(Clearwisdom.net)

Dear Chenzhou Daily chief editor; editors of the weekend edition, Mr. Xia Zhijun and Mr. Tan Jian; and, Mr. Lu Xinxiang, author of the article: "Obsessed with Falun Gong and Seeking Consummation, A Man Refuses Medical Treatment and Becomes Paralyzed" [in simplified Chinese only].

My name is Tang Xuelin. I am a retired employee of the Suxian District Forestry Bureau, Hunan Province. I am Mr. Tang Xuelin, the same person named in the article mentioned above, that was published in your weekend edition of Sunday, June 22, 2003. I read this report only very recently, and found that the Chenzou Daily reported this news without verifying the information. The information in this news report could not be further from the truth. In fact, the misleading information in this article could be construed as slander against my character and reputation. Reporting such an obvious lie with the intent to slander has already done harm to the credibility and public image of your newspaper. It has also has violated professional ethics, and has put into question your journalistic integrity and principles. I hereby request you immediately address the damage done to my personal reputation through a public announcement of the truth! Respecting the truth is respecting yourself. Otherwise, I see no other recourse but to file a legal action, as I hold you responsible for the damage done to my reputation.

The following is the true version of my story:

Prior to July 2002, I was very healthy and agile for my age, and shared a lot of the heavy housework. It was the continuous brutal torture I suffered at the Tizi Ridge Detention Center, Chenzhou City, Hunan Province and at the Xinkaipu Forced Labor Camp, Hunan Province, that led to my incapacitating stroke.

Because I was determined in practicing Falun Gong, which had always kept me energetic and full of life, police officers from the Hengyang Railway's Public Security Bureau and government officials related to the Hengyang Railway came to my home on May 3, 2002 and abducted me. They broke the iron gate to my home, ransacked my home, abducted me and took me to the Tizi Ridge Detention Center in Chenzhou City. I thus lost my freedom and was deprived of freedom of belief. (The police behavior in this circumstance is in fact against the Chinese Constitution and basic rule of law, which affords a Chinese citizen the right to choose his or her own system of personal belief.) During the illegal imprisonment, the prison guards prohibited me from practicing the Falun Gong exercises, and enslaved me. As a 68-year-old man, I was forced to work daily from dawn to midnight for more than 70 days like a slave. Furthermore, as I remained steadfast to cultivating in Falun Gong, I was illegally sentenced to one and a half years in a forced labor camp, without any legal reason, evidence of any criminal intent, or public trial. (It was only because I had violated the "dictates" of the former chairman of the Chinese Communist Party Jiang Zemin that I was taken to a forced labor camp.) On July 15, 2002, I was transferred to Xinkaipu Forced Labor Camp to serve the illegal sentence. After suffering from more than 70 days of physical torture, forced labor and enslavement, I failed the entrance physical examination, with respect to blood pressure and heart condition. At first, Xinkaipu Forced Labor Camp refused to take me in, but the police officers from Suxian District, Chenzhou City forced them to take me in.

The environment in Xinkaipu Forced Labor Camp was worse than that in Tizi Ridge Detention Center. Two prison inmates took turns watching me around the clock to prevent me from studying the Fa, practicing Falun Gong exercises, and conversing with others. They tried to force me to renounce Falun Gong as well as take part in brainwashing classes. Moreover, I was again enslaved. I was forced to work long hours and was treated like a slave at the age of 68. Furthermore I was deprived of the minimum necessary sleep every day. Such brutal torture was outrageous to have to endure at my advanced age*.

By November 4, 2002, over time, I had lost control over my limbs. I could not stop crying. Although the staff at the forced labor camp sent me to a so-called health center, nothing was done to help me. On November 8, 2002, I lost complete control over my right arm and leg, and then I lost consciousness. Xinkaipu Forced Labor Camp could do nothing, but gave me glucose infusions and oxygen. Then they sent me to Changsha Hospital [actual name of the hospital unspecified] for emergency resuscitation; however, the hospital refused to take me in because of my physical condition. Fearing to take any legal responsibility of my impending death, the staff of Xinkaipu Forced Labor Camp sent me to Chenzou City First People's Hospital and notified my children to collect me from the hospital. After two weeks of medical treatment at the hospital, I did not improve from the debilitating stroke. Meanwhile, the medical bill reached more than 10,000 Yuan [more than 20-months salary of an average urban worker]. Because the Suxian District Forestry Bureau had already gone bankrupt by this time, my children, who had been laid off, had to work at hard labor to pay for the medical bills (bills that were directly caused by the illegal internment, physical and spiritual torture, and enslavement, all of which were against the Chinese Common Law and the Chinese Constitution).

Since July 20, 1999, because I was determined in cultivating Falun Gong, my pension had been suspended indefinitely. Furthermore, the police had plundered my home, stolen my cash and everything of value, and collected an illegal fine from me. The looted cash and illegal fine alone totaled more than 10,000 yuan. Moreover, they punished my wife and her employee although they did not practice Falun Gong. Neither my wife, children nor myself could afford the exorbitant medical expenses. And why should I pay for the medical bills caused by the illegal tortures? It was because of our financial difficulty that I insisted that my children take me home from the hospital even though I needed the medical care.

The above description is the truth and nothing but the truth. I will be more than willing to answer any question you might have, and help you understand the truth.

Contact Information of Chenzhou City First People's Hospital:
Head of the Hospital: Mr. Chen Yaguang
Operator: 86-735-2343229

Fax: 86-735-2343385

Address: No. 102 Luojiajin, Chenzhou City, Hunan Province

* Enslavement in the Forced Labor Camp: The forced labor camps provide a steady supply of Falun Gong practitioners to be used as slaves, and the captive workforce is driven to the limit, regardless of whether the incarcerated practitioners are sick, disabled from being beaten, or weakened by the intolerable conditions. There is no concern for living conditions in the forced labor camps and forced detention centers, as any improvement in condition would decrease profits. Illegally incarcerated Dafa practitioners are simply treated as objects from which to extract the maximum amount of labor, to be released when half-dead, and replaced with new ones.