Investigative Report on the Persecution of Falun Gong by Zhao Shiju

Former Deputy Party Secretary of Hebei Province and Chief of Maintaining Society Stability Leading Group

December 31, 2020

Full Name of Perpetrator: Zhao (last name) Shiju (first name) (赵世居)

Gender: Male

Country: China

Date/year of Birth: March of 1944

Place of Birth: Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province

Title or Position:

October 1998 - January 2004: Deputy Party Secretary of Hebei Province. Chief of Maintaining Society Stability Leading Group.[1][2]

January 2004 - December 2004: Deputy Party Secretary of Hebei Province. Deputy Director of the Standing Committee of the 10th People's Congress of Hebei Province.

December 2004 - January 2008: Deputy Director of the Standing Committee of the 10th People's Congress of Hebei Province. Representative of the 14th, 15th, and 17th National Congress of CCP.

Now: Retired

Major crimes

Hebei Province was one of the provinces in China where Falun Gong practitioners were most severely persecuted. According to information released by Minghui, 103 Falun Gong practitioners were confirmed to be persecuted to death in Hebei Province from the start of the persecution until April 2004. The death toll was ranked the fifth highest in the country.[3]

The group that was chiefly responsible for persecuting Falun Gong practitioners in Hebei Province was the “Leadership Group of the Hebei Provincial Party Committee for Dealing with Falun Gong Issues.” The corresponding government agencies for the group were the “Leadership Group for the Preventing and Handling of Cults of the Provincial Government” (in the second half of 2002, the official name of the group was changed to the “Maintaining Societal Stability Leading Group”) and the “Office for the Preventing and Treating Cult Issues” (or the “610 Office”). In March 2002, the Hebei Provincial Spiritual Civilization Construction Committee and the “610 Office” issued a document to categorize the activities of persecuting Falun Gong as activities to create spiritual civilization.[4] Zhao Shiju, as Deputy Party Secretary and the Chief of the Maintaining Societal Stability Leading Group, was fully responsible for encouraging the persecution against Falun Gong practitioners.

Zhao Shiju was Deputy Party Secretary of Hebei Province from October 1998 to January 2004. He closely followed Jiang Zemin’s orders to persecute Falun Gong and directly participated in torturing Falun Gong practitioners. On February 6, 2001, he attended the “Swearing-off Meeting of 100,000 Youths” against Falun Gong in Hebei Province.[5] He attended the meeting of the Leadership Group for “Sweeping Porn and Fighting Cults,” and mentioned in the meeting that confiscation of Falun Gong publications was “the most important thing.”[6] From July 22 to 24, 2001, he went to Langfang City and encouraged the persecution of Falun Gong.[7] He also delivered many speeches on suppressing Falun Gong and “brainwashing” of Falun Gong practitioners at the Provincial Law-Enforcement Commendation Meeting, the Provincial Congress Meeting, and the Provincial Political and Legal Work Conference.[8][9] According to Minghui, more than 1,400 Falun Gong practitioners were arrested in Zhanjiakou City alone in 2000.

On February 8, 2002, Falun Gong practitioner Jiang Suhua, 50 years old, from Chicheng County was arrested by the Chicheng County police and tortured at the Chicheng County Detention Center. Around 1AM on March 3, she was cruelly tortured to death. The hospital examination proved that Jiang Suhua was murdered. She was seriously injured due to severe beatings, to the point where she could not move or eat. In addition, the workers in the detention center did not give her medical treatment in time. Her case has also received attention from the United Nations.[10]

Falun Gong practitioner Xiong Fengxia from Baoding City was persecuted to death in October 2002 at a brainwashing class in Dingxing County (an alleged education class which forced Falun Gong practitioners to abandon their beliefs). From the photos below of Xiong Fengxia, it is evident that she suffered from inhumane torture.[11]

Zhao Shiju also directly participated in the “brainwashing” of Falun Gong practitioners. For example, an article was posted in the People's Daily on March 10, 2000 titled, “The nightmare wakes up in the morning - the conversion of a doctoral student who practiced Falun Gong.” In the article, Ye Liansong, Party Secretary of Hebei Province, learned of the situation of Duan Qiuzhe, and discussed her forced conversion with Deputy Party Secretary Zhao Shiju.[12]

