(Minghui.org) The deaths of 76 Falun Gong practitioners as a result of being persecuted for practicing their faith were reported in the first half of 2025.
The newly-confirmed deaths included one each in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2019; two each in 2016, 2020, and 2022; five in 2023; 28 in 2023; and 32 in 2025. Due to the communist regime’s strict information censorship, the persecution can’t always be reported in a timely manner and the real death toll is likely much higher.
The 76 deceased practitioners, including 50 female and one practitioner whose gender wasn’t known, hailed from 18 provinces and municipalities. Hebei Province registered 13 deaths, followed by 11 in Heilongjiang, eight in Jilin, and six in Liaoning. The remaining 14 regions had between one and five cases.
Of the 74 practitioners whose ages at the time of their deaths were known, 12 were in their 80s, two in their 90s, and the rest between 41 and 79. They came from all walks of life, including several retired teachers, a truck driver, a retired engineer, and a brick factory employee.
Seven of the practitioners died in custody, including a 53-year-old man who was serving a 12-year term, a 71-year-old woman who was serving a 4-year term, and a 67-year-old man who died in a psychiatric hospital.
While some practitioners survived the torture in custody, they passed away shortly after they finished serving wrongful prison terms. Others succumbed to the long-term detention and harassment and died weeks or months after the last harassment episode.
A Chongqing man became critically ill about ten days after he was admitted to Yongchuan Prison on April 27, 2023, to serve a 2.5-year term. He developed diabetes and was given injections of unknown drugs. He continued to struggle with poor health after being released in August 2024 and passed away only months later. He was 73.
A resident of Sichuan Province, who was serving a 3.5-year term in prison, was forced to take medications to treat his “high blood pressure” even though he didn’t have any symptoms of hypertension. His health was severely damaged by the abuse and drugs. By the time he was released, he couldn’t straighten his back or lift his head. He also suffered severe memory loss and mental decline. The police still harassed him regularly. He died on February 22, 2025. He was 87.
Two practitioners were predeceased by their spouses, who died years earlier, also due to the persecution. The death of a 75-year-old mother came only two months after that of her daughter, who died shortly after the latest police harassment. One woman lost three family members due to the persecution before she passed away herself.
In one case, a 67-year-old man died in 2024, after being forced to live away from home for 22 years to avoid being arrested. He and six other practitioners intercepted TV signals in 2002 and played videos that debunked the slanderous propaganda about Falun Gong. While he escaped, those who were arrested were sentenced to 14-20 years for their courageous act.
In addition to the physical and mental distress, some practititoners were devastated by financial persecution. A man in Hebei was stripped of his pension in 2022. He had a stroke not long after and died two years later.
Below are details of select death cases.
Deaths in Custody
71-Year-Old Liaoning Woman Dies in Prison While Serving 4 Years for Her Faith in Falun Gong
Ms. Wang Yan, 71, of Shenyang City, Liaoning Province, died on May 9, 2025, while serving a four-year term in the Liaoning Province Women’s Prison.
Ms. Wang was arrested at home on March 5, 2022, after being reported for distributing Falun Gong informational materials in a residential area. She was released on bail three days later after having 5,000 yuan extorted from her. The police took her back into custody on July 20, 2022.
The Dadong District Court later sentenced her to a four-year prison term. She was admitted to the Liaoning Province Second Women’s Prison on February 15, 2023, and died there on May 9, 2025.
Ms. Wang was diagnosed with breast cancer when she was still in the detention center. According to prison rules, those with severe illnesses shouldn’t be admitted, and if she had applied for medical parole, she should have been allowed to serve time at home. Despite her condition, the prison not only admitted her, but also forced her to write statements and record videos renouncing Falun Gong against her will and subjected her to other forms of abuse.
The prison rules also state that inmates 65 or older who have severe illnesses should be assigned to the elderly and infirm division and exempted from doing forced labor. But Falun Gong practitioners jailed at the prison are never assigned to the elderly and infirm division, regardless of their ages or physical conditions.
71-Year-Old Man Tortured to Critical Condition While Jailed for His Faith, Dies in Hospital
Mr. Tang Fenghua, 71, of Chongqing, was tortured to critical condition in Yongchuan Prison for his faith in Falun Gong. He was taken to the Chongqing Second Hospital and died there on April 17, 2025.
