoji City: Ms. Zhao Shuixian, Ms. Zhi Yinshuan, Ms. Zou Ren’e, Ms. Zhang Jinman, and Ms. Wang Songxia (83)

Xianyang City: Ms. Gao Guirong (73), Ms. An Caifeng (73), Ms. Zhang Xiwei, Ms. Li Jing, Ms. Li Xianghong, Mr. Zhang Tao

Hanzhong City: Ms. Zheng Suzhen (80)

Weinan City: Mr. Zhang Junquan

Ankang City: Ms. Luo Changyun (70), Ms. Cao Ping (70), and Mr. Chen Jun

Below are brief recaps of the arrests:

Police Barged into Homes to Arrest Practitioners

The police broke into and ransacked the homes of 74 of the 119 practitioners who were arrested.

On March 24, 2021, Zhang, chief of the Caihong Police Station in Xianyang City, and a dozen police officers from the Qindu District arrested 10 practitioners who were studying Falun Gong books together. Their respective homes were also ransacked. The youngest practitioner was in their 60s and the oldest were in their 80s. The police recorded their ID numbers and children’s names. Their Falun Gong books and informational materials were confiscated.

In another incident, Ms. Gao Guirong and Ms. An Caifeng were arrested and had their homes ransacked on March 26, 2021, by officers from the Caihong Police Station. The practitioners’ laptops, printers, DVDs, cash, flyers, and hard drives were confiscated. The items were later used as evidence to sentence them.

Officers from the Gaojia Town Police Station in the Weibin District arrested Ms. Yang Xiaohong on November 11, 2021. Ms. Yang was passing by the village committee on her way home when the village secretary recognized her. He reported her to the police because he wanted to force Ms. Yang to renounce her faith.

Officers from the Huazhou District Domestic Security Division broke into Ms. Lin Yaling’s home and ransacked it around 8 p.m. on October 15, 2022. They confiscated her Falun Gong books, printed materials, photos of the founder of Falun Gong, 10,000 yuan in cash, gold and silver jewelry, and gold bars, which were later used as prosecution evidence.

Violence and Threats During Arrests

The police used violence during the arrests and often threatened to implicate practitioners’ families.

On May 6, 2021, officers from the Political and Legal Affairs Committee of Ningqiang County, Hanzhong City, along with more than a dozen police officers and community workers, raided the home of Ms. Zheng Jun, a retired employee of the Ningqiang County Post Office. They confiscated her Falun Gong books and photos of Falun Gong’s founder.

Because Ms. Zheng refused to go with them, the officers called for assistance and handcuffed her. The handcuffs bruised her wrists. They didn’t let her change out of her pajamas before they took her away. They also arrested her husband and son and threatened them with the loss of their jobs and having their salaries docked. Her family was forced to badger Ms. Zheng to make her sign statements renouncing her faith.

Ms. Zhang Junxiu from Hanzhong City was in nearby Chenggu County on June 18, 2021, when Chenggu County Domestic Security officers in plainclothes followed and arrested her. They handcuffed her without showing any ID, so Ms. Zhang resisted. They then beat her so severely that they broke seven of her ribs, six on the right side and one on the left. The police searched Ms. Zhang and confiscated her personal belongings, including 600 yuan in cash, an MP3 player, an electric motorcycle key, a 100-yuan gift card, and an umbrella.

Four officers in the Hantai District broke into the home of Ms. Zhou Liqin and her husband Mr. Zhang Mingxin on the evening of August 14, 2021. They ransacked the place and confiscated Falun Gong materials and cell phones. The officers handcuffed Ms. Zhou and her husband and took them into custody.

Ms. Zhang Caixia from Baoji City was arrested on August 25, 2021, at Weibin Hospital, where she worked. She was first held at a hotel and then transferred to Wangjiaya Rehabilitation Center, a psychiatric hospital. Since the persecution began, the hospital has been used to detain Falun Gong practitioners for their faith. Ms. Wang’s family didn’t know where she was held until they went to the police station to ask about her on September 7. When they went to the psychiatric hospital to visit Ms. Zhang, the guards didn’t let them see her in person, just via video chat. It was reported that the Baoji City Political and Legal Affairs Committee ordered her arrest and would not approve her release unless she wrote a statement renouncing Falun Gong.

In order to force Ms. Zuo Li to renounce her faith, officers from the Chenggu County Public Security Bureau in Hanzhong City ransacked her home. Her husband, who does not practice Falun Gong, was also arrested.

Mr. Chen Liang from Liquan County, Xianyang City, was working in his vegetable greenhouse on the morning of June 27, 2022, when four officers from the Liquan County Police Department broke in and took him to the basement of the police department for interrogation. They held him in custody for five days, leaving Mr. Chen’s 81-year-old mother unattended.

Five officers from the Gan County Police Department went to the store owned by Ms. Wang Xueya’s son on the afternoon of August 17, 2022, after Ms. Wang and her husband Mr. Zhao Xiaoning escaped after being arrested. The police also went to the couple’s place and confiscated a laptop, a printer, Falun Gong books, and other items. The couple was forced to live away from home to avoid further persecution.

