New York [US], January 16: A US woman named Shuzhi Kang, from California, has asked for assistance from local authorities, as two of her relatives have been taken into custody by Chinese officials in a Northern Chinese city because of their religious beliefs.
According to Shuzhi Kang’s interview with the media, “It’s been almost three months that I have lost touch with my sister and nephew, and it seems like the police have kidnapped them.”
The report indicated that Shumei, aged 60, was living with her son Gu Zhang, 33, in Gujiao when the arrests were made. Shuzhi stated that when she could not contact them, another family member informed her that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) police had taken them away to detention centres in October of the previous year.
As per reports, CCP also seized their home and some of their personal property, vehicle, computer, and printer. “I could not control my tears after hearing the news of the kidnapping by the CCP’s Police. My emotions went out right away,” Kang said.
She also stated that her sister is in prison in Gujio city, while her nephew is in Taiyuan, and the regional capital is 15 miles away from Gujiao city.
The Chinese government reportedly stated that his detention was because of his involvement with cults that were violating the law. Both the mother and the child are currently practising at Falun Gong, a spiritual practice that combines meditation and ethical teachings.
China’s constitution, which cites the leadership of the CCP, states that “citizens have full freedom of religious belief, but there are some restrictions for spiritual practice to “norma; religious activities” without specifying normal. In contrast, 101 Falun Gong practitioners died two years back because of persecution of their faith, compared with 107 in 2020, according to US State Department’s 2021 Report on International Religious Freedom.
Minghui and the Falun Dafa Infocenter revealed that over 5,000 practitioners were arrested and more than 9,000 faced harassment, according to a statement from the United States State Department referencing the Falun Gong-affiliated publication.