Due to strict information censorship and the cover-up of the persecution, it’s not clear when Mr. Tang was arrested (likely late 2021 or early 2022) or sentenced. It was reported that he was serving a prison term of either 4 or 4.5 years and was expected to finish serving his term sometime in 2025.
Mr. Tang, the owner of a furniture store, had been repeatedly targeted since the onset of the persecution in 1999. He had previously served two prison terms for a total of five years.
67-Year-Old Hebei Man Dies While Serving 13 Years for His Faith in Falun Gong
Mr. Zuo Hongtao of Qinhuangdao City, Hebei Province, died on August 6, 2024, while serving a 13-year prison term. He was 67.
Mr. Zuo was arrested on June 9, 2017, and sentenced to prison in January 2018. He was later admitted to Division 19 of Baoding Prison. He became critically ill on July 19, 2024, and was rushed to a hospital for emergency care. After he was discharged, he was taken back to the prison, where he died on August 6. The prison did not allow his family to see his body and cremated it without their consent.
53-Year-Old Heilongjiang Man Dies in 2023 While Serving 12 Years
Mr. Li Chang’an of Fangzheng County, Heilongjiang Province, died in a hospital on September 24, 2023, while serving a 12-year term for practicing Falun Gong. He was 53.
Mr. Li, a truck driver, was repeatedly targeted for his faith after the Chinese Communist Party ordered the persecution of Falun Gong in July 1999. Following his last arrest on May 21, 2015, he was sentenced to 12 years on October 28, 2015, and admitted to the Hulan Prison.
Because Mr. Li refused to wear the prison uniform or answer roll calls on May 23, 2016, he was beaten and put in solitary confinement for 13 days. He was only given one steamed bun every day and subjected to continued abuse.
The guards beat Mr. Li again in July 2018 because he refused to put on the inmates’ uniform. They put him in solitary confinement and didn’t let him out until he became critically ill from a hunger strike.
During the following year, captain Xu Wenlong put Mr. Li in solitary confinement five more times on the grounds that he refused to wear the prison uniform or do hard labor. Once he was beaten by a guard so badly that his face was covered in blood. The guards also instigated the inmates to beat him, and they knocked out one of his teeth. The guards didn’t do anything to punish the inmates, who then beat Mr. Li even more savagely.
At the end of 2022, the prison reorganized and put Mr. Li under the management of a newly formed “anti-riot” team. He refused to comply with the new team’s orders and was repeatedly put in solitary confinement. He went on a hunger strike in protest and was repeatedly force-fed.
Mr. Li suffered declining health as a result of the long-term force-feeding and abuse. Around November 2022, he had generalized edema, abdominal fluid accumulation, and cirrhosis. Instead of holding his abusers responsible, the prison extorted 50,000 yuan from his family to cover his “medical expenses.”
Mr. Li fell into a coma and was taken to a hospital, where he died a week later, on September 24, 2023. According to insiders, at least 16 other Falun Gong practitioners also died after they were abused in Hulan Prison, which was designed as a high-security prison to hold death-row prisoners and inmates with at least 15-year prison sentences. After the persecution began in 1999, it became the main facility where Falun Gong practitioners in Heilongjiang Province were detained.
Healthy Man Dies While Being Held in Psychiatric Hospital for His Faith
Mr. He Jingru of Huizhou City, Guangdong Province, was taken to a local psychiatric hospital after he was arrested in 2024 for his faith in Falun Gong. Perfectly healthy before his arrest, he died in the hospital months later on May 20, 2025. He was 67. Details about the possible torture or involuntary drug administration he suffered aren’t clear.
Mr. He, born in July 1957, was repeatedly targeted for his faith after the Chinese Communist Party ordered the persecution of Falun Gong in 1999. He served a three-year forced labor term (January 2001 to January 2004) and three five-year prison terms (July 2003 to July 2008, January 2010 to January 2015, and April 2017 to April 2022).
During his 18 years of prior imprisonment, Mr. He was subjected to numerous forms of torture, such as severe beatings, being scalded with boiling water, involuntary administration of toxic drugs that damaged his central nervous system, being hung up, and sleep deprivation. His arm was broken after a beating session in 2012, while he was serving his second prison term.
