(Clearwisdom.net) Mr. Yang Pinggang, his wife Mrs. Chang Lijun, and their son Yang Kemeng live in Tai'an City, Shandong Province. Mr. Yang Pinggang was once the Mayor of Shengzhuang Town, Tai'an Suburb and the Bureau Chief of the Suburb Broadcast Bureau. Chang Lijun was a staff member of the suburb birth control committee. Their son, Yang Kemeng, attended the Industrial University of Harbin City. The family of three had a comfortable, happy life.

In 1995, due to long-term excessive work loads and anxiety, Mr. Yang Pinggang became ill and was confined to bed. The medicine had little effect in curing his illness. A close colleague gave him the book, China Falun Gong. The three words "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance" greatly affected him. If everyone could be truthful, compassionate, and tolerant, is there any conflict in the world that cannot be solved peacefully? Yang Pinggang was immediately intrigued by the simple words and the profound meanings in the book. A warm energy poured in from the top of his head and he instantly felt clear-minded, peaceful, and calm. All the previously unanswerable questions in his life were suddenly answered. He truly felt relieved and his body was light. After practicing the five exercises, his illnesses disappeared in a very short period of time.

Yang Pinggang's wife Chang Lijun was amazed by her husband's speedy recovery. She was also very fortunate to have read China Falun Gong, and was drawn by the principles of "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance." Ever since then, they helped each other, discussed how to become good people, and found the answers to many hard-to-solve issues and problems in their lives. They became more caring and less critical toward their son. In their spare time, they discussed life with him and assisted him in his study of Falun Dafa. Thus, his cultivation improved greatly. The Yang family became very loving and happy, and they truly experienced the blessings that Falun Dafa brought to them.

However, in July 1999, the evil Communist regime led by Jiang Zemin used its power to commit heinous crimes against Falun Gong practitioners. They arrested innocent practitioners and destroyed Falun Gong books. Practitioners were forced to write "repentance letters" and copy fabricated writings defaming Falun Gong. Many practitioners refused to lie. They were thus thrown into jail and labor camps.

Even though Yang Pinggang knew that if he did not speak out, he and his family would be spared the persecution, he and his wife decided to go to Beijing to appeal for justice for Falun Gong. They wanted to let the country know the truth about Falun Gong. As a result, the couple was arrested and detained.

Because they insisted on clarifying the truth and practicing Falun Dafa, they were arrested many times by the local police, and were sent to brainwashing centers, an incarceration facility, and a labor camp to be persecuted. Their household belongings were stolen from them during their imprisonment. They were separately sent to Ji'nan Women's prison for two years and Wangcun Forced Labor Camp in Zibo for three years. All these hardships, however, did not change their belief in "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance."

On September 6, 2005, public security sub-bureau police officers from Taishan District, Jian Min and Cui Yan, suddenly broke into Yang Pinggang's home. They arrested the couple, ransacked their home, and confiscated Dafa books, computers, and belongings. They were detained at a prison in Tai'an City. They both went on hunger strikes to resist the persecution and clarified the truth about Falun Gong to the police.

During Yang Pinggang's detention at the prison in Tai'an City, he was severely tortured for three days and three nights by the Taishan District police team, consisting of Zhu Zonghai, Wu Xiushui, Yang Rufa, Wang, Guo, Xu Jialou, and Xu from the local police station. The police used all kinds of brutal methods to torture him. They kicked him in the face, stepped on his neck, handcuffed him and hung him from a door frame. The handcuffs cut so deeply into Yang Pinggang's wrists that his hands are still numb. They used a rope to pull on his foot shackles, lacerating and bruising his ankles in the process. They brutally pinched his nipples with their hands. Several scoundrels forced strong alcohol down his throat until he fainted. The police also fabricated false charges against him.

In February 2006 at the Taishan District court, Yang Pinggang spoke righteously and sternly, exposing the persecution of Falun Gong by Jiang Zemin's group, in particular their criminal acts of torturing practitioners. He clarified the truth about the persecution to those who attended the court hearing and negated the unreasonable trial. After being persecuted for five months, he was sentenced to six years under false charges and was not allowed to appeal. He is still imprisoned at the #5 prison area of Yanbei Prison in Tai'an City.

During the persecution of Yang Pinggang, the police from the Taishan District Police Station exhausted all kinds of methods to force Chang Lijun to "renounce" Falun Gong. Failing to achieve their goal, they sent Chang to the Ji'nan Women's Prison for three years, and she was once again inhumanely tortured by the police. Family members have not been allowed to visit her, thus no one knows whether she is dead or alive.

Their son, Yang Kemeng, is now a junior at the Harbin Industrial University's Weihai Campus. Because of his belief, he was also arrested on campus on August 28, 2005, and was detained at the Weihai Prison. Despite all the threats and inducements, the police were unable to force him to renounce his beliefs. Therefore, he was sent to Wangcun Forced Labor Camp in Zibo to be persecuted for three years.

A good family such as this one - believing in "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance," and striving to be good people - is now being destroyed. There are many more tragedies like this happening in China.

List of people and relevant units involved in persecuting Yang Pinggang and Chang Lijun:

Units involved in the persecution

Taishan District Court, Procuratorate, Public Security Sub-Bureau, Tai'an City Public Security Bureau

People involved in the persecution

Taishan District Court Judges: Zheng Jinyou and Umpire Pang

Taishan District Procuratorate: Wang Jianxing (has already suffered retribution), Cheng Na and Xu Wei.

Taishan Distrtict Public Security Sub- Bureau: Jiang Min, Cui Yan, Zhu Zonghai, Wu Xiushui and Yang Rufa

Tai'an City Public Security Bureau: Zhou Changping

Tai'an City Municipal Government Deputy Mayor: Bai Yucui

Tai'an City Law and Politics Secretary: Huang Ronghua

Tai'an City, Taishan District, 610 Political Security Section Chief: Jiang Min; Tel: 86-531-6261610 (This person is guilty of the most heinous crime)

(The wicked policeman, Wang Jianxin, who persecuted Yang Pinggang and Chang Lijun has suffered retribution due to his evil-doing. Please see the report on Clearwisdom.net:

http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2006/5/29/73885.html)

July 2006