(Minghui.org) Mr. Lan Wenbin, a retired executive of a consulting company in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, lived in fear due to frequent police harassment, after he was released on bail following an arrest in April 2024 for practicing Falun Gong. His health quickly deteriorated, and he passed away on January 11, 2025. He was 77 years old.
Despite the frailty of Ms. Zhao Wenxiu, of Lu County, Sichuan Province, the Chengdu Women’s Prison still admitted her on May 7, 2019, to serve a 7.5-year term for her faith in Falun Gong, claiming that she was found to “have no illness at all” after a physical exam. She died in the prison around March 2025. She was 83.
Over the course of two days, Ms. Liu Binghuan, a mentally healthy woman was held in two different psychiatric hospitals in Qingyuan City, Guangdong Province, and was injected with sedatives and unknown drugs. After she was released, her health kept declining, her memory was hazy from time to time, and she eventually lost her ability to take care of herself. She died on July 28, 2025, at the age of 38 and is survived by her newly-wed husband.
Ms. Zhang Fengxian’s heart had already stopped beating when she was taken to the hospital on December 18, 2025, for resuscitation. The 80-year-old resident of Chengdu City, Sichuan Province, died only 19 days after being arrested for her faith in Falun Gong.
The above four cases are among the 124 newly reported deaths of Falun Gong practitioners in 2025, which marked the 26th anniversary since the Chinese Communist Party ordered the eradication campaign of Falun Gong in 1999. Some practitioners were tortured to death in custody, while others passed away shortly after finishing wrongful prison terms. Yet some more succumbed to the long-term detention and harassment and died weeks or months after the last harassment episode.
Overview of the Newly-Reported Cases of Death
The newly-confirmed 124 deaths included four cases in 2022; six in 2023; 33 in 2024; 62 in 2025; and 19 cases in unknown years. 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 124 deceased practitioners, 85 of whom were female, hailed from 24 provinces and municipalities. Heilongjiang Province reported the most deaths (18), followed by Jilin (15), Hebei (14), Liaoning (13), and Shandong (11). The remaining 19 regions had between one and eight cases each.
Of the 120 practitioners whose ages at the time of their deaths were known, 98 were 60 were older, including 31 in their 60s, 40 in their 70s, 24 in their 80s, and 3 in their 90s. They came from all walks of life, including retired teachers, court clerks, bank employees, retired engineers, accountants, doctors, and farmers.
In particular, 22 practitioners died while in custody. This includes two who died in psychiatric hospitals, four in detention centers, and 16 in prisons. Another seven practitioners passed away days or months after being released from prison.
1.1. Deaths in Custody
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 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.
The following year, the guards 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 severely.
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. He died there a week later, on September 24, 2023.
71-Year-Old Man Dies in Prison While Serving 7.5 Years
Mr. Zhao Jiyuan, of Shenyang City, Liaoning Province, passed away in Jinzhou City Prison on July 4, 2025, while serving a 7.5-year term. He was 71.
Mr. Zhao, a former employee of the Shenyang City Fourth Construction Company, was sentenced to 7.5 years around October 2019. After he was admitted to the Jinzhou City Prison, the guards denied his family visitation because he refused to renounce Falun Gong. He developed many physical conditions due to the abuses and fell into critical condition around December 2022. He had two heart attacks in earlier 2025 and was on the verge of death. He died in prison on July 4, 2025.
When examining Mr. Zhao’s body, his family was heartbroken to see how emaciated he was. They also noticed scars on his ankle from wearing shackles and several bruises on his thigh; one of his nostrils was bigger than the other, likely due to the insertion of a feeding tube.
Cancer-stricken Woman, 70, Repeatedly Denied Parole, Dies While Serving 3.5 Years
Ms. Li Qiaolian, of Baiyin City, Gansu Province, died on September 12, 2025, while serving a 3.5-year term for her faith. She was 70.
