By Chen Xiu, a Falun Gong practitioner from Mainland China

(Clearwisdom.net) On April 10, 2001, the media voice of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), CCTV, broadcast a program on its "Special Issues Interviews" about Falun Gong practitioner Chen Xiu, who was "successfully" "transformed" while "in the care of the CCP and the Chinese government" and thus remarried his former wife. The story was reported by the Agriculture Bank's Shenyang Branch. At the same time, the Xinhua Agency and the Renmin website reported on it extensively and with great fanfare. Their intent was to cover up the CCP's brutal persecution of Falun Gong, to conceal their crimes, and to mislead the Chinese people.

After the broadcast, the CCP controlled media in other provinces immediately broadcasted the story as well. Brainwashing centers, forced labor camps, and prisons throughout the country used it extensively to deceive the local and foreign media and to brainwash Falun Gong practitioners.

I, Chen Xiu, was rolled out as a "model" to give the "CCP and the Chinese government credit for remarrying my former wife." This story was meant to show "the great attention the CCP and the Chinese government confers on Falun Gong practitioners." After I was released from the evil and appalling forced labor camp, it took much effort to re-waken my conscience and belief in "Truth, Compassion, Forbearance." After I was no longer valuable to the CCP, I was arrested again and sentenced to three years in prison. They wanted to take revenge for my returning to Falun Dafa.

I am Chen Xiu, the person depicted in the aforementioned story. While "illegally detained," I was forced to divorce my wife yet again, and all my property was confiscated. During my three years in detention, I was tortured, forced to do hard labor, and suffered high-pressure brainwashing. Yet, I held onto my belief until it was time to be released. By chance I found out that over the past few years and even to this day, the Party had staged a program called "Chen Xiu Remarrying His Wife" for the "Special Issues Interviews" program. I was forced to act in that show, which then was used to persecute Falun Gong practitioners in different places and to deceive the world's people. Still today you can find the so-called "transformation facts" about me on Renmin and other websites controlled by the CCP. It is just as the "Nine Commentaries on the CCP" says, "even the word 'scoundrel' does not describe the nature of the CCP."

I was born in 1962 and graduated from the Liaoning University Physics Department. I was employed by the credit section at the Liaoning Branch of China Agriculture Bank. I have practiced Falun Gong since 1995 and benefited greatly, both mentally and physically. Also, because I had found a true belief, I led a happy life. Before I practiced Falun Gong, I was unsatisfied because of the social environment where everyone fights for profit and competes with each other. I had no idea what I lived for. After I began practicing Falun Gong, I became healthy and no longer spent a penny on medical expenses. At the same time, I felt that Falun Gong helped uplift my spirit, helped me attach less importance to personal interests, and I became broad-minded. I worked very diligently, had a carefree heart, and felt relaxed. Every morning, I went to the park to do the exercises. After that, I cooked our meals, saw my child off to kindergarten, and then left for work. Everyday my life was lived to the fullest.

However, everything changed beginning on July 20, 1999, when the evil Party began to persecute Falun Gong. During these past six years, life has never returned to pre-persecution times.

As soon as the persecution began, I lost my personal freedom. At that time, under the lead of the CCP committee, leaders from my work adhered strictly to orders from the Political and Juridical Committee and the 610 Office. They detained me at the office. I wasn't allowed to go home and had to sleep on the floor. I was forced to watch CCTV broadcasts defaming Falun Gong, read newspaper articles criticizing Falun Gong, and write my understandings on the matter. I did not want to admit that I had done anything wrong, which spurred management and a few members of the staff to verbally attack me. At the same time they put a lot of pressure on my relatives. They told them to write the guarantee statement and ordered me not to leave my home or go to Beijing to appeal to the government. The local police ordered management from my work to come with me to the police station to record "my confession" whenever they called me in for interrogation. The security department head, Xu Changtian, threatened, "Don't think we don't know that you practiced at the practice site. The National Security Bureau knows everything about you."

