(Minghui.org) I started to practice Falun Gong in 1997 and followed its principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. Not long after I began to cultivate, I recovered from stomach disease, gynecological problems, and a low platelet count.
After Jiang Zemin, the former head of the communist regime, launched the persecution of Falun Gong in July 1999, I was arrested, detained, and tortured.
Not everyone was a perpetrator, however, as I also met many kindhearted people who did not fear the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) implication policy and risked their own safety to help Falun Gong practitioners.
I went to Beijing to appeal for justice for Falun Gong in 1999. Before I went, I wrote a letter to my manager and relatives. I was arrested in Beijing and brought back by local police officers. The officers demanded that I lower my head, which I refused to do, as I was not a criminal.
I looked around and saw my family members, colleagues, friends, leaders from different government departments, and a cameraman from the local television station. Then I was illegally detained in the local detention center.
Many of my relatives, colleagues, and friends tried to see me, but the guards refused to let them in. Then, to my surprise, a retired former manager of mine was permitted to see me.
It was a cold day, and there was ice on the road. A taxi stopped at the bottom of the hill, and he had to walk up to the detention center. When he was denied entry, he went to see the head of the police department, who gave him an entry permission slip.
He told me to take it easy and that I would pass the tribulation eventually. His warm words comforted me during those cold, dark days.
I was released after more than a month and returned to my workplace. I was asked to attend a staff meeting, during which I was going to be disciplined.
“She has worked for this organization over a decade,” said a manager. “She works hard, is very dedicated, treats people well, and does not mind any personal loss. She also keeps her skills up-to-date and benefits our operations.
“Although Falun Gong has been banned, she told us that this cultivation practice was wronged. It teaches people to be good and improves their health.
“I apologize, but I have no choice in the matter, as I was ordered to demote her from her manager's position.”
My colleagues invited me to dinner after I was released. One of them said that I was a hero returning in triumph. Even though I had endured such tremendous hardships, I still talked about how good Falun Gong was. It was amazing!
My salary was withheld for over a year, and I was monitored around the clock in 2002. An officer from the provincial level examined my department and recognized that our work was professional and met the standards. He asserted that our department must have experienced and highly knowledgeable staff.
My colleagues told him that a Falun Gong practitioner, despite great suffering and facing tribulations, was responsible for the work that was done.
I submitted my application for an upgrade to the senior engineer position five times. I was not selected, as too many people were applying for it. My line manager asked me to talk to the department manager, who also acknowledged my contribution to the company.
The department manager, although busy, took a minute to talk to me when I approached him. He asked me if I still practiced Falun Gong, which surprised me.
“You just want to improve your health,” he said. “I also practice a qigong. I saw that Falun Gong was practiced everywhere outside of China. Only the CCP persecutes Falun Gong.”
I left without mentioning anything about my application for the job upgrade. My application was then submitted to the provincial department, and I was awarded the title of “senior engineer.”
A friend of mine who worked there called immediately to congratulate me: “Keep practicing Falun Gong diligently. Please ask your master to bless me as well.”
I was arrested by staff from the 610 Office because I refused to write articles maligning Falun Gong. I was detained for six months in a detention center, where I met a few just and kind police officers.
A female political instructor said to us, “Jiang Zemin treats good people like that? When will it end?”
A guard saw us doing the Falun Gong exercises. He murmured to himself, “I didn't see you. You go ahead. I will look the other way.”
We studied and recited the Fa, did the exercises, and clarified the truth every day in the detention center. Not even one practitioner wrote a guarantee statement about giving up their faith. The 610 Office staff took us to an isolated brainwashing center. We continued studying the Fa, did the exercises, and clarified the truth there.
Provincial level officials ordered us to learn Tai Chi and assigned someone to teach us. We were ordered to stand in line. Officers from different organizations and departments, as well as armed police officers, watched us.
A practitioner who was an army officer stood in front of us and shouted: “The First Exercise: Buddha Stretching A Thousand Arms.” After he finished the verse we did the movements. The armed police officers and soldiers watched throughout that first exercise.
Then they ordered us to stop. We kept doing the exercise. They pulled our arms and forced us to stop. The brainwashing center was closed down shortly after this incident.
Some of the practitioners, including me, were taken to a detention center and some were transferred to a forced labor camp.
The director of the detention center was glad to see us and said, “You people are marvelous! You closed down the brainwashing center.”
I was reported to the police in 2002 because I said that Jiang Zemin was wrong to persecute Falun Gong. I was detained at the No. 2 Detention Center for over two months.
At the detention center, a guard took me to the cell. Some of the inmates jeered, “Falun Gong, Falun Gong.” He stopped them and said, “What's wrong with Falun Gong? They have good values. You should learn from them.”