(Minghui.org) In August 2026, Minghui.org learned of 388 cases of Falun Gong practitioners being persecuted for their faith, including 14 deaths, 52 sentenced to prison with terms ranging from one to nine years, 192 arrests, and 130 incidents of harassment.

Due to strict censorship in China, information collection and reporting is often delayed. Some of the newly-reported cases took place in 2026, while others are from earlier years.

Below is a selection of some of the instances of persecution.

Deaths

65-Year-Old Woman Jailed for Her Faith Dies Two Days Before Prison Release

Ms. Pu Baoyu, 65, from Kunming City, Yunnan Province, died suddenly on September 9, 2025, two days before the end of her six-year and four-month prison term for practicing Falun Gong.

The Yunnan Province Second Women’s Prison refused to provide any details regarding Ms. Pu’s death. It’s also unclear whether the prison returned Ms. Pu’s body to her family.

According to an insider, Ms. Pu was injected with toxic drugs in the prison, a common practice imposed on Falun Gong practitioners who refuse to renounce their faith.

Officers from the Guandu District Domestic Security Office followed Ms. Pu for months before arresting her on May 12, 2019. She was later sentenced to six years and four months and admitted to the Yunnan Province Second Women’s Prison. Her family was kept in the dark about her prosecution and prison admission.

On the morning of September 9, 2025, Ms. Pu’s cellmates woke up to find that she had stopped breathing. The exact time of her death is unknown.

79-Year-Old Man Dies from Torture in a Detention Center

Mr. Yao Xingqi of Qiqihar City, Heilongjiang Province, fell into a coma after being tortured in custody for practicing Falun Gong. He was released on the verge of death eight days after his arrest. He passed away at home one month later. He was 79.

Mr. Yao, who was retired from a heavy machinery group corporation, went to the Beixing Police Station on May 11, 2026, to seek the return of the Falun Gong books confiscated from him during an earlier arrest (time unknown). Instead of returning the books, the police arrested him at home the next day and took him to the Qiqihar City First Detention Center.

Mr. Yao fell into a coma on May 21 due to torture at the detention center, and was taken to the hospital. He remained very weak afterward. The police sent him home on May 29, and he passed away on June 24.

Tianjin Woman Dies Six Months After Prison Release for Practicing Falun Gong

Ms. Sun Shuhua of Tianjin struggled with poor health after serving time in a forced labor camp and a prison term for her faith in Falun Gong. She died of a stroke on July 6, 2026, only six months after her prison release. She was 59.

Ms. Sun was given one year and two months of forced labor following an arrest on April 13, 2009. She was brutally tortured and forced to work in the Tianjin Women’s Forced Labor Camp. Every time her husband went to visit her, the labor camp guards ordered him to bring the couple’s two young children in an attempt to pressure her to renounce her faith. Her children got car sick on the long trip and cried non-stop to see their mother behind bars. Ms. Sun’s husband blamed her for all the family’s hardships. She held firm to her faith, so her term was extended by two days. She was released on June 15, 2010.

The police continued to harass Ms. Sun. In June 2011, about seven police officers broke in to search for a computer that they alleged she used to write and submit articles about how she had been persecuted to Minghui.org. Her parents-in-law, who lived with her, were so traumatized that they couldn’t speak.

A female officer threatened Ms. Sun, telling her to not submit articles to Minghui.org or they would come after her again. Two other officers returned the next day to harass her. Not long after, two government employees showed up and tried to make Ms. Sun renounce her faith. In 2014, four officers raided her home without showing their IDs or a search warrant. Her mother-in-law trembled in fear again.

Ms. Sun was arrested again on July 19, 2024, and was later sentenced to one and a half years with a 10,000-yuan fine. She endured brutal torture while serving time in prison. Ms. Sun struggled with extremely high blood pressure after being released in January 2026. She had a stroke six months later and died.

Former Police Officer Given Toxic Injection Two Months Before Prison Release Dies Nine Years Later

Mr. Gao Yumin of Fuxin City, Liaoning Province, died on July 19, 2026, nine years after he was given a toxic injection while serving a 3.5-year term for his faith in Falun Gong. He was 59.

Mr. Gao was a former officer with the Fuxin City Police Department. He noted that the Falun Gong practitioners in police custody were nothing like what was depicted in the Chinese Communist Party’s slanderous propaganda. He began to practice Falun Gong, too, and soon quit smoking, drinking, and gambling. He also became a caring husband to his mentally ill wife.

