Recent Cases of Harassment of Falun Gong Practitioners Across China

(Minghui.org) Since the Chinese communist regime began to persecute Falun Gong, a traditional spiritual discipline, in July 1999, many practitioners have been subjected to ongoing harassment, arbitrary home raids and intimidation by the police for upholding their faith. 

Below are a few recent cases 0f harassment that have taken place in four provinces and municipalities.

Shanghai: Police Forcibly Drew Blood from 90-year-old Woman 

Three people, including a police officer, an agent from the 610 Office and a residential committee staff member, broke into a 90-year-old female practitioner’s home in Shanghai at around 2:30 p.m. on April 29, 2021. 

Upon seeing the portrait of Falun Gong’s founder in her home, the police officer slandered Falun Gong and the other two echoed. 

The police officer grabbed the practitioner’s hand and said that he was going to check her physical health. The practitioner resisted and told him that she has been very healthy over the past two decades from practicing Falun Gong. 

With the help of the other two people, who held the practitioner’s arms, the police officer pricked her finger and drew her blood. Then they said to the practitioner, “You are not allowed to have the portrait [of Falun Gong’s founder] in your home.”

Zhejiang Province: Doctor Arrested at Train Station

Doctor Zhou (gender unknown), a pediatrician at Zhejiang University, was stopped by the police at the Hangzhou City Train Station in late March 2021, while traveling home to Ningbo after attending an academic conference in Hangzhou. The police arrested Dr. Zhou upon finding Falun Gong materials in the practitioner’s cellphone. The practitioner was taken back to Ningbo at night. The police ransacked the practitioner’s home and confiscated Falun Gong books.

Dr. Zhou was released on bail the day after the arrest but has been harassed by the police and residential committee staff members since.

It’s reported that many Falun Gong practitioners have been harassed while traveling by train between Shanghai, Jiangsu Province and Zhejiang Province in recent months. The police overseeing the train stations in the three regions are all under the jurisdiction of the Shanghai Railroad Police Department.

Liaoning Province: Falun Gong Practitioner’s Parents Repeatedly Harassed

Two officers from the Xinzhaizi Police Station in Dalian City, Liaoning Province harassed the parents of Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Li Chunxiao on April 25, 2021. The police demanded that Ms. Li’s parents give them her phone number and address. They asked to talk to her and take a photo of her. They said they must meet with Ms. Li in person, as it was an order given by the higher-up. Her parents didn’t comply.

The police returned to Ms. Li’s parents’ home on May 6, 2021 and asked again to meet with her and take her photo. The police threatened that with the massive surveillance network in China, they can definitely find out where she is living. Her parents, in their 70s, are now under tremendous distress due to the harassment.

Shandong Province: Falun Gong Practitioner Arrested

Mr. Han Jilai, of Liaocheng City, Shandong Province, was summoned to the Beicheng Police Station in mid-April 2021 and ordered to sign a statement. He went there and was arrested. It’s reported that he was given nine days of detention. It’s not clear whether he has been released at the time of writing. 

Prior to his latest arrest, Mr. Han was arrested on March 22, 2020 for talking to people about Falun Gong. The police handcuffed him so tightly that the skin on his wrists was lascerated. The police initially gave him ten days of detention, but later released him after the detention center refused to accept him due to the pandemic. His three-wheeled motor vehicle was impounded.