Deaths at Home
1) Deaths Shortly After Latest Harassment
Frequently Harassed While on Bail, 77-Year-Old Man Dies Shortly After
Mr. Lan Wenbin of Wuhan City, Hubei Province, lived in fear due to frequent police harassment after he was released on bail following an arrest in April 2024. His health quickly declined, and he passed away on January 11, 2025. He was 77.
Mr. Lan, a retired executive of a consulting company in Beijing, was arrested in April 2024 for distributing informational materials about Falun Gong. While being held at the local police station, he was handcuffed for a day and not given any food or water. He asked to use the restroom several times that evening but was denied each time. The police also verbally abused him. He was left sitting on a bench overnight. The police interrogated him several times during that time.
The police took Mr. Lan to the hospital the next day for a physical exam. He was found to have a 4.8-cm (1.9 inch) tumor in his abdomen. The police released him, telling his family that he didn’t have many days left. Details about his prognosis weren’t clear. The police also forced his family to turn in their real estate deed for his bail bond.
After Mr. Lan returned home, officers from three police stations took turns harassing him and video-recording him. He died on January 11, 2025.
77-Year-Old Chongqing Woman Dies Weeks After Latest Harassment
Ms. Li Zhenghua, retired from the Chongqing General Machinery Factory, faced constant police harassment since early December 2023 for her efforts to raise awareness about the persecution of her faith, Falun Gong. For three weeks, she was afraid to leave her house. She suddenly passed away at home on January 27, 2024. She was 77.
2) Deaths Shortly After Latest Detention
Arborist Develops Mental Disorder During Wrongful Detention, Dies Months Later
Mr. Chen Yadong, an arborist in Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province, was arrested on February 16, 2023, after being reported for talking to people about Falun Gong. His family didn’t receive any updates about him for the next seven months. In September 2023, they suddenly received a call and were ordered to go to Bin County to pick him up. They were shocked to see the once-healthy, quick-witted man had become timid and confused. He was in constant fear. His eyes were dull, he kept shaking, and he kept mumbling, “I want to go home.”
Upon returning home, Mr. Chen no longer recognized anyone. He appeared to be afraid of light and often stayed in the corner. He sometimes grabbed clothes or a chair and then ran away, mumbling “I want to go home.” He died six months later, on April 1, 2024. He was 77.
59-Year-Old Jilin Woman Dies While Awaiting Trial
Ms. Dong Yusu of Dongfeng County, Jilin Province, was arrested on August 8, 2024, while studying the Falun Gong teachings with other practitioners. Due to abuse in custody, she developed systemic edema and had difficulty breathing. She was released on bail on an unknown date and was hospitalized for a while. She moved in with her daughter after being discharged and died at her daughter’s home on December 15, 2024. She was 59.
The Longshan District Procuratorate in Liaoyuan City (which oversees Dongfeng County) indicted Ms. Dong on an unknown date. She was facing trial at the time of her death.
3) Deaths After Serving Prison Terms
92-Year-Old Jiangxi Woman Dies Months After Re-serving a Six-month Prison Term
Ms. Yu Fangzhuang of Nanchang City, Jiangxi Province, died on February 9, 2025, just months after she completed a six-month term for practicing Falun Gong. She was 92 years old.
Ms. Yu was initially arrested on January 25, 2020, and released on bail hours later. She was sentenced to six months in prison on January 18, 2021. Due to her advanced age, the court allowed her to serve time outside of prison.
The police notified Ms. Yu on November 14, 2023, that she needed to have a physical exam. Her son accompanied her to the hospital. A week later on November 21, the police seized her from home and put her in the Jiangxi Province Women’s Prison, even though she had already served her six-month term outside of prison, per the court order. It is unclear why the court ordered her to re-serve the prison sentence. She was released on May 20, 2024.
Ms. Yu later recounted her abuse in prison. The inmates assigned to monitor her once shackled her for three days straight. Another time, they poured boiling water over her head while she was taking a bath. Already 91 at the time, the guards made her sleep on the top bunk. She struggled to climb up and down every day. There was not enough food to go around at mealtimes, and she often had nothing to eat.
The abuse severely damaged Ms. Yu’s health. Her condition continued to worsen after she returned home. She often became unconscious and gradually lost her ability to recognize people, even her own son. She also had widespread pain. She struggled to keep her balance while walking and fell easily. She died early in the morning on February 9, 2025.
