(Minghui.org) Twenty-seven years after the Chinese Communist Party ordered the persecution of Falun Gong in July 1999, the arrest, harassment and sentencing of Falun Gong practitioners remain unabated. Among the practitioners who are targeted, many are seniors, 60 years old and older, and even practitioners in their 90s are actively persecuted.
In 2025 alone, at least 370 of the 751 practitioners who were confirmed to have been sentenced to prison were at least 60 years old, including 180 in their 60s, 156 in their 70s, 33 in their 80s, and one in her 90s. Of the 1,053 practitioners of known ages who were reported arrested or harassed in 2025, 947 were 60 years or older.
Below are selected persecution cases of older practitioners, most of which occurred in recent years.
83-Year-Old Chongqing Man Dies in 2023 While Serving Time for His Faith in Falun Gong
Mr. Liu Xingui, an 83-year-old resident of Yunyang County, Chongqing, died at a prison hospital around May 4, 2023, while serving a term of unknown length for his faith in Falun Gong. Prison authorities claimed that he died of COVID-19, even though he never tested positive for the virus.
Due to strict censorship and the cover-up of the persecution of Falun Gong by the Chinese communist regime, it’s not clear when Mr. Liu was arrested, indicted, or sentenced. Minghui.org confirmed that he was moved from the Yongchuan Prison’s section for newly admitted inmates to Cell 6 of the Tenth Division in late March 2023. There, he was monitored by inmates around the clock and tortured by being forced to sit on a small plastic stool motionless for long hours every day.
Mr. Liu’s health quickly declined to the point that he could no longer sit. He was taken to the prison hospital, where he died around May 4, 2023. To cover up their crimes, the Tenth Division and the prison hospital listed his cause of death as COVID-19.
Another Falun Gong practitioner, Mr. Tang Fenghua, who was reassigned to the same cell in the Tenth Division on the same day as Mr. Liu, died at a hospital on April 17, 2025, after being tortured to critical condition at the prison. He was 71.
64-Year-Old Chongqing Woman Dies While Serving Second Prison Term
Ms. Li Wenfeng, a Chongqing resident, was seen in a prison surveillance video making her bed after getting up one morning, when she patted her head twice before collapsing on the ground. Her head hit the edge of the metal bed across from hers. She remained motionless and was later rushed to a hospital, where she died despite attempts to resuscitate her.
According to an insider, the guards at the Chongqing Women’s Prison played the above footage to other Falun Gong practitioners jailed there to prove that they had nothing to do with Ms. Li’s death.
The surviving practitioners, however, knew that Ms. Li, 64, died after repeated abuse in prison for holding firm to her faith in Falun Gong. One practitioner later faced threats when she refused to renounce her faith, with a guard warning her, “If you don’t behave, we’ll make you stand all night long like Li Wenfeng!”
Ms. Li’s death took place around February or March 2025, with the exact time to be investigated. The actual length of her prison term is also unclear.
83-Year-Old Sichuan Woman Dies While Serving 7.5-Year Term
Ms. Zhao Wenxiu, an 83-year-old resident of Lu County, Sichuan Province, died around March 2025, while serving a 7.5-year term for her faith in Falun Gong.
Ms. Zhao was arrested in March 2019, and was secretly sentenced months later. The Lu County Court never updated Ms. Zhao’s family on her case status, nor did they respond to their repeated inquiries. The family didn’t learn of her wrongful conviction until the Chengdu Women’s Prison (also known as Longquanyi Women’s Prison) notified them of her prison admission. When they asked the court for a copy of the verdict, they were told that it was only issued to Ms. Zhao when, by law, family defenders and lawyers are also entitled to a copy.
Despite her already declining health, Ms. Zhao was admitted to the prison on May 7, 2019. The caller who notified her family said she was found to “have no illness at all” after a physical exam. She died around March 2025.
Mr. Yang Licheng, an 81-year-old man who lived in Qiqihar City, Heilongjiang Province, died in August 2025, one month before he was to finish a 4.5-year prison term for practicing Falun Gong.
Mr. Yang was arrested on March 29, 2021. Because his wife is dead and there is no one to care for his incapacitated daughter, who is in her 40s, the police took the younger woman to a shelter.
