Crimes Committed by Bi Baowen, Former Director of Heilongjiang Provincial Public Security Department, in the Persecution of Falun Gong

(Minghui.org) Around the 23rd anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) suppression of Falun Gong in 1999, Falun Gong practitioners from 38 countries submitted an updated list of perpetrators to their respective governments, urging that those on the list (and their family members) be barred from entry and their assets frozen.

The 38 countries are: the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Poland, Belgium, Sweden, Austria, Ireland, Denmark, Finland, Czechia, Portugal, Greece, Hungary, Slovakia, Luxembourg, Croatia, Slovenia, Latvia, Estonia, Cyprus, Malta, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Switzerland, Norway, Liechtenstein, Israel, Mexico, Chile, and Dominica.

Please refer to “New List of Perpetrators Submitted to 38 Governments on the 23rd Anniversary of the Persecution of Falun Gong” for details.

Bi Baowen, the former director of Heilongjiang Provincial Public Security Department is on the list.

Perpetrator Information

Full Name of Perpetrator: Bi (last name) Baowen (first name) (毕宝文)Gender: MaleCountry: ChinaDate/Year of Birth: July 1960Place of Birth: Zibo City, Shandong Province

Bi Baowen

Title or Position

April 2017 – August 2020: Deputy Governor of the Heilongjiang Provincial Government, member of the Party Leadership Group, Deputy Secretary of the Political and Legal Committee of the Provincial Party Committee, Director of the Provincial Public Security Department, Secretary of the Party Committee, Chief Inspector

February 2017 – April 2017: Candidate for Vice Governor of the Heilongjiang Provincial Government, member of the Party Group, Director of the Provincial Public Security Department, Secretary of the Party Committee, Chief Inspector

May 2016 – February 2017: Director of the Heilongjiang Provincial Public Security Department, Secretary of the Party Committee, Chief Inspector

January 2015 – May 2016: Executive Deputy Director and Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of the Shandong Provincial Public Security Department

March 2012 – January 2015: Deputy Director of the Shandong Provincial Public Security Department, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee

December 2006 – March 2012: Deputy Director and Party Committee Member of the Shandong Provincial Public Security Department

December 2004 – December 2006: Assistant Mayor of Binzhou City, Shandong Province, Director of the Municipal Public Security Bureau, Secretary of the Party Committee

September 2001 – December 2004: Director and Secretary of the Party Committee of the Public Security Bureau of Binzhou City, Shandong Province

September 1999 – September 2001: Director and Secretary of the Party Committee of the Public Security Bureau of Rizhao City, Shandong Province

Main Crimes

When the persecution of Falun Gong began in 1999, Bi Baowen was the chief of the Public Security Bureau in Rizhao City, Shandong Province. For his active participation in following the persecution police, he rose in the ranks in Rizhao City and Binzhou City, and was promoted to Deputy Director of the Public Security Department of Shandong Province.

According to a report from Minghui.org, in the first nine months of 2004, more than 30 Falun Gong practitioners were arrested in the Bincheng District only in Binzhou City. Among them, eight were taken to Wangcun Forced Labor Camp and another twenty were secretly detained at the Liangcai Township Police Station for up to seven months.

After Bi took office as Director of the Heilongjiang Provincial Public Security Department in May 2016, he continued to implement the persecution policy to arrest, torture and sentence the practitioners.

Between May 2016 to August 2020, at least 15 practitioners passed away as a result of the persecution in Heilongjiang, including Li Jingxia, Wang Shukun, Wan Yunlong, Li Huifeng, Sun Fenghua, Li Yanjie, Zhan Jie, Yang Shengjun, Ding Jikai, Liu Hongxin, Wang Jiang, Zhang Yan, Ji Yingping, Wang Guiling, and Li Yulan. Many more were harassed, detained, and/or sentenced.

Persecution in 2020

According to statistics from Minghui.org, in the first half of 2020, at least 255 Falun Gong practitioners from Heilongjiang Province were arrested and 166 were harassed.

Five practitioners, including Mr. Li Yan, Ms. Zhang Jun, Ms. Gao Yabin, Ms. Xu Shufeng, and Mr. Sun Tienong, were arrested and taken to the Xinglong Town Police Station in Acheng District, Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province on the evening of April 9, 2020. The police struck Mr. Sun’s face, knocking him to the ground, partially conscious and unable to move. The female practitioners were intimidated.

When Mr. Li tried to stop the police from beating other practitioners, they dragged him to a room with no surveillance cameras and beat and kicked him. An officer wearing leather shoes stepped on and ground his foot into his face and head. Others kicked him in the back.

The police threatened to shock the practitioners with electric batons and that their children and grandchildren may be implicated and punished if they exposed the persecution to the international community or published the officers’ phone numbers online (many practitioners outside of China are calling the police and urging them not to participate in the persecution).

Between July 12 and 13, 2020, another group arrest of ten practitioners took place in Hulin City, Heilongjiang Province. Except for Ms. Li Chunhua, the other nine practitioners, including Mr. Wang Qiang, Mr. Liu Qinju, Ms. Guan Yanfeng, Ms. Dong Yurun, Ms. Li Meizhi, Mr. Zeng Jianjiang, Ms. Liu Guizhi, Ms. Ren Shuzhi and Ms. Gu Fengqin, all had their homes ransacked and their computers, printers, Falun Gong books and cash confiscated. The Jidong County Court sentenced Ms. Guan to two years with a 50,000-yuan fine in late 2020.

