Wife of Former Chinese Diplomat on Hunger Strike After Being Imprisoned for Her Belief: Report

Falun Gong practitioners meditate as they enter the fourth day of a hunger strike in front of the Chinese Embassy in Washington, on Aug. 20, 2001. The hunger strike was in support of 130 Falun Gong practitioners who were on hunger strike in Masanjia Labor Camp, protesting their unjust detention and brutal treatment inside the camp. (Stephen Jaffe/AFP/Getty Images)

The wife of a former Chinese deputy consul in Melbourne has been on hunger strike for over 20 days, protesting against illegal imprisonment for her belief, a Minghui report says.

He Xiaoling, 66 years old, was abducted from her home on Sept. 8, 2023, and was sentenced to imprisonment of one year and eight months after a closed-door trial on that day, for her belief in Falun Gong, according to the report.

A resident of Leshan City, China’s southwestern Sichuan Province, Ms. He was once a reporter for Sichuan Business Daily and later an employee of the Leshan Giant Buddha Management Committee. The Leshan Giant Buddha is a world heritage site.

Ms. He’s imprisonment came as a result of her delivery of Falun Gong pamphlets to Luexin Police Station on Nov. 2, 2022, when police abducted her and then detained her at Suji Police Station. At the same time, local police ransacked her home without a search warrant and took away a laptop, five music players, 9 calendars bearing Falun Gong messages, and other valuables.

Falun Gong, an ancient Chinese body-mind practice based on the moral principles of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance, with five slow-moving and gentle exercises, was introduced to the public in the early 1990s and soon became popular in China for its significant physical and mental benefits. About 70 million to 100 million Chinese people were reportedly practicing Falun Gong across the country by the late 1990s.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) began to slander and suppress the practice due to its popularity in 1999. Since then, the communist regime has been persecuting Falun Gong practitioners by harassing, stalking, monitoring, detaining, arresting, and torturing them brutally, and even harvesting the organs of Falun Gong practitioners, killing them in the process.

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To stop the persecution, Falun Gong practitioners have been handing out pamphlets and other materials to the general public, CCP officials, legal and judiciary staff, and police, telling people the true information about the spiritual practice and the benefits they have experienced in the practice. Falun Gong practitioners are detained, imprisoned, and tortured for their kind and peaceful behavior of handing out information pamphlets, which is called “truth-clarification” by Falun Gong practitioners.

A little girl and her mother hand out pamphlets about the Falun Gong practice in New York on Sept. 20, 2016. (Larry Dai/Epoch Times)

Ms. He is one of these Falun Gong practitioners who tell people the truth, and the local authorities and police have been suppressing her for her belief and handing out truth-clarification pamphlets.

She was released on bail hours after she was abducted on Nov. 2 last year.

On Sept. 8, 2023, several local police officers took her from her home to a local court, where she was immediately convicted and sentenced to imprisonment of 20 months. She was then taken to a local detention center.

Neither Ms. He nor her family were notified of the court hearing in advance.

Conviction and Imprisonment Are Illegal: Chinese Lawyer

“Freedom of belief, or the right to belief, is provided for in the Chinese constitution and declared in the United Nation’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” said Wu Shaoping, a former Chinese lawyer now based in the United States.

Article 36 of China’s constitution states: “Chinese citizens have the freedom of religious belief. No state organs, social organizations, or individuals shall compel citizens to believe in or not believe in any religion, and shall not discriminate against citizens who believe in or do not believe in any religion.”

Mr. Wu said that Ms. He’s conviction is against Chinese law and human rights.

“She was sentenced to prison for only telling the police about her belief. This shows that Chinese citizens have been completely deprived of their freedom of belief by the communist regime,” said Mr. Wu.

Reenactment of policemen using a force-feeding torture method on a Falun Gong practitioner that occurred at the Hongqiao District Detention Center in Tianjin, China. (Courtesy of Minghui.org)

“In addition, she is entitled to the right of speech—she was only telling them the truth,” added Mr. Wu.

“The CCP has no right to deprive Chinese citizens of these basic human rights,” Mr. Wu told the Chinese language edition of The Epoch Times on Oct. 12.

Husband and Daughter Need Help and Care

Ms. He’s husband was a diplomat who worked in Japan and Canada before serving as a deputy consul in the Chinese Embassy in Melbourne, Australia. After returning to China, he worked in the Foreign Affairs Office of the municipal government.

Unfortunately, he developed spastic torticollis (a painful condition in which his neck muscles contract uncontrollably, causing his head to twist or turn to one side) years ago. He is almost paralyzed. Ms. He was his carer before her imprisonment.

The couple’s daughter was severely injured in an accident after she graduated from college. She hasn’t totally recovered from the accident, despite medical treatment, and cannot take care of herself. She needs Ms. He’s help, care, and love.

Call for Immediate Release of Ms. He

Mr. Wu called on the communist regime to release Ms. He immediately.

She is in poor health condition as she has been on a hunger strike for over 20 days, according to Minghui.

Ms. He was transferred to Leshan Red Cross Hospital to receive IV drips after she went on a hunger strike.

She has become very thin and weak, according to Minghui, but the police still keep her feet cuffed to the hospital bed all day long and keep a close watch on her 24 hours a day.

“There is no reason for the CCP to imprison her,” said Mr. Wu, “her husband and her daughter need her.”

“She keeps her belief, which is legal and doesn’t harm the government nor the society. That’s why she goes on a hunger strike to protest against the CCP’s persecution.”

This is the second time she has been convicted. Ms. He is appealing her latest and second prison term.

The same court—Shizhong District Court of Leshan City—previously sentenced her to one and a half years on March 9, 2017, following her arrest in mid-June 2016 for talking to people about Falun Gong on social media. Her home was also raided at that time, with her computer, music player, cell phone, and more than 40 Falun Gong books confiscated by the police.

Mr. Wu said that Ms. He should be freed immediately so that she would recover and be able to take care of her family.

“Ms. He’s case clearly reveals how ruthless the communist regime can be,” said Mr. Wu.

Qiao Song contributed to this report.