Liaoning Man Incarcerated and Tortured for Six Years for Upholding His Faith

Mr. Wang Chaodong started to practice Falun Gong, an ancient mind-body discipline, in 1996 after he witnessed his mother recovering from diseases incurable by either Chinese or Western medicine. Having benefited so much from the practice, he never wavered in his faith after the Chinese communist regime ordered the persecution of Falun Gong three years later. As a result, he was held in a forced labor camp for two years and imprisoned for four years. His wife’s family was also implicated.

 

Witness the Healing Power of Falun Gong

Mr. Wang, 56, is from Shenyang City, Liaoning Province. His mother had many diseases and was very weak. In order to cure her diseases, Mr. Wang accompanied her to visit many major hospitals and also try various qigong practices, but nothing worked until she started to practice Falun Gong. Seeing how fast she fully recovered, Mr. Wang also started to practice it in June 1996. His lumbar disc herniation and fatty liver disease were gone in a short time.

Mr. Wang didn’t only regain health but also saw his character improve. He worked for Shenyang Jinbei Auto Factory after graduating from college in 1988. Influenced by the society at that time, he had indulged in material gain and would do anything to make more money. His relationship with his family members also became more and more tense.

After practicing Falun Gong, Mr. Wang began living by the principles of “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.” At home, he took up the responsibilities as the house head; at the factory, he returned the falsely claimed medical expenses, and volunteered to do the most undesired work.

 

Fired for Mailing a Letter

In 1999, Jiang Zemin, the head of the Chinese regime at that time, ordered the persecution of Falun Gong in China.

To clear up misconceptions caused by the propaganda put out by the communist regime to demonise Falun Gong, Mr. Wang wrote Jiang a letter in July 2000, sharing how he benefitted from the practice both physically and mentally. His letter, however, was intercepted by the police, who then ordered his workplace to fire him.

 

Two Years in Forced Labor Camp

Mr. Wang went to Beijing to appeal for the right to practice Falun Gong in July 2000. On his way to the National Appeals Office, he was stopped by the personnel from Shenyang Liaison Office in Beijing and was directly taken to Longshan Forced Labor Camp in Shenyang City to serve a two-year term.

He was later transferred to several detention facilities, including the Shenxin Forced Labor Camp and Zhangshi Forced Labor Camp. The police extorted at least 40,000 yuan from his family.

The labor camp guards tried all torture methods to force Mr. Wang to renounce Falun Gong. Once in Longshan Forced Labor Camp, the guards ordered him and five other practitioners to bend over with their arms behind their back. Then the guards called the practitioners one by one into a room and shocked them with electric batons. Although Mr. Wang wasn’t shocked in the end, he was forced to maintain the bending over position for two hours.

One practitioner, Mr. Wang Lihong (no relation to Mr. Wang Chaodong), a student from Liaoning Traditional Chinese Medicine School, was shocked with four electric batons for over two hours until the batons ran out of battery. The guards also shocked another practitioner Mr. Zang Ming of Shenyang City.

While Mr. Wang Chaodong was incarcerated in the forced labor camp, he also witnessed a 16-year-old girl, Ms. Han Tianzi, being shocked with electric batons.

During his over 20-day detention at Zhangshi Forced Labor Camp, Mr. Wang was forced to work with toxic materials. He was sometimes deprived of sleep and the food quality was very bad.

When he was released in October 2001, his health was damaged, his wife divorced him, and he didn’t have a job. Local authorities continued to harass him from time to time. Mr. Wang tried hard to get back to normal life. Later he remarried. However, in 2002 he was arrested again and held in Shenhe Detention Centre for 40 days.

 

Sentenced to Four Years in Prison

Police officers from Shenyang Police Department and Danan Police Station arrested Mr. Wang and took him to a hotel room at 7 a.m. on May 24, 2008. They threatened him with torture while interrogating him.

On the same day, Zhao Hongtao, the leader of Domestic Security Office, led a search of Mr. Wang’s apartment without a warrant. They confiscated 1,500 yuan in cash, one laptop, Falun Gong books, and Mr. Wang’s private van. The van was returned only after his family’s repeated requests and it was no longer drivable.

After eleven months of detention at Shenhe District Detention Centre, Mr. Wang was sentenced to four years by the Shenhe District Court. He was charged with “undermining the implementation of the law,” the standard pretext used by the Chinese authorities to frame Falun Gong practitioners.

While serving time at Benxi Prison, Mr. Wang was constantly beaten and denied family visits. After a beating in March 2009, his teeth were knocked loose, his nose and mouth bled, his voice was hoarse, and he could not speak.

In May 2009, he was beaten by over ten inmates for talking to other practitioners. His head was injured and he remained muddle-headed for a few days.

Mr. Wang was released on May 28, 2012.

 

Family in a Difficult Situation

Shortly after Mr. Wang’s arrest, his wife, Ms. Wei Yuhuan, who didn’t have a job, was forced to move out of their rental apartment with their two-and-a-half-year-old toddler. Distressed by the persecution, Mr. Wang’s mother-in-law, Ms. Zhang Guiyun, soon passed away. Mr. Wang’s own mother suffered a stroke and needed care. The entire family was left in a very difficult situation.

 

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