73-Year-Old Liaoning Woman Dies in Early 2020, Three Years After Serving a 7.5-Year Term
Ms. Wang Hongbing, 73, of Fushun City, Liaoning Province, died in early 2020, barely three years after she completed a 7.5-year term for her faith in Falun Gong.
Ms. Wang was arrested during a police sweep on April 18, 2009, and later sentenced to prison. Upon her arrival at the Liaoning Province Women’s Prison on November 28, 2009, the team lead instructed two inmates to monitor her around the clock and try to “transform” her. The team lead threatened to withhold food and drink if she refused to renounce Falun Gong. The inmates often hit her on the head and forced her to stand all day long.
It was the dead of winter, yet the guards stripped Ms. Wang to her undergarments. When the guard and inmates beat her, they ordered her to not stare at them, saying, “Who did you see hit you?” She condemned them for shirking responsibility, and they gave her even more beatings. She couldn’t even pull herself up from the ground, yet they still ordered her to remain standing.
The beatings went onfor six days. The inmates then ordered Ms. Wang to write statements renouncing Falun Gong, but she refused. They wrote one themselves and grabbed her hands to fingerprint the document. They then submitted it to the guards as proof that they had done their job “transforming” Ms. Wang.
That was not the end of the torment that Ms. Wang endured. She and other jailed practitioners were subjected to constant re-examination to see if they were still firm in their faith. Whenever the results were deemed “unsatisfactory,” the guards barred them from eating or drinking and ordered the inmates to hit them on the head. They were also forced to stand from morning to night. In order to further instigate the inmates to hate them, the guards had the inmates take two-hour shifts at night, during which time they had to remain standing. The inmates in turn lashed out at the practitioners, and abused them even more.
By the time Ms. Wang was released in October 2016, she was dazed and walked with a limp. She also learned that her pension had been suspended starting in June 2016, and her requests to have her pension reinstated were repeatedly denied. Furthermore, the local social security bureau ordered her to return all the pension benefits that had been issued during her prison term. She and her husband had long since divorced before her prison admission and she had no other source of income.
Ms. Wang later moved in with her younger sister, who often saw her sitting in one spot for long hours with a blank look on her face. Ms. Wang suffered a stroke in the fall of 2018 and ended up in a vegetative state. She died in early 2020.
Drugged and Tortured in Prison, 74-Year-Old Woman Dies Less Than Two Years After Being Released
Ms. Wang Yuling of Zibo City, Shandong Province, passed away on October 7, 2024, less than two years after she completed a prison term for practicing Falun Gong. Due to the torture and forced drug administration she experienced in prison, she struggled to recover and was in extreme pain before she died. She was 74.
After the Chinese communist regime began to persecute Falun Gong in July 1999, Ms. Wang was repeatedly targeted for upholding her faith. Because she went to Beijing to appeal for the right to practice Falun Gong in 1999, she was held in a psychiatric hospital, where she was injected with toxic drugs and subjected to electric shocks.
In September 2002, two months before the CCP’s 16th National Congress, Ms. Wang was arrested and again held in a psychiatric hospital, where she was again injected with and force-fed toxic drugs. The authorities later transferred her to the Zhangdian Detention Center and gave her a three-year labor camp term. While serving time in the Wangcun Forced Labor Camp, she was held in solitary confinement for an extended period of time, deprived of sleep, and forced to watch propaganda materials that slandered Falun Gong.
Ms. Wang was arrested again in late August 2021 for talking to people about Falun Gong. The police extorted 2,000 yuan from her before releasing her and putting her under house arrest. Her home was also ransacked.
Ms. Wang’s last arrest was in July 2022, which resulted in a 1.5-year prison sentence. Because she refused to renounce Falun Gong, she was held in solitary confinement for five months at the Shandong Province Women’s Prison. Four inmates took turns monitoring her around the clock. They ordered her to write articles to denounce Falun Gong every day. When she refused to comply, they grabbed her hand and forced her to write.
The guards also forced Ms. Wang to take unknown medications three times a day. The inmates force-fed her if she did not comply. Instigated by the guards, the inmates beat and verbally abused her at will. She was often forced to sit on a small stool motionless for hours and was not allowed to use the restroom.
