(Minghui.org) On the 25th anniversary since the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) began suppressing Falun Gong in July 1999, practitioners from 44 countries submitted a new list of perpetrators to their respective governments, asking them to bar the perpetrators and their family members from entry and freeze their overseas assets according to the law.

Among the perpetrators listed was Ying Yong, prosecutor-general and CCP Secretary of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate.

Perpetrator Information

Full Name of Perpetrator: Ying (last name) Yong (first name)Chinese Name: 应勇Gender: MaleDate/year of Birth: November 1957Place of Birth: Xianju, Zhejiang Province

Title or Position

April 1999 – July 2003: Deputy director and deputy Party secretary of Zhejiang Provincial Public Security Department

January 2006 – November 2007: Party secretary and president of Zhejiang Provincial High Court

July 2007 – April 2013: Party secretary and president of Shanghai High Court

August 2014 – September 2016: Deputy secretary of Shanghai Municipal Committee

September 2016 – January 2017: Deputy secretary of Shanghai Municipal Committee, executive deputy mayor of Shanghai Municipal Government

January 2017 – February 2020: Deputy secretary of Shanghai Municipal Committee, Mayor and Party secretary of Shanghai Municipal Government

February 2020 – March 2022: Party secretary of Hubei Provincial Committee

September 2022 – March 2023: Deputy secretary of the CCP Committee of China's Supreme People’s Procuratorate, deputy prosecutor-general, member of the Procuratorial Committee, and first-level grand prosecutor

March 2023 – Present: Member of the 20th CCP Central Committee, the prosecutor-general and Party secretary of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, member of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Committee, grand chief prosecutor

Major Crimes

1) Crimes Committed During His Tenure as Deputy Prosecutor-General and Prosecutor-General of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate (September 2022 to Present)

Ying Yong has served as deputy secretary of the Party Committee, deputy prosecutor-general, and prosecutor-general of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate since September 2022, as one of the highest commanders in the procuratorate system. Under his leadership, many Falun Gong practitioners were wrongfully indicted and sentenced. Some became disabled and some were tortured to death while serving time in prison.

From September to December 2022, 154 practitioners were sentenced. Ms. Niu Xiaona, a Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province resident, was arrested on April 19, 2021. The Harbin Railway Transportation Court convicted her in late September 2022 and ordered her to serve a 15-year sentence, including a 14-year term previously given in 2004, which she had already served outside of prison per court order due to her physical disability. In order to avoid being jailed, she went into hiding, only to be seized on March 19, 2024 and taken to the Harbin City Second Detention Center following her arrest. Having been severely disabled for decades, she was unable to get out of bed, walk, shower, or use the restroom on her own.

At least 1,188 Falun Gong practitioners were sentenced to prison in 2023. Among them, 383 practitioners were 60 years of age or older, including 182 in their 60s, 159 in their 70s, and 42 in their 80s. The oldest practitioner sentenced was 89. A total of 381 practitioners were fined a total of 4,880,000 yuan.

Ms. Xu Haihong, a Qingdao City, Shandong Province resident, was arrested on September 10, 2023 and detained in the Pudong Detention Center. She was sentenced to 16 months in October 2023 and transferred to the Shandong Province Women’s Prison around December 6, 2023. She died three days later. She was 56 years old.

Ms. Li Fenglan, of Baiyin City, Gansu Province, was transferred to the Gansu Province Women’s Prison on February 17, 2023, to serve a 20-month term. She was already cancer-stricken when admitted, yet the guards continued to torture her, including forcing her to stand for extended periods and depriving her of sleep. Her breast cancer soon metastasized. The prison didn’t release her until early January 2024. She died on the morning of January 10, 2024. She was 69 years old.

Mr. Ma Changqing, of Yushu City, Jilin Province, was arrested around August 10, 2022, and sentenced to four years in prison by the Dehui City Court in 2023. He was tortured to death in the Jilin City Prison on September 18, 2023. He was 70 years old.

Ms. Li Xuesong, a 75-year-old resident of Xi’an City, Shaanxi Province, was sentenced to three years and one month in prison with a 10,000-yuan fine on September 11, 2023, by the Lianhu District Court.

Ms. Ma Yun, of Jixi City, Heilongjiang Province, was arrested at home on April 22, 2023, and her arrest was approved on May 29. She was sentenced to eight years in prison with a 20,000-yuan fine by the Jidong County Court in November 2023.

