A Chinese student pursuing her MBA at Missouri State University, traveled to Washington D.C. this week to seek help for her mother, who is wrongfully imprisoned in China.
Pang Jin, said her mother was again kidnapped and detained in July last year, during the crackdown on the spiritual practice of Falun Gong prior to the Beijing Olympics.
Pang has sought to rescue her mother, Cao Junping, since.
Mayor Leads Persecution
Cao and eight other practitioners were arrested in 2000, and sent to a local prison for practicing the Falun Gong exercises in a courtyard.
“My mother later described to me the night she was taken away and beaten,” Pang said.
“The mayor led a group of people to make her take off her clothes in the bitter cold winter. They hit her with a club and asked her if she will continue practicing Falun Gong. She said, ‘Yes,’ and they continued beating her.
“They dragged her on the ground by pulling her hair. They tortured her like that for 11 days and extorted 2,500 yuan ($350) from my dad When she was released and returned home, I saw her body was covered with pus and scabs. She did not have an inch of intact skin and her front teeth were knocked out.”
Propaganda Rife in Launch of Persecution
In the summer of 1999, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) launched the crackdown and persecution of Falun Gong nationwide.
“At that time, the pressure fell on us so suddenly that it felt like a falling rock,” Pang recalls.
“I remember one day as I was walking down the street with my sister, we could hear the loud and endless slandering language about Falun Dafa and the Teacher [Li Hongzhi] from the radio through the mobile speaker. My heart was torn. I was young and confused. I could not understand why and how this could happen overnight.”
Pang said her mother explained the truth of the persecution to everyone around her to help correct the lies spread from the Communist Party’s propaganda.
“I saw how my mom reacted. She said, ‘[Falun] Dafa has saved my life and I know what [Falun] Dafa really is.’”
Life-Changing Practice
Her mother used to suffer from severe skin ringworm, contracted in a heavy rain shower, Pang said. The itchiness and pain from the condition made Cao lose her temper easily.
Pang recalls: “I still remember how painful it was for my mom each night when my dad helped her to change her medicine patches. My mom never held me for fear of getting me infected. It is a painful and sad memory.”
In 1995, Cao started practicing Falun Gong, also called Falun Dafa, a meditation practice that rapidly grew in popularity in China in the 1990s—in part because of many people recovering from illness after practicing.
“Since then, I witnessed how my mom’s skin returned to normal,” Pang said. “Not only physically, but also psychologically, she completely changed. She became energetic. She became patient, calm, and kind.”
Seeing the results on her mother, Pang also started practicing Falun Gong. She said that between 1995 and 1999, people who practiced Falun Gong came to realize and appreciate the immense physical and mental benefits of practicing.
Ten Years of Persecution
When the Chinese regime started the persecution of Falun Gong, Pang Jin was only 15 years old.
The 10 years of persecution has had a tremendous impact on her. She has witnessed many instances of persecution, including her aunt, uncle, and grandparents—how their homes have been raided and how they have been beaten. Many other practitioners from her area have been tortured to death.
“I have lived almost half of my lifetime in the persecution. I worry about my parents all the time. Whenever my phone calls do not go through, my heart sinks. Before the Olympic Games, I tried to call home one day, day and night, but no one answered,” Pang said.
It was revealed later that Pang’s mother was imprisoned. The house was raided twice. Her father, not a Falun Gong practitioner, was also arrested and imprisoned for a month. After his release, he lost his job.
Mission to Rescue
Cao has now been imprisoned for nine months.
During that time, Pang has directed all her efforts to help rescue her mother. She has collected signatures on her campus, and has written letters to the Congress and President Obama.
As a result, 17 members of Congress have sent letters to Jiang Yikang of the Shandong Provincial Communist Party Committee, demanding the immediate release of Cao.
The Congress members have also delivered a request to President Obama’s assistant to secure the unconditional release of Cao.
“Living in the land of freedom, my heart still worries for my home,” Pang said. “Every day, there are so many torture cases published on the Minghui [clearwisdom.net] Web site. Many of them are practitioners who I have known in the past and who have been as close as my own aunts and uncles. I miss my parents and fellow practitioners.
“I hope there’s something I can do to help people realize what’s going on in China. Only when there’s a voice of support and a voice of justice will the extinction of the evil occur naturally.”
Friends Read Free