Couple Arrested in a Police Sweep, Husband on Hunger Strike to Protest the Persecution

(Minghui.org) A husband and wife in Qingdao City, Shandong Province, were arrested on May 9, 2023, during a police sweep of local Falun Gong practitioners. Mr. Bi Jili is currently on a hunger strike in the lockup to protest the persecution. His wife’s situation isn’t clear.

Over 40 practitioners in the Qingdao West Coast New Area were arrested in the operation on May 9. In addition to Mr. Bi and his wife, the other confirmed names are Ding Yuexin, Sun Zhuxiang, Cheng Xiuhua, Xia Ling, Wang Jinxiang, Pan Yuelan, Jin Fang, Xu Shimei, Cheng Xiumei, Liu Yueqing, Ding Hongping, Li Dianxia, Sun, and Pang.

According to an insider, the police monitored the practitioners for a long time before arresting them.

Prior to their arrests, Mr. Bi, 57, and his wife had been forced to live away from home for nearly a year, ever since June 7, 2022, after he became aware of the police’s attempt to arrest him and his wife.

The couple’s ordeal stemmed from a visit Mr. Bi paid to his older brother Mr. Bi Jiquan on May 30, 2022. Only a few minutes after Mr. Bi arrived at his brother’s home, six plainclothes officers showed up. Thinking they were his brother’s colleagues, Mr. Bi greeted them, only to realize moments later that they were the police.

The police ordered Mr. Bi Jiquan, who also practices Falun Gong, to sign a statement to renounce his faith. He refused to comply and tried to reason with the police. As the police were about to start ransacking his home, Mr. Bi Jiquan fainted. His caregiver called the ambulance and Mr. Bi was taken to the hospital. The police followed the ambulance and ordered Mr. Bi Jili to go with them.

When the doctor asked Mr. Bi Jili to pay for his brother’s medical care, he took the opportunity and ran away. Realizing that he had also become a target for the police, he and his wife decided to go into hiding but were arrested a year later.

Mr. Bi Jiquan returned home around midnight. The police continued to harass him and monitor his life. He later developed uremia and was hospitalized again.

Perpetrators’ contact information:

Jiang Xingtao (蒋兴涛), chief of Yinzhu Police Station: [phone]Tang Yusheng (唐玉升), chief of Zhuhai Police Station: [phone], [phone]Guo Xiaohui (郭晓晖), director of Huangdao Police Department: [phone], [phone], [phone]Li Jinguo (李金国), secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee in Qingdao West Coast New Area: [phone]

(More perpetrators’ contact information is available in the original Chinese article.)