By Xiaolu, a Dafa practitioner in China

(Clearwisdom.net) Prior to the persecution, I was the volunteer director at our Falun Gong instruction center in X City, China. [Note: the name of the city is replaced with an X to protect the author.] Although Jiang Zemin's wicked cronies tried their best to crush Falun Gong, they had very little success. Therefore, they started to focus their persecution on volunteer directors of Falun Gong instruction centers all over China, hoping to coerce them to slander Falun Gong on Chinese television. The "610 Office" in my area repeatedly tried to pressure my work organization to coerce me into slandering Falun Gong on TV as a volunteer director. Each time I sternly refused to comply with their request. [Note: "610 Office" is an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems. Due to pressure from the international community, the Chinese Communist government has renamed the "610 Office," "Purge the Evil Cult Office" on October 15, 2003, and lied to the world, stating that the "610 Office" has been "disbanded."]

One day, five to six special agents from the State Security Bureau from my area broke into and ransacked my home without a legal search warrant. They confiscated my personal computers, some of my Falun Dafa books and materials, and abducted me to the State Security Bureau. There they took turns interrogating me for one day and one night, denying me any respite or sleep. Afterwards, a Department Chief of the State Security Bureau announced, "X City Committee has discussed your case and decided to give you two options: you will either take a lead in slandering Falun Gong on TV, or you will face prison." Once again I rejected their demands.

That night they transferred me to the X City Detention Center and told me before they left, "We have given an instruction to the detention center. You may tell them when you are ready to slander Falun Gong on TV, and we will come and get you immediately." The next morning, the disciplinary guard of my cell told me, "I have received a special order that I must not shave your head or pummel your face so that you can be seen on television at any time." Starting the next day, I was made to manufacture export goods for more than 14 hours a day. The terrible pressure on my hands resulted in blisters. Then the blisters broke and my hands started to bleed. My blood-covered hands and fingers soon became too swollen and stiff to move. Even so I was still made to perform forced labor for more than 14 hours a day. During the ordeal, I started to think: the United States Government condemned China in its human rights reports for forcing prison inmates to manufacture export goods, and the Chinese Communist government firmly denied the accusation. Now I know the accusation is true because the Chinese Communist Government is now forcing me to produce export goods in prison. What an incredible liar this government is!

A few days later, the manager from my former workplace came to see me at X City Detention Center. He was ordered by the State Security Bureau to help persuade me into defaming Falun Dafa on national TV. The Department Head of the State Security Bureau asked me if I had come to my senses and decided to slander Falun Dafa on TV. I replied, "You have tried everything to make me lie on national television; to say things against my conscience. It is NOT going to happen!" The next thing the Department Head said in the presence of my former manager something that was mind-boggling. "What is the big deal of telling lies or saying things against your conscience for the sake of the Chinese Communist Party and the country? It's not as if we asked you to die for the Chinese Communist Party!" I was at a loss. I wasn't sure if I should laugh or cry about such a ridiculous rationale. I turned and asked my former manager, "You see what the State Security Bureau is doing to me? They are making me tell lies! How can I tell lies?" He replied, "It's really not in my position to suggest you what to do. I have only one suggestion: Consider what is in your best interest!"

A few days later, the Deputy Head of X City Detention Center called for a meeting. During the meeting, he told me that he did not oppose Falun Dafa, but he also hinted with a Chinese idiom: "A wise man would avoid being beaten." He added, "Volunteer directors at Falun Gong instruction centers all over China are providing testimonies against Falun Dafa on national television every single day. This is the arrangement of the Chinese Central Government. You are the volunteer director of Falun Dafa instruction center in our city. If you don't speak against Falun Dafa on TV, the city government will be done for. If you refuse to cooperate, your situation is only going to get worse." I replied, "But I don't think telling lies is the way out of the situation." He said, "There is not a day goes by when the Chinese Communist Party does not tell lies. The Party members on the bottom hierarchy deceive those on the top, and vice versa. In fact, the Chinese Communist Party will collapse if no one lies." I declared, "If I tell lies about Falun Dafa, it will only victimize and do harm to those who watch my deceitful testimony on TV. Therefore, I must not do it." Later a reform education staff member at the detention center came and told me, "I have read the materials distributed from the upper management. Many experts, college professors, and PhD's practice Falun Gong, so I believe there must be something good about Falun Gong. I will not give you a hard time. Your family may come visit you during the visiting hours like everyone else as long as I am on duty." His words gave me so much solace and hope. Indeed! There are many people in this world who haven't abandoned their conscience and are worth saving. Thanks to the visiting opportunities, many fellow practitioners managed to pass Teacher's new articles into the detention center.

Because I refused to provide any deceitful testimony against Dafa on TV, I was illegally sentenced to 1 1/2 years in a forced labor camp. After I was released from the forced labor camp, I told everyone I met the reason for my illegal detention in a forced labor camp. I wanted to assure that they understood that the deceitful testimonies against Falun Gong on Chinese television were the results of coercion.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2003/11/26/61265.html