(Minghui.org) Recently, officials from Yanghe Township, Jiaozhou City, Shandong Province, have intensified their persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. Ms. Cui Wenfeng was one of the practitioners illegally arrested and detained. Her current whereabouts are not known.

Police officers from Baoshan Township of Jiaonan City (near Jiaozhou) arrested Ms. Cui, 58, while she spoke to people about Falun Gong at a village market on August 5, 2012. Ms. Cui is from Zhongjiazhuang Village, Yanghe Township. Officers interrogated her for over 24 hours, but Ms. Cui only smiled without saying a single word. Even though they could not get any incriminating information through interrogation, the director of the Baoshan Township Police Station promptly reported the case to his superiors at the Jiaonan City Police Department, who then reported it to the Jiaonan City 610 Office. Officials from the 610 Office then reported the case to their superiors at the Qingdao City 610 Office.

Ms. Cui was illegally detained at the Jiaonan City Detention Center for 15 days. Around 2 p.m. on August 21, 2012, she was taken away from the detention center by officials from the Jiaozhou 610 Office. Her current whereabouts are unknown.

Since 1999, when the communist regime initiated the persecution of Falun Gong, government agencies have compiled lists of Falun Gong practitioners in their respective jurisdictions. However, Ms. Cui was not on their blacklist, which was shocking to officials. Xue Yubin, director of the Jiaozhou 610 Office, was scolded for this by his superiors at the Qingdao 610 Office. Xue Yubin, in turn, took it out on officials of the Yanghe Township government. He threatened: “During this special period of time, we have to maintain stability for the 18th National People's Congress. A Falun Gong practitioner has appeared in your area. Are there any more Falun Gong practitioners in hiding and not accounted for? You must find this out by having every village recount and report the names again.”

As a result, Yanghe Township officials intensified their persecution of Falun Gong practitioners within their jurisdiction. On August 19, 2012, they searched for Falun Gong practitioners everywhere, harassing innocent people in the process. Officials responsible for each village had to promise that all Falun Gong practitioners had been accounted for and that none were hidden. In the meantime, Yanghe Township officials publicly criticized Zhongjiazhuang Village Communist Party secretary many times for not having Ms. Cui on the blacklist.