Ms. Li was arrested on January 14, 2022, and convicted around September 2023. She was admitted to the Gansu Province Women’s Prison, where she’d already served two prior terms totaling 11 years. The guards subjected her to various types of abuse, including around-the-clock monitoring and electric shocks.
Ms. Li started vomiting blood in mid-April 2025 and was diagnosed with late-stage lung cancer that had spread to her spine. Her family applied for medical parole, but were denied on the grounds that Ms. Li refused to renounce Falun Gong. After she was hospitalized due to a coma, only her husband and daughter were allowed to see her. The authorities also barred her family from talking to the attending physician and refused to issue a critical condition notice, a document essential for her medical parole application. She died shortly after.
45-Year-old Woman Dies Three Days After Prison Admission to Serve a 5-Year Term
Ms. Chen Yan, of Benxi City, Liaoning Province, died on November 8, 2025, three days after she was admitted to the Liaoning Province Women’s Prison to serve a five-year term. She was 45.
Ms. Chen’s parents noted that her eyes were open, her was mouth agape, and her hair was matted. Black viscous fluid flowed out of her mouth when the coroner turned her over. As they were not given the autopsy report, they refused to sign a consent to have her body cremated. Several prison guards insisted that the elderly couple send in an “appreciation flag” to “thank” the prison for taking their daughter to the hospital to have her treated for “heart failure.” But a hospital doctor revealed that she showed no signs of life when she was brought in.
Ms. Chen was arrested on July 14, 2024, after being reported for distributing Falun Gong materials. After being beaten in the Benxi City Detention Center, she had chest pain, headaches, and nausea and was vomiting. The inmates also hit her on the back of her head from behind and punched her in her right eye, knocking off her glasses.
Ms. Chen suffered declining vision in that eye, and her face swelled up. She started having memory issues and worsening migraines and dizziness. She fainted many times. She became drowsy and drooled. She also had heart palpitations, felt weak, lost her appetite, and became emaciated.
Ms. Chen was tried by the Xihu District Court on May 15, 2025, and sentenced to five years with a 5,000-yuan fine on June 26. When her parents visited her in the detention center on October 10, 2025, she was wheeled out as she was unable to walk. She was in low spirits and her hair was matted. She fidgeted uncontrollably. A guard said they gave her a physical exam and she wasn’t ill.
Ms. Chen had one last visit with her parents on October 24. Two female guards moved her from the wheelchair to a chair. Her hair was still matted because it had not been shampooed in a long time. She was unable to take care of herself and no one helped her. She said that she was very weak and had to lean against the wall to use the restroom. She had to crawl to get around. She doubted if she’d return home alive.
Ms. Chen was admitted to the Liaoning Province Women’s Prison on November 5, only to die there three days later.
Heilongjiang Woman Dies in Custody Seven Days After Latest Arrest
Ms. Zhang Fengxia, of Daqing City, Heilongjiang Province, died in custody seven days after being arrested for her faith in Falun Gong. She was 52 years old.
Ms. Zhang Fengxia
As soon as Ms. Zhang and her husband returned home on August 11, 2025, they had a power outage (the family later learned it was a police trap). Not long after, someone called Ms. Zhang’s husband and said he scratched his car. When Ms. Zhang’s husband went downstairs to check on his car, the police broke in and took Ms. Zhang away. She was admitted to the Daqing City Second Detention Center in the evening.
Seven days later, on August 17, Ms. Zhang’s family received a call from the detention center director and were urged to come to the hospital’s emergency room immediately, or they may not see Ms. Zhang again.
The family rushed to the hospital and saw that Ms. Zhang had multiple tubes inserted in her, and she was wearing an oxygen mask. The doctor said she had a ruptured cerebral aneurysm, and she’d lost over 200 cc of blood. He said they couldn’t do a craniotomy or anything else to save her. The family agreed to take her to an intensive care unit (ICU) and put her on a ventilator.
