Shandong Couple Get Heavier Prison Sentences Than Previously Reported, Joining Long List of Locals Jailed for Practicing Falun Gong

(Minghui.org) Minghui.org reported in March 2025 that a married couple in Taian City, Shandong Province were both sentenced for their shared faith in Falun Gong, with Ms. Zhang Liangui receiving 7 years and Mr. Qin Zhenquan 3 years.

New information recently emerged that the couple had actually both been sentenced to eight years following their arrests on August 1, 2024. Mr. Qin’s appeal was rejected by the Taian City Intermediate Court, and the 63-year-old man was admitted to the Shandong Province Prison on June 11, 2025. It is unclear whether his 62-year-old wife also appealed and where she is being held at the time of writing.

Past Persecution

The couple took up Falun Gong in 1997 and soon regained their health. Their son also recovered from his illnesses. After the communist regime started the persecution of Falun Gong in July 1999, Ms. Zhang served two forced labor terms and one prison sentence, totaling six years; and Mr. Qin served a three-year term of forced labor.

Chief Ma Shouzhuang from the Manzhuang Town Police Station and secretary Song Shaofa of the Mannan Village harassed the couple at home on the morning of July 22, 1999, two days after the persecution began. Mr. Qin boarded a bus to Beijing that afternoon to appeal for Falun Gong. He was barred from entering Beijing because he didn’t have his ID with him. Ms. Zhang managed to get to Beijing the next day to appeal for Falun Gong. The couple become key targets for persecution after that.

Ms. Zhang was arrested at the end of December 2000, while doing Falun Gong exercises near Tiananmen Square in Beijing. She was taken back to Shandong Province and held at a brainwashing center and detention center for about 15 days, before being transferred to the Jinan City Labor Camp to serve a one-year term. She was forced to do hard labor and deprived of sleep from time to time. She was released at the end of December 2001.

The local 610 Office seized Ms. Zhang, Mr. Qin, and his two sisters and sent them to a brainwashing center in April 2000.

Mr. Qin was reported for distributing Falun Gong informational materials in the summer of 2000. About eight officers later broke into his home to arrest him and his wife. Ms. Zhang was released hours later and Mr. Qin the next day.

Officers from the Manzhuang Town Police Station seized Mr. Qin in October 2000 and took him to the Taian City Detention Center. One month later they moved him to a brainwashing center.

On early January 10, 2001, officers from the Manzhuang Town Police Station broke into Mr. Qin’s home again and arrested him. He was detained for more than four months, during which time he was moved back and forth several times between a brainwashing center and detention center. He was brutally beaten at the detention center and forced to watch and read materials slandering Falun Gong.

After he was released, Mr. Qin went to Beijing to appeal again. He unfurled a banner reading “Falun Dafa is good” at Tiananmen Square in early November 2001 and was arrested. He was held at the Fengtai District Detention Center and the Lugouqiao Police Station in Beijing for over one month. He was beaten and bled from his eyes, nose and mouth. His blood pressure also shot up.

Police chief Ma attempted to arrest Mr. Qin at a community fair on January 23, 2001, but failed. Mr. Qin lived away from home afterwards to avoid further persecution.

More than ten officers from the Manzhuang Town Police Station and the Daiyue District Police Department scaled Mr. Qin’s fence and broke into his home on either September 27 or November 13, 2002. They took him to the Wangcun Labor Camp to serve a three-year term. He suffered brutal torture and was forced to do hard labor. He was released in June 2005.

While Mr. Qin was held at the labor camp, Ms. Zhang was arrested on June 13, 2003 and taken to the Taian City Detention Center the next day. She went on a hunger strike in protest and was released on bail. She went into hiding, but was arrested again months later and taken to the Feicheng Detention Center. About one month later, the Daiyue District Court sentenced her to three years. She endured horrific torture at the Shandong Province Women’s Prison in Jinan City and was released in 2006.

Ms. Zhang was arrested again on August 6, 2008 and given two years of forced labor at the Jinan City First Women’s Labor Camp. Mr. Qin managed to escape and lived away from home in the next six years. He returned home in 2014 when his son got married.

Mr. Qin’s once-healthy mother was unable to cope with the repeated persecution of him and his wife and suffered declining health. The older woman died around May 2009.

Three officers broke into Mr. Qin’s rental place on July 26, 2024 and took pictures of him. They also questioned where he was working. Days later on August 1, another group of officers came and arrested Ms. Zhang. As soon as Mr. Qin returned from work that day, he was also arrested. See the first related report for details of the couple’s latest arrest.