Persecution in 2019

In 2019, the year when the CCP celebrated its 70th of rule, 384 practitioners were arrested and 243 were harassed in Heilongjiang Province. In Harbin City, the capital of Heilongjiang, at least 68 practitioners were sentenced, with an average term of 3.2 years and the longest term of 10 years.

More than ten practitioners were arrested in Fuyu County, Qiqihar City on April 17, 2019. They are Ms. Wu Xiulan, Mr. Xia Yi, Ms. Fan Lijuan, Mr. Fan Jingtao, Ms. Zeng Fenglian, Ms. Yao Aiying, Ms. Pan Donghua, Li Shi, Hong, Ms. Liu Chun’e and Mr. Wang Jianmin.

Another police sweep took place in Harbin City on September 11, 2019. The police monitored the practitioners’ daily lives for months before executing the arrests. The police ransacked most practitioners’ homes and confiscated their Falun Gong books, computers, cellphones and other personal belongings. The raid of Ms. Dong Wenxiu’s residence terrified her 90-year-old mother, who lived with her. One female officer also threatened to arrest Ms. Dong’s mother during the raid.

Persecution in 2018

In 2018, under the directive of the Heilongjiang Political and Legal Affairs Committee and the 610 Office, the Heilongjiang Public Security Bureau arrested at least 475 practitioners.

Ms. Li Xiumin, of Shuangcheng District, Harbin City, was taken to a mental hospital and injected with unknown drugs, after she was arrested at the end of October 2018. The persecution left her bedridden and unable to speak coherently.

On November 9, 2018, at least 119 practitioners were arrested in Harbin City and Daqing City. The police were given lists of names of who to arrest. Most practitioners were arrested early in the morning before they went to work. The police ransacked their homes and confiscated their Falun Gong books and computers. More than a dozen other practitioners were harassed.

Persecution in 2017

Since 2017, the Central 610 Office, the Political and Legal Affairs Committee, and the Ministry of Public Security launched a “Knocking on the door” operation to arrest and harass Falun Gong practitioners nationwide. In Heilongjiang Province, 626 practitioners were arrested and 1,043 were harassed.

In October 2017, the authorities in Harbin arrested at least 59 practitioners under the pretext of “maintaining stability for the 19th National Congress.”

Ms. Qu Shuyun, then 86, was sentenced to three years in prison in 2017. The police began to harass her since July 29, 2016, often demanding her to write a statement to renounce Falun Gong. She once fell during the harassment and suffered a seizure.

Select Death Cases

1. Ms. Wang Shukun Beaten to Death

Dr. Wang Shukun, a 66-year-old physician in Haining City, Heilongjiang Province, was ordered to renounce Falun Gong in late June 2020. As she refused to comply, the police beat her for hours. She suffered sharp pain in her leg and begged the officers to let her go. They agreed, but threatened that they would come for her again a few days later.

Dr. Wang crawled up the stairs to get back to her apartment unit. Her husband noted that she had bruises on her body. Her kneecaps were broken, and she was soaked in sweat. She suffered a cerebral hemorrhage in the afternoon of July 1. She was very dizzy and felt like throwing up. She passed away at around 4:25 a.m. on July 2.

2. Mr. Yang Shengjun Dies Nine Days Following His Arrest

Mr. Yang Shengjun, 61, from Jiamusi City, Heilongjiang Province, and his 81-year-old mother were arrested at home on August 2, 2019. His mother was released that night, but Mr. Yang was held at a detention center. On the morning of August 11, the police informed his mother that he vomited blood in the detention center in the morning and had been taken to a hospital for treatment. Mr. Yang passed away at 9 p.m. that night. The hospital charged his family 30,000 yuan for his treatment.

3. Ms. Li Yanjie Fell to Her Death While Trying to Escape from Another Arrest

A group of officers knocked on the door of Ms. Li Yanjie, 41, and her husband, Mr. Gong Fengqiang, 48, on the evening of December 7, 2019. The couple tried to call her family for help, only to find their cellphone signal had been blocked. As the couple refused to open the door, the police called a locksmith and also attempted to cut open their metal door with an electric saw.

Having suffered 20 years of harassment, incarceration, and torture for not giving up their faith in Falun Gong, the couple didn’t want to go through the same nightmare again. They decided to escape from their sixth-floor apartment. They made a rope by tying several bed sheets and curtains together and fastened it to the window. The sawing grew louder and louder. Just as the door was about to be broken through, the couple climbed out of the window, one after the other, and down the makeshift rope. When they were down to the fourth floor, the knotted bed sheets broke loose and they fell the rest of the way down. Although Mr. Gong survived the fall, Ms. Li unfortunately fell to her death.

4. Wang Fengchen Dies in Custody

Mr. Wang Fengchen was an outstanding teacher at the Lindian County No. 1 Middle School in Daqing City. He was arrested and had his home ransacked on January 18, 2017. On October 11 of the same year, he was sentenced to four years and fined 30,000 yuan. He developed severe lung condition and vomited excessive blood in the spring of 2020, while serving time in Hulan Prison. He could not breathe, yet the prison authorities refused to release him on medical parole. He passed away on August 9, 2020 while still in custody. He was in his 50s.