Mr. Yang was sentenced to four and a half years and sent to the Tailai Prison. He had a brain hemorrhage in August 2025, and died soon afterwards, one month before his term was set to expire.
Mr. Yang’s passing capped decades of suffering at the hands of the communist regime. He credited Falun Gong for curing his cervical spondylosis (degenerative changes affecting the cervical spine), blood hyper viscosity (thickening blood), and severe rheumatism. His wife was amazed by his changes and also began practicing Falun Gong. Falun Gong’s principles helped the couple to better cope with their daughter’s condition. Their daughter had developed debilitating depression after another student, whose family was well-connected, took her spot at the university she had chosen.
After the persecution began in 1999, Mr. Yang went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong in December 2000, and was arrested on the 29th of that month, when he returned to Qiqihar. He was held at the Qiqihar City Second Detention Center, where he was beaten and verbally abused.
Mr. Yang was given one year of forced labor in late March 2001 and transferred to the Fuyu Labor Camp. He faced more abuse there, including physical abuse and having cold water poured over his head.
After another arrest on June 5, 2009, Mr. Yang was sentenced to four years and served time at the same Tailai Prison. He described how the police abused him following his arrest. (See the first related report for details.)
Mr. Yang was released on January 7, 2013, only to see his wife and son both die within a short span of time. His wife was under constant stress during his imprisonment, and their son, a college professor, also faced tremendous pressure from his school administration because he refused to go on TV and make slanderous statements about Falun Gong.
While mourning the loss of his wife and son, Mr. Yang took meticulous care of his daughter, who had become incapacitated. After he was arrested again on March 29, 2021, his daughter was sent to a shelter. She never saw her father again. He died in Tailai Prison in August 2025.
90-Year-Old Man Forced to Sit on a Small Stool for 20 Hours a Day
Mr. Liu Xuesen, a 90-year-old resident of Weifang City, Shandong Province, was admitted to the Shandong Province Prison on June 25, 2025, to serve an unknown term for practicing Falun Gong. The guards held him in a room without surveillance cameras in the Eleventh Division (which is designated to persecute Falun Gong practitioners).
Mr. Liu was forced to sit on a small stool for about 20 hours a day. He was not allowed to get up or move around except during meal times and restroom breaks. The guards also forced him to watch videos smearing Falun Gong. Whenever he dozed off, the guards jabbed him in the eyes.
The sitting torture did not cause external injuries, but brought Mr. Liu excruciating pain in his buttocks. His shoulders, back, legs, and feet also hurt badly. He could only sleep on his side to avoid having his buttocks touch the bed.
Ms. Liu’s 85-year-old wife, Ms. Li Ping, also a Falun Gong practitioner, was admitted to a local detention center on June 18, 2025, after the police tried a fourth time to get her detained.
76-Year-Old Liaoning Man Gets Second 4-Year Prison Sentence for His Faith in Falun Gong
Mr. Xu Zengchen, 76 and of Liaoyang County, Liaoning Province, was arrested at home on August 30, 2024. The police targeted him upon discovering he had distributed Falun Gong informational materials. The Dengta City Court sentenced Mr. Xu to four years at an unknown time. (Both Dengta City and Liaoyang County are under the administration of Liaoyang City.)
Mr. Xu was initially admitted to the Panjin Prison but was later transferred to another prison in Liaoyang City. His family was not notified of the new prison’s name and location.
According to insiders, Mr. Xu’s has become blind in his right eye and lists to one side when he walks.
Mr. Xu was given an unknown term of forced labor in 2001. While held at the Liaoyang City Labor Camp, Mr. Xu was subjected to various forms of abuse, including beatings, sleep deprivation, and forced labor. During one beating in early December 2001, a guard punched him in the face and knocked him to the ground. His mouth bled and several teeth became loose. Mr. Xu was put in solitary confinement on another occasion. The guard instructed several inmates to shackle his hands to the wall for long hours. He was only allowed two restroom breaks every day. They only gave him a small piece of cornbread and a little water at each meal. He was also verbally abused.
Mr. Xu’s next arrest was on May 5, 2005, after he was reported for talking to people about Falun Gong. His third arrest came on December 8, 2013, while he was talking to people about Falun Gong at a fair. The Liaoyang County Court sentenced Mr. Xu to four years in 2014, and he was admitted to the Shenyang Prison. He endured brutal torture and at one point lost consciousness while being held in solitary confinement.
