(Minghui.org) After living away from home for over three years to avoid persecution for her faith in Falun Gong, Ms. Rong Tiewen, a 74-year-old native of Jilin City, Jilin Province, was arrested and detained at the Jilin City Detention Center.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Four years ago on October 6, 2017, Ms. Rong, then 70, Ms. Song Guizhi, then 63, and Ms. Zhang Shuqin, then 71, were arrested while putting up Falun Gong information posters and taken to Jiangnan Police Station. The police raided Ms. Rong’s home and confiscated over 100 Falun Gong books, more than 70 Falun Gong posters and a picture of the founder of Falun Gong. The other two practitioners’ homes were also ransacked.
Despite that Ms. Rong and Ms. Zhang were found to have dangerously high blood pressure, the police still forced the local lockup to detain them. Six days later, when the practitioners were transferred to the Jilin City Detention Center, the guards there also refused to admit them, but were still forced by the police to do so. Ms. Rong’s son was forced to pay 300 yuan for her physical exam.
The three seniors were stripped naked for a body search upon their arrival at the detention center. Ms. Rong was force-fed pills claimed by the guards to lower her blood pressure. The prison doctor said that she must take it no matter what.
Ms. Rong was first forced to take a white pill every day for two weeks and then a red pill every day for one month and six days.
When Ms. Rong was released on bail on November 14, 2017, after paying 5,000-yuan bond, she was incoherent and couldn’t recognize her family. Days later, her face began to swell, her hands were festering and her fingers were blistered. Her left thumb didn’t recover even after six months.
Prosecutor Gao Jiwei of the Fengman District Procuratorate called Ms. Rong on March 27, 2018, and ordered her to go there to renew her bail documents. Upon arrival, she was told that she would need to go to the Fengman District Court to have the documents renewed.
When Ms. Rong went to the court on April 20, 2018, she was arrested and shoved into a metal cage after refusing to renounce Falun Gong.
The court personnel attempted to get Ms. Rong’s son to persuade her to sign a guarantee statement to renounce Falun Gong, but she refused to comply.
Ms. Rong was held in the cage for almost the entire day. In the evening, she was taken to the Jiangnan Police Station, where the police forcibly took her photos and collected her fingerprints.
After the Jilin City Detention Center refused to admit her, she was taken back to the court, where she was ordered to sign a renewed bail document that contained a paragraph defaming Falun Gong. Ms. Rong refused to sign, and the court staff members had her sign on a blank bail release form before releasing her.
Ms. Rong was informed in July 2018 that the court had scheduled a hearing of her case. To avoid further persecution, she lived away from home and remained displaced for three years. She was arrested again in July 2021, shortly after she returned home.
Ms. Rong was a principal of a driving school and enjoyed a good life. But as she grew older, she developed many diseases. The most serious one was coronary heart disease. She couldn’t sleep and had difficulties lying down even though she was only in her early 50s. Her face was dark and wrinkled. Her stomach was bloated and her legs were thin. All her hair turned grey. Although she went to all major hospitals and spent a lot of money, she didn’t get any better. Finally a doctor told her to eat anything she wanted, meaning that there was no cure.
Ms. Rong learned about Falun Gong from one of her friends in 2001 when the persecution of Falun Gong by the Chinese Communist Party was at its height. She wasn’t affected by the propaganda put out by the regime and determined to give Falun Gong a try.
She started living by Falun Gong’s principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance in her daily life. Gradually, she got rid of many bad habits including drinking, smoking and gambling. At the same time, her health also improved. Her stomach shrank to normal size. Her skin condition improved, and her face became rosy and radiant. She didn’t need to wear presbyopic glasses anymore. Her in-laws were impressed when they saw her carrying 50-pound bags of rice all the way up the stairs to her seventh floor apartment. Her friends and relatives witnessed her change and wondered how she was getting younger.
Having benefited so much from Falun Gong, Ms. Rong felt compelled to share her story with people. She has been actively telling people her personal experience of practicing Falun Gong and raising the awareness of the persecution, only to be targeted by the communist regime herself.