Wang Xuanrong (pseudonym Xie Xin), female, was born on April 13, 1966 and was from Guiyang City in Guizhou Province. She joined The Church of Almighty God (CAG) in 2005 and had worked as a church leader. On April 1, 2018, she was persecuted to the point of death by the Chinese Communist government because of her belief in Almighty God.
Wang Xuanrong’s relatives revealed that they were unable to reach her by phone for the three days prior to her death. At about 11 p.m. on April 1, 2018, her family received an unexpected phone call from an officer with the Xiaohe Economic Development Zone Criminal Investigation Team saying, “Wang Xuanrong has died and her body is at the mortuary in Qingzhen City, Guizhou.” Her family had just learned that she had been arrested by the police of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), but they aren’t clear on the details of her arrest or detainment even now.
After that call, more than ten of Wang Xuanrong’s relatives traveled the entire night to get to the mortuary in Qingzhen, but the Criminal Investigation Team leader surnamed Wu didn’t allow them to see her remains, but asked them to go to the Xiaohe Economic and Technological Development Zone Criminal Police Team for questioning. Wu insisted on registering all of their cellphone numbers, saying it was “easy to get in touch if anything happens.” He said that while she was detained, Wang Xuanrong wanted to bathe and had the two guards go outside. After a time, they discovered that she had hanged herself in the shower. Her relatives didn’t believe that version of events and asked, “You said that Wang Xuanrong hanged herself in the shower—is that possible? What law did she break? On what grounds did you arrest her? Why did she die under such murky circumstances? Tell us the real circumstances surrounding her death.” Wu refused to reveal any details of her death, instead saying intimidatingly, “She believed in Almighty God and is a nationally wanted criminal. As her relatives, all of you are implicated. You should know what the consequences are of not reporting a crime you’re aware of. Those of you who are employed will all be fired and your kids won’t get into university!” He also warned them not to publicize anything about her death online or tell outsiders about it. Since Wu said very little, Wang’s relatives merely learned that after her arrest she had been sent to a “study center” for legal discipline, but they were unable to get any more information than that.
After such intimidation by Wu, most of Wang Xuanrong’s relatives feared for the safety of their jobs, so they had no choice but to give up on continuing their investigation into the truth of her death. One of her relatives wasn’t willing to see her die without the truth coming to light, so called a former classmate who was working in the judiciary for help. That former classmate advised Wang’s relative to put it online so that the international society could become aware of it. As a result, the secretary of the Kaiyang County Political and Legal Committee issued a warning saying that their phone records were being monitored and the classmate was penalized and forcibly removed from his original position. Under the CCP’s power and oppression, no one dared to seek redress for Wang Xuanrong’s death again.
Ultimately, the CCP government forced her family to accept 740,000 RMB (110,254 USD) in “hush money” to put a final end to the matter. They once again warned her family not to publicize the matter online or tell any outsiders about it.
From Wang Xuanrong’s death to her cremation, the CCP police maintained constant control over her family members, forbidding them from getting anywhere near her remains. It wasn’t until after her cremation that they handed her ashes over to the family.
