Liaoning Man Dies Two Months After Serving a 5-Year Term for Practicing Falun Gong
(Minghui.org)
Name: Zhou YonglinChinese Name: 周永林Gender: MaleAge: 75City: LinghaiProvince: LiaoningOccupation: N/ADate of Death: March 23, 2026Date of Most Recent Arrest: January 20, 2021Most Recent Place of Detention: Jinzhou Prison
A 75-year-old man in Linghai City, Liaoning Province, died around 1 a.m. on March 23, 2026. At the time of his death, he had lost the ability to talk.
Mr. Zhou Yonglin’s passing came only 62 days after he finished serving a five-year term for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999. As he had already gone mute by the time he was released, his family had no way to find out what torture he suffered before he died.
Mr. Zhou Yonglin
Mr. Zhou and his wife, Ms. Sun Jiping, also a Falun Gong practitioner, were arrested on January 20, 2021. Two months later, they were secretly sentenced to five years in prison with a 10,000-yuan fine.
Mr. Zhou was admitted to the Panjin Prison on July 4, 2021, and his wife to the Liaoning Province Women’s Prison at an unknown time. Their son learned three months later that Mr. Zhou had been transferred to Division 20 of the Jinzhou Prison. Their son visited the prison in early 2024 and noted that Mr. Zhou was emaciated. Mr. Zhou said that because he refused to renounce Falun Gong, he was put under strict management and was not allowed to purchase daily necessities.
A prison guard called Mr. Zhou’s son in July 2024, saying that his father was at the Jinzhou City Center Hospital for “a minor stroke.”
Mr. Zhou’s son was not sure whether his father indeed had suffered a stroke or was hospitalized due to torture-induced injuries. He then received another call in September 2024 and was notified that his father was in critical condition. He rushed to the Jinzhou City Center Hospital and saw his extremely emaciated father in the intensive care unit, with one tube inserted into his throat to assist with his breathing and another tube in his nose for nasal feeding.
A hospital worker said the elder Mr. Zhou had been given a tracheotomy. He shed tears but was unable to utter a word when his son asked if he still recognized him.
The prison transferred Mr. Zhou to the Lingyuan Prison Hospital in early October 2025 and no longer allowed his family to visit him. His family’s request to have him released on parole was denied.
Mr. Zhou was released on January 20, 2026. He received treatment at the Linghai City Hospital for ten days and didn’t make any improvement. The doctors said that there wasn’t much they could do to help him and suggested the family take him home.
As his wife, Ms. Sun, was still recovering from declining health due to the abuses she herself suffered in prison, she struggled to take care of Mr. Zhou. He regained some mental clarity, but was still weak. A few days before he passed away, he could no longer keep down any liquid food.
Mr. Zhou passed away in great pain on March 23, 2026.
Prior to their latest arrest and imprisonment in 2021, Mr. Zhou and Ms. Sun have been repeatedly targeted since the onset of the persecution. They were both given two years of forced labor in 2000 when their son was in his first year of high school.
Related Reports:
Authorities Refuse to Release Liaoning Woman on Bail Despite Her Life-Threatening Condition
Woman With Severe Anemia Arrested with Husband, Family Worried About Her Health