Mr. Gao was arrested on November 6, 2013, for distributing Falun Gong materials. He went on a hunger strike in protest and was beaten and force-fed. He became extremely weak and was released on bail two months later.

The police arrested Mr. Gao again on February 21, 2014, and the Zhangwu County Court sentenced him to five years on March 14. He appealed, and the sentence was reduced to three and a half years. He was admitted to the Shenyang First Prison on November 7, 2014. At the time, he had become extremely weak after being on a hunger strike for over 20 days, yet the prison still took him despite the required physical exam showing he had kidney failure, liver damage, heart conditions, blurred vision, and other conditions.

The guards often beat Mr. Gao and slapped him in the face with shoes. They often hit him on the legs with electric batons when he did the Falun Gong exercises. He went on a hunger strike in protest and was force-fed. One witness reported seeing him unable to stand at one point and crawling around. Other inmates said he was once sent to the Shenyang 739 Hospital, which diagnosed him with severe gastrointestinal adhesions.

Two months before his term was set to expire in June 2017, the guards injected Mr. Gao with a large dose of Barbital (a central nervous system depressant). They put him in solitary confinement and beat him savagely.

Mr. Gao suffered severe side effects from the toxic injection. He had a blank look in his eyes, his body was stiff, and he couldn’t straighten his limbs. Blood oozed out of multiple veins. He was unable to eat, he was confused, and his stools were dark.

When his family was finally notified of his situation one week after the injection, they were shocked to see him in a near-vegetative state. The guards, however, claimed that he ended up like that after going on a hunger strike.

Mr. Gao’s family submitted a sample of his urine to the Liaoning Provincial Institute for Drug Control and Testing, which detected Barbital in his system.

The prison authorities promised to release Mr. Gao early if his family agreed to waive their legal right to seek justice. The family firmly refused to agree and demanded he be treated. He was eventually taken to the Fuxin Central Hospital and spent the last two weeks of his prison term there.

The prison had once promised to compensate his family, but the Liaoning Province Political and Legal Affairs Committee and 610 Office shut down the idea. Yu Yang and Wang Qiubo from the Fuxin Political and Legal Affairs Committee said, “We can’t offer any compensation—that would be considered an admission of guilt.”

Mr. Gao continued to suffer effects of the injection after he was released from the hospital in June 2017. He required infusions of liquid food to sustain his life. His family hired aides to care for him around the clock. He had been fired from his job long before, and his family struggled to cover his long-term care costs. His intelligence was similar to that of a three-year-old.

Officials from the Political and Legal Affairs Committee and 610 Office monitored his family closely and warned them not to disclose his ordeal to the public.

Mr. Gao died on July 19, 2026.

Practitioners Sentenced to Prison

88-Year-Old Chongqing Woman Secretly Sentenced to Prison

Ms. Zhu Yugui, an 88-year-old Chongqing resident, was secretly sentenced to prison between March and June 2026. She is now serving time in the Zouma Women’s Prison.

Ms. Zhu was arrested in March 2023, because the police suspected her of using paper currency with Falun Gong information printed on the bills. While she was soon released, she struggled with failing health due to the mental distress.

The authorities sentenced Ms. Zhu to prison sometime in 2026. Details about her prosecution are unclear.

Prior to this, Ms. Zhu was harassed by the authorities in October 2020 and ordered to write statements renouncing Falun Gong. When she refused to comply, the police forced her adopted son to throw her out of his home, leaving her homeless.

Dashiqiao City, Liaoning Province: Nine Residents, Including Two Married Couples, Sentenced to Up to 9 Years

Eight Dashiqiao City, Liaoning Province, residents were sentenced on August 11, 2026. One of their family members who does not practice Falun Gong was also convicted for being associated with them.

All nine, including two married couples, were arrested on November 25, 2025, and indicted around March 2026. They were tried in the Zhanqian District Court on July 16 and 17, 2026, and were wrongly convicted on August 11.

Mr. Zhang Yuzhen, 71, was sentenced to nine years with a 50,000-yuan fine.

Ms. Gong Suyan, 72, the wife of Mr. Zhang, was sentenced to eight and a half years with a 50,000-yuan fine.

Ms. Wang Zhaomin was sentenced to seven years with a 40,000-yuan fine.