After Ms. Wang was released on January 30, 2023, she was very weak and struggled with complications from being drugged in prison. The suffering often worsened at night, sometimes causing her to scream in pain.
Ms. Wang suddenly passed out on August 31, 2024, and was taken to the hospital for emergency care. The doctor said she had multiple organ failure. She died two months later on October 7, 2024.
Heilongjiang Woman Dies One Year After Completing 12-Year Prison Term
Ms. Zhang Huijuan, 63, from Yilan County, Heilongjiang Province, was diagnosed with cancer while serving a 12-year term for practicing Falun Gong, but the prison authorities still refused to release her on medical parole. The police continued to harass her when she was finally released at the end of her term. Her health continued to deteriorate, and she died a year later on February 5, 2025. She was 63.
Ms. Zhang Huijuan
Sichuan Man Sentenced to 3.5 Years, Dies a Decade Later at 87
Mr. Zheng Shiyi of Suining City, Sichuan Province, was sentenced to 3.5 years on November 20, 2015, for putting up self-adhesive stickers with Falun Gong information. While serving time in Jiazhou Prison, he was brutally tortured and forced to take medications to treat “his high blood pressure,” even though he did not have symptoms of hypertension.
By the time he was released in March 2018, his health had been severely damaged. He couldn’t straighten his back or lift his head. He also suffered severe memory loss, likely due to the medications. His condition continued to worsen in his final years. He declined mentally and eventually became completely incapacitated.
Despite his condition, the police still harassed him at home numerous times. They drew his blood and photographed him against his will. He died on February 22, 2025. He was 87.
73-Year-old Chongqing Man Develops Severe Medical Issues in Prison, Dies Eight Months After Release
Mr. Dai Xianming of Chongqing fell into critical condition and was taken to the hospital for emergency care ten days after he was admitted to the Yongchuan Prison on April 27, 2023, to serve a 2.5-year term.
His wife, Ms. Xu Keqin, went to the prison nine times to visit him but was turned away each time. She received a letter from the prison on May 22, 2023, saying that Mr. Dai suffered from high blood sugar but had recovered after a hospital stay. She was instructed to wire 2,000 yuan to the prison so her husband could purchase daily necessities and supplements.
Ms. Xu received another letter from Mr. Dai on July 7, 2023. He wrote, “I almost died just ten days after I was admitted. I was hospitalized for over ten days, then taken back to Division Ten. Since then I have been taking medications and being given IV injections.”
Mr. Dai later developed diabetes and was again hospitalized. He was forced to submit to two injections of unknown drugs every day.
Mr. Dai continued to suffer from failing health after he was released in August 2024. He passed away on April 19, 2025 in the hospital. He was 73.
4) Deaths After Long Term Persecution
85-Year-Old Sichuan Woman Dies Hours After Being Harassed by Police
Ms. Wang Zhongqiong of Shifang City, Sichuan Province, died on either March 8 or 9, 2025, hours after she was harassed by police for her faith in Falun Gong. She was 85 years old.
Ms. Wang Zhongqiong
The passing of Ms. Wang, a retired hospital employee and pharmacist, capped decades of persecution for her refusal to renounce her belief in Falun Gong. She and her husband were repeatedly arrested and had their home raided after the persecution of Falun Gong began in July 1999. They were both taken to a brainwashing center on June 6, 2005, and held for over three months. They were denied family visits and ordered to watch TV programs slandering Falun Gong at maximum volume. Ms. Wang had a mental breakdown and had blood in her urine. She also developed high blood pressure and insomnia. The guards there ordered her to renounce Falun Gong all day long and even pressured her to “kill herself” if she still held firm to her faith. She still trembled in fear years later when this experience was brought up.
After another arrest on October 12, 2007, Ms. Wang was sentenced to four years in prison. She and her husband were last arrested in November 2021. The Shifang City Court sentenced them on July 8, 2022, giving Ms. Wang one and a half years of probation with an 8,000-yuan fine and her husband one-year of probation with a 5,000-yuan fine. They were allowed to go home after the verdicts were delivered.
The police harassed the couple at home every month. After Ms. Wang’s pension was suspended in March 2024, she submitted a request to reinstate the pension the following month. Only a day later, she suddenly had severe symptoms, unable to eat or sleep, and had to halt her pension appeal.
