FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - 11/14/2001 [ http://www.faluninfo.net/ ]

NEW YORK, November 14, 2001 (Falun Dafa Information Center) - A 29-year-old graduate of the prestigious Qinghua University in Beijing passed away on November 9th after enduring more than a month of inhuman torture by Chinese authorities for refusing to renounce the practice of Falun Gong. Mr. Yuan Jiang was targeted because he was a dedicated and active Falun Gong practitioner in Gansu Province, and also formerly the head of the Falun Gong volunteer assistance center there.

Yuan, described as an intelligent and responsible young man, began practicing Falun Gong while he was studying at Qinghua University, known as the MIT of China because it is particularly strong in the fields of science and engineering. Finding the practice beneficial, he introduced Falun Gong to many others in Gansu and the northwestern region of China.

After graduating from Qinghua University, Yuan began working at the Gansu Province Telecommunications Bureau in the city of Lanzhou.

When the Chinese regime banned Falun Dafa on July 20th, 1999, Yuan was illegally detained for half a year, but refused to renounce his beliefs. After being released he continued to be harassed by the local "6-10 Office," part of a nation-wide system specifically established for the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. In January 2001, he was forced to leave his home and move from place to place to avoid arrest. However, he was captured again on September 30th this year and illegally kept in a secret location provided by the local Telecommunications Bureau - the very company that had employed him after college.

Sources inside China say Yuan was brutally tortured and tormented at that location for more than a month by the head of the local public security bureau, and died on November 9th. When asked if Yuan had died from torture, an unnamed official at the Gansu Province Telecommunications Bureau acknowledged that they had "tried to persuade and educate him [to renounce his beliefs]," and confirmed that he was now dead. The official described Yuan as "quite capable at work," with "no problems."

"Reeducation" is an often-used euphemism for torture and beatings, a common tactic employed to attempt to force Falun Gong practitioners to renounce their beliefs. The "6-10 Office," specifically formed and charged with annihilating Falun Gong and those who practice it, was given full reign by the Beijing government to use any means necessary to convert practitioners by force. According to reliable sources inside China, any deaths due to abuse in custody are to be "counted as suicide," the bodies are to "cremated immediately" and the persecutors will not be penalized.