81-Year-Old Woman Abused During 15-Month Prison Term
Ms. Wang Guixia was no longer the same person after she completed a 15-month prison term in May 2025 for her faith in Falun Gong. She was emaciated and weak, with severe swelling in her legs. Once cheerful and outgoing, Ms. Wang was now withdrawn and timid. She also suffered from mental fatigue and struggled to focus.
Ms. Wang, an 81-year-old retired textile worker in Jinzhou City, Liaoning Province, was initially arrested on September 25, 2022, and later released on bail. She was taken back into custody on February 1, 2024, and issued a formal arrest warrant four days later. Her case was submitted to the Linghai City Procuratorate on February 19, 2024, and she was indicted the next day. The Linghai City Court held a hearing at the Jinzhou City Women’s Detention Center on March 4, and Ms. Wang was given a 15-month sentence weeks later.
Ms. Wang was admitted to the Twelfth Division of the Liaoning Province First Women’s Prison on July 18, 2024. During her first two months there, she was forced to write statements to renounce her faith every day. The guards also video-recorded her being questioned and agreeing to sever ties with Falun Gong. On September 18, 2024, she was moved to the Eleventh Division for the elderly and the infirm.
During her nine months in prison, Ms. Wang was subjected to various forms of abuse.
She was forced to take hypertension medication after she was found to have high blood pressure. She decided to stop taking the pills three months later, on October 28, 2024. The guards did not let her shower that day. They later intimidated her and instructed inmates to beat her when she refused to participate in the physical exams required for all detainees.
For a period of time, Ms. Wang was forced to do intensive labor, such as making paper origami figures, for eight hours a day. She later stopped doing the labor and was verbally abused by the guards and inmates.
A guard removed the mattress from Ms. Wang’s bed between September 19 and 25, 2024, because she did the Falun Gong meditation. She was unable to sleep that whole week and had to sit up all night.
The guards required that everyone stand facing the wall during roll calls. Ms. Wang refused to admit she was a criminal or stand facing the wall. When she later also refused to wear the inmates’ name tag, a guard threatened to put a torture device on her.
On April 13, 2025, inmates slapped Ms. Wang in the face, verbally abused her, and kicked her. They were also instigated by the guards to defame Falun Gong and verbally abuse Ms. Wang.
Ms. Wang was never given enough to eat in the Eleventh Division. The guards did this in an attempt to break her will. They also restricted her purchases of daily necessities. When some inmates became sympathetic and gave her food, the guards reprimanded them. Ms. Wang was constantly hungry, and her health suffered.
Ms. Sun Jiping developed symptoms of life-threatening anemia following her arrest for practicing Falun Gong, yet she was still admitted to the Liaoning Province Women’s Prison after receiving a five-year sentence. Her health further deteriorated due to torture in prison, and she was released on July 20, 2025, six months before the end of her term.
Ms. Sun, 73 and of Linghai City, Liaoning Province, was arrested on January 20, 2021, along with her husband, Mr. Zhou Yonglin. After nearly a month of quarantine for the COVID-19 pandemic, Ms. Sun was taken to the Jinzhou City Women’s Detention Center, and Mr. Zhou was transferred to the Linghai City Detention Center on February 22.
Ms. Sun’s blood disorder, which had been resolved through practicing Falun Gong a few years prior, recurred while she was held in custody. She lost consciousness and was hospitalized for a blood transfusion days after being taken to the detention center. Her hemoglobin quickly dropped to 5 g/dL (a normal range is 12.0 and 15.5 g/dL), which also caused systemic edema.
Despite Ms. Sun’s condition, she and her husband were tried by the Linghai City Court on March 15, 2021. Five days later, the judge secretly sentenced both of them to five years.
Ms. Sun was denied admission when she was first taken to the Liaoning Province Women’s Prison on June 6, 2021. The authorities took her back to the Jinzhou City Women’s Detention Center and managed to have the prison admit her on December 16, 2021, after giving her a blood transfusion.
Mr. Zhou was admitted to the Panjin Prison on July 4, 2021. He also became critically ill and emaciated due to torture, yet the prison refused to release him on medical parole.