(Minghui.org) A 70-year-old resident of Yinchuan City, Ningxia Autonomous Region was arrested on February 21, 2024 for her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
Ms. Xin Linyuan is currently held at the Dawukou District Detention Center in Shizuishan City, which is also in Ningxia and borders Yinchuan City.
The latest arrest of Ms. Xin, a former accountant at the Ningguang Electrical Co., Ltd., was triggered by her prior arrest on May 15, 2022. Officer Liu from the Dawukou District Domestic Security Office led several agents and raided her home that day. They filled out the search warrant on the spot. About one hour later, two officers, including Wang Man from the Yinchuan City Domestic Security Office, also came to raid Ms. Xin’s home. Neither group of officers had her or her family sign the list of confiscated items as required by law. She was not given a copy of the list either.
The police took Ms. Xin to the Shizuishan City Police Station, but soon released her on bail because the local detention center declined to admit her due to a local outbreak of COVID-19.
The Dawukou District Domestic Security Office called Ms. Xin’s husband on June 13, 2022, ordering him and his wife to report to them. The couple’s car was hit and totaled while they were en-route to the Domestic Security Office the next day. They notified the Domestic Security Office and were told to take care of the accident first and report to the police in a few days.
While the couple were still reeling from their car accident, the Dawukou District Domestic Security Office threatened to sentence Ms. Xin to 4-7 years for her faith in Falun Gong. In order to avoid being sentenced, she lived away from home for a period of time. The police tracked her down and arrested her on February 21, 2024.
Ms. Xin took up Falun Gong in 1996 and was repeatedly targeted for her faith after the persecution began in 1999. She was arrested and had her home raided multiple times prior to her latest ordeal.
Ms. Xin went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong in late October 2000 and was stopped at the Tiananmen Square by two officers. They questioned if she practiced Falun Gong and she remained silent. They took her to the Tiananmen Police Station, where a tall and heavy-built officer beat her savagely before putting her in a metal cage. She was not given anything to eat and was not allowed to use the restroom. One day later, she was moved to the Ningxia Liaison Office in Beijing, where officials seized the only 300 yuan cash that she had with her.
Tang Xiaolan and Dong (first name unknown) from the Jiefangxi Street Police Station in Yinchuan, along with human resources personnel from Ms. Xin’s workplace, picked her up from the Liaison Office two days later and brought her back to Yinchuan. They raided her home and confiscated her Falun Gong books.
Since then, Ms. Xin has become a key target for persecution. The police, her employer, and the street committee harassed her frequently and ordered her to renounce Falun Gong.
On February 9, 2002, three days before the Chinese New Year, officers from the Jiefangxi Street Police Station raided her home and took her into custody. They led her to believe that she’d be released as soon as the interrogation was done, but they instead took her to the Yinchuan City Lockup to serve a 15-day detention. She spent the Chinese New Year in detention and her family was worried sick.
The Jiefangxi Street Police Station officers raided Ms. Xin’s home one more time in 2002 and another time in early 2003. Both times they took her to the police station for interrogation.
In June 2003, officer Dong from the Jiefangxi Street Police Station took Ms. Xin to a brainwashing center and held her there for more than two months.
Ms. Xin was arrested in Wuzhong City (also in Ningxia) in August 2007 when she went there to visit other Falun Gong practitioners. She was detained for two days.
Officer Zhou from the Jiefangxi Street Police Station took Ms. Xin to a brainwashing center in mid-September 2007 and held her there for nearly two months.
Ms. Xin went to visit another practitioner in 2008 when more than twenty officers pried open the door and broke in. Both of them were detained for one day.
After her home in Xingqing District was raided yet another time in June 2010, Ms. Xin was forced to go into hiding and rented a place in Xinshi District in Yinchuan. Her rental place was raided in August 2011 and she was held at the Yinchuan City Detention Center for 27 days.
Ms. Xin returned to her own home after being released, only to see two officers from the Jiefangxi Street Police Station show up on April 5, 2017. They attempted to take her picture and she stopped them. They left without arresting her.
From July 2020 to 2021, Ms. Xin was harassed a few more times by the police and the street committee.