Ms. Wang didn’t recover, and died on either March 8 or 9, 2025. The morning of her passing, the police still harassed her at home.
In addition to Ms. Wang and her husband’s ordeal, their daughter, Ms. Gong Xingcan, an economist, has been repeatedly arrested and detained, also for practicing Falun Gong. She was given two forced labor camp terms and held in a brainwashing center three times. Her legs became disabled as a result of torture.
Ms. Hu Keling filed a complaint in 2015 against former Chinese leader Jiang Zemin for launching the persecution of Falun Gong that resulted in her arrests and abuse. The Laixi City, Shandong Province, resident was subjected to close police surveillance afterward and had to move from one place to another. The unstable life plus the mental pressure took a toll on her health, which started to decline in 2018. She did not recover and died in November 2024. She was 60 years old.
After the persecution began in 1999, Ms. Hu went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong on February 14, 2000, and was arrested. Her husband, then a bureau-level government official, feared being implicated. He kicked and punched her after she returned home.
Ms. Hu made another trip to Beijing on September 27, 2000, and was arrested again. The Beijing police shocked her on the neck, cheeks, and the back of her hands with electric batons, resulting in permanent burn marks on her neck.
Ms. Hu was arrested on December 28, 2001, and her husband divorced her the next day. She was taken to the Laixi Detention Center and held there for an unknown amount of time. After she was released, she had no home to return to and lived in poverty for the next nine months.
Ms. Hu was arrested while boarding a train to Jinan, the capital of Shandong Province, on September 24, 2002, and taken to the police station. The police tried to get her admitted to the Wangcun Forced Labor Camp three days later, but failed. They then tried to take her to a brainwashing center, but the guards there also refused to take her.
The police then connived with her employer, the Laixi City Experimental Middle School, to take her to the Laixi Second Hospital’s psychiatric department, where she was immediately tied to a bed and given an injection. She became drowsy afterward and slept all night. Starting the next day, she was forced to take unknown drugs or get injections every day. She was not released until January 29, 2003. Her school ordered her to cover all the medical expenses during the four-month hospital stay.
Ms. Hu once described her ordeal. She said that she entered the hospital healthy but by the time she left she was nearly psychotic from the drugs. By the time she was released, her limbs were stiff, her vision was blurred, and she felt numb and emotionless. Her face was pale and thin, her eyes lifeless, and her entire body trembled. She didn’t have any menstrual periods in the hospital. Six months after she was released, her feet were still so swollen that she couldn’t wear shoes. The knuckles on all her fingers were still enlarged and deformed.
Ms. Hu Keling’s deformed knuckles
Not long after the spring semester began in 2006, Ms. Hu’s school demoted her to work at the library, per instructions from the Laixi City Education Bureau. The Laixi City 610 Office issued an order to suspend her pay and only give her a 380-yuan monthly stipend. The school accountant even withheld the stipend.
Ten officers arrested Ms. Hu at school again on July 13, 2006, and held her in the Dashan Detention Center. Eleven days later she was put under house arrest and taken back to her home, a school-issued apartment unit on school grounds. About eight people guarded her home day and night, and the price of their meals was deducted from her pay, which had been reinstated at the time. The school broke her windows and installed two metal bars to prevent her from escaping. She nonetheless managed to scale a wall and escape on July 26, 2006.
The education bureau formally terminated Ms. Hu in early 2007. Before that, they repeatedly denied her promotions even though they acknowledged she was an outstanding teacher. She was destitute in her final years.
Henan Woman Dies After Years of Detention and Harassment for Practicing Falun Gong
Because Ms. Xin Chunting of Kaifeng City, Henan Province, refused to renounce Falun Gong, she was repeatedly arrested, harassed, and held in brainwashing centers. She also served two years in a forced labor camp and a five-year prison term. Her persecution caused tremendous mental pressure to her husband. His health declined quickly and he died of a terminal illness.
Beginning in 2023, the police harassed Ms. Xin even more frequently and often sneaked into her home to search for Falun Gong materials when she wasn’t around. She eventually succumbed to the relentless persecution on May 5, 2025. She was 73.
In the early days of the persecution, the police and community workers kept pressuring Ms. Xin to move so that they could “clear” all Falun Gong practitioners from their district. When she refused to comply, the authorities had people spread feces on her door and smash her windows.
