(Clearwisdom.net) Being a student at Qinghua University (an Ivy League status university in Beijing) is quite prestigious in China, especially for children from farming families. These students are considered to be "golden phoenixes from the ravine." People look up to these students, thinking about the honor they bring to their families. However, these days, the family of Qinghua University student Zhang Lianjun is in deep sorrow.

Zhang Lianjun is from Taipingdi Village of Taipingdi Township, Songshan District, Chifeng City, Inner Mongolia. In 1995, he was admitted to Qinghua University with an outstanding academic record. During his university years, he was a student of good character and scholarship. In 2004, this 29-year-old young man should have been serving his country with the knowledge he gained from the university. Instead, he has been tortured brutally by the Beijing Police Department's National Security Section, and is reduced to a vegetative state. He is now being held in the No. 4 Prison of Chifeng City.

Zhang Lianjun was a talented student and was always willing to help others. When he went to Qinghua University in 1995, he came to know Falun Dafa and its principles of "Truthfulness, Compassion, and Tolerance." He realized at once that Falun Dafa is the truth. After practicing Dafa for some time, he enjoyed great benefits, both physically and mentally. He learned that to be a Dafa practitioner, he first needed to be a person with virtue. He studied hard and was strict with himself. He always thought of others first. In his spare time, he studied Dafa and practiced the exercises with fellow practitioners. Mr. Zhang's outstanding academic achievements and good deeds were acknowledged by his professors as well as other students.

However, since July 20, 1999, former Chinese President Jiang Zemin felt threatened by Falun Gong's great popularity, and launched a brutal persecution campaign against Falun Gong practitioners. So began Zhang Lianjun's hardships. First, in 1999 people tried to force him to oppose Falun Gong and give up the practice. He refused to do so since he couldn't lie to himself or to others. As a consequence, the university gave him a failing grade on his graduation dissertation and declined to issue him a graduation certificate. After that, out of his trust in China's legal system, he tried clarifying the truth about Falun Gong through appealing to higher authorities. Unfortunately, all government agencies, including the police department, the procuratorate, and the justice department, are all under Jiang's control. Mr. Zhang's appeals therefore fell on deaf ears, and he was punished for clarifying the truth. He was jailed several times for appealing to the higher authorities on behalf of Falun Gong's innocence. Eventually, Zhang Lianjun was forced to leave his residence and started moving from place to place in order to avoid arrest. Since he was constantly under surveillance by the special agents, even when he returned to his hometown Mr. Zhang couldn't find a regular job and could not stay at one place for long. In early 2003, his family lost contact with him.

In August 2003, Zhang Lianjun's family received a phone call from the National Security Section of the Beijing Police Department. They were told that Mr. Zhang had been arrested by the National Security Section in January 2003. They said that Mr. Zhang had a serious head injury and needed surgery and that his parents had to sign an agreement form for the operation. By the time his parents hurried to Beijing, the National Security Section told them that the operation had been completed and that it was successful. But, they refused to let Mr. Zhang's parents see their son. Naturally, his parents were very worried and strongly requested that they be allowed to see him. But, the Security Section used various excuses to turn down their requests.

Since Mr. Zhang's father couldn't find out exactly what had happened to his son, he went to the Beijing National Security Section again in April 2004 to try to see him. This time, he found out that his son had been sentenced to eight years imprisonment. He was shocked and saddened by the news. Worried about his son's condition, he requested repeatedly to see him. Again, his requests were turned down.

On July 16, 2004, the local police station in Chifeng City notified Zhang Lianjun's family that he had been sent back to the No. 4 Prison of Chifeng City, and that he was paralyzed and couldn't eat or even use the toilet. This unexpected bad news overwhelmed the whole family. It was as if the sky had suddenly turned black. This was a very big blow to the worried parents. It is beyond their understanding why Jiang's group would so brutally torture their son, simply because he chose to believe in "Truthfulness, Compassion, and Tolerance." What kind of government would do such a thing to its own people?

On July 20, Mr. Zhang's whole family went to the prison to visit him. For the first time, the parents saw their paralyzed son. He was in a vegetative state and didn't respond to them at all. He was just lying there with no facial expression, and he couldn't even move his limbs. The whole family was heartbroken, and they couldn't hold back their tears. His younger sister cried until her she lost her voice. The entire family was in extreme sorrow.

The local policemen described the way Zhang Lianjun was sent back by the National Security Section from Beijing. "They just threw him out of the car. How could they do this to him?" His parents finally figured out why the National Security Section repeatedly denied their requests to see their son in Beijing. It was because they were using some unimaginable ways to torture their son during that time.

Zhang's parents requested that he be released on medical parole, but the prison official would not approve their request. Instead, they asked his parents to pay for his treatment, or send medicine to the prison. But how could his parents afford all this? They were already impoverished after having supported their son's college education. So, the prison official wouldn't release Mr. Zhang, claiming that they had received instructions from higher authorities not to release him.

Now Zhang's parents are in deep sorrow. They don't even want to talk to their relatives or friends, and they cry constantly. Days seem like years to them. They're afraid that they might hear worse news about their son. In China, Mr. Zhang's family is just one example of so many other families that have been destroyed by the government's brutal persecution of people who believe in "Truthfulness, Compassion, and Tolerance." Tens of thousands of families live in sorrow and terror every day.

After reading about what happened to Zhang's family, it is clear how Jiang's group is brutally persecuting Falun Gong practitioners. To date, over 1,000 practitioners have been persecuted to death. Please help to stop this inhuman persecution.

We also hope the police at the No. 4 Prison of Chifeng City will be able to tell right from wrong. Don't just follow an order from Jiang to persecute Falun Gong practitioners. Jiang doesn't represent the country, and his order is not reflective of the rights guaranteed by the Chinese Constitution. Please don't help a tyrant to do evil. Learn from the example of the followers of the Cultural Revolution. They were the scapegoats and were secretly executed in Yunan Province. Today, Jiang and many of his followers have been sued in many countries. Police officers, please know that you will pay the price if you continue to help the inhuman persecution.

List of relevant staff members of Chifeng Prison, Inner Monogolia:

Kang Zhengxing, 86-476-842-1866 (office), 86-13847646677 (mobile)

Duan Xinwen, 86-476-842-4498 (office), 86-476-844-1899 (home), 86-13704760103 (mobile)

Yan Jianzhong, 86-476-842-4958 (office), 86-476-822-8026 (home), 86-13327168166 (mobile)

Wang Hongbin, 86-476-842-0576 (office), 86-476-846-2066 (home), 86-13327168899 (mobile)

Qu Baofeng, 86-476-842-2880 (office), 86-476-833-6865 (home), 86-13304768315 (mobile)

Information Center, 86-476-842-0575