More than 20 officers from the local police station and detention center were at the hospital. Detention center director Hou ordered the family to sign a form to place her under conditional bail. After the family was forced to sign the form, the police demanded them to sign another form, saying that she had already been released. The family refused to comply this time. They asked the police, “What release is this? You’re releasing her to the ICU?”
Without further pressing the family to sign the release form, the police and detention center officers left. The family was left to pay for Ms. Zhang’s emergency treatment and ICU expenses. She died shortly after and her body was cremated three days later.
The family contacted the police and demanded an explanation about her arrest and death, as well as compensation for their loss. The police refused to bear any responsibility and said that she died from an acute disease. On the other hand, the detention center claimed that they performed a physical exam of Ms. Zhang before incarcerating her, and that she passed the requirement.
Ms. Zhang’s family saw the surveillance video of her final moments at the detention center. According to the video taken around noon, she was taking a nap after lunch, lying on her back, with her hands overlapping on her abdomen. Just after 12 p.m., she suddenly lifted her hands and legs and suspended them in the air, with her hands still overlapping. A few minutes later, a doctor came and performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on her. Twenty minutes later, she was carried onto an ambulance and taken to the hospital. Her family suspected that she had stopped breathing in the detention center, otherwise the doctor would not have performed CPR on her.
1.2. Deaths at Home
1) Death After Latest Arrest or Harassment
Ms. Du Hongfang, of Jilin City, Jilin Province, became incapacitated after serving an eight-year prison term between 2008 and 2016. She struggled to recover due to ongoing police harassment. Her condition deteriorated quickly after the latest harassment in June 2025 and she died a month later on July 23, 2025.
Ms. Du Hongfang in her younger and healthy years.
Ms. Du Hongfang after her prison release.
Ms. Du Hongfang being fed.
Ms. Du was brutally tortured at the Jilin Province Women’s Prison after being sentenced to eight years in prison in 2008. By the time she was released on July 3, 2016, she had no sensation throughout her body, and she was incontinent. She could not speak and drooled constantly. She was so weak that she shivered even during the summer and covered with a heavy quilt. She also needed to be fed.
The authorities also suspended her and her husband’s pension. Additionally, the couple had more than 100,000 yuan confiscated from their home during the arrest in 2007, which further worsened their financial predicament.
The police and street committee harassed the couple many times since May 2020. They had no other choice but to live away from home. The police harassed Ms. Du’s sister instead.
In June 2025, the street committee led the secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee to break into Ms. Du’s rental apartment. They attempted to make her and her husband renounce Falun Gong. The couple refused to comply, but the harassment caused Ms. Du’s condition to suddenly deteriorate. She could no longer eat or drink. Days later she fell into critical condition and was rushed to the hospital.
After a few days of treatment, Ms. Du was discharged because her condition was deemed incurable. She relied on tube feeding in her final days and died on July 23, 2025.
Forced Into Displacement to Hide from the Police, Jilin Woman Develops High Fever and Dies
To avoid police harassment for her faith in Falun Gong, Ms. Ji Weirong went into hiding and stayed in an empty house without any heat or other essential supplies. She developed a persistent high fever and passed away seven days later on December 27, 2024. She was 60.
Ms. Ji, a native of Baishan City, Jilin Province, moved to Linyi City, Shandong Province, a few years ago. She later moved in with her daughter in Fusong County, Jilin Province.
Ms. Ji was arrested in late September 2021 for distributing Falun Gong materials. She stood trial at the Jingyu County Court on December 30, 2021, and was sentenced to ten months with a 2,000-yuan fine.
The court initially told Ms. Ji’s family that they would let her finish serving time at the detention center, only to take her to the Jilin Province Women’s Prison right after she was convicted. It was only when the prison called her family and asked them to make cash deposits for her, that they learned about her secret prison admission.
After Ms. Ji was released, the local police harassed her on a regular basis. She then moved to the municipal area of Baishan.
