The 12 Taiwan Falun Gong practitioners in the picture arrived in Hong Kong on June 25 but they were refused entry into Hong Kong and had to stay in the airport overnight



By a Taiwan practitioner


(Clearwisdom.net) Shortly before the 10th Anniversary of Hong Kong's being returned to China, a group of Falun Gong practitioners were refused entry to Hong Kong and deported. Among them was attorney Chu Wanqi, Executive Director of the Human Rights Law Foundation Asia. The Hong Kong Immigration Office couldn't give an explanation for the deportations. The Taiwan Falun Dafa Association held a press conference on June 27, 2007, to vehemently protest Hong Kong's action.

Attorney Chu said she successfully entered Hong Kong on June 19, 2007. Only a few days later, when she traveled to Hong Kong on June 24 with a valid visa, she was lead into a separate room by an immigration officer, who told her that her presence in Hong Kong would not be in Hong Kong's best interests and that "upper levels" had decided not to allow her to enter.


Attorney Chu Wanqi publicized an internal email from an airline company.


Chu also publicized an internal email from an airline company, revealing that Hong Kong Immigration had received a "Black List" and then told Taiwan airline companies to help keep Falun Gong practitioners from flying to Hong Kong for the July holiday.



A the translation of an excerpt of the email:
"At 5 p.m. today (June 25, 2007), Director of Airport Control Chen Meng Ling from the Hong Kong Customs and Immigration Department called our company and gave instructions concerning emergency action to keep Falun Gong practitioners from entering Hong Kong.
"On July 1, 2007, Hong Kong will celebrate the 10th Anniversary of is return to China. Falun Gong are not welcomed travelers so airline companies from Taiwan must comply with the following regulations:
From June 26 to July 1, the restriction applies to all flights from Taipei, Kaoshiung, and Taichung to Hong Kong.


Everyday at 5 p.m., a Hong Kong Customs and Immigration Office agent will come to our company to retrieve a list of all passengers flying to Hong Kong the following day. An employee in our department has agreed to provide the passengers' names.
Hong Kong will check the list of names. If they find a targeted person, they will check with the seating department again and also fax a rejection letter to us. Then our department will notify the specific Taiwan airport to stop the passenger.


When the flight leaves Taiwan, a Hong Kong agent will come to get the list of on-board passengers.
The targeted travelers will be refused entry to Hong Kong, so our airline has been asked to give high priority for seats to deport them back to Taiwan."
Attorney Chu said the email shows not only that Hong Kong has a black list but also that it is asking airline companies to cooperate with it. On the 10th Anniversary of Hong Kong's return to China, when China is claiming that its relationship with Hong Kong is "One Country Two Systems" and "Highly Autonomous," it is actually attempting to deprive the Falun Gong practitioners' of their legal right to obtain a visa, board an airplane, and enter Hong Kong. She called on the Taiwan Government and world public figures to protest to the government of Hong Kong.


According to a survey by the Taiwan Falun Dafa Association, up until June 27, 40 Falun Gong practitioners had been refused entry into Hong Kong, and 246 practitioners were refused a visa to Hong Kong.
The Cabinet of the Mainland Committee of Taiwan, which is in charge of relations with China, issued a statement on June 25, calling on the Hong Kong government to stop unfriendly actions that disrespect human rights. If Hong Kong doesn't improve immediately, it is showing the world how Hong Kong has resorted to self-restrictions, and it will have a very negative affect on Hong Kong's image as a free society.


The Committee emphasized that Falun Gong is a legal organization in Hong Kong and that attorney Chu Wanqi has a valid visa from the Hong Kong government. Yet she was refused entry to Hong Kong and was treated rudely at Hong Kong Customs. How could such a violation of human rights happen in Hong Kong, which always claims it is ruled by law?

The Committee also said that this will affect the exchange between Taiwan and Hong Kong. It expressed concern that the Hong Kong government handle this issue properly so as not to harm the exchange between Taiwan and Hong Kong and not destroy Hong Kong's image as a free society. The Committee also wants the Hong Kong government to protect Taiwan travelers so that they can legally enter and leave Hong Kong and be assured of their safety and rights while in Hong Kong.

The Taiwan Falun Dafa Association then issued a three-point statement. It protested Hong Kong's forced deportation of a human rights lawyer and Falun Gong practitioners, an act that infringes on the rights of the people of Taiwan. It denounced the tyranny of the Chinese Communist Party's black list that makes a mockery of Hong Kong's "One Country Two Systems" policy and its judicial independence. It called for Hu Jintai to stop the persecution of Falun Gong immediately and bring Jiang Zemin to justice.

