Former Nurse Dies After Enduring Nearly Three Decades of Persecution for Her Faith in Falun Gong
(Minghui.org)
Name: Shang ShiyingChinese Name: 尚世莹Gender: FemaleAge: 65City: TangshanProvince: HebeiOccupation: nurse practitionerDate of Death: September 27, 2026Date of Most Recent Arrest: January 14, 2010Most Recent Place of Detention: Hebei Province Women’s Prison
A woman in Tangshan City, Hebei Province, was brutally tortured and injected with toxic drugs while serving a three-year wrongful term for upholding her faith in Falun Gong. After she was released in January 2013, the authorities kept harassing her. She was also terminated from her job and denied her pension when she later reached retirement age. Her health continued to decline over the years, and she passed away on September 27, 2026. She was 65 years old.
Ms. Shang Shiying
Ms. Shang Shiying, a former nurse at the Tangshan City Workers’ Hospital, took up Falun Gong in 1995. Soon after, she fully recovered from the persistent hyperthyroidism she struggled with.
After the Chinese Communist Party ordered the persecution of Falun Gong in July 1999, Ms. Shang was detained six times in the next three decades. Her salary and bonuses were suspended. She was also demoted and had her pay grade lowered. She faced discrimination at work as well; no matter how hard she worked, all of the awards that were initially given to her were rescinded by her manager.
The hospital’s Party secretary once said to her, “If you don’t practice Falun Gong, the Excellent Worker award would definitely be yours.”
The director of the hospital’s president’s office also said, “You are against the Communist Party, and you still want to have pay raises or be awarded as top workers?”
When Ms. Shang’s father-in-law died on September 11, 1999, after suffering a sudden heart attack, she was held in custody by the hospital and not allowed to attend his funeral.
Involuntary Drug Administration
Ms. Shang was arrested on October 25, 2000, after her department’s secretary deceived her into going to the security office. She was held in the hospital’s basement for 24 hours and transferred to the Tangshan City First Detention Center the next day, with the approval of the hospital’s president, Li Qingming. She was held in solitary confinement, restrained in a metal chair, and shackled.
As the guards didn’t allow Ms. Shang to use the restroom, she held a hunger strike in protest. They then transferred her to the Ankang Drug Rehabilitation Hospital, where she was given a few shots of unknown drugs. After the shots, her eyes were dull, and her tongue was stiff. She had brain fog and was in a confused state.
Sentenced to Three Years
Ms. Shang was arrested again on October 12, 2008, and her home was ransacked.
In the summer of 2009, she applied to have a vacation with her family. Li Hongyan, the head nurse, denied her request and threatened to detain her.
Ms. Shang’s next arrest was on January 14, 2010, for talking to people about Falun Gong. She was slapped in the face and kicked by an officer while being held in the Fengnan Detention Center.
Ms. Shang appeared in the Lubei District Court in June and August that year and was later secretly sentenced to a three-year prison term without her family’s knowledge. She wrote an appeal, but the detention center guards tore up the paperwork.
Tortured in Hebei Province Women’s Prison
While serving time in the Hebei Province Women’s Prison, Ms. Shang was held in the 13th Division, which is the strict management division specifically used to detain Falun Gong practitioners who refuse to renounce their faith.
Every day, Ms. Shang was forced to stand from early morning until midnight, for up to 18.5 hours. Whenever she resisted, the guards beat, verbally abused, or threatened her. The long hours of standing caused her legs to become extremely swollen and stiff. Her back was also sore and her head was dizzy.
Meanwhile, the prison denied Ms. Shang’s family’s visitation for a long time. It took them a lot of effort to get permission to see her, and they were saddened to see her with a haggard face, dark circles under the eyes, and swollen legs.
The prison forcibly collected a blood sample from Ms. Shang on March 16, 2012, almost breaking her finger. When she was carried back to the cell, the guards forbade anyone from talking to her, and she wasn’t allowed to call her family.
By the time Ms. Shang was released on January 14, 2013, she was extremely weak and unable to walk on her own.
Job Termination, Pension Suspension, and Non-Stop Harassment
On April 15, 2013, after recovering for a few months, Ms. Shang applied to the hospital to return to work. The hospital’s secretary Wang Chunjie said to her, “We went to great lengths to get you out of here, and now you want to come back? If you return to work, we have to arrange people to watch you.”
As a result, Ms. Shang was denied the right to work, without receiving any formal documentation. Her 25 years of service were also wiped out from her pension calculations, leaving her with no benefits when she reached retirement age. She contacted the local appeal’s office, the Labor Arbitration Commission, and the Health Bureau, but no one took up her case.
In early February 2018, Ms. Shang bought a train ticket to visit her family in Beijing on March 1 that year, but on February 28, she was told by the residential committee director that she wasn’t allowed to travel to Beijing during to the annual political meetings of the Chinese Communist Party.
The police harassed Ms. Shang again at around 9 p.m. on June 26, 2018, and attempted to record her on video.
Two officers harassed her one more time on August 14, 2024, and took photos of her. They also asked her if she was still practicing Falun Gong.
The financial persecution and mental distress from the ongoing harassment took a toll on Ms. Shang’s health. She passed away on September 27, 2026.
Related Reports:
Ms. Shang Shiying Severely Tortured in Hebei Women's Prison
Women's Prison of Hebei Province Persecutes Ms. Shang Shiying