Mr. Xu Huaxiang, 47, was a resident of Jinxiang County, Jining City, Shandong Province. Mr. Xu started to practice Falun Dafa in 1998. After the persecution began on July 20, 1999, he was arrested and sent to a local detention center twice for validating Dafa and clarifying the truth about the practice. In October 2002, Mr. Xu was forcibly taken to a local brainwashing center. He was sent back home after he held a hunger strike. Mr. Xu died of relapsed liver disease on December 15, 2002.