In September 1999, I found the opportunity to go to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. I was arrested and "illegally detained" at the National Appeals Office. I was sent back to Shenyang City, where I was detained for one month. While there, I did the exercises, resulting in my being deprived of sleep, and forced to stand with my back bent at 90 degrees for an entire night. Also, a police officer shocked me with an electric baton every ten minutes. He asked me, "Do you practice [Falun Gong] or not?" Every time I answered, "Yes!" This dialog went on until the following morning, the time when this police officer went off-duty.

After the one-month illegal detention, Security Department head Xu Changtian from the Agricultural Bank and my boss, Ke Hongyin, came to the detention center to pick me up. Instead of allowing me to go home, they decided to detain me in a room at a hotel. The next day, they took me to a shelter on the outskirts of the Xinchengzi District in Shenyang City, where they continued to hold me with the excuse of conducting a study session. They ignored the rule of the law. They threatened and tried to terrify me. They said that if I didn't admit my "mistake" or "repent," I would be sent to a forced labor camp or sentenced to death.

Because of this cruel persecution, my family worried night and day. They worried that I could not endure this kind of pressure. My wife was afraid of being affected by what was happening to me and was forced to divorce me. My family and friends came to pressure me and asked me to give up cultivation. Because I went on a hunger strike to resist the illegal detention, people from the Political and Juridical Committee had management take me home. They thought it was easier to watch me at home. They didn't allow me to go out. As ordered by the management of my work, there were always people watching me. They lived in my home and came and left at will. They turned my home into a place to brainwash me. Even my family's day-to-day life and work were affected. This is the "whole nation movement" which took as an example the many CCP "movements." The activities are very evil and are used to this day to persecute Falun Gong practitioners.

I still recalled what these people asked me, "Do you want Falun Gong or your family?" I told them, "I want both." They responded, "That doesn't work. At this time, the government allows you to choose only one out of the two." I told them, "If that's the case, I choose Falun Gong." That gave them the chance to say, "Look what practicing Falun Gong has done to you! You don't want your parents or your family." This is just like a robber's logic. They detain you, they deprive you of your personal freedom, your right to work, your right to take care of your parents and your kids, then they turn around and say that because of practicing Falun Gong, you didn't want your work or your family.

As I held on to my steadfast belief, I was taken to Shenyang City Zhangshi Forced Labor Camp for three years in November 1999. At that time, I was the only Falun Gong practitioner in the forced labor camp. I was "strictly controlled," forbidden to speak, and forced to perform hard labor. I did handcrafts from 5:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. and sometimes until midnight. To force me to give up my belief, they escalated their persecutory actions. They deprived me of sleep, made me work until 3:00 a.m., and get up at around 5:00 a.m. Those who were watching me couldn't take it any longer.

To resist persecution, I began to do the exercises. At that time, a warden by the surname of Sun hit me with a leather belt. I did not react, so he hit me again with a belt with a steel head on it. I still didn't move. Later, a team leader by the surname of Liang called me into the office, where he shocked me with an electric baton. He asked me to promise not to practice. I answered, "I can't do that because cultivating Falun Gong is the fundamental right of every Chinese citizen. If I want to practice, I will practice." Later a group head by the surname of Shi hit me on the head and face with the bottom of a shoe. Another time a team leader by the surname of Sun shocked me with two electric batons when I was doing the exercises.

They couldn't achieve their goal. Even when they inhumanly and cruelly tortured me, I did not renounce my belief. Therefore, while still in that environment and through repeatedly isolated intensive brainwashing, they wanted me to "repent" and give up my belief. They tempted me to act as a thug to persecute steadfast practitioners and to deceive the world's people.

As soon as I was admitted to the forced labor camp, I was "closely monitored." I was not allowed to speak to anyone and I was denied any visitors. It was a horrifying environment. I was surrounded by filthy language and could concentrate less and less on my Fa-study. Without realizing it, I slacked off. I was gradually polluted. My unhealthy notions increased, and I couldn't see through the evilness that the CCP had accumulated over the past decades and the nature of its persecution. I was brainwashed. I was intentionally misled. I fell short of what I needed to do and no longer looked inward, even after I had looked within many times before. I took the persecution passively. For nine months I was forced to watch TV, read newspapers and other materials which defamed Falun Gong. After continuous brainwashing and listening to betrayers who also had been brainwashed, I lost my righteous belief. I wrote the repentance statement and the guarantee statement. I became one of the evil enlightened, and I caused great loss to Dafa, resulting in deep regret within me.

