A 75-year-old retired Shanghai teacher, Fa Zhengping, was sentenced to jail for 14 months on Feb. 24, for persisting his belief in Falun Gong. Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual practice that involves meditative exercises and moral teachings. The practice grew from a handful of people in 1992 to an estimated 70 million in 1997, and with its emphasis on following the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance, it helped Chinese people connect with traditional Chinese culture and values. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) took Falun Gong as a threat because of its rapidly growing popularity, and launched a brutal persecution against the practice on July 20, 1999. Prior to this latest sentencing, Fa had been detained three times for a total of seven years since 2001, while also being tortured. On Feb. 16, 2020, he was once again dragged into a police van and taken away. …