(Minghui.org) Fifty-year-old Ms. Tang Weimin is the daughter of the deputy director of the Shanghai National Painting Academy, Mr. Tang Zentong. She was an employee of the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center prior to the onset of the persecution of Falun Gong.
When the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) implemented the persecution of Falun Gong in 1999, Ms. Tang found a copy of Zhuan Falun and read the entire book. She then realized that the slanderous media reports were completely different from the teachings in the book: One of the tenets of Falun Gong (also called Falun Dafa) is that practitioners cannot commit suicide; only those who strictly follow the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance are considered true practitioners.
Ms. Tang was certain this practice was what she had been looking for. Although the situation in China was extremely oppressive for Falun Gong practitioners back then, she took up the practice without hesitation.
Falun Gong completely opened up Ms. Tang's worldview. Being the youngest daughter, she was spoiled by her family and was very self-centered. She then learned to understand others from their perspective.
Her colleagues also noticed the changes in her. She no longer blindly followed the various trends in the literary and art circles. Ms. Tang learned to be discerning and self-disciplined. She understood the meaning of having a higher purpose in life and wanted to share what she had found with everyone and to clarify the truth about Falun Gong.
Ms. Tang was initially sent to a brainwashing center in 2000 after the 610 Office put pressure on her work unit. She was forced to transfer to another job, and her family was also coerced into pressuring her to renounce her belief. Her husband was later threatened by the authorities to the point that he divorced her.
After she was released from the brainwashing center, Ms. Tang became homeless to avoid further persecution. She was exhausted physically and mentally from the persecution and unable to recall many business-related issues after she returned to work.
Ms. Tang was arrested and held in the Shanghai Detention Center in 2002. She was then detained briefly at the Xuhui District Detention Center in October 2007 before being sent to a brainwashing center.
She was arrested again and detained in the Xuhui District Detention Center in February 2008. She was then sent back to the brainwashing center and detained there another eight months. She was released in November 2008.
Ms. Tang was also arrested on December 31, 2008, and later subjected to one year of forced labor, where she was forced to stand for prolonged periods of time and forced to sit on a small stool for long periods – an extremely painful torture. Ms.Tang was tortured by regular force-feedings and forced to ingest unknown drugs.
Before being sent to the camp, Ms. Tang appeared to be in her early 20s and was clear-minded, optimistic, and cheerful. She initially used reason to challenge any attempts the guards made to transform her.
When they found out that she was effective in reasoning with other practitioners who had been brainwashed, Ms. Tang was put in solitary confinement and monitored by drug offenders. They abused her and forced her to watch videos and read slanderous propaganda about Falun Gong.
She was deprived of sleep and forced to write “thought reports.” It is not known what she endured during the confinement period. Several months later, when she was released, Ms. Tang had completely changed; she was extremely weak and disoriented. She remained under constant surveillance and lost her job.
Ms. Tang was reported to the police after she was found listening to Falun Gong music on a bus. She was handcuffed and taken to a local police station. She was later detained in the Changning District Detention Center for a month, then transferred to the Xuhui District Mental Health Center.
Ms. Tang told the director of the mental hospital that she was a Falun Gong practitioner and was capable of tending to herself. She asserted that they should not forcibly hold her against her will. The director said that the order to hold her there came from a higher authority.
Ms. Tang repeatedly explained to the doctors that she should not be held in the hospital and forced to take psychiatric drugs. However, she was given forced-feedings three times a day by a team that held her down and pried open her mouth with a spoon. Ms. Tang's teeth became loose as a result of this abuse.
The attending doctor said she could be discharged three months later. However, the 610 Office pressured the hospital into keeping her and continuing with the regimen of force-fed drugs. Ms. Tang experienced side effects, which included auditory hallucinations and an overall decline in health. She had been petite with dark hair, but now her hair is almost completely white, and she suffers from bloating.
Ms. Tang was held in the mental hospital for nearly two years, and her family was forced to provide a guarantee statement to the 610 Office and pay the hospital 8,000 yuan before they were allowed to take her home.
Ms. Tang remained under close surveillance after she returned home. Staff from the local residential committee often came to check on her. Her neighbor below her was also designated to monitor her. The police often harassed her elderly 80-year-old mother as well.
Less than six months later, Ms. Tang was arrested again on August 7, 2018. Police from the Xuhui District Police Department broke into her home and took her to the Xuhui District Detention Center. Her condition is unknown at present.
We urge all those with information about Ms. Tang Weimin to expose any details.
Parties Involved in Persecuting Ms. Tang:Lu Yaodoing (吕耀东), head of Xuhui District Police Department: +86-2164861337Qiu Zhonghui (邱仲辉), head of Xuhui District 610 Office: +86-2164875589Guo Liming (郭黎明), head of Xuhui District Detention Center: +86-2154354692