Demonstrators Bring Falun Gong Into Focus as Chinese Premier Visits New York

For all the suffering it has caused, former leader Jiang Zemin‘s bid to snuff out Falun Gong has been inconclusive.
Demonstrators Bring Falun Gong Into Focus as Chinese Premier Visits New York
Falun Gong adherents demonstrate outside of the United Nations Plaza in Manhattan on Sept. 20, 2016. Larry Dai/Epoch Times
Frank Fang
Frank Fang
Reporter
|Updated:

NEW YORK—Standing in the light rain in front of tight security outside U.N. headquarters, Zhang Shufen, who used to be a company service representative in Beijing, became tearful as she recalled her two-year imprisonment in Beijing Women’s Prison.

It began in 2008, she said, after she was arrested by police due to her belief in Falun Gong; the persecution of this meditation practice led to her forced exile. In custody, she was denied toilet use for a week at a time, which caused her feces to become “as hard as stones” and resulted in bleeding. Because she was not given paper or running water, she was forced to wash herself with toilet water.

Along with over a dozen colleagues, she has come to greet Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, attending his first U.N. meeting, with her message.

“I want to inform everyone about the evil nature of the Chinese Communist Party,” Zhang said.

Zhang Shufen was tortured in the Beijing Women's Prison for practicing Falun Gong. (Frank Fang/Epoch Times)
Zhang Shufen was tortured in the Beijing Women's Prison for practicing Falun Gong. Frank Fang/Epoch Times
Frank Fang
Frank Fang
Reporter
Frank Fang is a Taiwan-based reporter. He covers U.S., China, and Taiwan news. He holds a master's degree in materials science from Tsinghua University in Taiwan.
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