Belated News: Heilongjiang Woman Dies at 82 after Stroke Following Arrest for Her Faith

(Minghui.org)

Chinese Name: 齐敬浦English Name: Qi JingpuGender: FemaleAge: 82City: JiamusiProvince: HeilongjiangOccupation: Retired official of the energy resources bureauDate of Death: February 7, 2023Date of Most Recent Arrest: September 30, 2017Most Recent Place of Detention: Anqing Police Station

A resident of Jiamusi City, Heilongjiang Province died on February 7, 2023, after being in a vegetative state for five and a half years. Ms. Qi Jingpu was 82.

Ms. Qi was a retired official of the Jiamusi Municipal Bureau of Energy Resources. She was repeatedly targeted for upholding her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party in July 1999.

She was last arrested on September 30, 2017, and was found to have dangerously high blood pressure during the physical examination required for detention. The police didn’t release her on bail until two days later. She exhibited stroke symptoms at 10 p.m. on the day of her release (October 1) and was rushed to the hospital. She had surgery that night and moved to the ICU for observation after the operation ended at 5 a.m. the next morning.

She fell into a deep coma after the surgery and was put on a ventilator. Her condition later improved a bit but she remained a vegetable in her final years.

Ms. Qi Jingpu

A Beloved Stepmother

Ms. Qi was widowed and later remarried. She and her second husband each had a child from their previous marriages. In order to support her blended family, she ran a vendor booth at a local market after she retired. While the hardship of life didn’t crush her, she did feel puzzled from time to time and wondered why she had to suffer so much.

Her outlook on life changed after she took up Falun Gong in 1995. The profound principles of the practice helped her understand the many whys in her life and turned her into a more upbeat and better person. Her younger sister once commented, “Had it not been for Falun Gong, my sister’s blended family would have long fallen apart.”

Ms. Qi gave her vendor booth to her stepdaughter instead of to her son after she decided to stop working. Her stepdaughter was very touched and also learned to not fight for personal interests. Ms. Qi also got along well with her daughter-in-law and son-in-law. She never hesitated to offer help whenever her husband’s parents and siblings needed anything from her.

Her husband took meticulous care of her during her final years. When the home care aide had to take time off, Ms. Qi’s stepdaughter helped take care of her. A few days before her passing, her step-granddaughter flew back to Jiamusi from Beijing to bid her farewell.

The whole family was saddened at Ms. Qi’s passing. She would still have been with them had the police not arrested her in 2017 and kept her in custody for two days despite her high blood pressure.

Given Two Years of Forced Labor in 2001

Ms. Qi went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong in 2001 and was arrested. After she was taken back to Jiamusi, she was given two years of forced labor at Jiamusi Labor Camp.

The labor camp guards used various means to try to make Ms. Qi renounce Falun Gong, but she held firm to her faith. She showed moral support to a few practitioners on a hunger strike and was moved to the “strict management team,” where she was held until her term expired.

Ms. Qi condemned the guards for persecuting other practitioners whenever she caught them doing so. Once she heard the guards force-feeding another practitioner in the next cell, and she knocked on the door urging them to stop. She said to them, “If she has heart disease, what you’re doing will worsen her condition. If she is healthy, what you’re doing is still harming her on purpose.” The guards stopped force-feeding at her words.

Another practitioner held in the same cell went on a hunger strike after her term was extended. Ms. Qi, who had become very weak as a result of torture, joined the practitioner in a hunger strike to show solidarity. She had to lie in bed to rest for many days after she ended her hunger strike.

The guards later intensified the persecution of detained practitioners in order to make them renounce their faith. Ms. Qi never wavered even once.

After she was released, Ms. Qi went to talk to every practitioner living nearby. Together they formed a group Fa-study group. There was a shortage of Falun Gong books at the time, and Ms. Qi helped other practitioners download the electronic version of the books to study. Later they realized the importance of reading hard-copy books, so Ms. Qi worked hard to purchase materials and produce the books. Many practitioners commented that she was like a loving big sister, always ready to help others. Whenever a local practitioner got arrested, she’d help hire lawyers and encourage the practitioner’s family members to seek justice for them.

Ms. Qi later became a target for persecution and she lived away from home for a period of time to avoid being arrested.

Latest Arrest in 2017

Ms. Qi was arrested on the morning of September 30, 2017, while shopping for groceries with her husband at a local market. She was interrogated at the Anqing Police Station that day and given 15 days of administrative detention the next day. During the required physical examination, she was found to have a systolic blood pressure of 200 mmHg (a healthy range should be no more than 120 mmHg).

Her husband was really worried about her and requested to go with her to the Tangyuan County Lockup. The police turned him down and drove his wife to the lockup. The lockup doctor measured Ms. Qi’s blood pressure and the systolic reading was still 200 mmHg. They refused to admit her.

The police then drove her to a hospital, where her systolic blood pressure reading lowered to 180 mmHg, still much higher than the normal range. Only then did the police agree to release her on bail. Her family was forced to pay 20,000 yuan bail and was told that they could get the money back only if they made sure Ms. Qi did not go out of town or appeal for Falun Gong in the next two years.

On that day October 1, 2017, the Anqing Police Station’s supervising agency happened to be on-site inspecting their work. As a result, the police postponed processing Ms. Qi’s bail paperwork and asked her and her family to just wait.

A Stroke at the Police Station

Ms. Qi had not had any food or water since her arrest, and she started exhibiting stroke symptoms at the police station at 10 p.m. on October 1. Her family became infuriated at the police and got their bail money back.

Ms. Qi was rushed to the First Affiliated Hospital of Jiamusi University and had a craniotomy right away. She was moved to the ICU for observation after the operation ended at 5 a.m. on October 2.

At one point, Ms. Qi fell into a deep coma and couldn’t breathe on her own. She was then given a tracheotomy and put on a ventilator.

During those few days, there was a heavy police presence outside her ICU room. The police also shadowed local practitioners who came to visit her.

The police transferred Ms. Qi to the Dongfeng Hospital (overseen by Dongfeng Police Department) on November 7, 2017. The next day, the hospital president suggested that she be discharged as they didn’t offer physical therapy services. He said Ms. Qi’s family could hire a home health aide to care for her.

Upon her family’s strong request, the police agreed to transfer her to Rongtai Hospital (which offered physical therapy services). The police even asked Ms. Qi’s family to pay her physical therapy services for them first. It was unclear whether the police paid the family back or covered her ongoing medical expenses after she was later discharged from Rongtai Hospital.

Related Report:

Ms. Qi Jingpu from Jiamusi, Heilongjiang Province Suffers Stroke in Detention