(Minghui.org) Today's news from China includes incidents of persecution that took place in 13 cities or counties in 6 provinces, where at least 44 practitioners were recently persecuted for their belief.

1. [Hegang City, Heilongjiang Province] Ms. Meng Guilong Sentenced to Prison; Ms. Zhang Huanchun’s Pension Suspended
2. [Hegang City, Heilongjiang Province] Several Practitioners Harassed
3. [Mudanjiang City, Heilongjiang Province] Ms. Yao Shuxia Appeals to Intermediate Court; Her Daughter Acts As Defender
4. [Tianjin] Ms. An Chunyun Required to Return Pension Received While in Prison
5. [Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province] Ms. Shen Yunlan's and Ms. Xu Yafen’s Pensions Suspended
6. [Guang’an City, Sichuan Province] Ms. Li Yanling Held in Detention Center
7. [Haiyang City, Shandong Province] Six Practitioners’ Cases Turned Over to Procuratorate
8. [Qiqihar City, Heilongjiang Province] Ms. Liu Li and Ms. Shao Jianing Followed and Harassed
9. [Chongqing] Several Practitioners Arrested
10. [Yantai City, Shandong Province] Ms. Sun Aiqun Held in Detention Center
11. [Gaomi City, Shandong Province] Ms. Luan Qimei Harassed
12. [Kunming City, Yunnan Province] Mr. Hu Jinzhao Arrested
13. [Yanshou County, Heilongjiang Province] Ms. Zhao Yukun Arrested
14. [Chongqing] Mr. Fei Mingyan Harassed
15. [Tianjin] Chen Baohui’s Home Ransacked
16. [Hanzhong City, Shaanxi Province] Ms. Fang Suyu Harassed

1. [Hegang City, Heilongjiang Province] Ms. Meng Guilong Sentenced to Prison; Ms. Zhang Huanchun’s Pension Suspended

Ms. Meng Guilong was arrested on January 25, 2020, which was Chinese New Year’s Day. It was recently reported that she was sentenced to two years in prison.

Ms. Zhang Huanchun was arrested in April 2020. She was sentenced to six months in prison and returned home in October. Beginning in January 2021, the Social Security Bureau began to deduct money from her pension. She was told that six months of her pension would be deducted.

2. [Hegang City, Heilongjiang Province] Several Practitioners Harassed

From January to early May 2021, several Falun Gong practitioners were harassed.

Ms. Yang Xiurong’s daughter was pressured by community management personnel to sign the three statements for Ms. Yang.

Mr. Zhao Hongzhi and his wife Ms. Dai Xianying from Xiangyang District were harassed.

Officers from the Hongjun Police Station and the No. 5 Hongjun Community management personnel knocked on the doors of Ms. Zu Yufen and Ms. Lai Wenlan and harassed them.

Ms. Li Baoxia’s husband was pressured to sign the three statements for her by Xiangyang Community management personnel. Liu Yu’s non-practitioner sister was also harassed over the phone.

Ms. Yan Huijuan and her husband Mr. Gao Zonggen signed the three statements. A few days ago, they were harassed and had to sign the three statements again.

When Ms. Zhan Cuiling from the Xing’an District refused to sign the three statements. Community management personnel pressured Ms. Zhan’s non-practitioner elder sister to pretend to be her and sign them. It was reported that provincial officials came to inspect the area. The community management personnel asked Ms. Zhan’s elder sister to pretend she was her and be video recorded. They instructed the elder sister to state that she quit practicing Falun Gong among other false claims.

Ms. Hu Guijie lives in Gongnong District. Her daughter and son-in-law were harassed several times. The community management personnel also went to her son-in-law’s work unit to harass him, which brought a lot of stress to the family. Ms. Hu was again harassed over the phone a few days ago.

Ms. Du Guihua from Gongnong District was detained for five days. Her husband was pressured to sign the three statements.

Before Chinese New Year’s Day on February 12, 2021, Ms. Tao Yulian, Yu Xiaojing (gender unknown), Mr. Sun Shihong, and Mr. Sun’s wife Ms. Li Yanchun were taken to the Wenhua Road Police Station, where their palm prints and all ten fingerprints were taken.

