(Minghui.org) A 70-year-old woman in Shenzhen City, Guangdong Province, is facing indictment because she practices Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been targeted by the Chinese Communist Party since 1999.
Ms. Wang Yumei, from Anshan City, Liaoning Province, has lived with her son’s family in Shenzhen for years. She talked to an older man about Falun Gong on the morning of October 19, 2025, and was stopped by his daughter. Ms. Wang walked away but was arrested at her son’s home that night by officers from the Nantou Police Station.
The police confiscated a few copies of Minghui Weekly (a magazine about Falun Gong), a copy of Zhuan Falun (the main book of Falun Gong), and an article written by the founder of Falun Gong. They took her to the Nanshan District Police Department where she was interrogated. They asked where she got the Falun Gong books and materials. They also accused her of meeting with other practitioners. She denied it because she didn’t know any practitioners in Shenzhen.
Ms. Wang was taken to the Nanshan District Detention Center the next day. The guards there declined to admit her after she failed the required physical exam. The police released her on bail and installed a surveillance camera in her son’s home.
In January 2026, officer Tong Fanglong, who was in charge of the case, summoned Ms. Wang to the police station and asked her some questions. He then handed her some paperwork, which stated that her case had been submitted to the Nanshan District Procuratorate.
Ms. Wang urged Tong to drop the case. He rejected her request and later tried to summon her to the police station again. She did not go. He then contacted her son through WeChat (a popular social media platform) and communicated with her via her son.
Ms. Wang was arrested on January 8, 2021, after being reported by a resident in the same subdivision for handing out Falun Gong materials. The police held her at the Nanshan District Detention Center and submitted her case to the Nanshan District Procuratorate in February 2021.
Ms. Wang stood trial in the Nanshan District Court on May 20, 2021. Her family was forced by the presiding judge to dismiss the lawyer they hired to enter her not guilty plea. The judge sentenced Ms. Wang to three and a half years and fined her 2,000 yuan. She appealed to the Shenzhen City Intermediate Court, which ruled to uphold the original verdict on March 31, 2022.
Ms. Wang was released in July 2024, only to be arrested again on October 19, 2025.
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