(Minghui.org) One evening after the 2013 New Year, my wife and I were having a quiet evening at home. Suddenly someone knocked on our door. It was one of my daughter's friends. She told us: “Your daughter was abducted by the police!” The shocking news kept me awake the entire night. Events from the past were displayed in front of my eyes like a movie.
Memories
My daughter grew up in a family of intellectuals. After I graduated from a university in Beijing, I worked as the principal of a provincial Chinese Communist Party (CCP) School. My wife was a medical worker. We had only one daughter, who was intelligent and very pretty. In 1997, in her 20s, she began to practice Falun Gong. She used to sleep in until she had to get up to work. Now she got up every morning to do the Falun Gong exercises in the park. There were big changes in her character. She used to be spoiled and disobedient, but she became kindhearted and considered others first. We were so proud of her.
In July 1999, the CCP started to persecute Falun Gong. The state-controlled media started to overwhelmingly slander Falun Gong. I knew that another political movement had begun.
Recalling my own past, I had engaged in political work since I graduated from university. I was a bureau-level official. During the “Great Cultural Revolution,” I was persecuted and I lost my position. My status was redressed after the Culture Revolution. On June 3, 1989, I was on a business trip in Beijing. I witnessed the army firing on civilians. I was so disappointed in the communist regime because it kills its own citizens so casually. Disillusioned, I converted to Christianity some years later.
As soon as the persecution of Falun Gong started, I told my daughter: “This is the second 'June 4.' One cannot reason with the CCP. There is no right or wrong in front of the party's politics. Please do not continue your practice, or else you will be persecuted.” She did not take my advice. I recorded related programs from the CCP's TV and played them to her repeatedly. I tried to reason with her, but all in vain.
I was puzzled. My daughter had had other beliefs before, and sometimes followed other fashions. None of those lasted long. What made her so persistent this time?
She was arrested twice. The first time was when she went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong in 1999. The second time was in 2004. She was put in a forced labor camp. All the beatings and torture she experienced did not cause her to give up her belief.
In 2006, in the restaurant my daughter ran, I met several of her friends who practiced Falun Gong. I saw that they were all very kind, considerate, sincere, and they were good people – which is hard to find in today's society. I trusted them. If a belief could make so many people noble, truthful, and brave, then this belief was something admirable.
Once, during a dinner together, they advised me to quit the CCP. Because I was a political teacher and had been involved with politics for years, I could not make the decision to quit, even though I knew that the CCP was bad. Finally, though, I was moved by their genuineness and agreed to quit the CCP. But I still asked them not to tell others about it.
A few years ago, a Christian friend sent me an article about what is really happening in China. The article was written so well that I was amazed. He told me that he got it through Dynaweb. He was using software which can break through China's Internet blockade. The software was created by Falun Gong practitioners.
My daughter said, "Dad, everyone else is reading overseas news, why don't you read it too?" I finally let my daughter install the software for me. Reading all the uncensored information, I knew it was all the truth. What CCTV (the main state-controlled media in China) was broadcasting are all lies. I regretted not using the software earlier. From then on I refused to watch news from the CCP's media.
I learned that Falun Gong had spread throughout the world and is loved by many people. The CCP's media spread lies about Falun Gong. They are so evil! What they were doing was similar to how the Roman emperors persecuted the early Christians. I saw that the international community condemned the persecution of Falun Gong and that the Chinese people were also against this persecution.
I recalled that when my daughter's friend told me about my daughter's illegal arrest, she also told me not to worry. She said that the persecution of Falun Gong is illegal, that we should protect our own rights and demand the authorities to release my daughter. She gave me some examples of practitioners being released due to the righteous efforts of their family and friends. I became determined: There is nothing wrong with Falun Gong! I must get my daughter home!
Rescuing My Daughter
The next day, my daughter's friend accompanied my wife and me to the police station and to the Domestic Security Division. We demanded the release of our daughter. The police lied to us and kept pushing the responsibility onto each other. My daughter's friend was unmoved. She maintained a peaceful, kind, and rational manner. Evil cannot prevail over righteousness. I realized that there is nothing to be afraid of. I resolved that no matter how difficult it may be, we would get our daughter back.
The next day, my wife and I decided not to trouble my daughter's friend anymore (she was very busy) and we went out on our own. At first, the police spoke to us viciously. I spoke reasonably to them like my daughter's friend did. I told them of my daughter's experience and how the whole world supports Falun Gong. I told the director of the police station, “For so many years, the CCP has failed to crush Falun Gong. You should consider your own future.” He was quiet. Then they told me that the case had been transferred to the Procuratorate.
The following day my wife and I went to the Procuratorate. The guard was very cold and refused to let us in. He said it was impossible to let family members in, and even lawyers were denied entry. I told him repeatedly that my daughter is innocent and that this case is urgent. He became slightly sympathetic and suggested that we go to the “Legal Help Center” at the back gate.
