(Minghui.org)
Name: Cao PingChinese Name: 曹萍Gender: FemaleAge: 74City: AnkangProvince: ShaanxiOccupation: Retired department store employeeDate of Death: April 2026Date of Most Recent Arrest: September 25, 2022Most Recent Place of Detention: Shaanxi Province Women’s Prison
A 74-year-old woman in Ankang City, Shaanxi Province, died in April 2026 while serving an eight-year term for her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
Ms. Cao Ping’s family noted a large area of bruising on her thigh and suspected that she had been tortured prior to her death, especially given what she said during their last phone call. She suddenly uttered, “It’s too cruel” before the guards cut her off.
The Shaanxi Province Women’s Prison dared the family to submit their questions in writing and barred them from picking up her body. The family eventually submitted to the intimidation and agreed not to pursue legal action against the prison. They then quickly had her cremated.
To this day, they still don’t know her cause of death. They only learned from an insider that she was once “treated” at the Aerospace General Hospital before she died.
The passing of Ms. Cao, born on January 23, 1952, capped decades of persecution for upholding her faith. The retired department store employee started to practice Falun Gong in May 1997 and soon regained her health. After the persecution began in July 1999, she held firm to her faith and was repeatedly targeted.
Her first arrest took place on January 23, 2000, when officers broke into her home and seized her. She was detained for 30 days. Only one day after she was released, she was arrested again at work. The police interrogated her for 10 days before releasing her.
Officer Li Jihong from the Xincheng Police Station deceived Ms. Cao into reporting to them on July 17, 2000. When she appeared, they took her to a detention center. She was released 15 days later.
Chief Lu Wen and over a dozen officers arrested Ms. Cao on the night of October 9, 2000. They ransacked her home and detained her for 15 days.
After another arrest on January 19, 2001, Ms. Cao was detained for 15 days. The next arrest came four months later on May 13 and included yet another 15-day detention.
Officers Li and Tang Zubin arrested Ms. Cao on October 6, 2001, and gave her three years of forced labor ten days later. She was released ahead of time on July 26, 2003, because her mother was critically ill.
Nearly ten agents, including officer Li and director Pu Hanning from the Hanbin District 610 Office, seized Ms. Cao in October 2004 and put her in a brainwashing center. A relative had to bring meals to her bedridden mother.
Ms. Cao was given another three years of forced labor on November 10, 2006. She was brutally tortured in the Xi’an Women’s Labor Camp and once passed out in pain.
She was last arrested on September 25, 2022, and sentenced to eight years with a 50,000-yuan fine on October 25, 2023. She was admitted to the Shaanxi Province Women’s Prison in April 2026 after losing her appeal.
Ms. Cao became blind in one eye and had blurred vision in the other following her last arrest. Her lawyer and family filed requests to have her released numerous times while she was being prosecuted and after she was imprisoned. They were turned down each and every time. She died in the prison in April 2026.
Another practitioner from Ankang City, Ms. Du Fengying, who was arrested and tried with Ms. Cao, died of a stroke on September 6, 2023, after facing repeated harassment from the police and community workers while out on bail.
Related Reports:
Two Shaanxi Residents Sent to Prison for Practicing Falun Gong
73-Year-Old Shaanxi Woman Loses Appeal of 8-Year Sentence, Denied Medical Parole Despite Blindness
All content published on this website is copyrighted by Minghui.org. Minghui will produce compilations of its online content regularly and on special occasions.
