(Clearwisdom.net) January 22, 2004 is the anniversary of Li Xiangchun's arrest by Jiang and his followers. Last year on January 22 Chinese security officials at the Guangzhou Airport arrested American medical doctor Li Xiangchun (Charles Li), a resident of California. Jiang and his followers held a one-day show-trial on March 21, and sentenced Li to three years in prison on a trumped up charge of "intention to sabotage public television facility."
During Li's year of imprisonment, Jiang and his followers have exhausted their shameless methods to persecute Li, both mentally and physically, in order to force him to give up his faith in Truth, Compassion, and Tolerance. That Li, an American citizen, could be subject to such ill-treatment makes it easy to believe that Falun Gong practitioners in China must receive even more serious persecution.
Forced Brainwashing
Li doesn't have any personal freedom in prison. Jiang and his followers have also deprived him of freedom of thought. Li is forced to participate in a variety of brainwashing classes. Several times he was dragged to the class by his feet, and his body was covered with bruises.
In addition to suffering physical punishment by being beaten up and tortured, Li's freedom of belief was also infringed upon. From February 10 to 12, he was forced to watch videotapes that defamed Falun Gong and its founder.
According to the American consul in Shanghai, Najing Prison has sent Li to five brainwashing classes since June 27. Each time, Li was forced to experience two hours of anti-Falun Gong propaganda. Since July 8, Li has refused to attend the classes, but he was knocked down to the ground by some criminals and was dragged downstairs to the class anyway. On July 9 he was again forcibly kidnapped to the brainwashing class, leaving him with 29 large bruises all over his body.
Between November and December of 2003, Li was forced to endure brainwashing almost every day. In November the prison intensified their brainwashing efforts. Criminals who were sentenced to lifetime prison terms for selling drugs also intensified their harassment and humiliation of Li. The prison installed two monitoring video cameras, one in Li's cell and the other in the brainwashing room. The brainwashing class has two formats, one is a collective brainwashing effort and the other is individual brainwashing. There was also class to watch brainwashing videotapes.
The cruelest strategy used by the public security department is the psychological torture that is used to interrogate and transform intelligence agents. A Mr. Shao Gong talks with Li every day for three hours and tries to force Li to admit he is guilty. Shao has been using various psychological strategies. Each time he visits, Shao changes his strategy in his talks with Li. If Li refuses to talk with Shao, Li will be in trouble.
The most ridiculous tactic has been Nanjing Prison's request to the Shanghai consular officials to work with them to transform Li. This of course received a flat refusal. Any person that has grown up in a free country would not buy their lies.
To force a person to give up his faith is the same as asking him to give up his conscience and dignity as a human being. The forced brainwashing is inhumane spiritual persecution. Its ramifications reach far beyond the physical tortures.
Miss Fu, Li's fiancée, has said that she can feel the pain Li is suffering in the brainwashing class even though she is in the US. The pain comes from being forced to do things you never want to do and from having your basic human nature altered. Li is a truthful person. He never tells lies and wants to be a good, compassionate person with great tolerance. They torture him and attempt to transform him. That is a pain no words can describe.
Forced Feeding
Force-feeding is a cruel tactic used by Jiang and his followers to torture Falun Gong practitioners. It is used as a punishment and an intentional means of torture. Force-feeding is extremely dangerous and painful. It has resulted in the deaths of many Falun Gong practitioners in China.
Li Xiangchun held hunger strikes to resist and protest his own illegal detention, as well as the persecution of all Falun Gong practitioners. He was force-fed several times. One time the guards pushed a tube up his nose and into his stomach and then intentionally left it in his body for 33 hours.
Li started his hunger strike on May 27 in Nanjing Prison. He was then force-fed in the prison hospital beginning May 31. On June 2, when officials in the US consulate learned that Li was holding a hunger strike, they drove to the prison and asked to meet with Li to verify his health and safety. The prison refused the request. After repeated requests, the prison allowed a consular official to talk with Li on the phone. Li told him that he suffered from force-feeding that was "extremely painful."
His hunger strike protested his sentence as well as the mistreatment he received. In less than two months, Li was force-fed at least two times. Force-feeding is very painful and often results in rupture of the esophagus causing loss of speech, as well as festering of the lung. It can easily cause death.
According to the United Nations annual human rights report, force-feeding is a method frequently used by the Chinese government to torture detainees who hold hunger strikes. Those holding a hunger strike often are restrained while a thick and often dirty tube is forced down the esophagus. The procedure is very painful and many people suffocate and die during the process because the tube is forced into the respiratory tract.
