According to a report on the minghui.org website on August 20, 2007, Falun Gong practitioner Xiong Wenqi recently revealed that he was tortured at Shanghai Tilanqiao Prison. Because of his faith in Falun Gong, Mr. Xiong was savagely beaten, and as a result his scalp was so badly lacerated that his skull was exposed, he was paralyzed from the waist down, and his blood pressure dropped to 40/21 resulting in shock.
The 35-year-old Mr. Xiong Wenqi had been an employee of the Industrial and Commercial Administration in Putuo District of Shanghai. He started practicing Falun Gong in 1997. The Chinese communist regime banned Falun Gong in 1999, and Mr. Xiong thought that the government suppression of practitioners must be because of some misunderstanding. Out of trust in the government, he sent 17 letters to authorities at various levels, explaining about the merits of Falun Gong. In those letters, Mr. Xiong described the positive changes in his mind and body resulting from the practice of Falun Gong to show that Falun Gong had every benefit, not an ounce of harm, for the state and the citizens of China.
Hence, he was arrested every time he petitioned for Falun Gong, and each time he was arrested the Shanghai Tilanqiao Prison would torture him until he almost died before releasing him on medical parole. As soon as he recovered a little, he would be picked up again. In the years he was being held at the Shanghai Tilanqiao Prison, he was put in solitary confinement, allowed no visits from his family or friends, and tied to a bed for a year. There were times when he could not control his bladder and bowels. Eventually, the muscles in his whole body began to atrophy and he became paralyzed from the waist down.
