(Minghui.org)
Name: Yang ShuqinChinese Name: 杨淑芹Gender: FemaleAge: 67City: DaqingProvince: HeilongjiangOccupation: retired worker from Daqing Oil FieldDate of Death: December 2001Date of Most Recent Arrest: December 2000Most Recent Place of Detention: Honggang Police Station
A 67-year-old woman in Daqing City, Heilongjiang Province, died in December 2000, after constant surveillance and harassment for her faith in Falun Gong, Minghui.org recently learned.
Ms. Yang Shuqin, a retired worker at Daqing Oil Field, took up Falun Gong in 1996 and recovered from conditions she had suffered from for decades, including cerebral thrombosis (a blood clot in the brain), heart problems, and rheumatism.
After the Chinese Communist Party launched a nationwide campaign against Falun Gong in July 1999, Ms. Yang went to Beijing to appeal for her right to practice her spiritual faith. She was arrested and escorted back to Daqing. Officers from the Honggang Police Station raided her home and confiscated her Falun Gong books, a portrait of Falun Gong’s founder, and her ID. She was released at an unknown time.
The police arrested Ms. Yang at home in December 2000 and confiscated her Falun Gong books and informational materials. During the interrogation at the Honggang Police Station, officer Wei Guozhong slapped her in the face, punched her on the chin, and twisted her arms.
After Ms. Yang was released 16 days later, she faced constant surveillance and harassment by the police, her former employer, and the local street committee officers. Her health quickly declined, and she died in December 2001.
Ms. Yang was not the only one in her family persecuted for practicing Falun Gong Her daughter, Ms. Zhang Lihua, 60, is currently serving a three-year-and-four-month term at the Heilongjiang Province Women’s Prison.
Ms. Zhang took up Falun Gong in March 1997 and recovered from her severe anemia in one week. She was arrested in early 2002 and detained at various facilities for several months. After another arrest on November 22, 2020, she was sentenced to three years and four months on December 30, 2022. Her appeal was rejected on April 11, 2023. She filed a motion to reconsider her case, but lost the case.
Because of her health condition, Ms. Zhang had been out on bail since November 23, 2020, and was allowed to serve time at home after being convicted. The police, however, took her back into custody on June 16, 2025, and put her in the Heilongjiang Province Women’s Prison that day. See the related reports for details of Ms. Zhang’s persecution.
More Than 20 Falun Gong Practitioners Sentenced by Daqing Court Since 2019