The July 20, 1999 That I Experienced

(Minghui.org) Twenty-five years ago, on July 20, 1999, the Chinese Communist Party ordered a nationwide persecution campaign against Falun Gong practitioners. As the volunteer coordinator of my city’s practice site, I was the first local practitioner to be arrested and thrown into a detention center.

The police got to know me when more than 30 of us went to Beijing on April 25, 1999 to join the appeal along with 10,000 other practitioners, asking for a peaceful environment to practice our faith. When we returned on the second day, Lai, the head of the Domestic Security Division, and Cang, the political instructor, called about ten practitioners and demanded to talk to us.

Cang said to us, “Why don’t you just stay put [in Heilongjiang, where I live]? I know some practitioners were arrested in Tianjin. But that’s Tianjin. It won’t happen here. I know you the best. In the past few years, we’ve used all kinds of ways to monitor you. It’s our job. To get to know you, we dispatched several officers to join you and practice the exercises with you. We even installed listening devices on the trees at your practice site. Indeed, we didn’t find anything wrong with you; otherwise you wouldn’t have been able to freely practice Falun Gong up to now. I know it’s indeed a good practice and teaches Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance. I’ve written three reports to the provincial government about Falun Gong. So you should avoid going anywhere [to appeal] now. At least I can guarantee a free practice environment here. If anyone doesn’t allow you to practice, you can come to me.”

That’s how the several local coordinators got to know the officers at the Domestic Security Division. When we held large-scale exercise sessions on the weekends, some of them came to see us, and some also joined us in doing the exercises. All of them said good words about Falun Gong.

But when the persecution started months later, it was Cang who sent me to the detention center on July 20, 1999. I asked him while on the way to the detention center, “You know so well about us, and why can’t you keep your word?”

He replied, “I have no way to get around it. I know Falun Gong is good. But Jiang Zemin (the former head of the communist regime who ordered the persecution) doesn’t like you guys. The Communist Party is in power. I work for it and I have to listen to it.”

Upon arriving at the detention center, Cang said to the director, “He is a very good person. He doesn’t have any issues, just practicing Falun Gong. You can find a good room for him.”

The director initially refused to accept me. Then Cang said to him, “I can’t take him back. We are just detaining him for a few days and then we will release him.”

The detention center began to broadcast propaganda smearing Falun Gong on the afternoon of July 22. On July 25, officials from the municipal Political and Legal Affairs Committee, Propaganda Department, Organization Department, police department and my workplace came to pressure me into renouncing Falun Gong.

I said to them, “I was diagnosed with a terminal illness. It was Falun Gong that gave me health and a new life. I follow its principles to be a good person. When our workplace was allocating housing, I gave my opportunity to another coworker who was having financial difficulties. I have also won many awards at work.”

The deputy director of the police department said, “You can’t say so now. You have to say that your illness was cured by the hospital. And you are a good person because you are a member of the Chinese Communist Party.”

“That’s not true. Most of my coworkers are members of the Chinese Communist Party. But I was the only person who gave up the housing opportunity. I wouldn’t have done so if I didn’t practice Falun Gong. You are all government officials and you can’t force me to lie. Moreover, all of my family practices Falun Gong and everyone of us has benefitted from it. As the volunteer coordinator, I also witnessed so many cases of people recovering from terminal illnesses, or bad people turning good because of practicing Falun Gong.”

They remained silent. Then they tried to pressure me by threatening to fire me, but I didn’t give in.

In order to force me to renounce Falun Gong, they arranged 24 inmates to stay in the same cell with me, which only had the capacity for 12. The head inmate said to me, “All other cells had plenty of space. But they didn’t only put all new detainees here, but also transferred inmates from other cells to here. It’s all because of you.”

The head inmate also deprived me of sleep. With the excuse that my body was smelly, he had two inmates pour 30 basins of ice-cold water on me. I was shivering from the cold and couldn’t talk for two hours. When I had diarrhea afterwards, they didn’t allow me to use the restroom and took away the toilet paper after I was done. They also gave my food to others with the excuse that I had diarrhea and couldn’t keep the food down.

They arranged for more than 20 people to brainwash me every day. Seeing that I was mentally exhausted after more than ten days, the head of the municipal propaganda department said to me, “I know you benefitted from practicing Falun Gong. I also acknowledge that it’s good to follow Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, to be a good person. But you have to know that this is the Communist Party’s world. If the Party doesn’t approve of it, you can’t do it. This is the rule under the Communist Party. In other words, you have to listen to the Party even if you don’t agree with it. I suggest that you don’t talk about Falun Gong anymore. As long as you agree to renounce it, that’s what we want.” Under tremendous pressure, I cooperated with them and said I would no longer practice Falun Gong.

When I was released two weeks later, I realized that they had videotaped me and edited the video. They also included footage of me crying due to the pressure, and said in the video that I was crying because I regretted practicing Falun Gong.

I went to the police department to argue with them, but no one came to talk to me. I then found the secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee. He said to me, “It’s useless for you to talk to anyone. Politics is cruel. You can say they are lying, but they say it’s the strategy.”

Twenty five years have now passed. It still gives me chills when I think about that darkest period of time. During the past 25 years, I was arrested a few more times and given labor camp and prison terms. Every time I was detained, I barely survived the torture. I experienced first hand the horror and evilness of the Communist Party. I hope all Chinese people can see the true colors of the Communist Party and withdraw from it. Don’t wait to do so when you become the next victim.