The couple’s family learned in mid-August 2024 that Mr. Qin and his lawyer met once. No further updates were provided to the family. They found out from an insider in March 2025 that the couple were sentenced to 3 and 7 years, respectively. They called the lawyer, but the latter had no knowledge of the prison sentence. Minghui.org confirmed recently that Mr. Qin and Ms. Zhang had actually both received eight years.

Besides the couple, many other Falun Gong practitioners in the greater Taian region have been sentenced for their faith in recent years. Below is a list of 28 sentencing cases handled by three courts in the region.

Daiyue District Court in Taian City (1)

Ms. Fu Yanli, then 58, was sentenced to two years on August 6, 2024, and had her appeal rejected on September 25 that year. She was admitted to the Shandong Province Women’s Prison on November 20, 2024.

Taishan District Court in Taian City (12)

Ms. Ping Xiuying, then 64, and Ms. Zhu Guizhen, then 64, were sentenced to two and four years, respectively, following a hearing at the Taishan District Court on January 22, 2019. Ms. Ping was released on parole due to health reasons and Ms. Zhu was admitted to the Shandong Province Women’s Prison in March that year.

Ms. Wang Xiuping, then 55, and Ms. Zhai Jinping, then 54, appeared at the Taishan District Court on April 30, 2019. Ms. Wang was later sentenced to four years and Ms. Zhai one year.

Ms. Xie Qingling, then 66, and Ms. Gao Fangqiang, then 52, appeared at the Taishan District Court on July 15, 2021. Ms. Xie was later sentenced to seven years and Mr. Gao five years. They both lost their appeals and were admitted to local prisons in early December 2021.

Ms. Zhou Min, then 67, and Ms. Yang Huixia, then 59, were sentenced to five and four years in the second half of 2021, respectively.

Ms. Li Fazhen, in her 80s, was sentenced to two years at the end of 2021 and allowed to serve time outside of prison.

Ms. Sun Jinhui, then 48, was sentenced to five years and two months on August 2, 2022.

Mr. Li Cunguo, then 64, was sentenced to five and a half years on March 23, 2023 and admitted to the Shandong Province Prison in early June 2023.

Ms. Pei Fengqin, then 68, appeared at the Taishan District Court on November 19, 2024, and was later sentenced to one year and six months. She was admitted to the Shandong Province Women’s Prison on December 29, 2024.

Feicheng City Court (15)

Feicheng is under the jurisdiction of Taian City.

Mr. Li Guo, then 48, was sentenced to three and a half years on January 7, 2019.

Ms. Wang Chuanju, then 64, was sentenced to two years on February 25, 2019. She was admitted to the Shandong Province Women’s Prison on March 9 that year.

Ms. Li Zhenlian, then 69, was sentenced to three and a half years in April 2019. She was allowed to return home after the sentencing and soon went into hiding to avoid being admitted to prison.

Mr. Zhang Xumin, then 54, was sentenced to two and a half years on June 13, 2019.

Ms. Liu Qian, then 53, was sentenced to two years and six months on June 13, 2019.

Ms. Hu Xiuxiang, then 43, was sentenced to one and a half years on June 13, 2019.

Ms. Lu Keqin, then 72, was sentenced to three and a half years of probation in June 2019. She was allowed to serve time at home. The police took her to the Shandong Province Women’s Prison on February 15, 2025, despite the fact that she had already finished serving her term.

Ms. Han Yuehua, then 78, was sentenced to three and a half years of probation in June 2019. She was taken to the Shandong Province Women’s Prison in February 2025 to re-serve the term she had already completed.

Ms. Ma Junting, then 80, was sentenced to three years of probation in June 2019. The police in 2025 suddenly invalidated her probation and threatened to put her in jail to re-serve the term she had already completed. She fell ill and was hospitalized.

Mr. Zhao Qisen, then 56, was sentenced to two years on July 24, 2019. His wife, Ms. Zheng Hongling, then 55, was sentenced to three and a half years on the same day. She was released on parole due to health reasons.

Mr. Li Rong, then around 40, was sentenced to one year in 2020 and admitted to Jinan Prison.

Ms. Wang Range, then 75, was sentenced to three months on December 10, 2021. She died on October 5, 2024, at the age of 78.

Ms. Cheng Guifeng, then 80, was sentenced to six months with one year probation on May 6, 2022.

Mr. Zhou Chuanzhong, then 70, was sentenced to one year on August 2, 2023.

Related Reports:

Couple in Their 60s Sentenced to Prison for Practicing Falun Gong—Both Repeatedly Detained Before

Three Falun Gong Practitioners from Daiyue District, Taian City Arrested