The Story on Ren Peipei

China Aid Association
June 30, 2007
I am Ren Peipei, an ordinary Chinese citizen and a Christian who has made up my mind to preach the grace and salvation of Jesus Christ. On the morning of June 9, 2007, I was distributing Gospel flyers and preaching the Good News to the people at a market in Jiaocheng. At 11:10 AM, I was forced into a police vehicle and taken by policemen to the Jiaocheng Public Security Bureau on the ground that I’m a “Jesus believer.” While in their custody, the policemen yelled at me, threatened me, and told me to write an “honest confession” or they would lock me up if I didn’t confess in an honest way. I was frightened and scared. The police also said that after this arrest, I would be rearrested in August so that they could achieve their quota. During their first interrogation, I witnessed a scene opposite of what was described in the slogan on their wall, “Be Polite and Gentle in Talking.” Pei Bin, a policeman, brought over Zhou Jiming, who was arrested together with me. They refused to let him squat, but forced him to stand by kicking him until his legs were placed apart. Then, they punched and kicked him without any sense of humanitarianism. As a Chinese policeman, Pei Bin deliberately violated the law by beating an ordinary citizen and certainly damaged the image of law-enforcement working under the Communist Party. Upon witnessing this scene, I couldn’t help but feel sad and confounded that Chinese law-enforcement would treat a compatriot in this manner. From 12:00 PM on June 9 until about 4:00 AM on June 10, I squatted in the same place. During the night, Zhang Rui, a policeman, verbally abused me by saying, “If you die, your death will be less significant than that of an ant.” As a young woman cherishing a bright future full of confidence, I really couldn’t endure such humiliation and was so sad that I wanted to weep. However, God commands us to forgive others, so I remained silent.
When we were all completely exhausted, a middle-aged policeman, whom we had not seen before and have never seen again, appeared. He yelled loudly at us and told all of us to stand up. He made fun of us and claimed that they let him handle us and that he would settle the matter concerning us immediately. At about 4:00 AM on June 10, we were exhausted after a long day of interrogation. When I was exhausted and dozing off due to extreme fatigue, some policemen told me to go to his place for signatures and fingerprinting. He didn’t instruct me to read the contents of the documents, but only said there was a five-day detention without saying the reason for the detention. Finally, over 10 hours of suffering came to an end, but what lied ahead would be another period of suffering.
While we were being led to the detention center, they confiscated objects we were carrying with us. I overheard a policeman telling one of his colleagues that they locked two of our women in a room where other policemen were trying to beat them to death. This policeman threatened us by saying this time you only serve five days of detention, but the next time he arrests us, he would send us to three years of re-education through labor. On June 12, the third day of our detention, they conducted a second interrogation. I saw all my books were there (including the Bible, notebooks, radio, and my personal diary). Against my protest, they read my private diary, violating my privacy. It’s hard to describe how sad I felt. I later learned that these books had been illegally obtained. They accused us of cohabitating, both men and women together, which I explained was not the true and that we actually live separately from each other, men in one place and women in another.
I was released at 7:00 AM on June 15, but I didn’t see or receive any documents related to my detention. After I came out, I learned that I was detained for five days without seeing the detention warrant or the release certificate. On June 18, Sister Zhang Ying and I went together to the Public Security Bureau to get what should belong to us. However, we didn’t get what we wanted. Instead, Squad Director Liang slandered us by saying: “Why are you so interested in Niu Wenbin and Zhou Jiming? I don’t know why you people are so enthralled by him. I think he’s not as handsome as me!” What Liang meant was that it is better to dally around with him than the two people mentioned above. How can an unmarried girl endure such a blow and insult? His words were such a traumatic experience that I feel I can’t even face the public. The policemen feel they can assault ordinary people like us at will based on their authority as policemen. This is really the shame of the Chinese police. After not being notified of our detention, some family members went to the public security bureau to ask for the detention warrant and release certificate and requested that they explain why their family members were detained for five days. However, the police wouldn’t give what they requested.
Even now, my family members still don’t know the misery I suffered at the public security bureau and the inexplicable detention. I worry that if my parents knew this, they will be distraught. It’s hard to imagine how I can face my villagers and face the world after this.
However, things didn’t end here. A few days ago, I learned that when the family members of those detained at the same time as me, Zhou Jiming and Niu Wenbin, went to the public security bureau after the detention, they found these words in the notification signed by them, “suspected in utilizing a cult.” As a Christian who has been immersed in the grace of Christ and who has made up her mind to follow Jesus, I can’t accept such a comment in writing. Where is the religious freedom? Where is the personal freedom? Where is justice? Can I just let the police unscrupulously place accusations on me? I want to defend truth and defend the people who truthfully follow Jesus Christ. There’s no justice in this land and I hereby appeal to tens of thousands of people in power to show their concern on this matter and return our freedom of belief and personal freedom. I wish the tens of thousands of my compatriots really know the law, abide by the law, and are protected by the law in this society ruled by the law. I also wish the policemen in the public security bureaus will stick to the teachings of the Party and be committed to their profession—the Chinese Public Security Bureau. Ren Peipei