The people at the Legal Help Center were very cold too. After we told them my daughter's story, they expressed sympathy and said, "The only way you can try is to ask the guard at the Procuratorate to call the related officers inside. Otherwise there is no way to talk to them."
We went back to the Procuratorate and talked to the guard. My wife was in tears by now and begged him to help us. At last, the guard said, "There has not been one occasion where family members were able to meet with officials here. I will help by making a phone call, but it will be up to him if he wants to see you." He picked up the phone. I blurted out, "Just tell him this is urgent and we have to talk to him face to face!" The guard froze for a moment, then repeated into the phone what I had told him.
Very soon, a middle-aged prosecutor walked out of the building. He walked straight toward us. There was only one thought in my mind at that moment: "Gods are helping us."
He stopped in front of us, told us his name, and asked us what was going on. I told him, "My daughter was arrested on the street when she was talking to people about the persecution of Falun Gong. Her husband taught in a university and he also practices Falun Gong. Several years ago, he was taken to a forced labor camp because he did not give up his belief. The guards in the camp shocked him with eight electric batons which caused him to have a nervous breakdown. He is unable to live a normal life. Now, the police have arrested my innocent daughter. No one can take care of my son-in-law. He runs around in the streets. How can we have a harmonious society, with this persecution going on? Please handle this case appropriately and let our daughter go home."
As I spoke about what had happened to my daughter and son-in-law, I felt very sad. My wife broke down in tears. I reasoned with them more. The prosecutor was moved. He told us, "Let me report to the upper officials. Can you go to your local area office and get a certificate saying that your son-in-law is mentally disordered? Can you give it to me by the end of the day?" I replied without thinking, "Yes!"
It was noon. My wife went home. I wanted to get the certificate, but where could I get it? I knew that my son-in-law had changed his address. I only had a rough idea of where he was, but I did not know which specific area he was in. I took a taxi to the area. As soon as I stepped out of the cab, I saw a local district office. I went inside and asked about my son-in-law. When a worker said, "Yes, this person belongs to this area," I could hardly believe my ears.
I asked them to provide a certificate of my son-in-law's disability. They all knew that he had been persecuted, but they were too scared to provide it. I don't know where my wisdom came from – I suddenly got an idea. I said that I am a Christian and I need to help people who are in trouble. The district secretary started to make calls and eventually I got the certificate.
I rushed back to the Procuratorate and caught the prosecutor just before he got off work. He took the certificate and said, "It's just in time. It was good you came today. The Procuratorate is supposed to issue an arrest warrant tomorrow."
On my way home, my head felt so clear: it is right to support Falun Gong and rescue my daughter who believes in Falun Gong. God is helping with every step.
Success
At midnight several days later, I was woken up by a phone call. "Dad, it's me. I'm in a taxi. I'm coming home." It was the voice I was yearning to hear. My wife and I went downstairs. We saw our daughter a few minutes later. It was a freezing night but I felt really warm. My wife and I cried with joy.
We found out that during these past days my daughter had insisted that she was innocent of any crime and asked to be unconditionally released. Finally, the Procuratorate returned the case to the police station. The police freed her the same night. A police car took her from the prison to the city, and from there she took a taxi.
The next day, my daughter and I went to the police station to ask for her coat and bag. She talked calmly to the police officers there. The officers were polite. One looked for my daughter's belongings, including the 3,000 yuan that they'd taken from her. When they checked the bag, an officer found a card that had the words: "Falun Dafa is good. Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good." He looked at it and returned the bag without saying anything.
I said to the policemen at the station, "You should understand the real situation. Jiang Zemin's regime claimed that it would eliminate Falun Gong in three months. Now, more than ten years have passed, and not only has Falun Gong not been eliminated, but the whole world condemns the persecution. The Tiananmen self-immolation incident has been proven to be fake. Jiang Zemin and Bo Xilai have been sued overseas. Think about it, can Falun Gong be an ordinary matter? Falun Gong will be redressed here in China. Changes will come. Everyone should know this and not blindly follow the CCP; otherwise they'll go down with the CCP.”
The chief police officer said, "Yes, yes. We were actually unaware of all of this until you told us. It was Domestic Security Division who arrested your daughter. They did it and we got blamed!" All of the policemen in the room started to complain about the bureaucracy. They helped carry our belongings and saw us to the gate: "Be careful! Take care!"
Recalling my journey from the time that I did not understand my daughter and asked her to stop practicing Falun Gong, to the time that I quit the CCP but still told her not to tell others, to today, when my daughter was rescued successfully...through more than ten years of resisting the persecution, I have truly witnessed how "evil cannot defeat the righteous." Through Falun Gong, I have witnessed God's blessings. I now see hope.
