65-Year-Old Anhui Man Deemed “Flight Risk” and Barred From Traveling Abroad
(Minghui.org) Mr. Cao Xiongbin obtained a visa on May 29, 2026, to visit his son in the US. He received a court notice that day barring him from leaving China because he was deemed a “flight risk.”
Mr. Cao, 65, who lives in Anqing City, Anhui Province, was shocked that his local Huamao Community Committee sued him for zoning violation and petitioned the court to restrain his freedom of movement. The rain canopy in question was common in his neighborhood with many residents erect them without facing any consequences.
The Daguan District Court issued a notice on May 29, 2026, saying that the court approved the Huamao Community Committee’s request to bar him from leaving China because he’s a “flight risk” in the committee’s civil lawsuit against him.
Mr. Cao received a formal lawsuit on June 3, and he removed the rain canopy the next day. The community committee however refused to withdraw the lawsuit. He twice talked to the committee director Zhu Fengmei (+86-15805567035), who said, “We are just using this tactic to prevent you from going abroad. You’ll have your day in court.”
Mr. Cao, who lives alone, had no way but respond to the lawsuit. He submitted a request to drop the case and filed a counter-suit against the community committee.
It also became clear to Mr. Cao that Zhu targeted him not because of the canopy, which his late father erected in 2001 and the community never raised any concerns about. He feels this happened because he practices Falun Gong.
Falun Gong is a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999. Mr. Cao took up the practice in February 1997 and recovered from atrophic gastritis, intestinal metaplasia, gastric ulcer, and allergic rhinitis. He also became a more loving husband and father. After the persecution began two years later, he held firm to his faith and was repeatedly targeted. He lost his job as the Business Department director, Anqing Branch, Industrial and Commercial Bank. He was given three forced labor terms and served a three-year prison sentence. His wife was unable to cope and divorced him. His parents died due to stress from worrying about his safety.
Mr. Cao was also deprived of his pension, and he worked until January 2026, long past China’s statutory retirement age. He planned to visit his son, whom he hadn’t seen for eight years.
Mr. Cao got his passport in April 2026. The very next day captain Cao Da (+86-19909667409) from the Daguan District Domestic Security Office knocked on his door. He was warned to not “go abroad.”
Captain Cao also questioned which country Mr. Cao planned to visit. He replied that it was a private matter and that he was under no obligation to reveal this information.
Captain Cao added that the Huamao Community Committee felt a lot of pressure after Mr. Cao exposed their harassment of him in recent years on Minghui.org.
The Anhui Province Political and Legal Affairs Committee and 610 Office launched a new round of persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in April 2021. Mr. Cao was listed as a key target. The police installed three high-resolution cameras outside his apartment building, with one facing the building entrance, another his kitchen, and a third his bathroom.
The Huamao Community Committee also harassed Mr. Cao at home because he refused to renounce Falun Gong. He exposed their illegal activity on Minghui.org, only to be subjected to further persecution.
After harassing Mr. Cao in April 2026, captain Cao then instructed the community committee to file a lawsuit against him to prevent him from leaving the country.
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