(Minghui.org) A total 787 of Falun Gong practitioners who were arrested or harassed for their faith were reported in March and April 2026.
The cases include 400 arrests and 387 incidents of harassment. Among the targeted practitioners, 170 of them had their homes ransacked, and 15 were held in brainwashing centers. Some of the incidents took place years ago. The delay in reporting is due to the information censorship in China under the communist regime, which makes it difficult for Minghui correspondents to collect, verify, and report the data in a timely manner.
The 787 practitioners hailed from 24 provinces, autonomous regions, or centrally controlled municipalities. Shandong reported the most combined cases of 175, followed by 98 in Liaoning and 96 in Hebei. Fourteen more regions had double-digit cases between 10 and 76. The remaining seven places registered single-digit cases between 2 and 9.
Insert geo-distribution of arrest and harassment cases in March and April 2026
Information is available on the ages of 138 practitioners at the time of their arrests or harassment. Two were in their 20s, two in their 40s, 19 in their 50s, 43 in their 60s, 56 in their 70s, 14 in their 80s, and two in their 90s.
Propaganda Campaign on Campus
In Baoding City, Hebei Province, the Political and Legal Affairs Committee (PLAC) and the Board of Education launched a student-facing campaign aimed to defame Falun Gong on December 18, 2025.
While the campaign did not mention Falun Gong explicitly, Falun Gong practitioners in Baoding were all clear that the campaign was targeting them. Since the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) started the persecution of Falun Gong in July 1999, untold numbers of practitioners have been persecuted for “using a cult to undermine law enforcement,” a standard pretext used to frame and sentence practitioners.
There are nearly 2,000 elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, and universities in Baoding and its subordinate counties. Every student in these institutions was required to attend the campaign’s opening ceremony, watch propaganda videos, share understandings of the propaganda materials, join the “anti-cult” signature drive, pledge allegiance to the CCP during a flag-raising ceremony, design anti-cult-themed bulletin boards, and participate in anti-cult knowledge contests.
K-12 students were also given propaganda materials to take home. Their parents were then sent propaganda via social media channels regularly.
The PLAC, an extra-judicial agency tasked with overseeing the persecution of Falun Gong and given power to override the judicial system, also instructed every school to institutionalize the anti-cult campaign and to turn their campuses into a steadfast bastion for anti-cult information dissemination.
Arrests and Harassment During CCP’s Annual Meetings
During the 2026 “Two Sessions,” the annual meetings of the People’s National Congress and Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, which ran from March 4 to 12, 2026, staff members of a neighborhood office in Beijing monitored Falun Gong practitioners in a residential community. They maintained 24-hour surveillance outside the practitioners’ apartment buildings, with two people on duty per shift. Whenever a practitioner stepped out of their home, the two monitors followed them and reported their location via cell phones. The operation lasted 15 days from February 27 to March 13, after the “Two Sessions” concluded.
In Shanghai, Ms. Li Hong was followed by an unidentified man when she went out on the early morning of March 3. She later learned that the person would receive 200 yuan per day for monitoring her.
Persecution of Elderly Practitioners
Widowed by the Persecution of Falun Gong, 86-Year-Old Woman Now Arrested
A group of officers broke into Ms. Luo Shuhua’s home on March 13, 2026, and attempted to take away the 86-year-old woman in Xinxiang City, Henan Province. As she firmly resisted the arrest, they called in an ambulance and carried her inside. They claimed that she had a “shadow on her lung” and took her to the Xinxiang Infectious Diseases Hospital. They also threatened to send her to prison after the treatment.
Ms. Luo’s ordeal stemmed from an earlier arrest in December 2020, after a surveillance camera recorded her distributing Falun Gong materials. Due to health reasons, she was denied admission to the detention center and released under “residential surveillance” on December 4, 2020. While the police lifted her “residential surveillance” on May 3, 2021, they changed her case status to “on bail.” They made a few more attempts to detain her but failed.
The Tiexi Police Station submitted Ms. Luo’s case to the Weihui City Procuratorate in 2024. She was indicted and faced trial by the Weihui City Court. Weihui is under the jurisdiction of Xinxiang. It’s not clear whether she was sentenced.
