(Minghui.org) After her mother was detained for practicing Falun Gong in 1999, then-10-year-old Ms. Zhang Xiaoxiao was left unattended. Her classmates taunted her, and her teachers humiliated and even beat her at school meetings.
The police canceled her identification card after she was forced to stay away from home to avoid their harassment in 2004. During the past 15 years, she has encountered numerous difficulties in her personal life and work without a valid ID. Her boyfriend broke up with her because she had no ID to apply for a marriage license.
Ms. Zhang, now 30, was arrested on September 26, 2019. Her whereabouts remain unknown.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a meditation system based on the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has been suppressing Falun Gong since July 1999. Untold numbers of practitioners have since been arrested, detained, imprisoned, and tortured.
Ms. Zhang was born in 1989 in Shayang County, Hubei Province. Her mother, Ms. Li Jing, began to practice Falun Gong in 1998 and her health quickly improved. After the persecution started in 1999, Ms. Zhang, her old sister, and their mother suffered tremendously.
To appeal for Falun Gong, Ms. Li went to Beijing in September 1999. Liu Deyun, then deputy director of Gaoyang Town Police Station, and other officials took her back. Li Tao, Shayang Domestic Security manager, interrogated and threatened her many times.
Ms. Li was forced to pay for room and board during her detention. Her daughter Ms. Zhang, 10 at the time, was bullied at school because her mother was in detention. Students laughed at her, and teachers humiliated her in public during meetings and even beat her. Ms. Zhang, an introverted girl, did not talk about this with anyone, not even her mother, until many years later.
After being released in October 1999, Ms. Li was under house arrest for six months and she had to report to the local police station every day. After her term of house arrest expired, police officers continued to harass her at home and sent Wen Bin, a neighborhood committee officer, to watch her at night.
Officers from Gaoyang Police Station often came to ransack Ms. Li's residence, sometimes late at night. They checked everywhere and even lifted blankets in bed. Her two daughters sometimes dared not to sleep, fearing the police might come at any time and ransack the place.
Later on, officer Luo became the new chief of Gaoyang Police Station. He and other officers continued to harass Ms. Li and her family in the evening. He also forced Ms. Li to sign documents with fingerprints.
Zhang and He Tianyu, two officers from Gaoyang Township government, surrounded Ms. Li’s place one evening in September 2004. They took her to a brainwashing center in Jingmen City, leaving her two daughters—both teenagers—at home unattended.
Ms. Li went on a hunger strike at the brainwashing center to protest. Guards pried open her mouth with pliers and force-fed her. She had blood and liquid food all over her.
Because Ms. Li continued to protest, she was taken to a hospital for nasal feeding as well as injections. Guards also beat her with wet towels and forced her to stand motionlessly until midnight. Two local residents were paid to watch her 24 hours a day.
After Ms. Li returned home in October 2004, officials from the city, county, and town governments continued to come and harass her family. When they could not find her, they would harass her daughters.
Because of the constant harassment, Ms. Li had to stay away from home in late 2004. She did odd jobs in a different city to make a living. But Shayang police followed her, forcing her to move again to avoid arrest.
Unable to find Ms. Li, the police turned to threatening her daughters. Ms. Zhang could not withstand the pressure and fled as well. Her older sister stayed at home alone, and officials continued to harass her from time to time. Later on, Ms. Zhang found her mother and the two lived together.
In 2007, Shayang police went to a private firm in Huanggang City to search for Ms. Li. After that failed, they went to Huanggang Electricity Bureau. Upon hearing that the police were coming, Ms. Li and Ms. Zhang fled in time and avoided being arrested.
In 2012, the mother and daughter moved to the Hankou District in Wuhan City for temporary jobs. Ms. Li's strong work ethic and kindness earned her coworkers' and managers' respect.
Since fleeing in 2004 at age 15, Ms. Zhang has been living with a revoked ID. In today’s China, an ID card is needed for almost everything, from purchasing a phone to opening a bank account and from buying a house to traveling. Without a valid ID, Ms. Zhang could not register to take the exam to become an accountant. She was heartbroken when her boyfriend left her to marry another girl because she couldn't get married without an ID.
Ms. Zhang received a phone call in 2018 from someone who identified himself as officer Zhou. He told her that the police had canceled her ID over 10 years ago because she had distributed Falun Gong materials to several practitioners who were all sentenced to prison at a later time. Since then she had been labeled a fugitive.
Zhou promised to let Ms. Zhang apply for a new ID if she returned to her hometown to apply for “release on bail” to remove her “fugitive” status first. When Ms. Zhang did not return, Zhou found her elder sister and forced the latter to give blood samples.
Shayang police later went to the Hankou District, forcing Ms. Zhang and her mother to flee again.
At 8 a.m. on September 26, 2019, Shayang police arrested Ms. Zhang at her workplace. Her whereabouts have been unknown since then. Her mother, Ms. Li, was able to escape the arrest.
Shayang Police Department: 5 Jinghe Road, Shayang County, Hubei 448200Phone number: +86-724-8561440 x441, +86-724-8561445, +86-724-8562078, +86-724-8562099Discipline Inspection Division: +86-724-8550165Zhu Yongming: manager of Domestic Security Division (a branch of Shayang Police Department)Zou Youyin: Officer of Domestic Security Division responsible for this casePeng Juntao: manager of Criminal Investigation Division (a branch of Shayang Police Department), an participant of the arrestZhou Yu, Liu Min: two officers of Domestic Security DivisionDong Saihua: Deputy Political Commissar of Shayang Police DepartmentHe Xiyin: Party Secretary of Discipline Inspection of Shayang Police Department