Use of Violence
In his letter sent out via the U.S. consulate, Li stated that he was arrested as soon as he got off the plane at the Guangzhou Baiyun Airport on January 22, 2003. After the arrest, and while he was holding a hunger strike, he was not allowed to sleep for three days and three nights. Many people took turns questioning him. He was handcuffed for over 72 hours, with his hands deliberately cuffed behind his back so that he could not move most of that time. Especially on January 27 from 8:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m., on the way from Shanghai to Yangzhou, they intentionally cuffed his hands behind his back and made the handcuffs cut into his flesh. On the evening of January 24, the police carried him by grabbing and holding his handcuffs behind his back, a very painful experience. The scars on Li's hands are still visible.
From March 27 to April 21 Li was continuously handcuffed for 130 hours. It was very hot weather, but because of the handcuffs, Li was not able to change out of his winter clothes. On the afternoon of May 12, Li was beaten again and his head was shaved. One hand was cuffed to the metal bed. In the morning of May 13 he was forced to dress in prison clothes with both hands cuffed.
The prison authorities forced Li to read aloud with them materials that defamed Falun Gong. If Li declined and argued with them, they would beat him and personally attack him in other ways.
Li reported to the Shanghai consulate two violent incidents that took place in November. One occurred when Li wrote his 60-page letter to the U.S. consulate. The guards incited other prisoners to take the letter and destroy it. The second incident occurred when prisoner Li Luming (translated from the pronunciation) beat Li in front of the guards. The guards, instead of stopping Li Lumin, claimed that even if Li Xiangchun reported to the U.S. consulate, things wouldn't change.
24-hour Monitoring
The additional prisoners placed in Li's cell increased from four to 10. Six of them are assigned to monitor Li 24 hours a day to prevent him from doing the Falun Gong exercises. Among the prisoners is one who was sentenced to the death penalty and has threatened to kill Li.
In October, Nanjing Prison assigned eight prisoners to monitor Li 24 hours a day. They forced him to watch films that distort and defame Falun Gong. They tried to force Li to admit that he is guilty, give up practicing Falun Gong, and write a letter of repentance.
Under the pressure of protest from the U.S. consulate in Shanghai, the prison reduced the number of prisoners overseeing Li. However, by October 16, the number of prisoners monitoring Li day and night was increased to eight.
When officials from the Shanghai consulate went to see Li on November 25, they found that the authorities had intensified Li's mental torture. They had installed two video cameras to monitor him. One is in Li's cell and one is in the brainwashing classroom. Now Li's every movement is under surveillance, including his sleep and trips to the restroom.
Miss Zhaing Xuerong, a friend of Li's, said, "I originally thought it was only Chinese Falun Gong practitioners in China who were cruelly persecuted. But Li is an American citizen; how could they go so far as to persecute Li? Moreover, the Chinese authorities claimed that they were treating Li well when the fact is that they have been lying. They are persecuting an American citizen! I was moved when I read Li's letter. In order to let Chinese people learn the truth and not be deceived by their lies, he selflessly went to China with the intention of revealing the truth. Take SARS as an example. The lies told by the Chinese authorities harm not only Chinese people, but also people around the world. Therefore, Li is our hero."
During the past four years of this campaign of intolerance of "Truth, Compassion, and Tolerance" launched by Jiang, countless steadfast Falun Gong practitioners have been persecuted. Jiang's violence against an American citizen allows kind-hearted people to clearly see his evil nature. We call for all righteous people around the world to unite, and without delay, hold accountable those who launched and sustained this cruel persecution. Stop this unprecedented persecution!
It has been demonstrated that evil forces are afraid of having their bad deeds exposed. We will continue to expose their evil deeds. Meanwhile, we hope that all kind-hearted and righteous people help get Li Xiangchun back. We strongly urge the Chinese authorities to stop the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners and release Li Xiangchun.
Relevant people and phone numbers:
Nanjing Prison: 86-25-3591246
Nanjing Prison telephone exchange: 86-25-2891006
Head of the Nanjing Prison: Shen Guohua
Zeng Caihua, Political Department of Nanjing Prison: 86-25-2893168 (O),
86-13813909308 (message), 86-25-6207875 (H)
Jinbing, Nanjing Prison office: 86-25-2890713 (O), 86-13801585976 (message),
86-25-3358032 (H)
Ji Chengzhi, deputy head of office staff of the administrative section of
Nanjing Prison
Prison Management Bureau of Jiangsu Province: 86-25-3591069
Political and Legal Affairs Office of Yangzhuo City: 86-514-7865799
"610 Office" of Jiangsu Province: 86-25-835-27237
The Public Security Bureau of Yangzhuo City: 86-514-7347284
Address of Nanjing Prison: Ningshuang Road 9, Tiexiqiao Town, Yuhuatai District,
Nanjing, 210012
