In Jinan, Shandong province, former resident Zhao Shuang fled the mainland China this summer after facing retaliation for reporting the former director Liu Haitao of the Baima Mountain Police Station for abusing power, threats, coercion, and extortion. Zhao Shuang lived in constant fear for a long time before deciding to escape with her daughter.
Zhao Shuang told the Epoch Times that her fight for justice began with exposing a scam called the “kill pig scheme.” In April 2023, she reported the individual involved, Wang, to the authorities. Subsequently, Wang, accompanied by Chen, the then deputy director of the Baima Mountain Police Station, threatened and intimidated her, warning that she would be detained if she reported again.
Zhao Shuang believed that Chen failed to follow proper police procedures, accusing him of engaging in deceitful practices. Following her complaint, Chen claimed to have “settled” the matter related to the report.
Continuing to report Wang and Chen, in May 2023, Zhao Shuang and her daughter were attacked with pepper spray and physically assaulted by Wang and his wife, resulting in severe facial injuries and a broken nose.
Afterwards, Zhao Shuang and her daughter made several trips to Beijing to seek justice. She said that Liu Haitao, in an attempt to prevent her from petitioning authorities, engaged in sexual relations with her using threats as leverage, which lasted for a year. “He told me that he was the only way to resolve this issue. No matter how much I reported, in the end, I had to return to them. ‘If you report again, you will be detained soon, and it will be considered provoking trouble.'”
Feeling scared of being sentenced and having her daughter left uncared for, Zhao Shuang reluctantly complied. After realizing she was deceived by Liu Haitao, she resorted to exposing him online with her real identity. “There was a psychological intimidation. I was actually scared at the time. It was like a prison guard and an inmate; at that time, I was under his control.”
From March 2025 onwards, the Jinan police monitored Zhao Shuang extensively, hacking into her WeChat, TikTok, and Baidu accounts. When she petitioned in Beijing, she was transferred to the Jinan police on charges of “provoking trouble.” “I protested at the time. I said I reported the Jinan Public Security Bureau – why transfer me to them?” “The Jinan police accused me of provoking trouble and extortion. The prosecutor found insufficient evidence and agreed to release me on bail.”
Zhao Shuang stated that years of struggle led to despair. Praising the man who retaliated against society in a Beijing suburb by bulldozing houses as a “bulldozer hero” in a WeChat group landed her in trouble, accused of “illegally utilizing information networks.”
“It’s too hopeless. My daughter has suffered severe psychological damage, living in fear every day because you don’t know if you will be arrested the next second.”
Having sent numerous complaint letters to the Beijing Petition Office and other relevant departments, Zhao Shuang’s efforts were intercepted. Her 11-year-old daughter, Xiao Yue, mentioned that she also went to the Petition Office to submit complaint letters, unafraid of being interrogated by the police in order to help her mother.
“Why should I be afraid of them? What can they do to me? They can’t detain me, right? We have no choice but to go there, or who knows if the letters we sent were intercepted midway? Ah!” Xiao Yue said.
Expressing a loss of faith in normal petitioning processes, Zhao Shuang often witnessed fellow petitioners being persecuted to death, while she herself faced constant harassment and detention by the police. Her daughter, burdened with immense pressure, suffered severe psychological trauma. Eventually, she made the decision to flee the mainland with her daughter. “We live in constant fear every day, like startled birds.”
Xiao Yue said she was terrified at the time, fearing that if a police car appeared nearby, her mother would be arrested again. “I prepare myself mentally every day in case one day my mother says she’s going to be taken away.”
With no way out, Zhao Shuang and her daughter decided to escape. Fearing arrest before fleeing, they disguised themselves as males and hid in different places.
After a long and arduous journey, facing various dangers, mother and daughter eventually reached a democratic country. Zhao Shuang revealed that after she and her daughter escaped the mainland, the Jinan police tried to deceive her into returning using her seriously ill mother.
“There was frustration and depression, but at that time, our mindset was just to keep going forward because we had no retreat. If we return, we are doomed, so we must move forward.”