(Minghui.org) Ms. Teng Yingfen has been arrested six times since the Chinese Communist Party began to persecute Falun Gong in 1999, and had her home ransacked seven times. She served four years in prison and was displaced for seven years. While she lived away from home to avoid illegal arrest, her husband was serving an eight-year term for their shared faith, leaving their teenage daughter living on her own.
The long-term persecution took a toll on Ms. Teng’s health. The Zhaoyuan City, Shandong Province resident passed away on April 4, 2021, two months before her 60th birthday.
Ms. Teng began to practice Falun Gong, an ancient spiritual and meditation discipline, in August 1996. In less than a month, many ailments that were tormenting her disappeared. Her sallow face became bright and rosy. She was no longer emaciated, and was full of energy.
Seeing her changes, her husband Mr. Sun Guo also took up the practice and quickly quit smoking and drinking. Their daughter who was still studying in elementary school also joined them.
Repeated Detention and Harassment
When the communist regime announced the persecution of Falun Gong on July 20, 1999, the family of three set off to Beijing to speak out for Falun Gong. They were intercepted half way and taken back to Zhaoyuan. Since then, they have not lived a single day in peace.
Both Ms. Teng’s and Mr. Sun’s respective employers and the local city government constantly sent people to persuade them to renounce Falun Gong. When they refused to comply, the authorities monitored their daily life and phone calls. On anniversaries related to Falun Gong or major events in the city, the police showed up at their door to harass them. Mr. Sun’s workplace, the Zhaoyuan Electric Power Bureau, even sent people to sit outside of their home around the clock, causing them to be unable to live a normal life.
With no other channel to seek justice, the family went to Beijing again on January 19, 2001 to protest. They were beaten at Tiananmen Square and later taken back to Zhaoyuan. Ms. Teng was detained for 38 days, during which time she was fired by her employer. Her daughter was also detained for a day and released thanks to strong demand from her family. After she returned to school, her teacher barred her from serving as a class monitor.
Mr. Sun was detained for nearly three months. Guards from the Zhaoyuan City Detention Center slapped him in the face, kicked him, and shocked him with electric batons for over two hours. His body curled up from the pain. His fingers were severely burned and didn’t heal for a long time. He wasn’t able to eat or drink for days after the torture, and remained very nauseated.
He was emaciated and very weak after being released from the detention center, but Jiang Honghai from his workplace and agents from the local 610 Office took him to a brainwashing center, where he was deprived of sleep and forced to watch propaganda videos slandering Falun Gong.
When he was allowed to return to work three months later, he was removed from his manager’s position and sent to the workshop to do heavy labor. He was paid only 320 yuan each month. The 610 Office also fined him 10,000 yuan.
When Mr. Sun was still in the brainwashing center, Ms. Teng was arrested again on April 25, 2001 at another practitioner’s home. The 610 Office agents damaged the door with a hammer before breaking in. The several practitioners arrested together were all held in the brainwashing center for a month.
The police broke into Ms. Teng’s home again on July 15, 2001 and took her to the Luofeng Police Station. When she refused to answer the police’s questions, she was dragged around on the floor by her hair, with her hands cuffed behind her back to a chair, and not allowed to sleep. Her body was covered with mosquito bites.
The police ransacked her home again in mid-October 2001.
Mr. Sun Sentenced to Eight Years, Ms. Teng Forced to Live Away From Home
A group of officers showed up at Mr. Sun’s workplace on April 13, 2002 and attempted to arrest him. After he escaped, he was fired from his job. Meanwhile, a dozen officers surrounded their home, trying to coerce Ms. Teng to reveal Mr. Sun’s whereabouts.
To avoid the harassment, Ms. Teng was forced to live away from home. She didn’t realize she wouldn’t be able to return home until seven years later. Mr. Sun was arrested in September 2002 and later sentenced to an eight-year prison term.
With their teenage daughter left at home alone, the authorities constantly harassed her and followed her on her way to school. In July 2002 during the summer break, the 610 Office ordered her school to take her to a brainwashing center as a hostage. When she escaped, they forced a teacher to look for her at her grandmothers’ homes. The young girl was also forced to live away from home, and wandered about for the entire summer.
On August 11, 2005, Li Jianguang of the 610 Office ordered the young girl’s school to take her to the brainwashing center. The young girl refused to eat or drink at the brainwashing center, crying and asking to go back to school. Her arrest left her grandparents in deep distress. Although she was released after 15 days, she was traumatized by the experience.
Ms. Teng’s Arrests
Six police officers and 610 Office agent Li broke into Ms. Teng’s rental place at around 10 p.m. on June 16, 2007 and arrested both her and her daughter. Ms. Teng’s laptop computer and Falun Gong books were confiscated. The mother and daughter were then taken to the Yantai City Brainwashing Center.
Upon hearing about their arrests, Ms. Teng’s younger brother and brother-in-law took a taxi and traveled over 60 miles to Yantai City to look for them, but to no avail.
Ms. Teng’s daughter, who was already a high school senior student, was detained for 15 days. Ms. Teng was held in custody for over a month, during which time she was constantly beaten and forced to watch propaganda materials demonizing Falun Gong.
