My name is Tianxiao Zhang, a Canadian citizen from Toronto.
I had never imagined that I would have lost three of my most beloved family members within a few years.
My brother-in-law Mr. Songtao Zou was tortured to death at the Wangcun Labor Camp in Shandong province in November 2000 two months after being detained there. He was only 28 years old.
My brother-in-law was a soft-speaking gentleman. With a Master’s degree in Marine Biology, because he practiced Falun Gong Songtao had never been allowed to have a job since his graduation in 1999.
In October 1999 he went to the Beijing Central Government’s petiton Office and legally appealed for his constitutional rights to practice Falun Gong. Because of this he was detained for a month. His daughter was born while he was in detention.
On May 3, 2000, Songtao was again detained. This time, he was locked up in an iron chair and beaten by a local police chief in the face and the head with the bottom of a shoe. He later recalled that his head was swollen to twice as big as its normal size was bleeding like an open faucet and. He could hardly see anything. When Songtao was released two month later, he still had bruises behind his ears.
On May 21 2000, police asked Songtao to go to the police station for “a casual talk”. Songtao never came back again. He was sentenced without a trial to three years of forced-labor-camp. He was denied any family visit.
Shocked by the repeated detentions of her husband, my sister, Yunhe went to Beijing to peacefully appeal for her husband and for Falun Gong at Tiananmen Square. She was arrested on the spot. She was beaten up by 7 or 8 police officers until she passed out. When she woke up, she found a police man was banging her head against the cement floor.
On November 4, 2000, the family was notified that Songtao had died in detention.
Completely saddened by the loss of her beloved husband, Yunhe left home in May 2001 to hide from further persecution. She left her two-year-old daughter with my aging parents. In February 2002 when she went back to visit her daughter, Yunhe was abducted by police.
Witnesses said that she was detained at Cell 208, Dashan Detention Center of Qingdao City for at least half a year, and was then transferred away. She has been missing ever since and her two-year-old daughter was orphaned as a result. Police also continue to deny that they had ever had her.
While in Canada I had no idea what the family had gone through until March 2001 because I was pregnant and my family wanted to protect my baby and me during my pregnancy. One day, my dad suddenly broke down during our conversation over the phone and told me everything. I could not believe my ears.
I was completely shocked by the evil deeds of the Chinese Communist regime and how they could take such good and peaceful people away from me.
Because of this tragedy, Mom’s health took a turn for the worse. She passed away in August 2001 from distress over her daughter’s family tragedy.
When I was in China I did not practice Falun Gong. I left China before the persecution and came to Canada. I started to search for the truth of Falun Gong after the family tragedy because I too was quite poisoned from the evil propaganda by the communist regime. I talked to as many Canadian practitioners as I could for help.
My heart was so broken through the loss of my mom, my brother in law and my beautiful sister. I didn’t know what to do. I then started to practice Falun Gong and through my study of this practice I found so much peace and wisdom within it. All the answers I ever had about life were answered for me. I then realized why my sister and brother in law tried so hard to stop the persecution and to help others. When one finally finds such peace in life, how can anyone just give it up because they are forced to by an evil regime?
My sister would be 35 years old if she were still alive today. When I heard of the evil organ harvesting of Falun Gong practitioners by the communist regime I was horrified. Something in my heart told me that my sister was one of the victims.
I personally contacted a few Chinese hospitals in disguise of a customer. A staff member at the Urological Surgery department of Western China hospital in Chengdu City, openly admitted that most of the organs that they had used were from Falun Gong practitioners. I was so angry. I then said to him that they had committed Crimes against humanity. The man then started to call me names. “Climb away and die!” he yelled. When I called a military surgeon at Xijing Hospital in Shaanxi province and asked him about Falun Gong practitioners’ being used for organ harvest, he responded in an almost light-heartedly way, “they are political prisoners. ” It is obvious that the Chinese Communist regime has brainwashed the Chinese transplant surgeons so that they have become killers’ and tools in the Organ Factory of Communist China.
I would like to thank all members of parliament and every Canadian who spoke out for Falun Gong. What you have done has made a difference and will be remembered by millions of people. These horrors are still happening to millions of people just like my sister and brother in law and you must continue to help stop this terrible injustice happening for the sake of protecting humanity.
Thank you.