After I was so-called "transformed," the forced labor camp still didn't release me. Wardens forced me to write the guarantee statement over and over again. This was the "reinforced" brainwashing. The forced labor camp also used the method of deception. They reinstated my marriage and held a wedding ceremony so that they could generate their false publicity. They had reporters from the TV station videotape the wedding and interview people, with plans to spread the "good" news. Although I was unwilling, I passively accepted the interview. I wanted to leave the forced labor camp as soon as possible, so I fell in with all their arrangements.

At that time, I wasn't clear, and I didn't expect any serious consequences. Not until the interview was taped did they release me from the forced labor camp. You can tell their true purpose and understand their motives from that deal. They forced me to follow their arrangement, or they would not release me. So who is disturbing social stability and destroying family happiness? When kind people watch this program, how could they possibly detect the evilness and lies behind this staged propaganda? As the forced labor camp authorities handed me the so-called "remarriage certificate" on TV, they held tightly the document concerning my forced labor camp sentence.

Because I was detained at the forced labor camp, I lost my job. With regards to my family, they were implicated as well. In order to not have them be implicated any further, I suggested a divorce. Even though the forced labor camp staff tortured, deceived, and brainwashed me, I had to hide their mistreatment due to their threats and enticements. In the end, they gave me back what had belonged to me all along. They faked kindness and then asked to be thanked so that they could continue to perpetrate their evil propaganda. The result was that ordinary people believed that the government did good deeds for its citizens. It does not matter if it is tangible or intangible, it all comes down to persecution of the spirit. In the end, they force you to forsake your conscience or your righteous belief. They are bent on destroying a person's will, conscience, and righteous belief.

The interview on CCTV's Special Broadcast Program is biased and does not portray a shred of truth. People who were interviewed were persecuted and interviewed against their wills. When one courageous person spoke up and revealed the persecution that he had suffered, he was even more cruelly persecuted. After I came to understand the staged incident, which was created soley for the purpose of deceiving other people, I no longer followed their plan. I no longer let them use me. I held on to my belief. Therefore, I was sentenced and again imprisoned. I was charged with "organizing to destroy the implementation of law." I was sentenced to three years in prison, and I was dismissed from my job. As a matter of fact, there are tens of thousands of practitioners who have experienced the same persecution as I. The only difference is that no TV station is covering their situations.

During my re-marriage ceremony, staff from the forced labor camp invited managers from my previous company to announce the reinstatement of my job. They wanted to show how kind and concerned the government was for me. Everything was arranged based on the prerequisite that I was so-called "transformed" in order to create a model for their propaganda. If you stick to your belief, you not only can't be reinstated in your job, you will be persecuted, because the CCP doesn't allow you to practice Falun Gong.

Besides CCTV, the Xinhua News Agency, and newspapers and TV stations from other areas and provinces were all broadcasting my interview for the "Special Broadcast Interviews" program. I find it even more ridiculous and depraved that although I was afterwards secretly sentenced because of my steadfast belief and suffered brainwashing, forced labor, and imprisonment again, they continued to broadcast my remarriage ceremony! All this was done to deceive others and Falun Gong practitioners.

The truth was that I was illegally sentenced and dismissed from my job. My wife and I had to divorce each other and my family had to distance themselves from me so that they would not be implicated and then also have to suffer the persecution. While I was imprisoned, all my property and belongings were illegally confiscated. Under this persecution of Falun Gong, my family and relatives were persecuted as well. A happy family was destroyed. My family was ruined, and I had nothing left. My elderly parents worried about me constantly. The wound in every one of my family members' hearts will never heal.

