Ms. Xu Jiling had been the director of both the Guan County Women's Federation and the Guan County Environmental Protection Bureau. In October 2000, she went to Beijing to appeal for the right to practice Falun Gong but was detained and later sentenced to three years of forced labor. When her work unit heard of her arrest, they immediately stopped paying her salary.

Due to the mental and physical stress she endured in prison, Ms. Xu developed high blood pressure and was released on bail for medical treatment. Although she was released, her home was repeatedly ransacked and subjected to around-the-clock surveillance by policewoman Xue Lianchun. Because of the large sums of money that had been extorted from her and the fact that she had no source of income, Ms. Xu was forced to sell her family home and live with her younger sister above a rented snack shop.

On March 4, 2004, the local police went to the shop to take Ms. Xu back to the labor camp. Her sister tried to reason with them, explaining that Ms. Xu was in a very weakened state and should not be moved. However, in the end the police arrested her, too.

Later Ms. Xu went into a deep coma, due in part to the barbaric way the police took her into custody. She was later taken to the county hospital and closely monitored until she passed away in June 2004.