Prior to her latest arrest, Ms. Luo had been repeatedly arrested and harassed since the persecution began 27 years ago. Her husband, Mr. Ma Yunxian, also a practitioner, was forced to live away from home to avoid persecution. The mental distress and physical torture he suffered during previous detentions took a toll on his health. He died in April 2008. He was 70.
Chongqing Police Hire Locksmith to Break Into 77-Year-Old Widow’s Home
In February and April of 2026, the police in Chongqing broke into and raided a 77-year-old woman’s home.
On February 28, 2026, the officers banged on Ms. Xu Mingjin’s door at noon. They shouted her name and ordered her to open up. Ms. Xu asked what they wanted and refused to let them in. The police accused her of being involved in a scam and claimed to have a subpoena.
When Ms. Xu demanded to see the paperwork, they showed her a piece of paper with a seal but no signature. By law, such paperwork isn’t valid without the police chief’s signature. She told them that she wasn’t aware of any scam and that she wouldn’t let them in.
After the police called in a locksmith to pry open the door, the officers barged in. Two of them dragged Ms. Xu out, while the others searched her home for over an hour. They confiscated all of her Falun Gong books, a photo of the founder of Falun Gong, and other personal items.
After the raid, the police took Ms. Xu to the police department. When they questioned her about her recent visit to Zouma Town, where the Chongqing Women’s Prison is located, she refused to answer. They then asked her how she benefited from practicing Falun Gong. She replied that Falun Gong teaches Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance and that she lives by these principles to be a better person.
She demanded to know the names of the officers who had interrogated her, but they refused to tell her. She was released after 10 p.m.
When Ms. Xu returned home, she found it in shambles. Her clothes and personal items were scattered on the floor. Her front door was broken and impossible to close completely. She had to hire someone to fix it the next day.
Nine days later, on March 9, 2026, two community police officers harassed Ms. Xu again.
On April 1, 2026, police chief Chen Hua and his subordinate Li Xiaogang showed up at Ms. Xu’s home. They ordered her to go with them to the police station to pick up her belongings. She refused to comply and said they should send the items back to her. They again hired a locksmith, broke in, arrested Ms. Xu, and took her to the police station.
While Ms. Xu tried to explain to the police that the persecution is illegal, they fabricated her interrogation records and ordered her to sign it. Instead, she wrote that they had violated legal procedure by trespassing on her private property. They took the pen away and left the room.
Officer Li returned and said that Ms. Xu was given administrative detention, but due to her advanced age, it wouldn’t be enforced. He gave her another piece of paper to sign, which she refused.
Against her will, the police took photos of Ms. Xu, collected her fingerprints, and took a sample of her blood before releasing her after 5 p.m.
Ms. Zou Hualan, a 75-year-old Chongqing woman, was arrested at a bus station at around 10 a.m. on March 6, 2026, after local community vice secretary Yang Guoqiang reported her for talking to him about Falun Gong.
The police searched her home but did not find any Falun Gong informational materials. To prosecute her, they pored over surveillance footage and identified three clips showing Ms. Zhou talking to people. They claimed that she was promoting Falun Gong and submitted her case to the Changshou District Procuratorate.
The procuratorate issued a formal arrest warrant for Ms. Zou on March 18, 2026, and likely has transferred the case to the Liangjiang New District Procuratorate, one of the local procuratorates designated to handle Falun Gong cases.
Prior to her latest persecution episode, Ms. Zhou, a retired employee of the Changshou Agricultural Machinery Company, was incarcerated for nearly 11 years. She served three forced labor terms totaling five years and two months (July 1999 – March 2001; November 2001 – November 2003; and August 2006 – February 2008), as well as two prison terms totaling five years (July 2017 – July 2019; and November 2019 – November 2022). Additionally, she was held at a local detention center from September 2012 to May 2013.
74-Year-Old Hubei Woman Twice Arrested in December 2025
Ms. Zhang Jiao’e, 74 and of Wuhan City, Hubei Province, was arrested twice in December 2025. She is currently under house arrest after she was denied admission to the local detention center due to health reasons.
