US Citizen Appeals for Help After Chinese Police Detain Her Mother for Her Faith

The family has been unable to visit her mother, who was targeted by the Chinese regime alongside the sister of another New York resident because of their faith.

Alisa Zhou holds a photo of her mother, Wang Youmei who is being persecuted in China for practicing Falun Gong, in Rockville, Md., on May 6, 2026. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times

A Maryland accountant is appealing to Americans to help free her mother and two other Falun Gong practitioners detained in China, as she fears they may never be seen again amid the communist regime’s brutal repression of the faith group.

Alisa Zhou, a U.S. citizen, addressed her plea to her federal lawmakers—Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), and Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.).

Her mother, Wang Youmei, was taken into custody by police in the central Chinese city of Wuhan on April 15, along with 16 others. All of them are practitioners of a traditional Chinese spiritual discipline called Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa.

The mass arrest came amid the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) ongoing campaign to eradicate the spiritual practice through arbitrary detention, severe torture, slave labor, sexual abuse, and even live organ harvesting. U.S. authorities have imposed sanctions on Chinese officials for assisting the regime in carrying out the human rights abuses against the faith community.

Zhou said that her mother was initially given a 15-day administrative detention. But on May 1—the day originally set for her release—the family was unable to bring her home and instead received the news that her case had been upgraded to a criminal one, with no further explanation provided.

Since then, the family has not been allowed to visit Wang.

Two other practitioners who were arrested on the same day, Tong Shuying and Wu Guihong, were also put under criminal detention, and the three were transferred to Wuhan No. 1 Detention Center on April 30, according to Minghui, a website that documents the persecution.

“I am very worried about their safety,” Zhou wrote in the letter, noting that she knows Falun Gong practitioners have been killed in China for their faith.

Last year, Minghui verified 124 deaths of practitioners as a result of the persecution. The real number is likely to be much higher, given the difficulty of getting such information out of China.

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual practice based on the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. At least 70 million Chinese people were practicing Falun Gong by 1999, according to a state survey at the time, with many citing the practice’s benefits for health and moral character. Then-Chinese leader Jiang Zemin, who found Falun Gong’s popularity unacceptable, demanded that the practice be wiped out.

Wang Youmei, in an undated photo. Courtesy of Alisa Zhou

From an early age, Zhou witnessed her family being torn apart multiple times by the CCP for practicing Falun Gong. Before the April 15 arrest, her mother had been arrested and detained by Chinese authorities at least four times for refusing to renounce her faith. The first arrest occurred when Zhou was in elementary school.

“As a kid, I was terrified and always looking out for police cars around our neighborhood,” Zhou recounted in the letter. “We lived in a state of anxiety.”

Tong Shuying

Tong Shuzhen, the older sister of Tong Shuying, came to the United States in 2016 after suffering persecution by the CCP herself. She is also appealing for help from her congressional representatives.

“I respectfully ask for your urgent assistance in helping rescue her and bringing international attention to her case,” Tong, now living in New York, wrote in a letter addressed to Rep. Pat Ryan (D-N.Y.), and Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.).

She is appealing to lawmakers to call on Chinese authorities to disclose the current condition of persecuted practitioners in China, including her sister, and ensure their safety.

Tong Shuzhen holds a photo of her younger sister Tong Shuying in Middletown, N.Y., on April 10, 2026. Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times

“Our family is extremely worried that she may face further persecution, abuse in custody, or an unjust criminal sentence simply because of her belief,” Tong wrote in the letter.

The April 15 arrest marked the fifth time her sister was arrested by the CCP. In the past, even after being released, she said her sister had continued to face frequent harassment and constant surveillance. The younger Tong initially ran an apparel store, but repeated detentions since 1999 made it impossible to keep it open, ultimately forcing her to close her business.

“My sister has not harmed anyone,” Tong Shuzhen wrote. “She is being targeted only because she peacefully practices Falun Gong and upholds her faith.”

Their appeals came a week before U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping are set to convene a summit in Beijing.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is likely to accompany the president on the China visit, told reporters on May 5 that the regime’s human rights violations remain a major concern for Washington and that the issue will be on the trip’s agenda.

“I think we’ve proven in some cases it’s most effective to raise them in the appropriate setting,“ he said. ”But we always raise those issues.”

Sarah Lu and Eva Fu contributed to this report.