Practitioners Zhang Huanchun, and two practitioners surnamed Hou and Yang were also harassed.

3. [Mudanjiang City, Heilongjiang Province] Ms. Yao Shuxia Appeals to Intermediate Court; Her Daughter Acts As Defender

Ms. Yao Shuxia from Hailin City was sentenced to six years and three months in prison during a show trial, in which she was deprived of the right to defend herself, and no evidence was presented.

By going over the relevant laws, Ms. Yao’s daughter realized the importance of defense and that she could act as her mother’s defender. She submitted the required documents to the Mudanjiang Intermediate Court, requesting to defend her mother as a family member, and reaffirming her right to review the case files and her right to meet and communicate with her mother. The court approved her request in accordance with the law.

4. [Tianjin] Ms. An Chunyun Required to Return Pension Received While in Prison

Ms. An Chunyun received a call from the Dagang Sub-center of the Tianjin Social Security Foundation Center on April 30, 2021. She was told to go to the Dagang Social Security Bureau to repay the pension she received from April 13, 2019 to February 5, 2020, while she was imprisoned.

On May 2, she received a document from the Dagang Sub-center asking for verification of her retirement benefit information.

On the morning of May 6, Ms. An went to the Social Security Center to tell the staff members that the pension was what she paid when she was self-employed, which was private property. She pointed out that the Social Security Bureau had no right to deduct it, nor did they have the right to take it from her. 

A staff member threatened that if Ms. An did not give them the amount they asked for, she would be sued in court.

5. [Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province] Ms. Shen Yunlan's and Ms. Xu Yafen’s Pensions Suspended

Ms. Shen Yunlan and Ms. Xu Yafen from Taicang City are being held in prison. Their pension payments have been suspended by the Taicang Social Security Bureau. The bureau told their families to return the pension payments received starting from the beginning of both practitioners' prison terms.

6. [Guang’an City, Sichuan Province] Ms. Li Yanling Held in Detention Center

Ms. Li Yanling from the Guang’an District was kicked and punched by several plainclothes officers while distributing Falun Gong materials in mid-April 2021.

Some kind-hearted bystanders asked why plainclothes officers were beating her. The officers shouted, “She was handing out flyers so we have to hit her.” The bystanders said that they should not beat her even though she was distributing flyers. The officers threatened them, “Are you with her? Take out your ID cards!”

Ms. Li was arrested and is being held in the Guang’an City Detention Center.

7. [Haiyang City, Shandong Province] Six Practitioners’ Cases Turned Over to Procuratorate

The cases against Ms. Liang Yaomin, Mr. Zhang Jiguo, Mr. Zhang Junfeng, Mr. Wang Chenggang, Mr. Ji Lixiao, and Mr. Yu Haiyong were turned over to the procuratorate by March 8, 2021.

8. [Qiqihar City, Heilongjiang Province] Ms. Liu Li and Ms. Shao Jianing Followed and Harassed

Ms. Liu Li and Ms. Shao Jianing have been followed and placed under residential surveillance since June 2019. Staff members of the community management office and 610 Office staked out near their homes and work units. When the two practitioners commuted to work, these people followed them.

In October 2020, March 2021, and May 2021, the police went to their homes and asked if they still practiced Falun Gong and whom they had contacted.

On May 8, the police went to their homes and asked if they had used Douyin or Kuaishou (both are popular social media apps) to send anything. They also asked if they still practiced Falun Gong.

9. [Chongqing] Several Practitioners Arrested

Ms. Yang Xu, 36; Ms. Zhu Zhonglan, about 40; Ms. Zhu Meiying, 51; Ms. Ye Wenxiu, 76; and other practitioners were arrested when they were studying Falun Gong teachings in the Changfu Shengjing Licheng Residential Community, Lianhua Sub-district, Banan District, on April 22, 2021.

The police confiscated many items, including cash to cover living expenses. Four practitioners including Ms. Yang and Ms. Zhu were taken to the Banan District Detention Center. Two other practitioners were released.

