(Minghui.org) It was recently confirmed by Minghui.org that a resident of Honghu City, Hubei Province had been admitted to Hubei Province Women’s Prison (located in the capital city of Wuhan) in early July 2023 to serve two years and nine months.
Ms. Tang Fangqiong, in her 50s, was arrested on March 15, 2022, for her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999. The arresting officers from the Honghu City Domestic Security Office took her straight to the Jianli City Detention Center in Hubei Province. Jianli City is about 70 miles away from Honghu City.
Both the police and the detention center barred Ms. Tang’s family from visiting her. They also kept the family in the dark of her case status.
Her loved one learned about her sentencing and prison transfer from an insider in late July 2023.
This is not the first time that Ms. Tang has been targeted for upholding her faith. She was previously sentenced to four years and suffered other forms of persecution.
Prior 4-Year Sentence
Ms. Tang once said Falun Gong taught her how to be a good and considerate person. While working as a taxi driver, she and her husband returned a customer’s purse left in their car. There were IDs and more than 20,000 yuan in cash. Many other drivers in China would probably have pocketed the money, but the couple managed to find the customer based on the IDs.
Because of her positive experience with Falun Gong, Ms. Tang never wavered in her faith after the persecution began in 1999. She was repeatedly targeted for her faith during the past 24 years.
Ms. Tang was arrested at home by vice-captain Zuo Shihong from the Honghu City Domestic Security Office on September 7, 2005. Zuo confiscated her Falun Gong books and informational materials, computer, printer, and more than 10,000 yuan in cash.
Zuo then took Ms. Tang to the Honghu City First Detention Center, where she became extremely weak due to the torture.
The local court sentenced Ms. Tang to four years on February 15, 2006, and she was transferred to the Hubei Province Women’s Prison three months later.
Two Brief Detentions in Late 2021
Ms. Tang had just stepped out of her apartment building at around 9 a.m. on November 7, 2021, when she was seized by officers Deng Renqing and Liu Tieshan from the Honghu City Domestic Security Office, who had been stalking her outside her home.
They took her to the domestic security office, where captain Liang Hong, vice-captain Zuo, instructor Du, and office clerk Ye Ling were awaiting her. They told her that someone had called the mayor’s hotline to report her for distributing Falun Gong informational materials in multiple residential areas. They also said they got a direct phone call from Zhang Can, of the Honghu City Bureau of Science and Technology, who claimed that Ms. Tang had given him a flash drive containing Falun Gong information.
The police ordered Ms. Tang to admit having done things as reported by the two tipsters. She didn’t directly answer them but explained to them that the persecution of Falun Gong lacked legal basis from the very beginning. She suggested they search for Announcement 50 on their phones. The announcement was issued on March 1, 2011, by the General Administration of Press and Publication, to lift the ban on Falun Gong publications. She reiterated that no enacted law in China has ever criminalized Falun Gong and warned them they’d face consequences for their crimes against law-abiding practitioners like her.
The police admitted that it was their job to investigate allegations against her and promised to not bother her again as long as she admitted having done those things as reported by the tipsters.
Ms. Tang refused to cooperate with them. Zuo suggested that they raid her home. Liang agreed and they ended up confiscating Ms. Tang’s laptop, three Falun Gong books, and some Falun Gong informational materials.
The police released Ms. Tang at around 4 p.m. that day, only to take her back into custody weeks later, on November 25. They detained her for ten days before releasing her on December 5, 2021.
Repeated Harassment by One Tipster
Not long after Ms. Tang returned home, Zhang Can from the Honghu City Bureau of Science and Technology, who had reported her to the police, called her. He said he was calling to see whether she had been transformed [forced to renounce Falun Gong] after ten days of detention.
Ms. Tang condemned Zhang for going after her for the sake of getting rewards (the local authorities had promised a reward of 30,000 yuan per practitioner who was forced to give up their belief in Falun Gong). She said his reporting of her had resulted in her family and relatives being subjected to various forms of persecution, including around-the-clock surveillance, and getting their homes’ electricity shut off and keyholes smeared with glue by police. Their normal life had been completely upended.
Zhang gloated, “Then just wait to be sentenced! The Jingzhou City Inspection Team has said anyone who refused to renounce Falun Gong must be sentenced.” Jingzhou City oversees Honghu City.
Ms. Tang refuted that the Constitution protects citizens’ right to freedom of belief and warned Zhang that he’d face consequences for his persecution of her.
Zhang called Ms. Tang two more times, on December 6 and 7, 2021. He promised to cover all financial losses resulted from her persecution if she agreed to renounce Falun Gong. “If not, we’ll go after your mother!” he threatened.
Ms. Tang warned him she’d report him to the police if he dared to harass her mother. After hanging up the phone, she did later call the Honghu City Domestic Security Office. The officer who answered the phone said, “This guy [Zhang] can’t think straight. Ignore him if he calls you again. Or you can ask him to talk to captain Liang. You can also report him to the police for harassing you.”
Zhang’s supervisor Wang called Ms. Tang’s child’s parent-in-law Luo (alias) on December 12, 2021, to have dinner together. Wang had worked with Luo before so he asked the latter to persuade Ms. Tang to renounce Falun Gong.
Ms. Tang firmly said no when Luo relayed Wang’s request. She explained to Luo why they should not cooperate with Wang. Luo understood and promised to never get involved again.
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