Ms. Zhang Fengxian’s death adds to a growing list of elderly Falun Gong practitioners who have lost their lives as a result of persistent and systematic persecution, underscoring the ongoing and grave risks faced by practitioners in China today.
An 81-year-old Falun Gong practitioner in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, died under suspicious circumstances after being illegally detained for less than 20 days, raising serious concerns about the treatment of elderly prisoners of conscience in China.
According to a report from a Minghui correspondent in Sichuan, Ms. Zhang Fengxian (张凤仙) was abducted from her home by police from the Funan New District Police Station on Nov. 29. She was subsequently taken to the Qingyang District Public Security Bureau and later that evening transferred to the Chengdu Detention Center in Anjing, Pixian County, where she was placed under criminal detention. On Dec.18, when detention center authorities sent her to a hospital, her heart had already stopped beating. Details surrounding her death remain under investigation.
Previous ordeals
Ms. Zhang, born in January 1945, lived in the Baiguolin Residential Community on Xian Road, Jinniu District, Chengdu. She was formerly employed at the Chengdu Yaohua Food Factory. After beginning to practice Falun Dafa in September 1996, she lived by the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. Chronic ailments she had long suffered from—including kidney prolapse, gastritis, and rheumatic pain—gradually disappeared. For nearly 30 years, she reportedly remained free of illness and medication and was in consistently good health.
Following the Chinese Communist Party’s nationwide campaign against Falun Gong launched in July 1999 under former leader Jiang Zemin, Ms. Zhang became a repeated target of harassment and persecution. Staff from the Rongguang Alley Residents’ Committee, the Baiguolin Police Station, and local government offices repeatedly went to her home or contacted her by phone, pressuring her to sign statements renouncing her faith. Police also demanded that her family restrict her personal freedom, pressure that ultimately contributed to her husband seeking a divorce. Her home phone was illegally monitored, and neighbors and friends distanced themselves due to official propaganda and fear.
On March 8, 2007, Ms. Zhang was followed and abducted by officers from the Chengdu Caotang Police Station while she was speaking to people about Falun Gong. Later that afternoon, police ransacked her home, confiscating Falun Gong books, portraits of the founder of the practice, and other personal belongings. She was then detained for 15 days at the Chengdu Detention Center.
In February 2010, Ms. Zhang was again abducted while clarifying the truth about Falun Gong in the Huayang Wan’an area. Her personal property was seized, and she was unlawfully deprived of her freedom for approximately five hours.
Last nineteen days in detention
The most recent abduction occurred at around 1:00 p.m. on Nov. 29, when seven or eight officers from the Funan New District Police Station and community personnel forced their way into her home and seized the elderly practitioner. That evening, she was illegally transferred to the Chengdu Detention Center. The Qingyang District Public Security Bureau reportedly attempted to frame her under Article 300 of the Criminal Law, a provision routinely used to criminalize Falun Gong practitioners.
On Dec. 18, detention center authorities sent Ms. Zhang to a hospital, where she was found to have no heartbeat. She died without explanation after fewer than 20 days in custody.
A previously healthy elderly woman died under unexplained circumstances shortly after being illegally detained. An 80-year-old should be a person cared for and protected in any society, not imprisoned and persecuted for her beliefs. This case warrants the urgent attention of people of conscience and justice.
The Chengdu Detention Center, located at No. 3 Zhengyi Road, Jing’an Town, Pixian County, has long been a major facility used to detain and persecute Falun Gong practitioners. Over the past two decades, countless practitioners from Chengdu, surrounding areas, and even other regions have been illegally held there, in some cases repeatedly. According to Minghui statistics, in 2024 alone, at least 171 instances of persecution against Falun Gong practitioners were documented in Chengdu, including at least 10 illegal prison sentences, 60 abductions, 99 cases of harassment, and two cases of forced brainwashing.
The Falun Dafa Information Center searched Minghui.org for persecution cases reported over the past two months and confirmed that at least four female Falun Gong practitioners remain detained at the Chengdu Detention Center: Dai Cuiping, Zhong Fangqiong, Li Guohua, and Jiang Hongyuan. All are over 60 years old, with Jiang aged 73. Given reporting constraints and information blockages, the actual number of Falun Gong practitioners currently detained there is believed to be significantly higher.
Ms. Zhang Fengxian’s death adds to a growing list of elderly Falun Gong practitioners who have lost their lives as a result of persistent and systematic persecution, underscoring the ongoing and grave risks faced by practitioners in China today.
Editor’s Note: Dear readers, do you know that Falun Dafa, originally from China, is currently practiced by people in over 100 countries? But in China, since Jul. 20, 1999, Falun Gong is defamed, slandered and persecuted due to the Chinese Communist Party’s fear of Falun Gong’s rapidly growing popularity. Jiang Zemin, former head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), perceived the spiritual discipline’s growing popularity as a threat to the CCP’s atheistic ideology.
To learn more about the persecution Falun Gong practitioners are subjected to in China, visit http://faluninfo.net/.
For more information about the practice or to download Zhuan Falun, visit: www.falundafa.org. All books, exercise music, resources, and instructions are available completely free of charge.
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