In August 2001, the “Hebei Provincial Legal Education and Training Center” (a forced brainwashing center for persecuting Falun Gong practitioners in Hebei Province) was established by the Party Committee of Hebei Province, the Provincial “610 Office,” and the City of Shijiazhuang. The center originated from the third team of the Shijiazhuang Labor Camp. The main administrative staff and workers were almost entirely composed of the workers of the labor camp and the policemen who were the most active in persecuting Falun Gong practitioners. Zhao Shiju, Deputy Party Secretary of Hebei Province, praised the training center as the “first-class in the province.” The brainwashing center won second prize at the 2002 Hebei Province Ideological and Political Work Innovation Awards. It is effectively the nucleus for persecuting Falun Gong practitioners in Hebei Province.[13]

On March 1, 2002, Falun Gong practitioner Yang Yun was arrested and sent to the brainwashing center. From 8AM to midnight, he was continuously interrogated with no breaks to the extent that he could not breathe, his skin color turned purple and his face turned blue. He sweated all over his body and almost passed out. In the afternoon of the next day, Yang Yun was taken back by his company. Due to the torture he endured in the brainwashing center, Yang Yun suffered severe physical and mental damage and passed away on April 19, 2003. Falun Gong practitioners Zhou Wenli and Li Huiyun were also persecuted in the brainwashing center and became mentally unstable as a result.[14]

Zhao Shiju loyally carried out Luo Gan’s strategy, to “attack Falun Gong for consecutive six months.” He forced all the local governments in Hebei Province to recruit more policemen to fulfill this initiative.[15]

During the SARS epidemic in 2003, Zhao Shiju’s requested that the local governments emulate the City of Chengde’s strategy of using SARS to crack down on Falun Gong.[16] According to a report from the Falun Dafa Information Center on June 6, 2003, policemen of Hebei Province arrested 180 Falun Gong practitioners for spreading comments about SARS.[17] More than 20 Falun Gong practitioners were arrested in Zhangjiakou City, including Yang Yufang. These arrested Falun Gong practitioners were tortured by electric batons, tiger benches, and forcibly fed saltwater. Many of them were injured and wounded. An unknown number of them were persecuted to death. On June 16, 2003, Yang Yufang was beaten to death. When she passed away, her skin was purple, and blood covered her body.[18]

Note: The CCP’s persecution against Falun Gong is a religious persecution. The purpose of the persecution is to force Falun Gong practitioners to give up their belief. In this process, the so-called “educational transformation” is no different than “brainwashing.”

In April 2003, the “Spring Thunder” activity by Hebei Province caused numerous deaths and injuries to Falun Gong practitioners. The “Spring Thunder” activity was supported by the Minister of Public Security, Zhou Yongkang, and announced publicly by Liu Jing, Deputy Director of the Ministry of Public Security and Deputy Director of the “610 Office” for the central government. It was widely promoted around the country by all the “610 Offices” and the Ministry of Justice.[19],[20]

As the Deputy Party Secretary of Hebei Province and Chief of the Maintaining Societal Stability Leading Group, Zhao Shiju was directly responsible for the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in Hebei Province during his tenure.

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Reference

[1] http://web.archive.org/web/20181014032558/https://www.zhuichaguoji.org/node/194

[2] https://web.archive.org/web/20050409112048/http://news.sina.com.cn/c/2001-12-09/415884.html

[3] English: http://en.minghui.org/emh/articles/2004/8/7/51125.html

[4]https://web.archive.org/web/20191118003650/http://cyfd.cnki.com.cn/Article/N2004090124000088.htm

[5] https://web.archive.org/web/20050928072044/http://www.ccyl.org.cn/jpflg/file/jpflg20010207h.htm

[6] http://web.archive.org/web/20181014032558/https://www.zhuichaguoji.org/node/194

[7] https://web.archive.org/web/20191023043201/http://www.lfdag.com/dashiji/langfangdashiji1984-2010/2001nian/2017-09-12/364.html

[8] http://web.archive.org/web/20181014032558/https://www.zhuichaguoji.org/node/194

[9] http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2004/3/29/71132.html

[10] http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2013/4/29/-272638.html