The statement from the Taiwan Falun Dafa Association also called on the international community to be aware of how China is pressuring Hong Kong to abandon the "One Country Two Systems" policy and move toward being an accomplice of the Chinese Communist Party in violating human rights.

Posting date: 6/29/2007Original article date: 6/29/2007Category: Falun Dafa

WorldwideChinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2007/6/27/157731.html

No cause for celebration
--Falun Gong practitioners object to planned Chinese Olympic Rose Parade float
By Joe Piasecki / Pasadena Weekly

http://www.pasadenaweekly.com/article.php?id=4721&IssueNum=75

Broadcast to millions of people around the globe at the start of each year, Pasadena's annual Tournament of Roses Parade is anything but your average street party.

Featuring the likes of President Dwight Eisenhower, Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren, baseball great Hank Aaron and entertainment icons such as Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra and Carol Burnett as grand marshals over its 12-decade history, the parade is a far-reaching statement about the American way of life — and all from little old Pasadena.

That's why some local Chinese Americans are outraged by the recent announcement that next year's parade will include a float representing the People's Republic of China, believing the inclusion of an authoritarian regime charged with human rights abuses is sending the wrong message out to the world.

The float, sponsored by local business interests, is designed to salute the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing as part of the upcoming parade's theme “Passport to the World's Celebrations.”

But to Jianzhong (John) Li, a Caltech laboratory technical aide who sought asylum from the Chinese government after 1989's Tiananmen Square violence, the upcoming Olympics are no cause for celebration.

Li is one of more than three dozen regular members of Caltech's Falun Gong club, dedicated to the exercise- and meditation-based spiritual movement outlawed by the Chinese government in 1999.

Since that time, tens of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners have been detained without public trial and sent to labor camps, where some of them suffer government-sanctioned torture, according to Amnesty International's Web site.

Last year, the Falun Gong-owned newspaper Epoch Times carried a story that the government was killing practitioners to harvest their organs, a claim journalist Wenyi Wang famously shouted at Chinese President Jiang Zemin during his visit last year to the White House.

“The Chinese are using the Rose Parade to show the world that a country, without caring about human rights, can achieve so much. It reminds me of the Olympic Games in 1936, which gave Hitler an opportunity to demonstrate for the world how efficient Nazi Germany was,” said Li, who started practicing Falun Gong in 1996 as a Caltech PhD student and chairman of the school's Chinese Student Association.

Those strong feelings are shared by Yaning (Jenny) Liu, a former Pasadena resident who is trying to free her mother from a labor and re-education camp in Beijing, where she is currently held without benefit of a public trial for practicing Falun Gong.

During a telephone call to her parents' home in mid-December, Liu learned that 64-year-old Shuying Li had been taken from her home by government agents, who seized books about Falun Gong as evidence against her. Authorities prevented Liu's father from visiting his wife or appealing on her behalf, merely sending him notice that Li would serve at least 30 months in the work camp.

Despite some human rights reforms, the Chinese government has increased repression of activists and restrictions on domestic journalists in the run-up to hosting the Olympics, according to an April report by Amnesty International.

“This is very sad,” said Liu of the upcoming Rose Parade float. “We're dealing with a government that persecutes its own people.”

Tournament of Roses President CL Keedy, a longtime Pasadena resident and owner of a tax service franchise, said he did not expect such reactions.

“Our intention is not to offend anyone or any group. The Olympics is a world celebration of athletic endeavors, so it fits with this year's theme of the Rose Parade. The Olympics is the issue, not the politics,” said Keedy, who added that the parade will feature floats and marching bands from at least nine other countries.

Keedy also said that although the Beijing Olympics Committee did give their approval for the float, it is not directly funded by the People's Republic of China.

This isn't the only time that the Rose Parade has been the focus of international controversy. Back in 1992, the Tournament chose Cristobal Colon, a Spanish duke and a descendant of Christopher Columbus, to serve as grand marshal of the event, the theme of which was “Voyages of Discovery” to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Columbus' voyage to the New World.

But not everyone viewed that anniversary the same way. Native American and other civil rights groups denounced Columbus and his crew as rapists and pillagers and protested the selection of Colon.

The Tournament of Roses eventually selected a co-grand marshal, then-Independent Congressman Ben Nighthorse Campbell, to share the honors of leading the parade and presiding over the annual Rose Bowl college football game.

China's float is sponsored by both the Roundtable of Southern California Chinese-American Organizations and the locally based Avery Dennison Corp., which has done business in China for more than a decade.