In mid-December 2024, four officers from Linyi came to harass Ms. Ji. When they didn’t find her, they harassed her sons-in-law instead and stayed at the in-law’s place for a day. To avoid implicating her family members, Ms. Ji went into hiding and stayed in an empty house. Due to the cold weather and lack of heat, she fell sick. When she returned to her daughter’s home after the Linyi police left, she soon developed a fever and died seven days later on December 27, 2024.
Ms. Ji’s daughter later told a local practitioner that she was very scared when her mother was harassed, and she also felt guilty and depressed about her death.
Liaoning Man in His 80s Dies 41 Days Following Latest Arrest
Mr. Liu Xiangzhao, of Lyushun City, Liaoning Province, passed away on June 4, 2025, a little over one month following his latest arrest for practicing Falun Gong. He was in his 80s.
Mr. Liu was arrested at a farmers’ market on April 24, 2025, while distributing informational materials about Falun Gong there. While held in a dark room in the police station, he was made to sit on the cold cement ground for extended periods of time. He kept shivering. The police forced him to take some unknown drug before releasing him.
The police also searched Mr. Liu’s home and took away a picture of the Falun emblem, the symbol of Falun Gong. Mr. Liu and his wife went to the police station and demanded its return, only to be driven out.
Mr. Liu struggled with declining health since then and died on June 4, 2025.
2) 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, merely 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 arrested her and took her to the Jiangxi Province Women’s Prison on November 21, 2023, ordering her to re-serve the prison sentence. The inmates were assigned to monitor her around the clock. They once shackled her for three days and another time, 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 of a bed. 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.
Ms. Yu’s health condition continued to worsen after she was released on May 20, 2024. 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.
86-Year-Old Retired Engineer Already Incapacitated Upon Prison Admission, Dies Two Months Later
Although Ms. Ma Junting, of Tai’an City, Shandong Province, was allowed to serve time at home, after she was convicted in June 2019 for practicing Falun Gong, the authorities took her back into custody on June 5, 2025, to re-serve the expired term. Already incapacitated before her latest arrest, her condition quickly deteriorated without proper care in the prison. She died two months later, on August 7, 2025. She was 86.
Ms. Ma, a retired engineer and professor from Shandong University of Science and Technology, was previously arrested in June 2018 and sentenced on June 13, 2019. Due to her advanced age, the judge allowed her to serve time at home.
The local police unexpectedly came to Ms. Ma’s home in February 2025, and said the prison term she served at home didn’t count. She was ordered to re-serve the time in prison. She was already wheelchair-bound, incapacitated and incontinent at that time. The police threats worsened her condition and she had to be hospitalized.
As soon as Ms. Ma’s condition stabilized, the police took her to the Shandong Province Women’s Prison on June 5, 2025. She was unable to use the restroom, take showers or wash her clothing while in the prison. In just two months, she fell into a coma and was released on parole. Her family rushed her to a hospital, but she died a few days later.
Imprisoned Shanghai Woman Not Released Until Cancer Metastasized, Dies One Month Later
Ms. Wang Quandi, of Shanghai, was arrested on December 24, 2020, for distributing Falun Gong informational materials. She was sentenced to 4.5 years on an unknown date. When the guards at the Shanghai Women’s Prison abused her, she went on a hunger strike in protest.
Ms. Wang was later diagnosed with cancer but was never treated. After her cancer spread to her liver, the prison authorities finally released her on parole around April 2025, two months before the end of her term. She died a month later in May 2025. She was 77.
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. The family didn’t receive any update 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 man with a sharp mind had become someone who was timid and confused. He was in constant fear. His eyes were dull; and his body kept shaking.
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 some clothes or a chair and then ran away, while mumbling “I want to go home.” He died six months later, on April 1, 2024. He was 77.
