(Minghui.org) A 63-year-old woman in Tangshan City, Hebei Province, remains detained for her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
Ms. Zhang Xiujuan was sound asleep on the night of June 9, 2026, when she was awoken by loud banging on her door. She didn’t immediately open the door, but the banging got louder and louder. Concerned about her neighbors’ night rest, she opened the door, only to see several uniformed and plainclothes officers barge in. They flashed a search warrant and began to raid her home.
The police confiscated over 20 Falun Gong books and more than 2,000 yuan in cash. They took Ms. Zhang to the Tangshan City First Detention Center, where she has since been held. Her husband, who is incapacitated after a stroke, is in a dire situation after her arrest.
Fifteen other local Falun Gong practitioners were also arrested between June 9 and 11, 2026.
Prior to her latest persecution episode, Ms. Zhang was repeatedly targeted for her faith.
Ms. Zhang went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong on July 21, 1999, the day after the persecution started. Upon her return, she was held at her workplace, the Tangshan Textile Factory, for over ten days against her will. She was detained two more times, in September 1999 and February 2000, respectively, each time for over one month. She was also fined more than 1,000 yuan.
Ms. Zhang made another trip to Beijing on April 24, 2000. She was arrested and taken to Tangshan City’s Liaison Office in Beijing. The liaison office director slapped her hard in the face and cuffed her with over ten other practitioners. That night, she was brought back to Tangshan and put in the Guye District Detention Center.
Instructor Wang Guohong from the Xixinlou Police Station interrogated Ms. Zhang the next day. He slapped her in the face nine times. That afternoon, her factory picked her up, and a vice section chief slapped her in the face twice. He then cuffed her to a bed in a factory office. She was taken to the Tangshan City First Detention Center the following day (April 26, 2000). Section chief Wang Yuhe instructed the inmates to handcuff and shackle her on two occasions. One occasion lasted for five days, and she wasn’t given any food or water during that time.
The factory sent Ms. Zhang to the Hebei Province First Labor Camp on September 17, 2000. Guard Du bound her hands and feet using bandages to prevent her from doing the Falun Gong exercises. He also forced her to strip naked to see if she had hidden any Falun Gong materials. She went on a hunger strike for 11 days in protest. She was released on parole on October 27, 2000.
Ms. Zhang was walking on the street around 9 p.m. on July 6, 2001, when she was stopped by an officer from the Xijiatao Police Station. He questioned if she practiced Falun Gong and accused her of gluing Falun Gong flyers on public walls. He ordered her to go to the police station. She refused, and he shocked her on the head with an electric baton. Another officer then emerged and knocked her to the ground. They called in a police cruiser. About four more officers came and carried her to the cruiser.
Deputy chief Li Baotian slapped Ms. Zhang in the face more than ten times and put her in a cage. Three or four hours later, Liu Zheng, a section chief of the Guye District 610 Office, came and slapped her in the face twice. He kept her handcuffed that night. The next day she was sent to the Guye District Detention Center.
A female guard named Wang Lei whipped Ms. Zhang with a rubber tube for over 10 minutes. Her right leg was badly bruised afterwards and didn’t get better until two weeks later. Wang also instructed inmate Liu Yan to beat her. She was unable to eat for five days afterwards.
Under the directive of Liu, the detention center handcuffed Ms. Zhang and over ten other practitioners, and paraded them on the street on July 13, 2001.
Ms. Liu was transferred to the Hebei Province First Labor Camp on October 15, 2001, to serve an unknown term. She was deprived of sleep and forced to study materials slandering Falun Gong. She was released on April 2, 2002.
More than ten people from the Tangshan City Police Department, the 610 Office, the Guye District Police Department, and Tangshan Textile Factory broke into Ms. Zhang’s home on November 2, 2002. Five men punched and kicked her until her husband yelled at them to stop.
She refused to go with them, and they carried her into their cruiser. Section chief Liu from the Tangshan City Police Department interrogated her at the Linxi Police Station. He slapped her in the face more than ten times. Her nose was bruised, with a gash on her left cheek, and her face was swollen.
Liu then handcuffed her to a metal chair. Another officer wrapped wires of a hand-cranked electric baton around her two pinkies and stuffed a rag into her mouth. He then cranked the baton repeatedly. With every crank, she screamed in pain and sweated profusely. The officer laughed at her screams. Her fingers were broken after the electric shocks.
The police took turns watching her in groups of three, not allowing her to sleep for two nights. They stomped on her head, causing a lot of her hair to fall out. Her face and hands were swollen. She lost consciousness at one point.
Ms. Zhang was moved to the Lindong Police Station on the night of November 4, 2002. Two days later, a security officer from her factory took her to the Tangshan City Legal Study School (a brainwashing center). She refused to watch videos defaming Falun Gong and was tortured.
On April 14, 2003, Wang Zhijie and Meng Tielin dragged her around on the ground. Wang kicked her five or six times with his leather shoes. He also hit her hard on the head. Meng slapped her hard in the face twice.
Wang and Zhang Yaning pushed her out of her cell and into an office on September 14, 2003. Zhang slapped her hard in the face eight times, causing two gashes on her lips. She bled and was unable to eat for two days. She was also deprived of sleep for a period of time.
During her ten months at the brainwashing center, her employer stopped her pay, totaling almost 3,000 yuan.
Four police cars pulled over to Ms. Zhang’s apartment building at noon on February 20, 2008. She was not home. They broke in and confiscated her computer, printer, and paper cutter. Upon learning of the raid, she was forced to live away from home.
While talking to people about Falun Gong at a fair in Qian’an City (which is under the administration of Tangshan City) with another practitioner on August 28, 2010, Ms. Zhang was arrested by Taipingzhuang Township Police Station officers. They dragged the two practitioners all the way to the police station. Both had one shoe fall off as a result.
Ms. Zhang was then put in a brainwashing center. She fell from a fourth-floor room after 1 a.m. on August 29, 2010. She sustained severe injuries to the pelvis and thigh bone. Some of her teeth fell out. Her mouth and eyes were swollen, and her arms were bruised.
Her daughter rushed to the Qian’an People’s Hospital hours later and questioned the police as to why her mother would fall from a high place. They alleged that “she fell herself.” Her daughter suspected that the police abuse of her mother drove her to jump out of the building.
Ms. Zhang was arrested on June 6, 2016, while talking to people about Falun Gong at a fair. The Yangliuzhuang Police Station officers handed her over to the Luan County Police Department. She was released at an unknown time.
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