10. [Yantai City, Shandong Province] Ms. Sun Aiqun Held in Detention Center

Ms. Sun Aiqun from Fushan District was arrested by officers from the Zangjia Township Police Station on the morning of May 5, 2021. She is being held in the Dongting Detention Center in Fushan District.

11. [Gaomi City, Shandong Province] Ms. Luan Qimei Harassed

Four officers from the Jiangjiatun Police Station went to 68-year-old Ms. Luan Qimei’s home in Dongguokuang Village at around 8 p.m. on May 6, 2021. They told Ms. Luan to go to the police station, but she refused. Then, they called four more officers, who brought filming equipment and cameras to take pictures and videos of Ms. Luan. They confiscated a copy of Hong Yin II, a copy of Falun Dafa founder Master Li’s lectures given in various places, photos of Master Li, and three audio players.

They pressured Ms. Luan to point her finger at the Falun Dafa books while recording her. She clarified the truth to them. The police took notes while questioning her and then told her to sign a document, which she refused to do. They signed on her behalf and pressured her to put her fingerprints on it.

12. [Kunming City, Yunnan Province] Mr. Hu Jinzhao Arrested

A group of people broke into Mr. Hu Jinzhao’s home and ransacked the place around 11 p.m. on April 21, 2021. Mr. Hu was arrested. The next day, he was taken to the hospital for a physical examination. Then he was taken to the Xinhua Hospital as several indicators failed to meet requirements.

Mr. Hu, born on July 27, 1968, was a doctor in the Psychiatric Hospital of Yunnan Province before the persecution. Since the persecution, which started in 1999, he has been taken into custody on numerous occasions.

13. [Yanshou County, Heilongjiang Province] Ms. Zhao Yukun Arrested

Ms. Zhao Yukun was followed by plainclothes officers when she talked to people about Falun Gong on the streets on April 28, 2021. She was arrested by officers from the Chengnan Police Station.

Three officers ransacked her home and confiscated more than twelve books and copies of Minghui Weekly. Ms. Zhao was taken to the Domestic Security Division. Division head Xu Chunlei and several officers conducted a physical examination on Ms. Zhao. The results of the examination showed that she had high blood pressure and serious heart disease. She also suffered from gall bladder and kidney stones. Despite her condition, the officers took her to the Harbin Detention Center.

When Ms. Zhao arrived at the detention center, she was examined again, but failed the exam. She was taken back to Yanshou County and released at 12 o’clock that night.

14. [Chongqing] Mr. Fei Mingyan Harassed

Mr. Fei Mingyan, 50, with a level 3 physical disability (which means the person is more severely handicapped than a level 4 in China’s four-level disability categorization), lives temporarily in Fuqiang Village in the Jiangbei District.

Liu Wei, an official from the Wanshouqiao Village Comprehensive Management Committee, Shuitu Town, Beibei District, and three others went to Mr. Fei’s home on May 9, 2021 and told him that municipal officials would be paying him a visit.

Mr. Fei has been persecuted for practicing Falun Gong for a long time, since the persecution began in 1999. He was held in a forced labor camp in the Xishanping area for three years. He was sentenced to six years in Yongchuan Prison. He was taken to the Lianglu Brainwashing Center. He was arrested on numerous occasions, and his home was ransacked.

15. [Tianjin] Practitioner Chen Baohui’s Home Ransacked

Zhi Jianming, an officer from the Dajiang Road Police Station, Hebei District, broke into practitioner Chen Baohui’s home on July 21, 2020 and on March 29, 2021. Zhi confiscated 60 Falun Dafa books, 30 keepsakes, dozens of Minghui Weekly, three photos of the founder of Falun Gong, a DVD player, and a laptop computer.

16. [Hanzhong City, Shaanxi Province] Ms. Fang Suyu Harassed

Six people from the Dongdajie Police Station, the community management office, and the 610 Office went to Ms. Fang Suyu’s home and ransacked it on May 8, 2021. They confiscated Falun Dafa books and weekly publications.

A few days ago, they went to her home again and harassed her on the pretext of “public security.”