Liaoning Man Dies After 22 Years of Displacement to Avoid Being Persecuted for His Faith
Mr. Wang Zhanhai managed to escape being arrested on February 16, 2002, after he and six other practitioners in Anshan City, Liaoning Province, intercepted the TV signal to play videos that debunked the Chinese Communist Party’s slanderous propaganda about Falun Gong. To avoid being arrested, he was forced to live away from home from then on. The hardship took a toll on his health. He passed away on May 10, 2024, after 22 years of displacement. He was 67.
Mr. Wang Zhanhai
While Mr. Wang was on the run, the police often sneaked into his home and installed taping devices to monitor his family’s conversations. Several of his relatives were harassed or arrested as well. The 296-yuan monthly low-income subsidy issued to his wife, who’d just been laid off, was stopped after only two months, leaving her and their school-age child in financial difficulty. The police also attempted to bribe their friends to try to find out where Mr. Wang was. At major holidays, the police waited outside of his parents’ home to be on the lookout for him. All of his family members were under tremendous mental pressure.
Mr. Wang recalled in his criminal complaint filed in 2015 against Jiang Zemin, the former head of the Communist Party who ordered the persecution, “I was unable to find a job and I couldn’t go out very often. I was also saddened that I was unable to take care of my elderly parents or fulfill my obligations as a father. The pressure I am under, be it physical, emotional or financial, would be unimaginable for most people. For all these years, it’s been not just me, but so many Falun Gong practitioners have suffered such brutal persecution, endured being separated from their families, or even been persecuted to death.”
5) Family Tragedies
48-Year-Old Mother of Two Young Children Dies Due to Persecution
Ms. Zheng Wenchao of Yi County, Hebei Province, was forced to live away from home in September 2020 to avoid being sentenced for practicing Falun Gong. She was arrested in 2021 and later sentenced to one year. Minghui.org confirmed in January 2025 that she died around March 2024. She was 48 and is survived by two minor children.
Ms. Zhang Fengling, 75, of Daan City, Jilin Province, died on March 27, 2025, less than two months after the death of her daughter, both as a result of the persecution of their faith in Falun Gong.
Ms. Zhang Fengling
Ms. Zhang was last arrested on July 15, 2022, and sentenced to ten months around January 15, 2023. Her family was never allowed to visit her or given any updates about her case. It wasn’t until January 18, 2023, that they managed to find out that she had been admitted to prison. Even today, they still do not know where Ms. Zhang served time.
By the time Ms. Zhang was released in May 2023, she had become extremely weak due to abuse in custody. She often fainted at home. The social security office suspended her pension during her ten-month imprisonment (totaling nearly 28,000 yuan). A widow, she struggled to make ends meet. The police kept harassing her at home and taking pictures of her against her will. They also ordered her to sign paperwork, asserting that all Falun Gong practitioners jailed for their faith had to be under strict surveillance for three years following their release.
In addition to Ms. Zhang’s own ordeal, her daughter, Ms. Wang Hongyan, was also targeted for her shared faith. Ms. Wang struggled with poor health and a severe liver condition after she finished serving a four-year term for practicing Falun Gong in 2021. She passed away on February 9, 2025, weeks after she was harassed again. She was 52.
Ms. Wang’s passing devastated Ms. Zhang. She fell into a coma on March 27, 2025, and died later that day.
Husband and Wife Die Nine Years Apart After They Were Persecuted for Practicing Falun Gong
After the Chinese Communist Party began to persecute Falun Gong in 1999, a husband and wife in Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province, were repeatedly targeted. Ms. Gao Juya was detained three times. She was humiliated, interrogated, and beaten. The local newspaper also published an article that slandered Falun Gong and used her name. She succumbed to the mental pressure and fear from constant police harassment and died on November 9, 2016. She was 53.
Ms. Gao’s husband, Mr. Niu Zhiquan, was also detained three times and served a two-year forced labor camp term. He survived the brutal torture, only to die on February 8, 2025, due to non-stop harassment. He was 63.
In addition to the couple’s suffering, their two sons and other family members also lived in fear and mental distress from worrying about their safety.
