(Minghui.org) A 62-year-old woman in Mian County, Shaanxi Province is facing prosecution for her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
Dr. Xue Lijun, who retired from Mian County Maternal and Child Health Hospital, was arrested at home on September 8, 2023. The police confiscated her computers, music players, Falun Gong books and informational materials, and other valuables. They gave her 15 days of administrative detention at the Mian County Detention Center but didn’t release her on the 15th day (September 22). Instead, they moved her to the Hantai Detention Center in Hanzhong City (which oversees Mian County). According to insiders, the police are seeking to have her indicted for her faith.
This is not the first time that Dr. Xue has been targeted for her faith. She was previously arrested multiple times and held in a labor camp for three years. Under pressure, her husband divorced her and her younger brother didn’t dare to acknowledge her as his sister. Her father passed away after years of living in fear.
Below is a recap of Dr. Xue’s past persecution.
Dr. Xue and 24 other practitioners in Mian County were arrested in March 2000, while gathering at a place to listen to Falun Gong’s audio lecture tapes. She was held at a local hotel for one day before being given 15 days of detention at the Mian County Detention Center. After that, she was moved to a brainwashing center and held there for an unknown amount of time.
In May 2002, Dr. Xue and twelve other practitioners wrote a letter to the People’s Congress to explain the illegality of the persecution. The letter was returned to the local 610 Office, which then dispatched agents to arrest them. All 13 of them were given forced labor after several days of interrogation with torture at a local hotel. Dr. Xue received three years.
At the Shaanxi Provincial Women’s Forced Labor Camp, Dr. Xue was ordered to read, watch or listen to hate propaganda against Falun Gong. She held firm to her faith and was subjected to various forms of abuse. She was once deprived of sleep for 24 hours and held in solitary confinement on other occasions. She was also beaten from time to time. Her head was badly injured one time and bled profusely. She went on a hunger strike in protest and was force-fed. The guards inserted the feeding tube into her trachea by accident and almost suffocated her.
Her father suffered from stomach cancer and died while she was still in the labor camp.
Not long after Dr. Xue was released in early 2005, her husband filed for divorce. Her mother-in-law took away all the furniture and daily necessities, driving her and her daughter out, who was still in middle school.
Dr. Xue was arrested at work on July 3, 2007, by more than a dozen officers, including Wang Weibin (deputy director of the Mian County Police Department), captain Wang Jing from the Domestic Security Office, chief Zhu Zhenhai of the Huangsha Police Station, and 610 Office agent Yan Haiqing.
The police next raided her home before taking her to the Mian County Detention Center for interrogation. The police restrained her in a metal chair with her hands cuffed and her feet shackled and off the ground. For two days straight, she was not allowed to get up from the chair and had to relieve herself in the pants. She went on a hunger strike in protest for seven days and became very weak. She was then taken to her own hospital for emergency rescue.
After she was discharged a few days later, the police gave her a forced labor notice which said she was to serve her term (unknown) at home. She ripped the notice off. Her hospital president asked her to write a promise not to practice Falun Gong and she gave him a flyer saying persecuting Falun Gong is illegal.
After Dr. Xue returned home, her hospital president didn’t allow her to resume work for a very long time, causing her great financial difficulty.
On January 12, 2018, police from the Mian County Criminal Police Brigade broke into Dr. Xue’s home and confiscated her Falun Gong books, electronic devices, and other personal belongings. They then took her to their police brigade and held her there for nearly 30 hours before releasing her at around 7 p.m. the next day.
On June 3, 2021, three officers from the Chengxi Police Station in Mian County suddenly broke into Dr. Xue’s home and confiscated her Falun Gong books and portrait of Falun Gong’s founder. They also took pictures of her home and ordered her to fill out some forms. She didn’t comply.
One day at the end of September 2022, after Dr. Xue returned home, her neighbors told her that six people had come looking for her earlier that day. They knocked on her door and claimed to be there to check her COVID-19 test status. They asked the neighbors about her situation and whereabouts. One of the officers went to the water room (where the main valves for each apartment unit were located). Only then did Dr. Xue realize why she had no water in her unit after she returned home. The police had shut off her water main.
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