(Clearwisdom.net) My name is Mu Xiangqi. When I was little we were very poor due to conditions imposed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). In order to buy basic daily necessities, my mom sold her blood for three years, but it ruined her health in the process. The three of us sisters also had poor health, especially my younger sister, who developed a chronic illness at a young age and was very weak. In April of 1998, she became too weak to even walk. Her eyes were sore and she could not open them. The doctors were at a loss for a diagnosis. She could not walk or work and the whole family worried about her health every day.
In October 1998, my younger sister became interested in Falun Gong. One day, only a month after she had started reading Zhuan Falun, she told us that all her illness symptoms were gone after having diarrhea for a whole day. She was able to walk without any difficulty; her eyes went back to normal and she could see things clearly. She was full of joy and we were so happy for her.
After July 20, 1999, agents from the CCP started arresting Falun Gong practitioners. At the same time, the police constantly came to our home to harass us, and our telephone was also unlawfully monitored. The police forced my mom to keep a close eye on my younger sister and to forbid her from going outside. We were confused about why the CCP arrested Falun Gong practitioners. Later, after watching TV, analyzing the facts, hearing explanations from others, and eventually after the whole family moved to Thailand, we finally understood the truth of the CCP's persecution of Dafa practitioners and their family members. Dafa teaches people to live according to the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. The practice has been disseminated to many different countries around the world and is independent of any political system, race or culture. Falun Gong has such an extraordinary effect on people's health and on the improvement of people's morals, bringing benefits to people with no harm - and yet the Chinese regime completely ignores these facts. Simply because there are a huge number of people practicing Falun Gong, and the practitioners acknowledge the existence of divine beings, which contradicts the CCP's atheism, the CCP branded Falun Gong as being "superstitious" and launched the suppression.
My younger sister was arrested on October 8, 1999. The police brutally beat her and forced my mom to write a guarantee statement for her. My sister was released 15 days later, but only to be arrested again on October 28. Later she was twice sentenced to forced labor and was detained for a total of four years. Our family was constantly harassed everywhere we went. The police came to our home frequently and urged my mom to cooperate with them. This included forcing my mom to persuade my younger sister to write a repentance statement, declare her "stance" on Falun Gong, and slander Falun Gong. Although my sister had suffered severe physical torture for her belief, she firmly believes that Falun Gong is the best cultivation practice, bringing salvation to mankind and the world, and showing an upright path for humanity.
Later, the prison guards constantly called us and urged my mom to write something against Falun Gong on my sister's behalf. They stated that they would not release my sister on the planned date if my mom refused to write the statement. Four years later my sister was finally released, but by then she had been seriously harmed both physically and mentally. Falun Gong practitioners, in general, are very brave. No matter how much physical abuse they experience, they often resist by holding hunger strikes. The prison guards brutally force-feed them and subject them to other kinds of vicious torture methods. Like many others, my sister persisted in her faith and refused to give in.
For several years, the CCP frequently harassed my family. We never had any peace, not even for one day. My mom was so worried about my sister that she suffered from insomnia day after day. She cried a lot after my sister was arrested. Whenever the dry fall season was about, she could not open her eyes. She used eye drops at night before going to bed, but still her condition did not improve. The doctor suggested she have an IV injection every six months to regain her energy and boost her body's nutritional reserves. My mom also developed intestinal and stomach disease due to the long-term stress. The doctors advised my mom to have an operation, but she declined and decided to stick to traditional treatments because an operation would cost a lot of money, and also because my sister's fate was uncertain. My older sister and I were worried about our mother. I visited her every day and cooked meals for her. I was exhausted from running between work and my mom's place. My coworkers commented on how skinny and pale I looked. I was under lots of physical and mental pressure.
There was one prison visitation per month allowed where my sister was detained. Sometimes my mom would take me or my older sister to go with her to see my younger sister. Sometimes she would go by herself. I only went there a few times, because each time I went I cried a lot after seeing my sister, with her face so pale and haggard. I could not control my emotions and could hardly say a word, but when I did not go and see her, I was worried sick as well and ended up crying at home just the same. I could not sleep and had nightmares of her being tortured. Sometimes I would wake up crying in fear. Even after my younger sister was released, I still had bad dreams in which I saw the police taking her back to prison. I would wake up in a cold sweat.
Every time we visited my sister we would set out before daybreak. We had only ten minutes to talk while the police stood beside us, monitoring the conversation. If we wanted to talk more we had to stay there for lunch, which was another way for the prison to make money from the detainees and their relatives. Several times we did not receive the visitation notification on the scheduled monthly basis. We found out later that every time when this happened, my sister was either undergoing torture or was recovering from torture injuries. The prison feared that her family members might see the injuries and create trouble for the prison. My family suffered enormous mental torment from this persecution. My mom would go without sleep for days and could not eat. Her eyes were red and swollen from crying every day. We were all worried about my mom's health and about my younger sister being tortured inside the prison.