Ms. Zhang was shopping at a supermarket on the morning of December 4, 2025, when a plainclothes officer reported her for using a five-yuan bill that had Falun Gong messages printed on it. Seven officers from the Zhifang Police Station went to her son’s home and searched a bedroom reserved for her. They confiscated two copies of Zhuan Falun (the main book of Falun Gong), one copy of a new article written by Falun Gong’s founder, a portrait of the founder, and two copies of Minghui Weekly (a magazine about Falun Gong).
Ms. Zhang was interrogated at the police station from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Before she was released that evening, she was ordered to sign the list of confiscated items.
At 4 p.m. on December 19, 2025, five officers raided Ms. Zhang’s rental place and confiscated one copy of Zhuan Falun, six articles written by Falun Gong’s founder, an MP3 player with Falun Gong exercise music, and a cell phone that had Falun Gong audio teachings and exercise music on it.
The police drove Ms. Zhang to the Wuhan City Detention Center. Upon arrival, Ms. Zhang was given a physical exam and was found to have high blood pressure and high blood sugar. The detention center declined to admit her, and the police took her back to the police station.
The police later had Ms. Zhang undergo another physical exam at a local hospital. They took her to the detention center again on December 21, 2025. She was still denied admission, and the police released her on house arrest after she posted a 2,000-yuan bail bond.
75-Year-Old Chongqing Woman Detained for Mailing Letter to a Police Chief
Ms. Xia Jiesheng, a 75-year-old Chongqing resident, was arrested on March 18, 2026, for mailing a letter to a local police chief in July 2022, urging him not to participate in the persecution of her faith, Falun Gong. She is currently held in the Beibei District Detention Center.
Ms. Xia’s latest arrest was preceded by two back-to-back arrests, which also stemmed from her letter to the police chief. She was home on September 22, 2022, when someone knocked on her door. A woman who claimed to be from the property management office said Ms. Xia’s apartment unit was leaking water downstairs.
As soon as Ms. Xia opened the door, the woman and five plainclothes officers barged in. The police said they were from the Yuzhong District Police Department and claimed their surveillance network had caught her mailing the said letter at the Datong Street Post Office, which is in their jurisdiction, in July 2022.
After raiding her home, the police took Ms. Xia to the Wanglongmen Police Station for interrogation. They gave her 15 days of administrative detention and fined her 1,000 yuan (neither of which was enforced). She returned home around 3 p.m.
Around 11 a.m. the next day, Ms. Xia received a call from someone from the local street committee, asking her to go to the property management office to “verify something.” She did not go, but was deceived into opening the door for the police. Four plainclothes officers, three of whom were at her home the day before, and a woman property manager, took pictures of her home and searched everywhere.
Ms. Xia was again taken to the police station for interrogation. She was released at 3 p.m.
Repeatedly Targeted
65-Year-Old Hubei Woman Taken Straight to Brainwashing Center After Serving an 8-Year Prison Term
Ms. Hou Mila, a 65-year-old woman in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, completed an eight-year prison term on April 19, 2026, only to be taken straight to a brainwashing center.
Ms. Hou’s family arrived at the Hubei Province Women’s Prison early that morning, eager to pick her up. After they walked inside, they saw Ms. Hou was in a car from the Yusunshan Brainwashing Center, which is located in Jianghan District, Wuhan City.
Nearly 20 people from the prison, the brainwashing center, and Ms. Hou’s local street committee swarmed her family, preventing them from getting close to her. They claimed that they were following higher-ups’ orders to take her to the brainwashing center.
After over 30 minutes of a standoff, Ms. Hou was driven away by the brainwashing center staff.
Ms. Hou’s ordeal began on April 19, 2018, when she was arrested with her sister, Ms. Hou Aila, and her brother-in-law, Mr. Hong Weisheng. All three of them were sentenced to prison in mid-September 2019. The Hou sisters were each given eight years and were fined 40,000 yuan, and Mr. Hong was sentenced to ten years and was fined 50,000 yuan.
