‘Practicing one’s faith should not be a crime,’ Yao’s son said.
A Chinese exile living in Japan is calling for the release of his mother, who is locked up in a Chinese detention center on Article 300 charges, a vague law passed in China in October 1999 to justify the regime’s persecution of Falun Gong.
Yao Jiaxiu, a 70-year-old Falun Gong practitioner, was detained on Sept. 20 by the Xichang Public Security Bureau and is being held at the Xiaomiao Detention Center in Xichang City, Sichuan Province, according to Gong Jinjun, Yao’s son.
“My mother has been detained illegally for her faith,” Gong said.
“I want to call upon the Japanese government and parliamentarians to urge the Chinese government to release my mother,” Gong told the Chinese language edition of The Epoch Times at a human rights rally outside a government building in Tokyo that houses Japan’s top legislative bodies on Nov. 8.
The day after Yao was detained, the Xichang Public Security Bureau gave her family in China a criminal detention notice, referring to Article 300.
A 2023 U.S. Department of State report on International Religious Freedom focusing on China said that while the constitution of the Chinese regime says that Chinese citizens enjoy freedom of belief, it “limits protections for religious practice to ‘normal religious activities’ without defining ‘normal.’”
The regime recognizes five official religions: Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Protestantism, and Catholicism. However, the report says, “Regulations require clergy to pledge allegiance to the CCP and socialism.”
In September 2023 measures were added that religious activity should “uphold the leadership of the [Chinese Communist Party] CCP, implement ‘Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics.’”
It added that religious content should “reflect ‘socialist core values.’”
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual self-cultivation practice with five slow-moving and gentle exercises, and moral teaching that truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance is the characteristic of the universe. It encourages people to assimilate to this characteristic in their day-to-day life.
Falun Gong was introduced to the public in 1992 and became widely popular in China in the late ‘90s.
In July 1999, then-CCP head Jiang Zemin viewed Falun Gong’s moral teachings and growing popularity as a threat to the rule of the CCP. At the time, there were an estimated 70 million to 100 million followers of Falun Gong in China. Jiang launched a campaign of persecution to eradicate the practice.
Spiritual Practice
Yao has been a practitioner of Falun Gong since 1995. According to Gong, his mother turned to Falun Gong after suffering from multiple chronic illnesses.
Gong said that his father had searched for ways to improve her health. One night, his father came back home with a copy of “Zhuan Falun”—the main book of Falun Gong.
“Reading ‘Zhuan Falun’ changed her life,” Gong said, adding that her symptoms cleared up.
Decades of Persecution
On July 20, 1999, under orders from then-leader Jiang Zemin, the CCP launched a nationwide campaign against Falun Gong, resulting in widespread reports of harassment, house raids, detention, imprisonment, and torture.
Agents of the Chinese regime tried to force Yao to renounce her belief in Falun Gong, but she refused. Her refusal resulted in multiple arrests and prolonged periods of abuse.
Her first arrest dates back to October 1999, when she traveled to Beijing to the national appeals office to appeal for Falun Gong. She was detained and taken back to her hometown.
Over the years, Yao has endured numerous stints in labor camps, brainwashing centers, and prison.
She has endured numerous forms of torture, including being bound in painful positions and being hung from an iron door for hours, according to Minghui.org, a website that documents the ongoing persecution of Falun Gong.
Other torture methods she endured include: hands cuffed to her back, feet cuffed until bleeding, forced feeding, death bed, being shocked by electric batons, and numerous beatings by police and inmates.
Family Plea for Help
“I am deeply worried about her safety. She’s been through so much, and now she is detained again,” Gong said. “It’s devastating for her and for our entire family.”
The Luzhou Public Security Bureau has denied Yao access to legal representation, claiming her lawyer has met with her three times, though only one meeting has been confirmed, he said.
“Practicing one’s faith should not be a crime,” Gong said, appealing for an end to the persecution of Falun Gong in China.
Zhang Yiwen contributed to this report.