The documentary “The Woman Above the Young Ones” exposed the dark secrets of the Ma Sanjia forced labor camps in Liaoning Province. The protagonist of the film, Liu Hua, has fled China and is currently seeking asylum in Europe. She revealed that despite being in Europe, the Chinese Communist Party’s transnational persecution against her remains relentless.
Liu Hua, who revealed the heinous persecutions of female inmates in the Ma Sanjia women’s labor camp (now converted to a drug rehabilitation center) in the documentary, has been subjected to long-term persecution by the Chinese Communist Party.
“We haven’t committed any crime. After being persecuted, we were not allowed to petition in Beijing. Every time we went to the National Letters and Calls Office to petition, we were caught and sent to detention, forced labor, or even detained at home. Even sleeping at night, the police would suddenly break in and take you away to jail,” said Liu Hua.
“I couldn’t bear to stay in China any longer, couldn’t survive. Over the years, constantly persecuted, I have given up on petitioning because there is no rule of law in China; the Constitution has long been dead, only party authority, only political power, power above all,” Liu Hua said.
On September 8th, Liu Hua shared with a reporter from Epoch Times the detailed account of her escape from China.
Liu Hua, a farmer from Shenyang, Sujiatun, and her husband, Yue Yongjin, a village official, fell out of favor with officials after reporting corruption by the former village party secretary in 2002. They have endured numerous persecutions over the years.
During her time at the Ma Sanjia women’s labor camp, Liu Hua clandestinely documented the extreme torture practices within the facility.
When she was released in 2013, she smuggled the texts out on her person. These inhumane torture practices were soon exposed by mainland media outlet LENS Visual under Caijing, leading to the production of the 99-minute documentary “The Woman Above the Young Ones” by mainland director Du Bin. The incident briefly shocked international public opinion.
Liu Hua and her husband continued to face retaliation from the authorities.
Living in Beijing for a long time to seek justice, her husband, a disabled person who relies on a tricycle for mobility, had his tricycle confiscated repeatedly by the police. Despite working as a caregiver in a hospital, Liu Hua’s wages were intercepted by the police, leaving them struggling to make ends meet.
Their son also faced repercussions due to his parents’ long history of petitioning. “The medical facility where my son works has also been affected… They even took away five medical machines worth a total of 17,000 yuan each, and they still haven’t been returned,” Liu Hua revealed.
“I was pushed to the point where I couldn’t survive; I had no right to life. If I didn’t escape, I would starve to death. In my sixties, without social security or medical care, I had no means of support,” Liu Hua expressed.
At the end of 2022, after the Chinese authorities lifted COVID-19 lockdown measures, allowing citizens to travel abroad, Liu Hua seized the opportunity to apply for a passport.
On March 13, 2023, she obtained her passport and immediately traveled to Beijing, then to Hong Kong, and later to Turkey. Despite facing health issues and a series of incidents, she eventually made her way to the Netherlands.
In late April, Liu Hua went to the International Criminal Court in The Hague seeking political asylum. While she couldn’t enter the courtroom, she shared her documentary with the authorities, leading to her registration and subsequent transit to the Netherlands Refugee Agency.
Having spent 16 months at the refugee camp, Liu Hua remains hopeful that the agency would assist her in getting dental care after seeing a mobile dental clinic on-site.