(Minghui.org) In the nearly 27-year persecution of Falun Gong in China, the rule of law is rarely followed. Despite no legal basis for the persecution, Falun Gong practitioners face searches with no warrants, arbitrary arrest and detention, and are tried in court with predetermined verdicts handed down. This article explores the Chinese judiciary’s abuse of bail in the persecution of Falun Gong.
According to Chinese Criminal Law, law enforcement, the procuratorate, and the court have 12 months to investigate a case while a defendant is out on bail. After 12 months, the bail condition must be lifted, and a decision must be issued. The authorities must either drop the case (if there’s insufficient evidence) or initiate further prosecution steps (if there is probable cause). If new evidence emerges to warrant another arrest of the defendant whose case has been dismissed, he or she may be placed on bail again. If the two bail terms are back-to-back, this scenario is also known as having bail extended or renewed.
In the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, the police are known to release practitioners on bail from time to time when the practitioners are deemed unfit for detention because of age or other health reasons. It is, however, extremely rare for a practitioner’s case to be dropped before or after their bail term expires, even though there is no legal basis to charge them for their spiritual faith. Some practitioners have been prosecuted while still on bail. Others were indicted and/or sentenced after their bail terms ended. There are also practitioners who had their one-year bail extended or renewed, with their cases pending for long periods of time. A number of practitioners never had their bail officially renewed, but were arrested years later.
Below are four cases demonstrating the above-mentioned scenarios concerning Falun Gong practitioners, where legal procedure is all too often ignored.
Ms. Xie Changxiu, in her 80s and a resident of Shifang City, Sichuan Province, was arrested on September 30, 2020, after a community worker overheard her talking to a man about Falun Gong and reported her to the police. Several uniformed officers, only one wearing his police badge, soon arrived and took her to the Luoshui Town Police Station.
After the interrogation, the police brought Ms. Xie to the Dongyue Village government compound. No official was around, so they drove her home. Without showing any search warrant, they ransacked her home and confiscated all of her Falun Gong books and informational materials, as well as her ID, over 1,000 yuan in cash, three cell phones, and two music players. No list of confiscated items was provided, as required by law.
The police also raided Ms. Xie’s son’s home, which is right next door. They then brought her back to the police station for another round of interrogation. She refused to reveal the source of the confiscated Falun Gong materials. Officer Pan threatened to force-feed her a bowl of chili water.
Ms. Xie’s family was notified in the afternoon to come pick her up. They thought she had been released unconditionally but found out later that the police had put her on bail when they were ordered to pay a 1,000-yuan bail bond.
The Shifang City Court tried Ms. Xie on April 16, 2021, but did not allow her family to attend the hearing. She could not make out what the prosecutor and the judge were saying. It was unclear whether she had hearing issues or if the microphone malfunctioned.
Ms. Xie was sentenced to two years in prison with three years of probation, to begin on April 16, 2021. She was also fined 1,000 yuan. Her family noted that her age had been falsified and changed from 83 to 75 in the verdict.
From April 2021 to April 2024, the police harassed Ms. Xie at home once a month, ordering her to write a statement to renounce Falun Gong. Because she did not know how to write, the police texted the statement to her granddaughter’s phone and had the younger woman transcribe the words on her grandmother’s behalf.
On September 11, 2021, Ms. Xie was taken to the Pengzhou City Legal Education Center to attend an intensive brainwashing session aimed at forcing her to give up her spiritual belief. She was released that day.
The relentless pressure and harassment stopped in April 2024 when her three-year probation period ended. She died just eight months later.
Ms. Jin Yue, a mother of three in Cang County, Hebei Province, was arrested on April 17, 2024, and released on a one-year bail the next day. She was taken back into custody on May 13, 2025, and stood trial on January 23, 2026. She is awaiting a verdict at the local detention center.
Ms. Li Chunyuan, in her 50s and a music teacher at Tanggu District No. 13 High School, was seized by several plainclothes officers at noon on April 14, 2024, as soon as she stepped out of her neighbor’s home. Her husband heard her cry for help and rushed out. The police pushed her inside her home and called in other officers who had been waiting outside. One of the officers was Bo Lidong from the Binhai New Area Domestic Security Office. They confiscated her computer, cell phone, Falun Gong books, and music equipment.
The police revealed that they had been monitoring Ms. Li for a long time as she “had been singing at home all day long and contacting overseas people.” They next searched her car. Her husband suspects that they had installed a tracking device in the car.
Ms. Li was next taken to the Tanggu District First Detention Center. After 37 days of detention, she was released on bail after her husband paid a 5,000-yuan fee.
The police promised to close the case in July 2024 but never did. They called her in mid-May 2025 and said they’d close the case before May 21. They called her again on May 20, 2025, to say that the Binhai New Area Procuratorate had called her. Her phone had no record of a call from the procuratorate.
The procuratorate notified Ms. Li on the afternoon of May 22, 2025, telling her that she had been given another one-year bail.
Mr. Wang Xinqing, 76 and a retired doctor in Xianning City, Hubei Province, was arrested on November 24, 2010, and held at the Tongcheng County Detention Center. The Tongcheng County Procuratorate later indicted him and forwarded his case to the county court.
As Mr. Wang developed swelling and infection on the right side of his face and had difficulty eating, he was released on bail on January 25, 2011. He didn’t receive any further notice regarding his case for the next eight years, but the police suddenly arrested him on August 12, 2019, claiming that they were trying to close his case.
Mr. Wang was tried by the Tongcheng County Court on September 12, 2019, and was sentenced to three years in December 2020. He was admitted to the Fanjiatai Prison on May 3, 2021.