3) Deaths After Involuntary Drug Administration in Custody
Drugged and Abused in Prison, 66-Year-Old Hubei Woman Dies Five Years After She Was Released
Ms. Huang Yufeng was not allowed to fetch water to drink herself while she served a two-year prison term. She had to drink the water that was given to her by the guard. She always had a bitter taste in her mouth afterwards and suspected that the water may have been spiked with unknown drugs.
Weeks before her scheduled release on October 7, 2019, for seven day Ms. Huang was given IV injections of suspicious drugs, which resulted in impaired mental ability, as well as heart and kidney problems. Her head felt heavy, her arms were sore, and she was weak all over. The injections stopped after three days because she strongly protested.
Ms. Huang never recovered from the damage from the involuntary drug administration and other forms of abuse she suffered in custody. She was 66 years old when she died around September 2024.
Ms. Huang, a retired cashier at the Sanshu Street Labor Service Company in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, was arrested on October 8, 2017, after a high school student reported her for giving him firewall software to access uncensored news. She was later sentenced to two years and served time at the Hubei Province Women’s Prison. In addition to the involuntary drug administration, she was also subjected to the freezing torture and was forced to stand for 16 hours a day for 15 days straight.
Shandong Woman Dies Two Years After Being Forced to Drink Suspicious Liquid in Police Custody
Ms. Zhang Airong drank a bowl of unknown liquid that the police claimed to be saline water after she was arrested in 2022. Her health declined and she passed away on December 19, 2024.
Ms. Zhang, of Changyi City, Shandong Province, was arrested at home around 5 a.m. on June 25, 2022. The police searched her place and took her to the police station without allowing her to change. She was released in the afternoon, after being denied admission by the local detention center due to a medical condition. She remained dizzy-headed for three days and was in low spirits.
Ms. Zhang’s arms were bruised due to the police violence during her arrest.
After a few more days, the police arrested Ms. Zhang again and took her to the Changyi City Detention Center. An officer gave her a bowl of liquid and said it was saline water to help replenish her fluids. She didn’t think much about it and drank it. It tasted salty. The police ordered her to drink another bowl, but she declined.
Ms. Zhang was released after ten days. Upon returning home, she couldn’t keep any food down and vomited everything she ate. She lost nearly 44 lbs (20 kg) in two months. She felt extremely weak and became exhausted after walking a few steps. During that period, the police came to her home many times and asked if she was experiencing any symptoms. Her family drove them away.
In late 2022, Ms. Zhang began to drink milk as her main food. After a while, she was able to eat, but she then experienced severe dizziness and numbness in her legs. One of her legs also became extremely swollen. She died on December 19, 2024.
Drugged for One Straight Month in Prison, Yunnan Man Dies in 2023 at Age 50
Mr. Ma Guozhong, a farmer in Mengzi City, Yunnan Province, was arrested at home on July 3, 2010, by more than 50 police officers. He was sentenced to four years in prison and admitted to the Yunnan Province First Prison. Because he refused to renounce Falun Gong, he was subjected to various forms of abuse, including beatings, straightjackets, pepper spray, handcuffing and shackling, confinement in a metal cage, force-feeding, and injections of unknown drugs.
Mr. Ma was once given injections of unknown drugs for an entire month, and he suffered splitting headaches as a result. An inmate assigned to monitor him became sympathetic. One day when no other inmates were around, that inmate emptied the IV bottle. Mr. Ma’s headache went away for the rest of that day.
Mr. Ma was released ahead of time in August 2013. He soon developed whole body edema and stroke symptoms, which rendered him unable to work. The 610 Office agents and police kept harassing him at home. His edema became so severe in October 2023 that his weight reached 218 pounds. Not long after, though, he was just skin and bones. He died on December 2, 2023, at the age of 50.
Drugged and Tortured in Prison, 74-Year-Old Woman Dies Less Than Two Years After Being Released
Ms. Wang Yuling, a Zibo City, Shandong Province, resident, passed away on October 7, 2024, less than two years after she completed a prison term. Due to the physical torture and forced drug administration she experienced in prison, she struggled to recover and was in extreme pain before she died. She was 74.
