PureInsight | August 28, 2024
[PureInsight.org] July 20th, 1999, was a day that Li Yuanhua will never forget. It was also the first day that a large number of Falun Gong practitioners who went to the government for peaceful petitions were arrested by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). At that time, Li Yuanhua was teaching at a university in Beijing. He was one of these petitioners and witnessed this part of the history of Falun Gong's anti-persecution movement.
On July 20th, 1999, former CCP leader Jiang Zemin ordered the suppression of Falun Gong, leading to mass petitions by Falun Gong practitioners and the subsequent 7/20 mass arrests. Li Yuanhua, an associate professor in the Department of History Education at the former Capital Normal University, had won the university's Excellent Lecturer Award for three consecutive years. After he began practicing Falun Gong in 1994, his hepatitis B disappeared. After the CCP's crackdown on Falun Gong, he was forced to leave his home after repeated persecution and moved to Australia.
The following experience was 25 years ago, he experienced petitioning in Beijing on July 20th and the persecution he endured after that.
Experiencing the 7/20 Mass Arrests in Beijing
In the morning of July 20, 1999, the streets of Beijing were sparsely populated. My Mom, Tao Yuefang, and I rode our bicycles along Chang'an Avenue towards the State Council's Appeals Office.
My Mom had just come back from Australia on the 19th. She heard that several Falun Gong practitioners in Beijing had been arrested by the police. In the morning of the 20th, we decided to go to the State Council's Appeals Office, which was not far from our home, to clarify the truth to the government.
We were among the first to arrive, but soon, more and more people came.
Then, several groups of police arrived and started forcibly taking people away. Initially, uniformed police officers came, followed by local police and armed police, and finally, riot police arrived, gradually escalating the situation. The ordinary police officers were the ones pulling people away at first. Then, at least dozens of police cars arrived, creating a terrifying atmosphere. It was the first time I saw riot police in full gear, dressed in black and carrying shields.
Buses also arrived and took people away in groups. We held hands, and those behind held the waists of those in front, forming a single unit. As a young man at the time, I stood in the front row with my mother holding my waist, and others behind us held onto each other.
Despite this, the police still managed to pull me away and tried to push me into a bus. I resisted by holding onto the bus door with both hands. About five or six policemen were behind me, some grabbing my head, some hitting my head, and others kicking me. My clothes were torn. They kept beating me until I couldn't hold on anymore and was forced onto the bus.
We were taken to Fengtai Stadium. On the way, everyone was chanting slogans. I later heard that another group was taken to Shijingshan Stadium.
It was the dog days of summer, and we were sitting on the field in the sports stadium. The gates around us were open, and people could leave. A loudspeaker kept urging people to leave, but few did. Soon, the field was filled with people, probably thousands. Of course, there were also spies among us. Those spies couldn't help but go outside the crowd to smoke, and we knew that practitioners did not smoke, so it was clear they were not Falun Gong practitioners.
Around noon, it started to rain, and armed police arrived. I saw fellow practitioners holding umbrellas for the armed police and clarifying the truth to them.
Sent to an Unknown Place for Detention
As it was getting dark, a large number of people resembling soldiers arrived, dressed in green uniforms, truckload after truckload. They began pulling people out. I was among the last few hundred, considered the most stubborn Falun Gong practitioners. I later heard that most of the people taken away earlier were registered and then released halfway. However, our group, taken last, was sent to a place that was either a prison or a labor camp, surrounded by high walls, iron fences, tall watchtowers, and armed guards.
The bus driver drove into the courtyard, turned off the engine, locked the bus, and left. It was the dog days of summer, the bus had double-glazed windows that couldn't be opened, and it felt like an airtight container inside. The bus was packed with Falun Gong practitioners, some standing and some sitting. That day, the weather was very unusual because it became extremely cold at night. I later found out the temperature was around 16 degrees Celsius.
We were detained until the early hours of the morning before we were allowed to use the restroom. On the morning of the 21st, registration began. They asked which district we were from and then had the respective district police department come to pick us up. I was from Chongwen District and was taken by the Chongwen Branch of the Beijing Public Security Bureau. After that, we were divided by police stations. I and about twenty others from the Donghua city community were taken to the basement of the local police station.
Forced Brainwashing at the Police Station
On July 21st, my wife came to the police station with our son to demand my release, but the police wanted me to write a guarantee statement. I refused and explained to the police why I practiced Falun Gong.
In the afternoon of July 22nd, the police station forced us to watch TV programs that slandered Falun Gong, trying to brainwash us, and then had one-on-one conversations. I told the police that the propaganda was all lies.
I was considered a key target, and the deputy director of the police station, along with another officer, pressured me. They threatened me with detention and sentencing. Sometimes, they came soft, and sometimes they banged the table and glared at me. Despite these tactics, I didn't write the guarantee statement and kept telling them the truth.
Because the police needed to provide an explanation for detaining people for over 48 hours, I insisted on leaving the police station to teach at the university the next day. Around 11 p.m. on the 22nd, the head of my department and a female secretary from my university came to the police station to sign for my release.
I didn't expect that this three-day, two-night experience would change my life forever. From that moment on, our 25-year journey of resisting persecution began.
Chinese version: https://www.zhengjian.org/node/291667
