Fifteen Years Apart: Mass Arrests Target Over 20 Falun Gong Practitioners in Yongxing County, Hunan Province

In a disturbing recurrence of religious persecution, mass arrests in Hunan Province— separated by fifteen years—targeted the same group of Falun Gong practitioners. These included Ms. Li Qun’e and Ms. Cao Shuiju, who have endured prolonged detention, violence, extortion, and unjust sentencing for their peaceful spiritual practice. According to a June 3 report by Minghui.org, Ms. Li was transferred to Hunan Women’s Prison in February.

On November 22, 2009, 29 Falun Gong practitioners in Yongxing County, Chenzhou, Hunan Province, gathered at a private residence to study Falun Gong teachings and share experiences, according to Minghui.org. Yet, shortly after noon, the gathering was violently disrupted by dozens of officers from the Domestic Security Division, the Chengnan Police Station, and the 610 Office—an extralegal agency established by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to persecute Falun Gong. They forced their way into the home by coercing the homeowner’s husband to unlock the door. What followed was a brutal assault and mass arrest.

An elderly female practitioner attempted to reason with the officers, saying, “You also have friends—we are just gathering like friends.” Before she could finish, a Chengnan officer grabbed her by the hair and struck her in the face. When a male practitioner questioned the violence, the same officer shoved the elderly woman onto a sofa and began beating the man. At least four practitioners were assaulted during the raid.

All 29 practitioners were detained. The police acted more like raiders than law enforcement, dragging away individuals who practiced the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. During the ensuing interrogations, they were forced to be fingerprinted. Those over 60 were released the same day, but only after their families were extorted—some paying between 3,000 and 4,000 yuan. Younger practitioners, including Ms. Li Qun’e and Ms. Cao Shuiju, were sent to detention centers.

The persecution extended beyond physical abuse and detention. The 610 Office harassed family members and workplaces of the detained. The official work units of the detained received a “fine” of 5,500 yuan per arrested practitioner. If the practitioner was unemployed, then their spouse’s workplace was fined the same amount. Many employers turned the financial burden onto the employees, forcing them to pay directly.

Eventually, Ms. Li and another practitioner were sent to forced labor camps when their families could not pay the extortion fees. Ms. Cao was released temporarily due to health issues, only to be scooped up again until her family paid over 4,000 yuan.

Fifteen years later, on July 20, 2024, a nearly identical scenario unfolded. Over 200 personnel from the Domestic Security Division, special police units, local police stations, and community offices in Yongxing County, launched a coordinated and violent crackdown on more than 20 Falun Gong practitioners and their families. Officers forcibly entered homes—some using power saws to cut through doors—ransacked properties, assaulted residents, and carried out mass arrests.

Ms. Li Qun’e refused to open her door. In response, officers cut a large hole in it and forcibly entered, confiscating personal belongings and abducting her to the Yongxing County Detention Center. Mr. Luo Shiyong, the husband of practitioner Li Guifeng, was severely beaten when he tried to stop police from stealing from his home. He was hospitalized due to his injuries, and authorities barred Li Guifeng from visiting him.

All detained practitioners were fingerprinted and had their footprints and blood samples taken. These samples were likely used for biometric surveillance.

Elderly practitioners including Li Manju (70), Xu Jiangbin (70), Cao Guozhu (80), Xiao Xiangping (70), Ms. Zhu (in her 80s), and Feng Baolan (70) were released the same day due to their  ages, though not without harassment. Some others were detained up to 15 days, while key targets of this crackdown—Li Qun’e, Xu Xunyan, Liu Jinhua, Cao Shuiju, and Li Guifeng—were transferred to detention centers. Months later, families learned that Ms. Li Qun’e had been secretly sentenced to four years in prison and, in February 2025, was transferred to the Hunan Provincial Women’s Prison. Ms. Cao Shuiju was also sentenced—to one and a half years.

The two mass arrests in Yongxing County—separated by 15 years yet targeting many of the same Falun Gong practitioners—reveal a deeply entrenched and increasingly severe pattern of religious persecution by Chinese authorities.

In 2009, 29 practitioners were violently arrested while peacefully gathering to study Falun Gong teachings. Elderly individuals were beaten; others were extorted, and their families fined thousands of yuan. Though brutal, the authorities largely relied on short-term detentions, economic penalties, and re-education through labor camps—a practice that skirted formal judicial procedures.

By 2024, the suppression had grown more forceful and legally opaque. Authorities mobilized over 200 personnel and used military-style forced entries, including cutting into doors with power tools. Victims were again beaten, but this time, secret prison sentences replaced labor camps. Practitioners like Ms. Li Qun’e and Ms. Cao Shuiju, previously detained in 2009, were now formally sentenced to years in prison, often without legal representation or family notification.

Notably, the shift from labor camps to long-term prison sentences reflects a broader national trend following the abolition of the re-education through labor system in 2013. Instead of easing the repression, the change has resulted in more covert and prolonged imprisonment, often under vague charges like “subverting state power” or “using cult organizations to undermine law enforcement.”

These cases demonstrate not only continuity but escalation: the same individuals targeted in 2009 are being punished again with harsher tools in 2024, despite committing no crime under Chinese law. Their sole ”offense” remains the peaceful practice of Falun Gong and adherence to the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance.

Such repeated, targeted persecution over more than a decade illustrates the CCP’s sustained effort to erase Falun Gong from public life—and the resilience of those who refuse to abandon their faith in the face of relentless oppression.