(Minghui.org) The three children of a 79-year-old man detained for his faith in Falun Gong are being pressured by police to dissociate themselves from their father, as authorities are attempting to force the elderly man to renounce his faith.
Such tactics had been repeatedly used during political campaigns in the Chinese communist regime's history, in which many children were turned against their parents, or students against their teachers, as people tried to avoid being implicated by those targeted.
In the persecution against the spiritual discipline Falun Gong that started in July 1999, many practitioners' family members were told to urge their loved ones to give up Falun Gong or else they'd also face persecution themselves.
It isn't clear whether Mr. Xiao Dafu's children have complied with the police demand to cut him off from their lives.
Mr. Xiao, a resident of Dazhou City, Sichuan Province, was seized from his home by officers from Tongzhou District Domestic Security Division on October 16, 2018. The officers ransacked his home and confiscated his computer and other personal belongings.
The elderly man has been kept at Tongzhou City Detention Center and denied family visits.
It was reported that Mr. Xiao was subjected to long hours of interrogation seven times. The police have submitted his case to Wantuan City Procuratorate. He is now facing further persecution for his faith.
In the past 20 years, Mr. Xiao has been repeatedly detained and had his home ransacked for not renouncing his faith.
One month before his latest arrest, five officers went to his home on September 5, 2018 and checked every room in his house. While Mr. Xiao wasn’t home, the police threatened his wife Ms. Liu Jixiu and daughter-in-law. The police returned three days later, but Mr. Xiao’s family refused to open the door for them.