Ms. Wang was sentenced to 1.5 years following her last arrest in July 2022. 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 also 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 severe 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 she was taken to the hospital for emergency treatment. The doctor said she had multiple organ failure. She died two months later on October 7, 2024.
4) Deaths After Long Term Persecution
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 tapping 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 tremendous 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.”
Ms. Zhao Jian spent the last eight years of her life in displacement to avoid being arrested for her faith in Falun Gong. The native of Changchun City, Jilin Province, died on December 1, 2025, after enduring 26 years of suffering at the hands of the CCP. She was 58.
Ms. Zhao joined her husband in practicing Falun Gong in September 1996, after seeing how he had changed for the better and no longer wanted to divorce her. She held firm to her faith when the CCP launched a nationwide campaign against Falun Gong in July 1999, and was repeatedly targeted by the authorities.
On March 5, 2002, a group of Falun Gong practitioners tapped into eight cable TV channels in Changchun City and successfully broadcast programs exposing the persecution for 50 minutes. A mass arrest ensued, with more than 5,000 practitioners in the Changchun region arrested within days. Seven were beaten to death in police custody.
Ms. Zhao was arrested by officers from the Changchun City Police Station. They covered her head with a cloth and took her to a hotel basement. Seven officers twisted her hands behind her back and used a nylon rope to tie her hands to her legs, which were bent backwards. They lifted her up by the rope and dropped her to the ground. They did this repeatedly and her limbs became numb.
The police sat Ms. Zhao on a bench with her legs tied to the bench. Four officers shocked her on the palms, chest, nipples, and legs with electric batons. The front of her body had numerous burn marks that turned black.
The police later covered her head with a black plastic bag so tightly that she almost suffocated. They removed the bag, only to put it back on after she recovered a little. They also put lit cigarettes up to her face and blew the smoke at her, causing her to have a runny nose and teary eyes.
After four days on the bench without any sleep, Ms. Zhao was taken to the Changchun City Third Detention Center. By then, she had become incapacitated.
On September 18, 2002, Ms. Zhao and 14 other practitioners who were involved in tapping into the state cable television network to broadcast the facts about Falun Gong were given heavy sentences of up to 20 years. Ms. Zhao was given 15 years.
Ms. Zhao was admitted to the Heizuizi Women’s Prison in Changchun in October 2002. The guards once tied her limbs to the four posts of a bed and suspended her in the air for a whole night. The pain was unbearable, and every second felt like eternity. Her hands and feet turned purple and her winter jacket and cotton pants were soaked in sweat. Her hair was also wet from sweat. After letting her down onto the bed, the guards kept her tied up in a spread-eagle position. She was tied to the bed for two months, and had to relieve herself in the bed.
After Ms. Zhao was released ahead of time in 2012, she learned that her mother-in-law had become so devastated by her imprisonment that she developed a serious illness. The older woman died three months after Ms. Zhao returned home.
After a brief detention in May 2015 for filing a complaint against former CCP leader Jiang Zemin, Ms. Zhao found herself still under close surveillance and harassment. The police attempted to arrest her at work one day and she escaped. After that, she quit her job at the Changchun City No. 2 Testing Machine Factory and went into hiding in 2017.
The police have been hunting Ms. Zhao for the past eight years. The persecution eventually claimed her life on December 1, 2025.
Mr. Wang Zhiwen
Mr. Wang Zhiwen died at the Capital Medical University Affiliated Beijing Shijitan Hospital on October 16, 2025. The cause of his death was listed as “cerebral infarction,” but his daughter, Ms. Danielle Wang, who lives in the U.S., doubted it, given the CCP’s history of covering up the facts.
Danielle learned that police were present at the hospital while her father was dying, and they video-recorded everything. The next day they went to her relative’s home to question if her father had a will. They searched the relative’s home and found her father’s household registration and house deed, and took pictures of the documents before leaving.