The three family members’ appeals were denied. Mr. Hong was admitted to the Fanjiatai Prison, Ms. Hou Mila was sent to the Hubei Province Women’s Prison, and her sister was sent to the Hankou Prison.
On March 9, 2026, the prison notified Ms. Hou Mila’s family that she could not go home when her term ended on April 19 and that they must wait for further notice.
Her family still went to the prison on April 19, but were unsuccessful in taking her home.
Liaoning Woman Arrested Four Months After Serving a Second 8-Year Prison Term
Only four months after Ms. Zhou Haiyan completed an eight-year prison term for her faith in Falun Gong, the Dalian City, Liaoning Province, resident was arrested again on February 28, 2026.
Ms. Zhou Haiyan
Staffers from the Mingxing Residential Committee and officers from the Huanghai Road Police Station broke into Ms. Zhou’s home on February 28. They raided her home and took both her and her husband, who doesn’t practice Falun Gong, to the police station. While her husband was released later that day, Ms. Zhou has been detained since.
Since the Chinese Communist Party ordered the persecution of Falun Gong in 1999, Ms. Zhou, around 60, has been arrested at least five other times. She was detained in brainwashing centers three times, incarcerated in forced labor camps twice, and sentenced to eight years in prison in 2007. She was arrested again on October 8, 2017, and sentenced to another eight years.
In addition to Ms. Zhou, her loved ones were also targeted for their shared faith. Her younger sister, who worked at the Bureau of Certification and was the recipient of numerous performance-based awards, was fired from her job. Her supervisor said if they didn’t let her go, all the other employees’ bonuses would be revoked, and the supervisors themselves might lose their jobs. They also said that the only thing that could prevent her from being fired was to write a statement renouncing Falun Gong, which she refused to do.
The sisters’ father, Mr. Zhou Fusheng, a physician who had served in the Air Force for 40 years, was severely beaten by a young police officer and sustained a serious head injury on February 4, 2002, for talking to people about Falun Gong. He was forced to pay a fine of 1,000 yuan before being released that evening. The next day, the police showed up at his home to harass and threaten him. The frustration, depression, and lack of freedom to practice Falun Gong took a toll on his health. He passed away in 2012.
Since the Chinese Communist Party began persecuting Falun Gong in 1999, a 53-year-old man from Yingkou City in Liaoning Province has served two eight-year prison sentences for upholding his faith. He barely survived the torture in detention and was unable to walk for a long time due to injuries to his knees.
Mr. Fan Xuebin was most recently arrested on April 10, 2026, by officers from the Zhanqian District Police Station. His current whereabouts aren’t clear.
Both of Mr. Fan’s parents have passed away. He has a sister with an intellectual disability, who relied solely on him for care. When he was incarcerated, his family had to send his sister to an assisted living center.
Mr. Fan was previously arrested on June 13, 2025, only one year after he finished serving a second prison sentence for putting up Falun Gong posters. The police raided his home and placed him in the Yingkou City Detention Center. The guards there put Mr. Fan in a chokehold. Within two weeks, Mr. Fan was severely injured due to torture and was released on bail on June 26, 2025.
Displaced 63-Year-Old Retired Teacher Arrested
Ms. Chu Zhanfeng, 63, from Changling County, Jilin Province, was arrested in Daqing City, Heilongjiang Province, on April 25, 2026.
Ms. Chu, a retired teacher from the Liushui Elementary School, moved to Heilongjiang a few years ago to avoid being persecuted again for her faith. She was previously arrested on October 31, 2016, after being reported for distributing Falun Gong materials. The Changling County Court sentenced her to 4.5 years and fined her 10,000 yuan on March 28, 2017. Her appeals were also denied by the Songyuan City Intermediate Court.
In July 2021, only three months after Ms. Chu was released, the police began to harass her again. On July 26, 2023, officer Pei Yuanqing of the Changling County Domestic Security Office led six officers to Ms. Chu’s home. She managed to escape and was forced to live away from home to avoid the police.
Ms. Chu later moved to Daqing City, Heilongjiang Province. In her spare time, she distributed materials to raise awareness about the persecution, but someone reported her. She was arrested by officers of the Sartu District Police Station on April 25, 2026, and is currently held at the Daqing City Second Detention Center.
