Zhejiang Couple Repeatedly Arrested and Jailed for Upholding Their Faith

(Minghui.org) When Ms. Jiang Chunyan, a resident of Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province, was released on April 22, 2020, after serving two years for her faith in Falun Gong, she was very withdrawn and always in low spirits.

It took her husband Mr. Xu Xiaohai a long time to find out what had happened to her, as she had strong resistance recalling the hellish torture during those two years.

According to information pieced together by Mr. Xu, Ms. Jiang was subjected to both mental and physical torture. In order to force her to renounce her faith, the prison guards forced her to watch propaganda videos slandering Falun Gong. They shocked her head twice with electric batons, causing her to lose her memory and to drool. To increase her physical suffering, they limited the time she could use to wash and only provided one cup of water every day. When she held a hunger strike to protest the abuse, the guards poured feces onto her head and threatened to force her to eat it.

Since the Chinese communist regime began to persecute the Falun Gong spiritual discipline in 1999, Mr. Xu and Ms. Jiang have been arrested and imprisoned several times. Mr. Xu served 4.5 years, and Ms. Jiang served two terms. Her latest prison term took the heaviest toll on her health.

Ms. Jiang Chunyan and her daughter before the persecution

Ms. Jiang’s Ordeal

Since she was a child, Ms. Jiang was very weak and often visited the hospital. She had heart surgery and struggled with a severe allergy, stomach problems, and gynecological diseases. After she took up Falun Gong in 1995, her health soon recovered and she no longer had to cook her traditional Chinese medicine all the time.

On August 16, 2010, police officers surrounded Ms. Jiang’s home and attempted to take Mr. Xu to a brainwashing center. As the couple refused to open the door, agents of the 610 Office, an extralegal agency created specifically to persecute Falun Gong, ordered the police to cut off their power and water. Ms. Jiang went downstairs and demanded the police turn their utilities back on, only to be arrested and taken to the brainwashing center herself. She held a hunger strike and was released three days later after she developed a severe medical condition.

Ms. Jiang was arrested again on January 20, 2012, after being reported for giving a girl some informational materials about Falun Gong at a bus station. She was sentenced to three years and two months on June 13, 2012, and released on June 19, 2014, about one year ahead of time.

For putting up informational posters outside the Wenzhou City Police Department, Ms. Jiang was seized seven days later, on June 19, 2017. She was released on June 23 and put under house arrest.

Her latest arrest was on April 28, 2018, and she was sentenced to two years.

In addition to her two prison terms, Ms. Jiang was also detained twice at a psychiatric hospital. Due to her loss of memory after serving the second term, she couldn’t recall the details. The authorities have also suspended her pension, claiming she had to pay back the funds she had received while serving time. Her family has filed a request for administrative reconsideration.

Husband’s Persecution

Mr. Xu was the deputy director of the Lucheng District Tax Bureau before he retired. While taking bribes was very common among his colleagues, Mr. Xu upheld his principles and was known to be a man of integrity.

Mr. Xu was arrested on May 17, 2011, and taken to the Xinchang Brainwashing Center. He was put under house arrest on July 23 before being put on a bail condition six months later. To avoid further persecution, he lived away from home to hide from the police. The police kept calling him and told him to send over his daughter’s photos, as her ID would expire soon and they needed a new photo of her to renew her ID. To trick Mr. Xu into going to the police station, an officer said they would accept any photo of his daughter. Mr. Xu still refused to go because he knew it was a trap as the police could have called his daughter directly for her photo.

The police later found out Mr. Xu’s temporary residence. In the middle of the night on January 8, 2014, a team of officers broke into his rental place and arrested him. His several computers were confiscated. A few days later, Mr. Xu developed high blood pressure. After receiving treatment in the hospital, he was transferred to the Wenzhou City Detention Center.

Mr. Xu was sentenced to 4.5 years by the Lucheng District Court on May 26, 2014. After he was released in July 2018, the police continued to monitor his daily life. They even followed him when he went to Beijing for a gathering with his friends.

Related reports:

Retired Director of Tax Bureau Holds Hunger Strike after Three Months of Illegal Detention

Ms. Jiang Chunyan from Wenzhou City Illegally Sentenced to Prison