Fabricating Evidence

Falun Gong materials confiscated during home raids were used as evidence to sentence Falun Gong practitioners.

Ms. Lei Xiaoli from Xi’an City was arrested on March 25, 2021, by officers from the Dalianhuachi Police Station, who accused her of “leaving Falun Gong booklets at an ATM machine.” Officer Ma Cong ordered Ms. Lei to plead guilty while interrogating her at the police station. Because she has very poor vision, Ma ordered her family to read certain documents to her and had her sign them.

The police submitted Ms. Lei’s case to the Lianhu District Procuratorate in mid-June. The prosecutor, Zhang Yanhua, indicted her weeks later. The only “evidence” Zhang submitted was a photo of an ATM machine confiscated from Ms. Lei’s home. Ms. Lei wasn’t in the photo, nor were the Falun Gong booklets the police mentioned.

Ms. Lei appeared in the Lianhu District Court on August 13, 2021. Judge Huo Biao barred her family from attending the hearing, citing the pandemic as an excuse. Ms. Lei’s lawyer entered a not guilty plea on her behalf. The judge announced on December 20, 2021, that Ms. Lei was sentenced to three years imprisonment with a 5,000-yuan fine.

Ms. Zhang Xiwei from Liquan County, Xi’an City, was arrested at home at 10 p.m. on July 21, 2021, by ten officers, who confiscated her copy of Zhuan Falun, the main text of Falun Gong; a computer; a radio; an MP3 player; and several memory cards. She was taken to the Kunming Road Police Station and her arrest was later approved. The police submitted Ms. Zhang’s case to the Yanta District Procuratorate in Xi’an. The Yanta District Court tried her via a virtual hearing on May 30, 2022. Her lawyer entered a not-guilty plea on her behalf.

Citing insufficient evidence, the judge later returned the case to the prosecutor, who then managed to persuade the judge not to drop the case against Ms. Zhang. At the second virtual hearing on August 16, the prosecutor presented the same evidence as new evidence. The judge sentenced Ms. Zhang to 4.5 years with a 10,000-yuan fine on November 22, 2022.

143 Practitioners Harassed, Families Threatened

At least 143 practitioners in different cities in Shaanxi Province were harassed during the “Zero-Out” campaign in 2021 and 2022.

In April 2021, the Xi’an City Political and Legal Affairs Committee instructed the subdistrict offices to harass Falun Gong practitioners. The officers collected contact information on the practitioners’ family members, then distributed the numbers to the community directors so they could call and urge them to get their practitioner family member to write a guarantee statement. They used a number of tactics to try to incite hatred and force practitioners’ family members to cooperate in the persecution.

Mr. Hu Zhonghou, in his 70s, was repeatedly harassed by community clerks in March 2021. The clerks ordered him to sign the guarantee statement, warning him that if he did not renounce Falun Gong, his grandson’s application for civil service and another grandson’s preschool education would be jeopardized. His mother, who was in her 90s and lived with him, was frightened.

On June 10, 2021, Mr. Hu was working in his fields when Domestic Security Division officers showed up and forced him into their car. They took him to the Yingbin Road Police Station in Shenmu Town and tried to force him to write a guarantee statement to renounce Falun Gong, but he refused. They also threatened to torture him on a tiger bench and have him sentenced to three years.

In April 2021, officers from police stations and communities in Hanzhong City harassed practitioners in their homes. Some called the practitioners’ family members and ordered them to come to the community offices. Some knocked on doors several times and took photos. Some ordered the practitioners’ family members to submit photos. The officers also threatened the practitioners, saying that their children’s careers or studies would suffer if they did not renounce their faith. They also harassed Ms. Lai Suzhen, who was almost 90; Ms. Yu Xiaohui, who has heart disease; and Gong Yun, who is disabled.

Shaanxi Provincial Political and Legal Affairs Committee agents and the captain of the Shenmu Domestic Security Division harassed local practitioners on May 6, 2021. They ordered Mr. Gao Xiaoke, Mr. Liu Jianbing, and Mr. Wu Xiaojun to go to the Xisha Majiata Subdistrict Office. The practitioners refused to comply.

Several practitioners in Ankang City were harassed tby Political and Legal Affairs Committee agents, police officers, and community workers in May 2021 and ordered to sign guarantee statements. Those who were harassed included Dan Ping, Luo Xiancui, Zhang Ruiyun, Chen Chuyun, Li Yongxiu, Luo Changyun, Du Xingqin, Du Fengying, and Wang Yiyan, who urged the officers not to persecute Falun Gong and refused to sign any documents.

In 2022, before the Communist Party’s 20th National Congress, police stations in Hanzhong City colluded with community staffers to harass at least 15 practitioners. They knocked on the practitioners’ doors, harassed them over the phone, took photos of them against their will, and ordered them to sign statements to renounce their faith. Even practitioners in their 80s or who were bedridden weren’t spared.