Ms. Xing Dongmei was sentenced to five years with a 20,000-yuan fine. In 2001 and again in July 2007, she was given two-year forced labor terms.

Mr. Wang Jun was sentenced to two and a half years with a 10,000-yuan fine.

Ms. Li Xiuying was sentenced to two years with a 10,000-yuan fine.

Mr. Yang Qiang was sentenced to one and a half years with a 10,000-yuan fine. He previously served an unknown forced labor term.

Mr. Zhang Bo, who doesn’t practice Falun Gong and is the son of Mr. Zhang and Ms. Gong, was sentenced to one year and three months with a 10,000-yuan fine.

Ms. Xing Chun’e (Mr. Yang’s wife) was sentenced to six months with a 5,000-yuan fine. She was previously given an unknown forced labor term in March 2001 and arrested again on September 16, 2009.

Incidents of Arrest and Harassment

Liaoning Couple Targeted Again for Their Faith, Husband Still Detained

A couple in Dalian City, Liaoning Province, had their home raided on August 11, 2026. The husband is still being detained.

Mr. Yu Xiangjia was arrested earlier that day after he was reported for distributing Falun Gong materials while doing his delivery job. The police broke into his home at around 3 p.m. They flashed a search warrant and restrained his wife, Ms. Sun Qianyi, inside. A female officer watched her closely during the entire raid, even following her to the bathroom. The couple’s Falun Gong books, two computers, one printer, and other valuables were confiscated.

After the raid, the police shoved Ms. Sun into their cruiser and drove her to the Bayi Road Police Station for interrogation. She tried to escape when the car door was opened, but two officers caught her. One of them repeatedly bent her right wrist back, making her scream in pain. She was released later that day and was told to “wait for a phone call at home.”

Ms. Sun received a registered letter from the Xigang District Police Department on August 13, 2026. The letter was a criminal detention notice issued for her husband in the Dalian City Detention Center. It alleged that Mr. Yu “used a cult organization to undermine law enforcement,” a standard pretext used to frame Falun Gong practitioners.

71-year-Old Woman Loses the Ability to Walk While Detained

Ms. Mou Yanping, 71, of Yingkou City, Liaoning Province, was arrested on March 7, 2026, and her home was ransacked. When her family went to the Bayuquan District Police Department in late March to inquire about her, an officer told them that her case had been submitted to the procuratorate.

Ms. Mou is being held at the Yingkou City Detention Center and denied visits with her family. According to her lawyer who recently visited her, she has lost the ability to walk and uses a wheelchair to get around.

Hebei Police: “You Should Be Grateful We Didn’t Arrest You”

Ms. Duan Jianhua, 57, of Fuping County, Hebei Province, had 8,000 yuan extorted from her by the police on July 17, 2026. They threatened her not to tell other practitioners or report the incident to Minghui.org. They told her, “You are a spiritual cultivator. You should be grateful we didn’t arrest you.”

Officers Li Yongjin and Li Xuewen of the Fuping County Domestic Security Office broke into Ms. Duan’s home on July 17. Li Yongjin threatened to handcuff her and have her sentenced to three years. Ms. Duan refused to budge and reminded the officers that her freedom of belief was protected by the Constitution.

Officer Li Xuewen cut her off, saying, “No need to talk to us about it. Just give us 100,000 yuan.”

When Ms. Duan told them she didn’t have a job and lived alone, Li Yongjin said, “If you don’t have the money, then give us the deed to your house.”

“I don’t have it. This is a rental property,” Ms. Duan replied.

Li Yongjin wouldn’t give up and told her, “Call your daughter. She can get the money together.”

Ms. Duan explained that her daughter only earned 3,000 yuan a month and had nothing left after paying rent and basic living expenses.

Officer Li Yongjin verbally abused her, kept her from talking, and threatened to arrest her.

The police stayed there for several hours. They wouldn’t let Ms. Duan leave and followed her when she went to use the restroom.

They also searched her home and confiscated over 400 Falun Gong books, 100 copies of the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party, more than 10 photos of the founder of Falun Gong, three computers, nine printers, 13 cartridges, 14 boxes of copy paper, two paper cutters, one laminator, eight book binders, and personal items.

The officers eventually left after extorting 8,000 yuan from her. She challenged them: “I make a living by recycling trash. How much money have you extorted from me over the years? Don’t you feel guilty spending my money?”

Related Report:

Summary Report: Persecution of Falun Gong in China in July 2026