(Clearwisdom.net)

This is a personal account of a Dafa practitioner named Hua Ming (pseudonym) who defended Falun Dafa while being incarcerated in the harsh environment of a forced labor camp.

In February 2000 Hua Ming was illegally sentenced to two years of forced labor for going to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. He was sent to the Taiyuan City Zhencheng Forced Labor Camp. During his stay he went on a hunger strike twice to protest the detention. Due to his determination in resisting attempts at brainwashing, he was transferred to the Yongji County Yuxiang Forced Labor Camp in Shanxi Province, a thousand miles away from his home. One year later, in a joint effort throughout the entire province, the "610 Offices" rounded up all of the Dafa practitioners from different areas who had been sentenced to forced labor and transferred them to the Taiyuan Xindian Forced Labor Camp in order to persecute them in a coordinated, systematic way. As a result, Hua Ming was again sent back to Taiyuan City.

In June 2001 Hua Ming was transferred to the Second Team. Three days later, a Dafa practitioner in the Second Team named Zhao Tianlin was beaten. Hua Ming was very upset to see an innocent Dafa practitioner beaten up with bruises all over his face. He thought that the evil's persecution was targeting Dafa and Dafa practitioners, and if the situation were not turned around, the evil would escalate to ever-greater levels of violence. He felt that we should not endure it passively, but instead try to improve the environment. After asking the labor camp staff to stop persecuting Dafa practitioners met with no tangible results, he decided to go on a hunger strike to end the violent acts and rectify the environment. So Hua Ming began his hunger strike. The team leader asked Hua Ming, "How come all of a sudden you stopped eating?" Hua Ming replied, "It's not that I don't want to eat. I just can't bring myself to swallow the food. When I saw Zhao Tianlian's face with bruises all over, I just couldn't eat." No matter how the staff tried to persuade him, Hua Ming was determined to stop eating. Thereafter, the news of Hua Ming holding a hunger strike reached the Division and Management Sections. On the third morning of his hunger strike, the Division Head and the Management Section Head went to the Second Team to persuade Hua Ming to eat. They also promised and reassured him that they would take serious action on the issue of the beating. It was then that Hua Ming agreed to eat a bowl of instant noodles.

On that afternoon, all of the forced laborers in the Second Team, numbering about 100 people, stopped working and attended a special meeting with the presence of the team leader and the division head. In the meeting the staff member responsible for assaulting Mr. Zhao admitted his wrongdoing in front of the crowd. The team leader also announced that the staff member's bonus for the month would be deducted as punishment for the beating. He then made a specific announcement that such things must not happen in the future and that serious actions would be taken if they happened again.

The detained practitioners were greatly inspired by this incident. The evil in other dimensions that created the controlling factors behind this incident were diminished and the environment for practitioner improved. Since then, for almost a year before Hua Ming was released, the beating of Dafa practitioners in the Second Team never happened again.

In July 2001, in order to cause more practitioners to renounce their belief and report higher numbers to the upper levels, the Xindian Forced Labor Camp personnel found a person named Deng Jinhua from Beijing, who had turned into a "collaborator" [a former Falun Dafa practitioner who through brainwashing and torture renounced his belief and now aids the authorities in persecuting fellow practitioners]. Hua Ming thought that he could no longer let Deng confuse numerous Dafa practitioners' righteous thoughts and faith by defaming Teacher, distorting the Falun Dafa principles and spreading twisted logic and outright lies. At that time, both inside and outside of the meeting room, several policemen from different teams, the division heads, political instructors, the education section chief, management section chief and the secretary of camp discipline were all present. Hua Ming resolutely stood up to interrupt Deng's speech and calmly told Deng, "I think you are being controlled by the evil and going down an evil path. You are also distorting the meaning of Dafa's principles." An instructor tried to get Hua Ming to shut up and sit down. Hua Ming replied, "I don't want to listen to this. I'm going to leave." Fearing that Hua Ming would affect other Dafa practitioners, the instructor let him leave before the meeting ended. As he was leaving the meeting room, Hua Ming reminded the other practitioners, "I hope that you all will take the Fa as our Teacher and be clearheaded." When he was just about to reach the door, a division head dragged him out of the room, fearing that Hua Ming would continue talking. Hua Ming fell to the floor from the forceful dragging. Later, the forced labor camp extended Hua Ming's forced labor term by another six months on the grounds of "disrupting order in a meeting and violating labor camp rules and regulations." Afterwards, while having a conversation with Hua Ming, the Secretary of Camp Discipline said, "At a critical time like this, there is still somebody like you who is willing to sacrifice his life for Dafa."

In February 2002, the Xindian Forced Labor Camp was making preparations for a joint performance in the auditorium on Lantern Festival (January 15 by Chinese Lunar Calendar) and each team rehearsed for their performance. Hua Ming heard that policemen in the Third Team found several people who had renounced their belief in Falun Dafa to create a play to slander and attack Dafa. Hua Ming thought that the evil was using the excuse of artistic performances to defame Dafa and poison the minds of those who did not know the facts. He thought that the evil was also using that to attack steadfast Dafa practitioners, and he was determined to stop them. Meanwhile, he thought about finding ways to explain the facts about Dafa, so that more people may position themselves well. Hua Ming also realized what kind of consequences he would face if he stopped the play in front of a large crowd in such an evil environment. Maybe he would be beaten brutally, get solitary confinement or receive an extended term. He had been kept in detention for more than two years. It wouldn't be long before he could leave and go home, as he only had two months left on his original sentence. However, Teacher said,

Hua Ming thought to himself, "I cannot stay out of this to protect myself and let the evil attack Dafa and poison people's minds."

Not long after the performance began, the people who had renounced their belief in Falun Dafa were up on the stage performing the defamatory play. After saying a few lines, those people began to attack Dafa. Hua Ming stood up with his finger pointing at the stage and said loudly, "Stop! Do not slander Dafa!" His voice was loud and clear. The entire room was stunned. Soon after, policemen quickly ran toward Hua Ming. Hua Ming seized the time to explain the facts of Falun Gong by shouting out: "Falun Dafa is not a cult! Falun Dafa is a true, good teaching, and has been spread widely to over forty countries around the world. Simply because too many people have practiced Falun Dafa..." Before he could finish, he was swarmed by policemen, who dragged him out of the auditorium by force. Meanwhile, several other practitioners also said loudly: "Stop the beating! Beating people is against the law!" Later, four Dafa practitioners were put in solitary confinement as a punishment. Nonetheless, the auditorium was in an uproar. Hua Ming returned to the Second Team after being confined for seven days. Some prisoners who were there for drug addiction said to him, "There were six hundred people in that auditorium and there was not one who didn't have respect for you. We certainly admire your courage." Some drug addict prisoners said, "When those people from the Third Team (the team containing former Dafa practitioners who renounced their belief) saw you, they knew. It is you who is indeed a true Dafa disciple!"

Hua Ming's act of justice inspired Dafa practitioners and moved other prisoners. He safeguarded Dafa and resisted the evil. The forced labor camp held several Party Committee meetings to discuss how to handle Hua Ming. However, they didn't extend his forced labor term. They only added the charge of "serious administrative demerit" to his prison record. Teacher said,

About sixty days later, Hua Ming walked out of the Xindian Forced Labor Camp openly and with dignity, and melted into the mighty current of Fa-rectification.