After Eight Years of Incarceration, Ningxia Woman Arrested for the 7th Time for Practicing Falun Gong

(Minghui.org) Ms. Zhang Lifang, 65, from Guyuan City, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, remains detained one month after she was arrested for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

Ms. Zhang went to Yinchuan City, the capital of Ningxia, to visit her daughter in early 2025. A person spotted her talking to people about Falun Gong and followed her. He reported her to the police, and she was arrested on March 29, 2025. She has been held at the Yinchuan City Detention Center since then.

This is the seventh time Ms. Zhang has been arrested since the onset of the persecution of Falun Gong. She previously served three forced labor camp terms for a total of five years, and a three-year prison term. The communist regime’s slanderous propaganda, intimidation and threats also put Ms. Zhang’s husband and children under tremendous pressure.

In addition to Ms. Zhang’s ordeal, her three sisters and one niece were also targeted for practicing Falun Gong. Her oldest sister, Ms. Zhang Yufang, was tortured into disability in a labor camp and remains bedridden to this day. Ms. Zhang Yufang’s husband, Mr. Xu Yaozhen, died as a result of the persecution. Their daughter, Ms. Xu Yan, was sentenced to three years in prison. Ms. Zhang Lifang’s two other sisters, Ms. Zhang Shufang and Ms. Zhang Lanfang, also lost their lives to the persecution.

Ms. Zhang Lifang’s Past Persecution

Ms. Zhang was first arrested in 2001, after the police suspected her of making Falun Gong informational materials. The police interrogated her and slapped her face when she refused to answer their questions. She was given one and a half years of forced labor in November 2001.

In the Ningxia Women’s Forced Labor Camp, the guards arranged for two drug addicts to monitor and “transform” Ms. Zhang. They forced her to watch videos that slander Falun Gong and its founder every day. She did not cooperate. The inmates then beat, kicked and verbally abused her. They did not allow her to sleep and sometimes forced her to stand for hours to punish her.

When they saw her greet another Falun Gong practitioner, the inmates kicked Ms. Zhang on her calves and she fell. Ms. Zhang had pain for months and the bruises also took a long time to go away.

Ms. Zhang was arrested again in March 2005 and given another 1.5 years of forced labor camp one month later. In the labor camp, she worked from morning to night without pay. While peeling bean skins, a fingernail was worn away, and her thumbs were covered in calluses. She was verbally abused and beaten by drug addicts if she couldn’t complete the assigned work. She was not allowed to sleep and had to continue to work overtime.

Ma Wenjun, former head of Yuanzhou District Domestic Security Office, along with several policemen, arrested Ms. Zhang in early 2008. She was released after she was detained for about 6 weeks.

Ms. Zhang was arrested at her daughter’s home in Yinchuan, by officer Ma and agents from the Ningxia 610 Office on July 16, 2009. She was taken directly to Ningxia Women’s Forced Labor Camp. The police already filled out the paperwork for a 2-year labor camp term when they arrested her.

Ms. Zhang talked to people about Falun Gong when she took a train home after she visited relatives in Shanghai in July 2014. She was arrested again and detained in the Yinchuan Railway Police Department Detention Center for five days. Her home was ransacked and her desktop computer, Falun Gong books and other materials were taken away. The police didn’t return her computer until a year later.

After Ms. Zhang filed a lawsuit against Jiang Zemin (the former head of the Chinese Communist Party who ordered the persecution of Falun Gong) in June 2015, Yang Fuchun, the head of Yuanzhou District Domestic Security Office, harassed her son and daughter, who were working out of town. Yang also led a group of officers to knock on Ms. Zhang’s door on April 8, 2016. When Ms. Zhang did not open it, they left.

Ms. Zhang was arrested again and had her home ransacked on September 29, 2019. She was first held at the Guyuan City Lockup and then transferred to the Guyuan City Detention Center. She was later sentenced to three years and her appeal was rejected. She served time at the Ningxia Women’s Prison.

Related Report:

Ningxia Woman Sentenced to Three Years for Practicing Falun Gong