Ten Zhengzhou City, Henan Province residents, aged between 42 and 85, were sentenced to prison on September 27, 2023. Among them, Ms. Zhao Shuniu, 57, and Ms. Su Jinling, 74, were each sentenced to eight years and fined 80,000 yuan; Ms. Li Hongwei, 63, and Mr. Li Yixing, 42, were each sentenced to five years and six months and fined 50,000 yuan; Ms. Guo Yulan, 76, was sentenced to five years and fined 50,000 yuan; Mr. Gao Runhong, 85, was sentenced to four years and fined 40,000 yuan; Ms. Hu Aimin, 55, was sentenced to three years and six months and fined 30,000 yuan; Ms. Zeng Yongzhao, 70, was sentenced to three years and fined 30,000 yuan; Ms. Jing Cuihua, 58, was sentenced to two years and fined 20,000 yuan; and Ms. Liu Xinzhi, 65, was sentenced to one year and fined 10,000 yuan.

Ying published an article in April 2024, directing procuratorates at all levels to “strengthen the anti-cult work” and continue to prosecute Falun Gong practitioners. According to the Minghui.org website, at least 334 Falun Gong practitioners were sentenced from January to April 2024.

Ms. Zhao Guokun, a 45-year-old resident of Jilin City, Jilin Province, was sentenced to three and a half years on April 15, 2024. Her family, however, was not notified of her wrongful conviction until after she was admitted to the Jilin Province Women’s Prison. Ms. Zhao is not the only one in her family who was targeted for practicing Falun Gong. Her brother, Mr. Zhao Guoxing, around 52, was previously held in a labor camp for three years and jailed for ten years. Their mother, Ms. Li Yan, passed away at the age of 61 on February 5, 2012, after succumbing to the fear and mental distress stemming from the persecution. Their father, Mr. Zhao Xudong, died on August 10, 2023, ten days after being harassed at home by the police. He was 77 years old.

2) Crimes Committed During His Tenure as Party Secretary of the Hubei Provincial Party Committee (February 2020 to March 2022)

Ying was appointed as the Party secretary of the Hubei Provincial Committee in February 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic broke out. Despite local lockdowns, the authorities in Hubei secretly sentenced practitioners without notifying their families or lawyers. Many practitioners were also arrested and interrogated. In Xiantao City, the police offered a 1,000 yuan reward for anyone who reported a Falun Gong practitioner.

Huanggang was one of the most affected areas in Hubei during the pandemic, and also reported the most severe persecution of practitioners. Ordered by the Huanggang City Political and Legal Affairs Committee, the police in Macheng City, Hong’an County, Huangmei County, Xishui County, Qichun County, and Wuxue City, all under the jurisdiction of Huanggang, harassed the practitioners at their homes and ordered them to write statements renouncing Falun Gong. They also displayed slanderous propaganda targetting Falun Gong on community electronic screens.

In Macheng City alone, 56 Falun Gong practitioners were targeted for their faith, accounting for half of those persecuted in the greater Huanggang area. On May 20 and 21, 2020, more than ten practitioners, including Xiong Zonghui, Chen Yunju, Zhou Li, Chen Yuying, and Qiu Bingle, were harassed by 610 Office agents, local police, and residential committee staffers. The officers confiscated the practitioners’ Falun Gong books and informational materials, forcibly took photos of them, and forced them to sign documents renouncing their faith.

In Wuhan, the capital of Hubei and epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, the authorities opened most brainwashing centers in the country to detain and transform practitioners. In mid-September 2020, Zhu Xingang, director of the Xinzhou District Domestic Security Division, worked hand in glove with the Xinzhou District 610 Office to issue orders for the entire district, mandating that each town send a Falun Gong practitioner to the Liuji Brainwashing Center. Several practitioners, including Zhu Muxiang and Ye Fu, were arrested and taken to the brainwashing center.

In total, in 2020, three practitioners were persecuted to death in Hubei province, several people were injured or disabled, 38 were sentenced, and 20 were tried. At least 573 practitioners were arrested, harassed, detained, and had their homes searched.