6) Financial Persecution
After the communist regime launched the persecution of Falun Gong in July 1999, Mr. Ji Zhongxian, a former teacher at the Botou City First High School in Hebei Province, became a target. The Botou City 610 Office and Board of Education took him to a brainwashing center. He refused to renounce Falun Gong so his school demoted him.
After he was released, the Botou City 610 Office and Board of Education pressured his school to suspend his pay (about 7,000 yuan per month). For the next two plus decades, he was only given a monthly stipend of a bit over 300 yuan. Depending on how many classes he was assigned to teach, he also earned up to 700 extra yuan in teaching fees each month. The total amount of his suspended pay amounted to over one million yuan over the years.
Mr. Ji managed to save money to make Falun Gong informational materials. He was often seen around town talking to people about Falun Gong. Such a simple act resulted in multiple arrests and harassment.
The long-term persecution plus the suspension of his pay took a toll on his health. He died on April 13, 2025, at the age of 62. He is survived by his mother. He told a friend before he died that he planned to take her to another city to have her illnesses treated.
Mr. Feng Xiaoqi, 74, in Chengde City, Hebei Province, had a stroke on September 12, 2024, the day before he was to appear at a hearing regarding the illegal suspension of his pension by the Social Security Bureau. He died on February 23, 2025, and the appeals court ruled nine days later, on March 4, to deny his appeal.
Mr. Feng was arrested on August 31, 2003, for producing materials exposing the persecution of Falun Gong and sentenced to 14 years after a hearing on June 11, 2004.
Mr. Feng reached retirement age in 2012 and began receiving his pension in September of that year. The Chengde City Social Security Bureau suspended his pension in August 2020 and ordered him to return the payments that had been issued to him from September 2012 to July 2020 (95 months in total).
According to China’s social security law, Mr. Feng met the pension contribution requirements in 2007 and was entitled to full benefits after he reached retirement age in 2012. The Social Security Bureau cited his prison sentence as the reason for suspending his pension, but, by law, no government agency can forfeit retirees’ retirement benefits. He thus submitted a request to seek a reinstatement of his pension, but the social security bureau never responded. He then filed a lawsuit against the bureau with the Shuangqiao District Court.
The court ruled in favor of the social security bureau. Mr. Feng proceeded to file an administrative reconsideration with the Chengde City Intermediate Court. While the case was pending, the social security bureau threatened to seize his house to repay his “debt” of the 95 months of pension payments.
The intermediate court scheduled a court date for September 13, 2024, but Mr. Feng had a stroke the night before. He was unconscious and was rushed to the hospital, where he remained for more than a month. After he returned home, he struggled to recover and died on February 23, 2025. The intermediate court ruled on March 4, 2025, to uphold the lower court’s decision to order Mr. Feng to repay the social security bureau the 95 months of pension benefits issued to him between 2012 and 2020. It’s not clear if the social security bureau will still seize his house to repay his “debt.”
74-Year-Old Woman Dies After 13 Years of Incarceration and Pension Suspension
Ms. Chen Jinfeng of Mudanjiang City, Heilongjiang Province, died on March 27, 2025, after serving one labor camp term and two prison terms totaling 13 years. She was 74.
Ms. Chen Jinfeng
In addition to the incarceration and torture she endured over the years, her employer, the Forestry Radio and Television University in Mudanjiang, fired her and withheld her pension beginning in August 2000, which was in line with the persecution policy stating “ruin Falun Gong practitioners financially” set forth by former communist Party leader Jiang Zemin.
While Ms. Chen was imprisoned, her then college-age son struggled to finance his education and became malnourished. Although his school suggested he take medical leave, he continued to take classes and did odd jobs to support himself. But due to the lack of financial support, he eventually dropped out and never finished college.
Related Reports:
Reported in May 2025: Eleven Falun Gong Practitioners Die as a Result of Persecution
Reported in April 2025: 16 Falun Gong Practitioners Die as a Result of Persecution
Reported in March 2025: Thirteen Falun Gong Practitioners Die as a Result of Persecution
Reported in February 2025: Eight Falun Gong Practitioners Die as a Result of Persecution
Reported in January 2025: 13 Falun Gong Practitioners Die as a Result of Persecution
Copyright © 1999-2025 Minghui.org. All rights reserved.
The world needs Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.
Your donation can help more people learn about Falun Dafa. Minghui is grateful for your support.
Support Minghui