I was inhumanly persecuted and suffered torture and beatings. Because I did the exercises, I was told that I had gone against the prison rules and had sabotaged being reformed. Therefore, I was sent to the "close monitoring" team for detention. I was handcuffed in a heating facility, standing straight and facing the wall. I went on a hunger strike to resist the persecution and ended up being brutally force-fed. I was locked in a solitary confinement cell, where I was handcuffed, my feet were shackled, and I had to sit on the floor without moving. After a while, the pain from the nerves in my bottom became intolerable. Especially during the summer, it was hot and humid in this dark little room. My bottom was full of blisters that festered from sitting for a long time. I also developed scabies, which itched unbearably. Falun Gong practitioners are kept for up to six months or longer in solitary confinement. After a while, practitioners almost become mentally disordered and can no longer bear the confinement mentally or physically. When released from solitary confinement, most of the practitioners couldn't walk unassisted. It takes a few days to recover. Their daily meals are either molded corn meal congee, a corn meal bun or a few processed vegetables. Even prisoners commented that this is a way of slowly committing murder. Force-feeding is actually a means of persecution. Practitioners are tied to the bed so they can't move. A tube is put through their nose all the way to the stomach. If the tube fails to get into the stomach, they keep trying until they succeed. The tube is often filled with blood, and the procedure is very painful. Sometimes after the tubes are put in place, they won't be taken out, which is another way of torturing practitioners. Being force-fed with condensed salty water burns the stomach, which makes the person vomit. Those who oversaw the forced feeding, however, would not allow vomiting. Anyone who vomited would be beaten. Later, they force-fed milk powder mixed with a red liquid "medicine" to practitioners. One time when I was force-fed, a prisoner asked the prison doctor whether to add more medicine or less. The prison doctor said less, because if it were too much, it would burn the person's stomach too much. Sure enough, after I was force-fed, my stomach felt as if it was burning, but I couldn't vomit. When I did vomit, they didn't stop force-feeding me. Weak as I was, they still forced me to sit from mornings to evenings. Sometimes they force-fed me three times a day to torture me further.

The warden ignored existing laws. One time when I was talking with him, another leader in our ward said to me irrationally, "What I said is the law. I represent the law." After that, he ordered two prisoners to push me to the ground. Li stepped on my back and then shocked me with electric batons on my head, ears, and neck. A prisoner pulled my collar so tight that I could hardly breathe. I almost choked to death. My face hit the ground, and my jaw became swollen. After that, he kicked my belly. As a result, the back of my head hit the ground and I had a big lump. When I sat down on the ground, the person in charge threw tea all over me. After this beating, I became drowsy and was confined to bed for four days. I also couldn't eat. I could only have some congee. When I asked to go to the hospital, I received no reply. They ignored my request. After that, I was transferred to another team and had to do hard labor with its prisoners. The letter I wrote for filing a lawsuit was not sent out. The appeal letter I wrote in prison was also not sent out.

The wardens order the prisoners in charge to beat and swear at Falun Gong practitioners. They do so at will and without constraint. If they didn't like a practitioner, they hit him with leather batons. Practitioners may use the bathroom for only three minutes, otherwise they are punished. The work itself is very dirty and tiring, and the work environment is full of unhealthy odors and dust, which makes people choke. Many inmates have developed chronic illnesses working in this environment. Working on the production line is more labor intensive. People have to behave like machines. They don't even have time to use the bathroom, and have to work overtime, often until midnight. However, as soon as visitors come from the outside, they have to pretend that they work only eight hours a day. Falun Gong practitioners are isolated from other prisoners and monitored separately, because they are not allowed to have any contact with people from the outside, in case they speak up.

The above is only a small fraction of my experiences. It is difficult to list all the facts of the persecution. There would not be space enough if we could retell the persecution suffered by all Falun Gong practitioners. It is too much to describe.

The purpose of exposing the evil is to stop the persecution and violence. We want the world's people to be clearer on the facts of the persecution. We want to stir their consciences and kind thoughts so that they will earn bright futures.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.org/mh/articles/2006/1/16/118783.html