Deputy Governor of Shanxi Province Sacked, Poor Human Rights Record Exposed

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Liu Xinyun, deputy governor of northern China’s Shanxi province and director of the provincial public security department, is under investigation for “suspected serious violations of Party disciplinary rules and laws”—an oft-used euphemism for corruption in China, according to an April 9 notice by the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) top watch-dog agency.

Public data shows that the 59-year-old sacked CCP official had a long history of high-ranking positions in the CCP’s political, police, and judicial systems.

However, mounting evidence suggests Liu was a serious human rights offender by toeing the CCP’s line of persecuting Falun Gong practitioners, an ongoing nationwide campaign that began in July 1999.

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is an ancient Chinese spiritual practice known to relieve stress and increase energy. It consists of simple, slow-moving meditation exercises and teachings on incorporating the principles of truth, compassion, and forbearance in everyday life.

From March 1999 to December 2003, Liu had held the offices of deputy director, party chief, and director of the Zibo Public Security Bureau, northern China’s Shandong province, and deputy of the Zibo 610 Office, the CCP’s extra-legal agency tasked with persecuting Falun Gong practitioners, while he worked in Zibo city.

During this period, at least 300 Falun Gong practitioners were illegally kept in local labor camps, who were subjected to brainwashing, beatings, electric shock, sleep deprivation, and other forms of torture, based on findings reported by Minghui.org. At least four Falun Gong adherents were persecuted to death, including Su Gang, a 32-year-old computer engineer, Zhang Guohua, a 25-year-old man, Xiao Pifeng, a 51-year-old farmer, and Zou Songtao, a 28-year-old Qingdao Ocean University graduate.

From December 2003 to December 2011, Liu worked as director and party chief of the local public security bureau in Heze City.

During his tenure, 36 Falun Gong practitioners were illegally sentenced to imprisonment and 26 were placed in forced labor camps.

Among the local victims was Dou Suli, who was left paralyzed in the right side of her body due to torture and was persecuted to death in 2007, according to a Minghui report.

Later, Liu was sent to Jinan, the capital of the province, to be director and party chief of the local public security bureau until December 2014.

During this period, at least eight Falun Gong followers were kidnapped, including Du Zezhou, Sun Yuzhi, Sun Moqing, and Wang Hongfeng, whose prison sentences ranged from one to seven years.

From December 2014 to January 2018, Liu was promoted to the position of director of the Cybersecurity Administration of the CCP’s Ministry of Public Security and director of Information Security & Center in Beijing until January 2018.

The peak of his political career was the period while he was deputy governor of northern China’s Shanxi province and director and party chief of the provincial public security department.

During this period, at least 101 Falun Gong practitioners were kidnapped and had their homes ransacked across the province.

Forty-two were illegally detained, 31 were illegally sentenced, and 51 were harassed in Shanxi. Three were forced to undergo brainwashing, two were forcefully displaced, and two were persecuted to death, including Lan Qingmei, a 43-year-old woman, and Zhang Yinxiang, a 52-year-old woman.

Currently, more than 50 Falun Gong followers are being held illegally and are facing criminal charges, according to incomplete statistics from Minghui.