After 11 Years of Prior Incarceration, 73-Year-Old Tianjin Man Gets Another 4 Years for His Faith
(Minghui.org) A 73-year-old man in Ninghe District, Tianjin, was sentenced to four years in August 2026 for his faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
Mr. Li Guangyuan was arrested on December 9, 2025, while talking to people about Falun Gong at a fair. The police raided his home and put him in the Ninghe District Detention Center. The Ninghe District Court convicted him in August 2026. Further details of his prosecution are unknown.
This is not the first time that Mr. Li has been targeted for his faith. Both he and his wife, Ms. Mo Weiqiu, took up Falun Gong in 1997 and soon regained their health. He no longer suffered from severe gastric disease, varicose veins, or a slipped disc. His wife’s hypokalemic paralysis and chronic stomach disease were also gone.
After the persecution of Falun Gong began in 1999, the couple held firm to their faith and were repeatedly arrested. Mr. Li previously served a three-year forced labor term from 2001 to 2004 and two four-year prison sentences (2004 – 2008 & 2018 – 2022).
Ms. Mo was sentenced to four years after an arrest in 2004, and was given four and a half years in prison following another arrest in June 2015 for filing a criminal complaint against former Chinese dictator Jiang Zemin for launching the persecution of Falun Gong.
See the related reports for details of the couple’s past persecution.