In order to get my sister out of prison, my 78-year-old stepfather, without telling us, went to see a friend, hoping the friend could help transfer my sister to a mental hospital, so that we could get her out on bail for medical treatment. On the way, he stumbled and had a bad fall. Since my stepfather also has hypertension, the doctor feared that he would not recover, but he came through with incredible willpower and only sustained a broken leg. He later told the doctor that his mission was not completed, so he could not die. During surgery a metal rod was inserted into the bones to heal the fracture. The doctor told him to exercise every day; otherwise, he could lose mobility in his leg. He was required to stay in the hospital for one month. My older sister, my mom, and I went to see him frequently. Mom brought him food every day, and she was exhausted. For the sake of my mom, my stepfather discharged himself from the hospital ahead of time. After he got back home, he exercised his injured leg every day, and after a while, my stepfather could walk without holding onto anything. But, whenever it was rainy or cloudy, he would still feel needle-sharp pains in his leg.
After a long time of waiting, we finally received the good news that my sister would be home soon. A week before her release, we could not sleep well. When she was back, we were afraid to ask her about her life in prison. However, the scars on her body are testimony to the torture she endured in prison. She had a patch of gray hair in the front and had scars all over her face, neck and arms. Most of the scars were from the criminal prisoners scratching her. There was a big deep scar on her wrist, which was caused by long-term handcuffing. We did not get those details from my sister, but from reading an article on the Internet. Nobody in my family wants to talk about those four miserable years.
On the very day my sister was released, the police came to harass us and started monitoring my sister's movements. From the day my sister came back home, the police showed up every day. They stood outside our house and monitored her activities daily. The family reunion was also destroyed by them. Luckily, my mom had gotten a passport ready for my younger sister three years earlier. My sister was home only for three days before she went overseas. After she managed to leave home, the police questioned us about where my sister went and asked for her address. They also threatened that our whole family would be in trouble if we did not tell them. The pressure was so intense that my mom almost collapsed. To avoid further disturbances, my mom went to stay at my older sister's place for a while, leaving my stepfather at home to deal with the police. Whatever the police asked him, he would tell them, "I don't not know anything!" When the police could not get anything from him, they went to my workplace to question me, causing serious interference with my work. The police also called both my older sister and me on our mobile phones numerous times. In the end we had to buy new phones to stop them from calling us. My mom wanted to relocate to get away from the police harassment. She asked me to do the same, as we lived close together. At that time, every day, as soon as I got off work, I would have to go and look for a new place to live. I was extremely stressed out. All of this seriously affected my work performance. Our whole family could not live a normal life due to constant harassment from the police.
In April 2005, my workplace recognized my accomplishments and urged me to join the CCP. During the past four years, I personally experienced how the CCP regime rules the country, so I did not want to joint the CCP from my heart. I went to talk to a leader in my workplace about my feelings. Afterwards, he said to me, "Don't tell anyone else what you have just said; it is not good for you. This is not a matter of attitude, but a political issue." The CCP has twisted the meaning of politics, and their constant political movements have left people with fear. Whenever the word "political" is mentioned, people who have been brainwashed by the CCP party culture would quickly link it with the political power of the CCP and with their filthy inner-party struggles. Consequently, ordinary people try to avoid politics like the plague. I was in a difficult situation and rather scared, especially when I thought of the tortures my younger sister had suffered in prison. It was impossible for me to refuse to join the CCP, and the only way out was to escape. At the end of September 2005, I sadly left my family and came to Thailand with my 8-year-old child.
My family called me from China and told me that the police are still looking for my younger sister. The CCP's persecution of Falun Gong does not only affect Falun Gong practitioners, but their family members as well. Some of them were arrested, sentenced, fined and in some cases all members of the family were laid off from work and rendered homeless. They live in fear and are under enormous pressure.
Our entire family hopes that through the legal system we will be able to prosecute the responsible authorities within the CCP regime and all persons related to the persecution of my younger sister.
In this article, I left out many details in order to avoid further persecution and harm from the CCP agents. Having been through so much suffering over the years, I don't know whom to trust. Also, because I'm now in an unfamiliar foreign country with a young child, I'm worried and have many concerns. As a Falun Gong practitioner's relative, I want to tell everyone that, "After I have learned the truth about Falun Dafa and have come into contact with Falun Gong practitioners, I would like to say from the bottom of my heart that Falun Dafa is really good! Falun Gong practitioners are truly good people!"
