(Minghui.org) A native of Jianghan District, Wuhan City, Hubei Province, was arrested at his rental place in Xinzhou District of the same city on March 29, 2023. Mr. Zhang Qingyuan, a world record breaking athlete, was targeted for his faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
Mr. Zhang was taken to Xinhualu Police Station in Jianghan District and has been detained incommunicado for more than two months. His family hasn’t been given any updates about his situation since his arrest.
Prior to Mr. Zhang’s latest arrest, he was previously sentenced to four years in 2006 for his faith. To avoid being jailed, he lived away from home for the next 17 years. In 2008, the authorities pressured his employer to fire him and also stopped his model worker stipend and disability benefits (totaling 10,000 yuan per year).
Mr. Zhang, around 55 years old, had his left forearm amputated after an accident when he was little. His disability didn’t stop him from being athletic and he won numerous national competitions.
In 1994, he broke the world record and won the triple jump championship in the 4th Far East and South Pacific Games for the Disabled. In 1995, he became a member of the national team scheduled to attend the 1996 Special Olympics in Atlanta, though he ended up not making the trip due to some unexpected reasons.
After the persecution of Falun Gong began in 1999, Mr. Zhang was repeatedly arrested for upholding his faith. Below is an excerpt from his personal account of his sufferings over the years.
“On November 5, 2001, I was arrested by officers from the Wuhan City Police Department Domestic Security Office for mailing letters about Falun Gong to people. They kept me at the Wuhan City No. 2 Detention Center before transferring me to the Erdaopeng Brainwashing Center in Jianghan District on December 3. I was deprived of sleep and forced to stand facing a wall all day long. I refused to renounce my faith as ordered and they transferred me to Huangjiadawan Detention Center in Jianghan District six months later. I went on a hunger strike in protest and was released on the eighteenth day of my hunger strike.
I went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong in January 2003 and was arrested. While being held at Dongfeng Police Station in Fangshan District, Beijing, I was interrogated and tortured. I refused to reveal my name and address. They restrained me on a tiger bench and beat me until after midnight. After the torture sessions, they had people watch me to prevent me from closing my eyes.
The next morning I was sent to Fangshan District Police Department Second Detention Center. During the required physical examination, even the detention center guards condemned the police for beating me so badly. I went on a hunger strike at the detention center and was force fed many times. The feeding tube was often stained with my blood. The detention center notified Dongfeng Police Station 37 days later to pick me up, and the latter dropped me off at a bus station, instead of taking me home despite my weak physical condition.
On July 19, 2005, I was again arrested by officers from the Wuhan City Police Department Domestic Security Office. They confiscated my valuables worth nearly 10,000 yuan, including my computer and printer. They took me to the Wuhan City No. 2 Detention Center. I went on a hunger strike and was force fed. The feeding tube was about the size of a finger, and when it was pulled out from my nostril, it was covered with blood.
As I refused to give in after several force-feeding sessions, the guards then tied me onto a wooden bed in a spread-eagle position with my four limbs secured to the four shackles on the four corners. They left the feeding tube in my stomach at all times. During each force feeding session, they poured liquid through the tube. This cruelty continued until my release on August 9, 2005.
On April 5, 2006, I was arrested at a checkpoint while taking a bus to my hometown in the countryside during the Qingming Festival (also known as Tomb Sweeping Day to pay respect to one’s ancestors). The police again took me to the Wuhan City No. 2 Detention Center. I was put on trial the very next day. I went on a hunger strike and was released on bail three weeks later. On June 1, 2006, the presiding judge and the police came to my home and announced that I was sentenced to four years in prison. They said I had ten days to file an appeal if I wanted to.
In order to avoid being jailed, I left home and moved from place to place for the next 17 years.
Police intensified their search for me at the end of May 2008, just before the Olympic torch relay took place in Wuhan City. They threatened my family to reveal my whereabouts. They even searched the homes of my relatives, and some of my family members were followed and placed under surveillance. I wrote an article exposing the persecution of me. After Minghui.org published it, I was put on the blacklist of the Ministry of Public Security.
In 2008, the Wuhan City 610 Office and the police department pressured my employer – Shaou Aluminum Company – to fire me. They also completely stopped my model worker stipend and disability benefits totaling more than 10,000 yuan per year.”
More details of Mr. Zhang’s persecution can be found from the following two previous reports.
World Record Breaking Handicapped Athlete Suffers Brutal Persecution
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