(Minghui.org) Minghui.org previously reported that a 78-year-old woman in Kunming City, Yunnan Province, is serving a two-year term for her faith in Falun Gong. This report provides newly available information regarding her case.
Ms. Wang Yulan was arrested on June 6, 2024, and released on bail the next day. She was sentenced to two years with an 8,000-yuan fine on April 16, 2025. She filed an appeal with the Kunming City Intermediate Court on June 16, 2025, but lost.
Due to her high blood pressure and other health conditions, Ms. Wang’s family requested that she serve time outside of prison. While she was not immediately taken back into custody after her appeal was denied, the police deceived her into going to a hospital for a physical exam on March 15, 2026. They drove her straight to the Kunming City Detention Center after the checkup. The detention center in turn checked her into the Xinhua Hospital the next day. After an unknown amount of time in the hospital, Ms. Wang was admitted to the Yunnan Province Second Women’s Prison. Her term is expected to end in March 2028.
The newly available information also indicated that Ms. Wang’s arrest was triggered by a letter she mailed at the Chuanjin Road Post Office on April 12, 2024. The letter was addressed to prosecutor Su Jing of the Xishan District Procuratorate. Su indicted multiple local Falun Gong practitioners in the past, and Ms. Wang urged her to stop prosecuting law-abiding citizens.
The Kunming City Police Department was made aware of the letter and determined that it was a Falun Gong “propaganda piece.” They raided Ms. Wang’s home and confiscated her Falun Gong books and informational materials. She was then charged with violating Article 300 of the Criminal Law, which states that those who use a cult organization to undermine law enforcement must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
As China’s law-making body, the People’s Congress has never enacted any law criminalizing Falun Gong nor has it labeled it a cult. The prosecutor in charge of the case cited as legal basis a statutory interpretation of Article 300 of the Criminal Law issued by the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate in November 1999. The interpretation required that anyone practicing or promoting Falun Gong be prosecuted to the fullest extent possible. Ms. Wang pointed out that a new statutory interpretation that replaced the 1999 version took effect on February 1, 2017. The new interpretation makes no mention of Falun Gong and emphasized that any indictment against anyone “engaging in a cult” must be based on solid legal grounds.
The prosecutor also cited as legal basis two notices issued by China’s Administration of Press and Publications in July 1999 to ban the publication of Falun Gong books. Ms. Wang said that the Administration issued a repeal of the ban in 2011 and that it was fully legal for practitioners to own Falun Gong books. As such, the Falun Gong materials confiscated from her home should never have been used as admissible evidence to sentence her.
The prosecution evidence also included two notices issued by the Chinese Ministry of Public Security in 2000 and 2005 that bore the same name but different document numbers (Notice [2000] No. 39 and Notice [2005] No. 39). The notice was titled “Notice from Ministry of Public Security Regarding Identifying and Banning Cult Organizations.” Ms. Wang pointed out that the two notices identified a total of 14 cult organizations, none of which is Falun Gong.
In her appeal, Ms. Wang reiterated the above arguments but the Kunming City Intermediate Court still ruled against her.
Related Reports:
Kunming, Yunnan Province: 13 Convicted for Their Faith, 9 Appealed But Lost
Arrested in a Police Sweep, Four More Yunnan Residents Sentenced to Prison for Practicing Falun Gong
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