1993 - Lai Manping

April 6, 1993

Lijia, Shaanxi

The bruised and battered body of Lai Manping, spitefully beaten to death by China’s Public Security Bureau. This picture was published around the world, sparking outrage from the authorities in China.

Lai Manping was a 22-year-old farmer and house church Christian from Ankang in southern Shaanxi Province. He was one of a team of preachers from Ankang who travelled to Taoyuan village in nearby Xunyang County to hold a Christian meeting on March 27, 1993. The village leaders reported the meeting to the local Public Security Bureau, who sent eight or nine officers to the village that evening. They arrived, and without saying a word, started to wildly beat the gathered Christians with their batons. The five preachers from Ankang, including Lai, were handcuffed. The first report of the incident stated:

“Three brethren were stripped naked from waist down and beaten by the PSB. When they had finished, they also forced each of the 26 others in the meeting to beat these brethren 100 times with bamboo rods. If they failed to comply, they too would be beaten by the PSB. These brothers were beaten until they were totally covered with blood, gaping wounds, and injuries all over their bodies. They were then hung up and beaten further with rods on their backs until they were unconscious and barely breathing. The PSB also cursed them loudly with the most vile and filthy language.”[1]

The women were also barbarously treated. Two were thrown over a stove, and 59 kg (130 pound) millstones were placed on their backs. All the while the women were being beaten and bashed. Their trousers were ripped open in front of the male Christians in order to humiliate them and expose their private parts. One of the sisters, 21-year-old Xu Fang, later reported,

“They ripped open the pants of us sisters with rods and showed our nakedness, abusing us terribly and using the cruellest methods to beat us in our private parts. It was absolutely repulsive, disgusting, and base beyond description! Then they suspended us from the ground with the brothers and took turns beating us with constant swearing until the next morning.

That evening something else happened. Another sister from Ankang brought her 12-year-old nephew to the meeting. Not only did they beat this innocent boy on the head until blood was flowing out, but they then lifted him like a stone and threw him, smashing into the people.”[2]

At daybreak, the three men and two women who had been beaten the most were forced to walk from the remote village to the district office of the Public Security Bureau in Lijia District, about 18 miles (30 km) away. They crawled along the paths, taking a day-and-a-half to reach their destination. The district office then tried to send them to the county authorities in Xunyang, but the officials there refused to accept them after seeing the terrible injuries they had received.

They were sent back to the district office in Lijia where they were held for another eight days. During this time no toilet facilities were provided. The five Christians lay in agony on the floor of a cell, more dead than alive. The worst affected was the young man, Lai Manping. One of the other detainees testified that ‘his face was totally black, and clots of blood came out when he relieved himself. His breath smelled terrible and everyone in the room could smell it. He had sustained severe internal injuries because of the beating.”[3]

The guards were concerned that a prisoner might die in custody, so they called a 20-year-old female doctor to examine Lai. She was horrified at his condition and offered only some external medicine before leaving. The guards thought it best if Lai died outside the prison, so they made him leave. Mustering all the energy he could, Lai attempted to crawl back home. He “struggled, walking some and crawling some for six miles [10 km]…. He just collapsed. The local people found him and carried him to a small house, but after one day and night he died.”[4]

Lai’s parents heard of their son’s release and rushed to Lijia to get him. After an exhaustive search they finally heard their beloved son was dead. Lai’s uncle was outraged and demanded the PSB take full responsibility for the murder. They treated him arrogantly, claiming his death had been because of a heart condition. An official autopsy was carried out which revealed the young Christian’s heart had turned totally black. In the evil minds of the local officials this finding only confirmed their story.

One local believer owned a camera. He photographed Lai’s brutalized body. The pictures were then carried to Hong Kong from where they were published in newspapers and reports around the world. The British Parliament took up the case with the Chinese government and with the Chinese Embassy in London, who denied any wrongdoing and claimed that Lai had died of “heart disease.”[5] Amnesty International was told by Chinese officials that “there was no such case as the persecution of Christians.”[6] One report provided more details about the brutal treatment Lai Manping was forced to endure before his death:

“It is very rare that PSB officers require a detainee to be whipped 100 times by as many as 26 persons, meaning a total of 2,600 stripes. Under the traditional Chinese law of imperial days, 80 stripes with a wooden board was considered the maximum. It is also highly unusual for law enforcement officers to partially strip men and women in front of each other, force them to make contact, and even beat the private parts of the women repeatedly…. All these practices are entirely illegal, even when judged by the laws of the People’s Republic of China.”[7]

Furious that their dark deeds had become worldwide news, the authorities determined to find who had publicized the story and taken the picture. Ninety house church Christians were arrested in retaliation. In June, more than two months later, they were released after being forced to pay fines of between 500 to 700 Yuan (US$90 to $125)—a virtual fortune for a farmer in this impoverished part of north China. In September 1993 the police rearrested 25 of the Christians who had been present at the original incident in March. They were beaten mercilessly. By November six remained in custody, including the brave Xu Fang, who had documented the murder of Lai Manping. She was tortured in an attempt to make her retract her statement, but Xu refused to do so, saying that “she was prepared to spend several months in prison or even be killed by them, but that she would stand by the facts of this persecution, including the fact that the PSB had killed Lai Manping.”[8]

1. China News and Church Report (May 7, 1993).
2. China News and Church Report (May 14, 1993).
3. China News and Church Report (May 7, 1993).
4. Lawrence, The Coming Influence of China, 84.
5. South China Morning Post (May 9, 1993).
6. UCAN (July 9, 1993).
7. China News and Church Report (May 14, 1993).
8. China News and Church Report (October 29, 1993).