Ms. Teng was arrested again as soon as she left her rental place on June 12, 2008, by 610 Office agent Li. Li ordered her to provide information about other practitioners, but she refused to comply. Li verbally abused and humiliated her. This time, she was detained for two months.
The mother and daughter were going out to buy breakfast on August 29, 2010, the last day of Ms. Teng’s daughter’s summer break. As soon as the teen girl stepped out of the door, she was seized by police, who were hiding outside of the door. Ms. Teng, who was walking behind her daughter, quickly retreated inside and closed the door. But the police took her daughter to the police station and held her hostage.
When Ms. Teng’s younger brother went to the police station to demand her daughter’s release, the police took both of them to Ms. Teng’s home and forced her to open the door.
Wang Yucheng, head of the Domestic Security Office, dragged Ms. Teng outside. When she resisted, Wang dropped burning cigarettes into her clothes. Her daughter burst into tears and shouted at him, “Don’t hurt my mother!”
Despite her daughter’s desperate plea, the police carried Ms. Teng to the police car and took her to the brainwashing center. Her computer and Falun Gong books were also confiscated.
At the brainwashing center, Ms. Teng was tied up to a metal chair for three days. Her legs became severely swollen. The police ordered her to provide information about other practitioners again, but she still refused to comply.
Ms. Teng’s Four-year Sentence
After spending one month at the brainwashing center, Ms. Teng was transferred to the detention center and secretly tried there on December 5, 2010.
As Mr. Sun was just released from prison a few months prior, he hired a lawyer to represent Ms. Teng. The authorities, however, blocked the lawyer’s defense. They took Ms. Teng back to the brainwashing center as punishment and held her there for three more months.
Ms. Teng was sentenced to a four-year prison term and transferred to the Shandong Province Women’s Prison on April 20, 2011. She endured unimaginable pressure, brainwashing, and physical torture. Having regained her health from practicing Falun Gong, she developed high blood pressure, a heart condition, and a neck problem due to the abuse in prison. Under extreme agony, she survived the long prison term.
Passing of Parents and Ms. Teng’s Death
The authorities often harassed Mr. Sun’s parents and Ms. Teng’s mother after both Ms. Teng and Mr. Sun were forced to live away from home in April 2002 to avoid the persecution.
The police harassed Ms. Teng’s mother, who was nearly 80 and lived on her own at 9:30 p.m. on June 2, 2003. After the police left, the elderly woman was deeply traumatized and became mentally unstable. She couldn’t control her emotions, and often ran out in the middle of the night. She sometimes held a knife to cut her neighbors’ trees and vegetables. Her family twice took her to a mental hospital for treatment. She was often tied up and force-fed with medicine. The mental trauma took a toll on her health and she later passed away in agony.
Mr. Guo’s parents, who were in their 80s, struggled to care for themselves, and often shed tears over the persecution of his family. Mr. Sun’s mother passed away in October 2005 and his father, 84, died in September 2007. Mr. Sun wasn’t allowed to see them for the last time, as he was still serving time at the Shandong Province Prison.
While in the prison, Mr. Sun was forced to sit on a small stool without moving from 5 a.m. to 12 a.m. every day. On December 26, 2003, the guards ordered over ten inmates to beat him and slap him in the face. He was also forced to stand for two days without sleep.
Mr. Sun was handcuffed and held in solitary confinement for 56 days, between June 1 and July 25, 2006. He was given only a small steamed bun, some pickles, and water for each meal. Inmate Zhao Hongyong, who was assigned to monitor him, beat him at will. Those two months happened to be the hottest period in Jinan. In the room without air conditioning, the guards often turned on the spotlight and projected it onto him for days. He lost nearly 55 pounds during that period.
His daughter had already been admitted to the graduate school of the prestige college she attended. But the 610 Offie eventually forced the school to dismiss her.
Ms. Teng and Mr. Sun were harassed in 2015 after filing criminal complaints against Jiang Zemin, the former head of the Chinese Communist Party who ordered the persecution.
The local Social Security Bureau suspended Ms. Teng’s pension beginning in 2020, and asked her to pay back the over 90,000 yuan she had received during her four-year prison term. The authorities claimed that Falun Gong practitioners imprisoned for their faith are not entitled to retirement benefits, despite Chinese labor law having no such stipulation.
Ms. Teng passed away on April 4, 2021, leaving her husband and daughter in deep pain.
Related reports:
Crimes Committed by Police and 610 Office Staff in Zhaoyuan City, Shandong Province
More Than Ten Falun Gong Practitioners Detained in Brainwashing Centers in Zhaoyuan
Several Practitioners from Zhaoyuan City, Shandong Province Secretly Imprisoned
Seven Falun Gong Practitioners Illegally Sentenced
Shandong Zhaoyuan 610 Office Refuses to Allow Falun Gong Practitioners to Hire Lawyers
Mr. Sun Guo Has Been In Solitary Confinement for 2 Months
Zhaoyuan City 610 Office Abducts Middle School Student, Sends Her to a Brainwashing Center
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Category: Accounts of Persecution
