Monitoring News of the Persecution of Falun Gong

NEWS FROM CHINA - NEWLY REPORTED DEATHS FROM POLICE BRUTALITY Beaten to Death: Wang Xiujuan, female, 37 years old

Falun Gong practitioner Wang Xiujuan of Masung Village, Lechang County in Shandong Province was beaten to death at the local Elderly Home on February 13, 2001. According to eyewitness accounts, Wang Xiujuan and seven fellow Falun Gong practitioners had been illegally detained since September 26, 2000 by the township under the pretense of a "transformation class," (designed to coerce practitioners to renounce their faith) and they were not released until February 13, 2001, almost five months later. Each practitioner was kept in a separate room that was locked day and night, and they were not allowed family visits. After the Chinese New Year, Ms. Wang had not had any food for three or four days, and eventually died from the prolonged torture. The township government reported that Wang "committed suicide by hanging herself." This case is an example of Jiang Zemin's directive of "reporting those beaten to death as suicide."

Tortured to Death: Sun Hongyan, female

Falun Gong practitioner Sun Hongyan of Liaozhong County, Shenyang City in Liaoning Province, went to Beijing to appeal for her right to practice Falun Gong in September 2000 with 16 other practitioners from the same county. She was sent to Shenyang Dabei jail, and severely tortured for approximately six months. Two weeks ago she was released, with ulcerations all over her body and barely conscious. She died four days ago.

Dead After Hunger Strike in Police Detention: Zhang Zigen, male

In March 2000, Falun Gong practitioner Zhang Zigen, male, of Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province, was illegally detained in the Xuanhua Detention Center in Zhangjiakou City because he went to Beijing to appeal. To protest the illegal treatment, Mr. Zhang held a 17-day hunger strike, during which he was forced to sleep on the cold cement floor. On October 7, 2000, Zhang went to Beijing to appeal, and was again detained. He died February 25, 2001.

WHERE IN THE WORLD IS JIANG ZEMIN? Asian Wall Street Journal, International Commentary, April 11, 2001 Anyone been wondering what could be more important to Jiang Zemin than lording it over the U.S. in person during the "spy plane" fiasco? Over the past few days, the peripatetic Chinese president has been in Latin America trying to thwart a U.N. censure resolution on China's human-right record. As part of its propaganda effort, on Monday Beijing gave itself a glowing report card. As serious as the subject is and grumpy as everyone is with China right now, it's hard to keep a straight face at this latest gem. While there's always room for improvement in human rights, the authors deadpanned in the "white paper," it's been a pretty super year. The report praises progress in political rights and the court system and even managed to factor Falun Gong into the credit side of the balance sheet -- counting it as evidence of the country's efforts toward "safeguarding social stability and the people's lives and property." ...Leaving aside the obvious and unapologetic whitewashing of atrocities, however, the propaganda makes China look panicky. While the U.S. has frequently sponsored resolutions like the one coming up in Geneva, the new Bush administration has made clear it takes seriously the obligation to tell the truth about China's record. And there's more at stake this time: Beijing badly wants to host the 2008 Olympics...

CHINA TRIES TO DENY FALUN GONG-UN PRESS MEETING IN GENEVA GENEVA, Apr 10, 2001 -- (Reuters) China's mission in Geneva on Monday demanded that the United Nations Correspondents' Association cancel a meeting it organized for its members with representatives of the Falun Gong spiritual movement. But the meeting went ahead as scheduled in the Association's library -- which is treated by officials of the world body as having extra-territorial status... A letter to the Association's acting president Tomasz Surdel, also sent to the UN Information Division, said the meeting "will deeply hurt the feelings of the Chinese people and relations between China and the UN." The letter, handed to Surdel by a Chinese diplomat, added: "We strongly demand that such a meeting be cancelled." ... Since the six-week Human Rights Commission began last month, Chinese officials have distributed to reporters hundreds of publications and videos attacking the Falun Gong, which has legal recognition in Switzerland.

PSYCHIATRIC ABUSE IN CHINA, SOVIET-STYLE British Medical Journal (BMJ) 7 April, 2001: The American Psychiatric Association has urged the World Psychiatric Association to protest to the Chinese government about the incarceration of political dissidents and members of the Falun Gong movement in mental hospitals. It has asked the association to "move with alacrity as it did at American, British and Australian insistence when psychiatry was used in the intimidation and torture of Soviet dissidents." There is growing evidence of widespread abuse of psychiatry in the Peoples Republic of China. Two new reports describe forcible incarceration of political dissidents and Falun Gong members in mental hospitals, where they undergo the forced administration of psychotropic drugs, electroshock treatment, inadequate diet, and brutal beatings. Falun Gong members are told, "No transformation [renunciation of faith], no release."...

CALIFORNIA COUNCILMAN LIKENS CHINA'S TACTICS TO 1930'S GERMANY "When the representatives of the [Chinese] Consul showed up at city hall, they presented me with a letter from the Consul requesting me to rescind my proclamation.... When I refused, they attempted to extract a pledge from me and the City Manager to take a "neutral" stand on Falun Gong. We did not agree... This meddling in the affairs of our government is simply unacceptable. It bears an uncanny resemblance to the efforts of the Nazi government of Germany in the 1930's to persuade the rest of the world that persecution of its citizens simply was not taking place. And the parallels don't end there. Today, as was also the case in 1930's Germany, major American corporations have significant investments in China. The temptation is to look the other way, to ignore what is happening because we are fearful of disrupting trade in an emerging market. If there is one lesson we should have learned from the 1930's, turning a blind eye to such events will cost us dearly in the long run." - Saratoga Councilman and former Mayor Mr. Bogosian, April 4, 2001, describing how the Chinese consulate in San Francisco attempted to pressure him to rescind a proclamation he had issued to local Falun Gong practitioners.

CHINA BANS TOURS TO HONG KONG TO SUPRESS NEWS ABOUT FALUN GONG HONG KONG, Apr 11, 2001 -- (AFP) Chinese authorities have suspended mainland tours to Hong Kong during a three-day visit by President Jiang Zemin for a forum of leading government and business leaders next month, a report said Wednesday. Beijing has instructed the exit-entry bureau to ban all Hong Kong and Macau tours for mainlanders between May 7 to 9, the Oriental Daily News reported... The ban could cause estimated losses of nearly 20 million Hong Kong dollars (USD 2.6 million) to Hong Kong tourist industry... The ban was imposed to prevent mainlanders from attending peaceful demonstrations planned by followers of the Falun Gong spiritual group in Hong Kong during Jiang's visit, the report said. Jiang is expected to arrive here on May 8 to attend the Fortune forum to be held from May 8 to 10. Former U.S. president Bill Clinton is also on the guest list.