Mr. Wang, an engineer at the Ministry of Railways, was a contact person for the former Falun Gong Research Association. He was one of the few Falun Gong practitioners who had a meeting with then-premier Zhu Rongji on April 25, 1999, when about 10,000 Falun Gong practitioners gathered in Beijing to request the release of a group of practitioners who had been arrested in nearby Tianjin.
Mr. Wang was arrested on July 19, 1999, the day before the CCP formally launched a nationwide campaign against Falun Gong. He and two other contact persons of the former Falun Gong Research Association, Mr. Li Chang and Mr. Ji Liewu, were tried on December 26, 1999, and sentenced to 16, 18, and 12 years, respectively.
While serving time in the Qianjin Prison, Mr. Wang was brutally beaten and lost all of his teeth. He was once deprived of sleep for seven days. The guards had four four-inmate groups take turns watching him around the clock. As soon as he closed his eyes, they beat him, once fracturing his collarbone.
Although Mr. Wang was released one year ahead of time in October 2014, he was put under around-the-clock house surveillance. Danielle, who went to the U.S. at age 18 in December 1998 to pursue her undergraduate studies, managed to return to Beijing in 2016 with her husband and saw her father for the first time in 18 years. She helped her father apply for a visa to visit her in the U.S.
Mr. Wang, however, was stopped at customs on August 6, 2016. His passport was confiscated and invalidated on the spot. He was put under house surveillance in his final years.
5) 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 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. This 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. He was 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 the pension suspension, 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 became unconscious and was hospitalized 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 would 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.
6) Family Tragedies
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 officers 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 married couple in Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province, were repeatedly targeted. The wife, 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.
Mr. Meng Fankui, a 55-year-old man in Baicheng City, Jilin Province, died on October 3, 2025, after suffering years of health complications induced by torture he endured while serving a six-year term for his faith in Falun Gong. He was predeceased by his parents and sister, who also died as a result of the persecution of Falun Gong.
Mr. Meng was arrested on May 28, 2007, and later sentenced to six years in the Siping City Prison. The guards instructed the inmates to beat him with wooden clubs, leather whips, metal rods, and triangle belts. He had injuries all over, yet the inmates sprinkled salt into the wounds to make him suffer even more. They also pricked him with paper clips, inserted toothpicks underneath his fingernails, and whipped him on the back with electrical wires until his skin was torn and his flesh ripped.
Years of torture in prison caused severe damage to Mr. Meng’s physical and mental health. He was rushed to emergency care several times in recent years. He had multiple organ failures and whole-body edema. When he died on October 13, 2025, his back and legs still showed visible marks from the beatings he suffered in prison. The skin looked as if it had been corroded by acid.
Mr. Meng’s parents, Mr. Meng Qingyao and Ms. Sun Guizhi, and his sister, Ms. Meng Fanying, also practiced Falun Gong. The elder Mr. Meng, a railway worker, was devastated by his son’s prison sentence and died of a stroke in spring 2014, not long after his son’s release. He was 71.
Ms. Meng, who worked at the Baicheng City Construction Bank, was arrested on January 11, 2007, after being reported for distributing Falun Gong informational materials. She was given two years of forced labor and admitted to the Heizuizi Labor Camp on January 24, 2007. After she was released, her employer fired her. She had to rely on her extended family to support her daughter’s schooling. The persecution of her brother and parents further stressed her out. She died of a stroke in 2018, at the age of 46.
Ms. Sun, the family matriarch, struggled to cope with her husband’s and daughter’s deaths. She fell ill in October 2021 and passed away shortly afterwards. She was 78.
Persecution of Falun Gong Claims Mother’s Life 19 Years After Son’s Death in Custody at 30
Ms. Sun Yawen, of Jilin City, Jilin Province, died on September 24, 2025, at the age of 70. She was the latest victim in her family who lost their lives in the persecution of Falun Gong.