The persecution became even more severe in 2021, with at least 1,179 practitioners in Hubei Province targeted in various ways, including 11 who died as a result of persecution; 38 were sentenced; 123 were detained in 27 brainwashing centers (the highest in the country); 132 were held in detention centers; 321 were arrested and had their homes ransacked; 485 were harassed and had their homes searched; and 21 were subjected to economic persecution.

Ms. Hu Hanjiao, a Hanchuan City, Hubei Province, resident, was arrested on March 15, 2021, after being reported for talking to people about Falun Gong. She was sentenced to a four-year prison term in late June 2021. During the seven months she was held at the Hanchuan City Detention Center, Ms. Hu held a hunger strike to protest the persecution and was force-fed. At 8 p.m. on November 9, 2021, 13 days after she was transferred to the Hubei Province Women’s Prison, a guard called Ms. Hu’s husband and said that she had died at the hospital from illness.

Ms. Li Yuzhen, a 72-year-old Wuhan City, Hubei Province, resident, was arrested at home on June 6, 2021. She was taken to the Wangjiahe Brainwashing Center and held in a dark room on the second floor. The guards forced her to watch videos slandering Falun Gong, and ordered her to write statements renouncing Falun Gong. She refused to comply and held a hunger strike to protest. The guards took turns watching her and didn’t let her sleep for four days. She was also forced to stand at times. On the fifth day, the guards force-fed her. She was in great pain, rolled her eyes, and almost died.

According to available data, at least 14 practitioners died as a result of the persecution during Ying’s tenure as the Party secretary of the Hubei Provincial Committee.

3) Crimes Committed During His Tenure as Shanghai Executive Vice Mayor and Mayor (September 2016 to February 2020)

While in Shanghai, Ying directed the Political and Legal Affairs Committee, the 610 Office, the police, the procuratorate, courts, and other departments to implement the persecution policy against Falun Gong practitioners, resulting in the death of several practitioners, including Mr. Jiang Yong, Ms. Lu Airong, and Ms. Weng Ping.

At least 15 practitioners in Shanghai were sentenced to prison in 2019. 16 were tried, 56 were detained, and 105 were arrested and had their homes ransacked.

Mr. Jiang Yong was arrested at home on April 24, 2019. He had a stroke that day and was released on bail two days later when the local detention center refused to admit him. The authorities continued to harass him after he returned home. At around the time of the Communist Party’s 70th National Day on October 1, 2019, the police monitored him around the clock, and followed him wherever he went, between October 1 and 7. He was deeply distressed by the strict surveillance. He had a major brain hemorrhage on November 19 and died seven days later on November 26. He was 51 years old.

More than ten practitioners in Shanghai were harassed in 2018, at least 70 of whom were arrested, and 20 sentenced.

Mr. Deng Chenglian was arrested without a warrant on March 23, 2018. The police seized his personal belongings and took him to the police station where he was interrogated for an entire day, without being given any food or water. While detained at the Minhang Detention Center, the guards handcuffed him, chained his feet, and tortured him. When he went on a hunger strike to protest the torture, he was taken to the Shanghai Prison General Hospital and tied to a bed for eleven days without the ability to move, or access to a toilet.

A detention center guard ordered six inmates to torture Mr. Deng in June 2018. They shaved off his hair to humiliate him. Two days later, guards handcuffed him and chained his feet. When Mr. Deng went on a hunger strike the second time in late June, guards forcibly inserted a urinary catheter into his body, resulting in swelling of his private part and urinary tract. They then tied him to a bed for nearly a month.

Mr. Deng was taken to the prison hospital on July 3, 2018, and tied up in bed for 17 days. All of his limbs were restrained, and a strap across his chest held him motionless. He was force-fed through his nose, which caused swelling in his throat and nose. He developed chest pain, and bedsores on his back.

Mr. Deng was sentenced to four years in prison on April 16, 2019. He had to be taken to the hospital multiple times within a period of two years during his incarceration.

Ms. Tang Weimin, an artist who worked at the Shanghai Dramatic Art Centre, was arrested on May 14, 2016, and held at a detention center for 30 days, followed by detention in a mental hospital for 20 months. As a result of being forced to take unknown drugs, Ms. Tang experienced auditory hallucinations and her hair turned gray.

Less than six months after Ms. Tang was released, the police broke into her apartment on August 7, 2018, and took her to Xuhui Detention Center. She was taken to a brainwashing center two days later.