Liu Mingyuan, a student at Ontario’s Sheridan College speaks out against the Chinse government’s persecution of Falun Gong in a protest outside of the Chinese consulate in Toronto on Nov. 18, 2021. The Chinese regime has recently detained her mother, Liu Yan, for her belief in the spiritual practice. (Michelle Hu/The Epoch Times)
Liu Mingyuan says her mother was detained in September amid Beijing’s ongoing persecution of Falun Gong adherents
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A student at Ontario’s Sheridan College is speaking out against the Chinese regime’s arbitrary detention of her mother and shedding light on the communist regime’s persecution of Falun Gong adherents.
Liu Mingyuan, 24, is a Chinese student who arrived in Canada this past August to begin her studies in a computer animation program at Sheridan College. Liu, who also goes by the name of Lucy, has witnessed her family torn apart multiple times by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) since she was young.
“Today, I am sharing the story about me and my family. But this is also the story of countless Falun Gong practitioners over the past twenty years,” Lucy said at a protest outside the Chinese consulate in Toronto on Nov. 18.
“I only hoped that we could raise more awareness and bring help from the international society to end this brutal persecution,” Lucy said.
Her mother, Liu Yan, was recently arrested by Chinese authorities on Sept. 30 in Kunming, a city in the southwestern region of Yunnan province, and has been detained ever since. An arrest document for Liu Yan, dated Oct. 1, says she was put under criminal detention for “using an evil religious organization to undermine” Chinese law.
Liu Yan (L) with her husband, and their daughter, Liu Mingyuan, in a file photo. Liu Yan was arrested by Chinese authorities on Sept. 30, 2021, for her belief in Falun Gong. (Photo provided by Liu Mingyuan)
Falun Gong is a spiritual practice that includes meditation exercises and teachings based on the principles of “truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance.” Also called Falun Dafa, the practice emerged in 1992 in China, where it quickly spread due to its reported benefits to mental and physical health. By 1999, it had attracted 70-100 million adherents in the country, according to Chinese government estimates.
However, former CCP leader Jiang Zemin perceived that popularity as a threat to the regime’s authoritarian rule. On July 20, 1999, Jiang launched a Cultural Revolution-style hate campaign and violent suppression aimed at eradicating the practice. He also established the “610 Office,” a Gestapo-like secret agency that spearheads the persecution of Falun Gong adherents.
Born Into Persecution
Before her most recent arrest, Liu Yan had already been jailed several times for her beliefs. In 1999, the Chinese military detained Liu Yan, along with her daughter, who was then just 2 years old, for refusing to give up Falun Gong.
Liu Yan was eventually released, and later found a teaching position at the Jilin University-Lambton College in China’s northeastern city of Changchun. The job brought her into close contact with Canadian academics, as the institution has a partnership with North American universities, including the Memorial University of Newfoundland.
But in 2001, Liu Yan’s career was ended when Jiang intensified his draconian campaign against Falun Gong adherents and the police once again targeted Liu Yan, who was forced into hiding.
“In an attempt to lure out my mother, the police tried to take me hostage at my preschool,” Lucy recalled.
To escape further persecution, Lucy’s father moved the family to the city of Kunming, but even in a rural region, the family could not shake free of the regime. Lucy’s father and mother were each detained in 2012 and 2015 and sentenced to jail for several years.
Lucy said her mother could possibly face another three to four years in prison as the result of her latest arrest.
Sun Qian, a Falun Dafa adherent who has been illegally detained in China since February 2017, in an undated photo. (The Epoch Times/Handout)
Joel Chipkar, a spokesperson for the Falun Dafa Association of Canada, said that Liu Yan is among 12 other victims with Canadian ties who are still suffering from the CCP’s persecution targeting the faith-based group.
In 2017, Sun Qian, a Vancouver resident and Falun Gong practitioner, was arrested in Beijing when Chinese police forcibly entered her home, dragged her out, and threw her into a detention centre. She was then subjected to torture with the aim of forcing her to renounce her faith.
In June 2020, Sun was sentenced to eight years in prison, and renounced her Canadian citizenship in the process, a move interpreted as made under the pressure of abuse.
Chipkar noted that the CCP has a history of “using interference, propaganda, and fake news” in efforts to influence Canadian government officials by demonizing the regime’s victims in order to quell support for human rights in China.
“The Communist party is not just targeting Falun Gong, it is targeting Canadian values and the morality and conscience of all Canadian government officials and Canadian citizens,” Chipkar said.