Ms. Sun Yawen in her younger years.
Ms. Sun was predeceased by her only son, Mr. Wang Jianguo, also a Falun Gong practitioner. Mr. Wang died 40 days after he was arrested on March 2, 2006, at the age of 30. The local detention center director claimed that he died of “self-harm.” The family set up a mourning tent in his memory, but the police tore it down. They removed everything except his picture.
Mr. Wang Jianguo
Mourning tent in memory of Mr. Wang Jianguo.
Ms. Sun, her husband, Mr. Wang Shusen, and their surviving daughter-in-law, Ms. Zhao Qiumei, refused to give consent to have their son’s body cremated and were threatened by authorities. The trio went into hiding, and the police targeted their extended families in an attempt to find out about their whereabouts. In 2007, Ms. Zhao’s mother was harassed at home and ordered to reveal where her daughter was.
Despite the police threat and harassment to cremate her husband’s body, Ms. Zhao and her parents-in-law refused to sign the consent form. The police, in turn, kept them in the dark about the status of Mr. Wang Jianguo’s body. The family did not know where it was or whether it had been cremated without their consent.
Grief-stricken by her son’s passing and living in fear, Ms. Sun suffered declining health over the years and died on September 24, 2025.
81-Year-Old Widowered Man Dies in Prison, Incapacitated Adult Daughter Sent to a Shelter
Mr. Yang Licheng, of Qiqihar City, Heilongjiang Province, was arrested on March 29, 2021, and later sentenced to 4.5 years. While serving time at the Tailai Prison, he had a brain hemorrhage in August 2025 and died soon afterwards, one month before his term was set to expire. He was 81.
Mr. Yang’s passing capped his decades of suffering at the hands of the communist regime. He was given one year of forced labor in late March 2001 and sentenced to four years after another arrest on June 5, 2009.
When he was released on January 7, 2013, he was devastated 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 care of his incapacitated daughter, despite his own advanced age. After he was arrested again on March 29, 2021, his daughter, in her 40s, was sent to a shelter, without knowing that she would never see her father again.
68-Year-Old Woman Distanced by Her Son, Dies Four Years After Serving a 5.5-Year Term
A woman in Chifeng City, Inner Mongolia, died in April 2025, four years after surviving a 5.5-year prison term for practicing Falun Gong. She was 68.
Ms. Wang Jinrong became a divorced parent in her 30s and raised her son by herself. After she took up Falun Gong in 1996, she came to understand that there’s a reason behind everything. She let go of her resentment towards her ex-husband and no longer felt that life was a burden.
After the persecution started in July 1999, Ms. Wang held firm to her faith and was repeatedly targeted. Following her last arrest on July 22, 2015, the police did not find any Falun Gong-related items while raiding her home. They then arrested her son and accused him of moving Ms. Wang’s Falun Gong materials. Her son denied it and was held in custody for several days. Xu then threatened to get him fired and he eventually relented.
With her son’s “confession” that she owned Falun Gong materials, along with other “evidence,” the police built a case against Ms. Wang, resulting in her being sentenced to 5.5 years.
While Ms. Wang was serving time, her son did not visit her once or deposit any money into her commissary account. Misled by the hate propaganda against Falun Gong, he resented his own mother for “implicating him.”
The Chifeng City Social Security Office stopped Ms. Wang’s pension after she was released on January 21, 2021, and ordered her to return the retirement benefits issued during her imprisonment as a condition to resume her pension. Her son, who had been collecting her benefits for her, returned the funds. It was unclear whether Ms. Wang’s pension was reinstated after that.
Ms. Wang passed away in April 2025.
Related Reports:
Reported in July 2025: Fourteen Falun Gong Practitioners Die as a Result of Persecution
Reported in First Half of 2025: 76 Falun Gong Practitioners Die as a Result of Persecution
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
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