Jiang Zhihui, a woman with a long history of persecution, has been sentenced to three and a half years in prison.
by Yang Feng
Liaoning is home to one of the oldest ethnic Korean community in China, whose origins date back to the 13th century. Today, some 250,000 ethnic Koreans live in the province.
While CCP propaganda represents Liaoning’s Koreans as happy and “patriotic,” in fact expressions of their Korean identity that go beyond the festivals staged for propaganda and touristic purposes are carefully monitored. A special department of the United Front keeps watch on any possible deviation from CCP orthodox “patriotic” reconstruction of the history of Koreans in China and for relations with South Korean organizations, including Christian and other churches.
Interestingly, together with other residents of Liaoning, some ethnic Koreans there found comfort in Falun Gong. A bloody persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in Liaoning has particularly targeted over the years Xinbin Manchu Autonomous County under the jurisdiction of the prefecture-level city of Fushun, where practitioners have been arrested, tortured, and in some cases killed.
Relatives and co-religionists recently learned that on March 20, 2024, Jiang Zhihui, a historical figure among Falun Gong practitioners in Xinbin County and an ethnic Korean, was sentenced to three years and six months in jail by the Shuncheng District Court of Fushun City. She was arrested on December 2, 2023, for distributing Falun Gong material.
Born in 1956, Jiang joined Falun Gong before its persecution started in 1999. She tried to persuade neighbors and acquaintances that the accusations were ill-founded and even went to Beijing to publicly testify about her beliefs. She was detained and sent to an indoctrination center. Her husband believed in the official propaganda and started mistreating and beating her. She also had to spend time in a mental hospital.
In 2009, she was arrested and sentenced to one year in the notorious Masanjia Labor Camp, where torture is widely practiced. In 2013, the police discovered that she was still active in Falun Gong. She was arrested and sentenced to four years in Liaoning Women’s Prison.
She has now been hit by another severe jail penalty. Decades of persecution, however, have not succeeded in breaking her faith. She is an example of the indomitable spirit both of persecuted Falun Gong practitioners and proud ethnic Koreans from Liaoning.