Brutality and Mistreatment in Custody
Shandong Man Force-Fed 16 Times in 8 Days While Detained
Mr. Liu Linfeng, of Weihai City, Shandong Province, was force-fed 16 times over the course of eight days while detained for his faith in Falun Gong.
Four officers broke into Mr. Liu’s home between 6 and 7 a.m. on January 5, 2026. They confiscated his Falun Gong books and other items and took him to the police station.
Several officers forcibly collected Mr. Liu’s fingerprints and blood sample. Around 7 p.m., they took him to the Weihai City Detention Center. He started a hunger strike in protest the next day. On January 9, the fourth day, the guards restrained him in a metal chair, had two inmates hold his head, and force-fed him. One guard mentioned that they added excessive amounts of salt to the food. They force-fed him twice a day, for eight days straight. After each force-feeding session, he felt abnormally hot and was unable to keep the blanket on while sleeping. He suspected that the guards had added unknown drugs to the food.
Torture illustration: force-feeding
Mr. Liu was released on January 19, 2026, after his father paid a 5,000-yuan bond. Upon returning home, he felt very thirsty and had no appetite.
The police called his father a few more times and demanded that he sign some documents. They also ransacked Mr. Liu’s home twice, examined his computer, and confiscated his Falun Gong books and a photo of Falun Gong’s founder. They even attempted to take some of his clothes.
73-Year-Old Man Experiences Dramatic Weight Loss at Detention Center
Mr. Zhang Shuyin, 73, and of Chaoyang City, Liaoning Province, was arrested at his home on November 24, 2025. The police said a surveillance camera recorded him putting up Falun Gong posters. They took him to the police station and interrogated him for over three hours before releasing him.
Ten days later, on December 4, 2025, the police broke into Mr. Zhang’s home and arrested him again. They confiscated some of his Falun Gong materials and a satellite dish used to receive uncensored news from overseas media. He has since been detained at the Chaoyang City Detention Center, where he experienced unexplained, rapid weight loss. He is now extremely emaciated after months of detention. His family is very worried about whether he is continuing to face torture and abuse in custody.
Police Forge Woman’s Medical Records to Keep Her Detained, Fabricate Evidence to Get Her Indicted
Ms. Tong Xiaoyan, around 57, who lives in Huanren County, Liaoning Province, was arrested on September 26, 2025, after the police instructed her landlord to deceive her that there was a water leak in her rental apartment. She rushed back, only to be arrested. Her computer, printer, and Falun Gong informational materials were confiscated.
The police took Ms. Tong to the Benxi City Detention Center. Benxi oversees Huanren County. The required physical exam indicated she had reduced blood flow to her heart, stroke symptoms, and high blood pressure, so the detention center declined to admit her. The police called their deputy chief Wang Chenggang. He instructed them to forge Ms. Tong’s medical records to say she was fit for detention.
With the altered records, the police carried Ms. Tong into the detention center. When she struggled to get away, the police slammed her to the ground, hitting her head on the floor. The police then held her head still and had the detention center doctor give her a CT scan. Detention center guard Wang Naihan admitted her even though she was unfit for detention.
Not long after, the detention center took Ms. Tong to the Railway Hospital in Benxi City. The doctors there indicated she had some medical issues, but refused to show her medical records or tell her the exact diagnoses. They instead ordered her to sign some paperwork. She refused and was taken back to the detention center a few days later.
Ms. Tong was admitted to inpatient care at the same hospital several more times. She still feels unwell and has frequent headaches.
Her lawyer tried three times to visit her but was told that she did not want to see him. He was finally allowed to see her recently and learned that the detention center never told her about his requests to meet with her.
Ms. Tong confirmed with her lawyer that she never said she didn’t want to see him. In fact, she was eager to see him. She added that the police fabricated her medical records, their interrogation records, and the “evidence” used against her.
The Huanren County Police Department submitted the case to the Mingshan District Procuratorate in Benxi City. The procuratorate indicted Ms. Tong at an unknown time. Her lawyer confirmed that the case is now resting with the Mingshan District Court.
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