Falun Gong Practitioner Dies Abruptly After Overnight Interrogation by Chinese Authorities

As the persecution of Falun Gong continues in China, an elderly woman died earlier this month within 24 hours of being forcibly taken from her home and subjected to interrogation by authorities.Hu Shangxiu, a 63-year-old Falun Gong practitioner and civil servant in Wuhan’s Xinzhou District, central Hubei Province, was abducted from her residence around 2 p.m. on June 10 by local authorities who forcibly entered her home, according to a June 29 report by Minghui.org, a U.S.-based website documenting the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners.She was not taken to a local police station or detention center but held at an undisclosed location, where she was interrogated by officers until approximately 4 a.m. the next day.During that period, she was given water and allowed to use the bathroom twice, according to the Minghui report. However, she suddenly fell ill and died without receiving any medical assistance, despite previously being in good health.Minghui learned from Hu’s neighbors that she was alone when the police stormed into her residence, forcibly took her away, and ransacked her home. Local authorities said they arrested six other individuals who shouted “Falun Gong is good” at a local market, and alleged that Hu organized them to do so, according to Minghui, which has not confirmed the other arrests. Local authorities have provided no names, evidence, or documentation to support their allegation. “No law in China criminalizes Falun Gong, so even if Ms. Hu organized others to promote Falun Gong, she should not have been arrested,” the Minghui report reads.Freedom of belief is guaranteed by the Chinese constitution, and no law bans Falun Gong.Hu had practiced Falun Gong for more than two decades and was a law-abiding citizen, the report said. Her family condemned the authorities for her death and vowed to seek justice.Falun Gong—also known as Falun Dafa—is a spiritual discipline based on the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance. Introduced by Mr. Li Hongzhi in 1992, it grew rapidly due to its reported health benefits, attracting at least 70 million by the late 1990s.Fearing Falun Gong’s popularity, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) launched a sweeping nationwide persecution in July 1999 to “eradicate” the practice. Since then, many have suffered arbitrary detention, forced labor, torture, and even death from forced organ harvesting.In 2020, the China Tribunal—an independent, London-based people’s tribunal—concluded that the Chinese regime had for years been forcibly harvesting organs from prisoners of conscience, identifying Falun Gong practitioners as the primary victims.CCP Targets Religious BelieversWu Shaoping, a Chinese human rights lawyer now residing in the United States, said that the CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong is one of its campaigns targeting religious believers. Responding to Hu’s case, Wu noted that the CCP doesn’t make decisions based on facts or evidence. “The CCP persecutes Falun Gong practitioners just because you believe in Falun Gong, not because you have committed any crime,” Wu recently told The Epoch Times. More Cases of Persecution in Wuhan in 2025Hu’s death is one of the latest cases in a series of persecution incidents against Falun Gong practitioners in Wuhan. Minghui.org has documented at least 127 cases of persecution against Falun Gong practitioners in the city in 2025.According to Minghui’s report, three practitioners died from persecution, while others faced an array of abuses such as wrongful sentencing, legal trials, detention, kidnapping, home raids, brainwashing in detention centers, financial penalties, and ongoing harassment.Guidance published by the UK Visas and Immigration on Jan. 30 states: “Detained [Falun Gong] practitioners are reportedly subjected to various methods of physical and psychological coercion, including torture in attempts to force them to renounce their beliefs and practice. Deaths in custody occur and forced organ harvesting (prior to or after execution) is reported on a significant scale.”A Call for AccountabilitySen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), who serves on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has called the CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong “brutal and senseless,” according to a statement.“The Chinese people have continued to endure horrific acts under the communist regime,” Scott said.“The United States and every other freedom-loving country on Earth must take a stand and demand accountability for the CCP’s despicable religious persecution and forced organ harvesting, and work to put an end to Communist China’s blatant human rights violations.”Scott was one of the cosponsors of the Falun Gong Protection Act. The legislation, reintroduced in March 2025, would hold people who are involved in forced organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners accountable by imposing targeted sanctions such as visa restrictions, fines of up to $1 million, and prison sentences of up to 20 years.Frank Fang and Li Jiesi contributed to this report.