(Mnighui.org) Mr. Xie Rongchun was arrested by the Erdaoqu domestic security police in Changchun City in May 2018. He has been detained in the Changchun No. 3 Detention Center ever since. His arrest was officially approved on June 22, and he was served the official document on June 25, which he refused to sign. His lawyer visited him four times and observed that Mr. Xie had lost weight, but was in good spirits.
Persecuted Four Times
This was not the first time that 48-year-old Mr. Xie was targeted for his belief in Falun Gong.
Mr. Xie was arrested in the end of 1999 for 15 days for sending emails with information about Falun Gong in Dandong City, Liaoning Province.
He was later arrested and put in a forced labor camp for a year in 2000 for printing informational materials about Falun Gong.
Practitioners in Changchun City broadcasted information about the persecution on cable TV in March 2002. Afterward, the police launched a campaign to round up all practitioners involved. As a result, Mr. Xie was put in the Weizigou Forced Labor Camp for three years, where he was tortured. His entire body was covered in scabs and he contracted TB. When he was on the verge of death, the authorities allowed his parents to take him home to seek medical treatment.
The local police continued to harass him, however, and he was forced to leave home.
Erdao District domestic security police broke into his house and arrested him on May 17, 2018. They seized his laptops and cell phone.
Background: How Mr. Xie Started Practicing Falun Gong
Mr. Xie was born into an intellectual family. Qigong was very popular in China when he was in high school, so he saved his money in hopes that he could travel to distant, famous mountains to look for Qigong masters. However, he did not find what he was looking for in his travels.
He later began to practice Buddhism. His master treated him as a disciple and taught him everything he knew. But after he practiced for 19 years, he found there was more fighting and competition within the Buddhist communities than among ordinary people. He noticed how even the monks in famous temples competed with and struggled against each other.
One day in February 1999, he overheard his next door neighbor listening to a recording of Mr. Li Hongzhi's lectures. Wanting to hear more, he went to his neighbor and asked where he could find a copy. His neighbor told him he could borrow the recording, which is how he began practicing Falun Gong.
Related article: Married Couple Arrested for Their Faith, Husband Still in Detention