Pasadena, Keedy also pointed out, already has a sister city in China. Xicheng, an administrative district of the Beijing municipality, became one of five Pasadena sister cities in 1999, a status that has led to annual cultural exchanges between the two cities, said Alan Lamson, chair of the China Subcommittee of the Pasadena Sister Cities Committee.

“We suggested it would be a good move to celebrate the Beijing Olympics. A delegation came in late December 2004 to scope out the parade,” said Lamson, who taught English at Pasadena City College for more than 30 years.

Although concerns about China's human rights record entered into the initial sister cities discussion and do crop up from time to time, he said, “Our position is that it's much better to get to know someone, even if you disagree with them... to hear their point of view and to get them to see your point of view. That's been more beneficial than to say, ‘Sorry, we don't want to have a relationship with you.'”

Xicheng borders Tiananmen Square as well as the Forbidden City and is located to the north of the Daxing district, where Liu believes her mother is believed to be held.

Despite reforms to its death penalty system and rules governing foreign journalists, the coming Olympics have been met with “moves to expand detention without trial and ‘house arrest' of activists and by a tightening of controls over domestic media and the Internet,” said Amnesty International Deputy Asia Pacific Director Catherine Baber in an April 30 press release.

In December, Human Rights Watch wrote a letter to the Beijing Olympic committee calling for an end to mass arrests and increased speech restrictions. “Human rights violations have taken place even in direct relation to the organization of the games,” it reads, alleging that some 300,000 Beijing residents have been evicted from their homes during redevelopment efforts.

“If we want to invite the Chinese government to have a float in Pasadena, we should raise the issue of a family member of a [former] Pasadena resident in a labor camp because of the Olympics,” said Wen Chen, an employee of Caltech and member of its Falun Gong Club.

On Monday, 15 other members of the club gathered on campus to voice their disappointment in the Tournament of Roses' decision.

Although she hopes the Olympics will eventually force China to change, Chen fears the games are designed “to fool Chinese people that their government is welcomed by international society and doesn't have to change, and [to] cover up the eyes of Western countries.”

Last week, United Press International reported results of a UPI/Zogby poll that found although more than 46 percent of Americans surveyed feel China will not make human rights reforms due to the Olympics, nearly 80 percent also said that the US should not protest the summer games.

Such widespread disinterest in China's human rights record, particularly involving Falun Gong practitioners, has raised a few questions for Caltech's Li about his new home, America.

“For a long time our society has blindfolded ourselves regarding human rights issues in China because there is so much money to play the public relations game. Here everything is for sale now, and that's what has ruined our moral values,” he said.

During the seven years from May 1992 to July 1999, the number of Falun Gong practitioners in China reached 70 to 100 million, based on internal investigations conducted by the Ministry of Public Security. The following chronicles are selected reports about Falun Gong published before the persecution started in 1999 - all positive:

June 1993: The Chinese Qigong magazine published a special report on Falun Gong and Mr. Li Hongzhi.

April, May, August 1994: Window to Art magazine published special reports on Falun Gong and Mr. Li Hongzhi in three monthly issues.

March 1996: Beijing Youth and Beijing Evenings named book "Zhuan Falun" in the top 10 best seller list.

May 15, 1998: China's CCTV aired a 10 minutes news about Falun Gong in Changchun in the evening news. The news report is very positive.

July 19, 1998: China Economy Times published an article titled, "I Can Stand Up!" This article reported a story of Xie Xiufen, a housewife from Handan City, Hebei Province, who had been paralyzed for over 16 years, but was able to walk after she started practicing Falun Gong.

August 11, 1998: Beijing Daily published an article describing Beijing citizens practicing various exercises, especially Falun Gong, in the morning. The article included a photo of practitioners practicing the Falun Gong exercises.

August 28, 1998, China Youth published a report, "Holiday of Life", reporting 1,500 Falun Gong practitioners attending the opening ceremony of the Asian Sports Festival in Shenyang, and highlighted it with two photos of Falun Gong team as the title pictures.

December 31, 1998: Shenxin Times devoted a whole page of the newspaper to a special report on Falun Gong. The headlines in the page included a summary of Falun Gong, "Falun Gong's Mind Body Cultivation Becomes Popular in Pengchen; 3,000 Practitioners Enjoy Practicing Falun Gong," "Falun Gong Group Practice Sites in College; College Professors and Students Want to Learn Falun Gong," "Falun Gong's Miraculous Healing Power; Many Patients Benefited from Falun Gong," etc. The stories were accompanied by seven color photos of Falun Dafa experience-sharing conferences and group practices.


China Youth, August 28, 1998, "Holiday of Life" on Falun Gong

Before Chinese communist government started the persecution on Falun Gong in July 1999, Falun Gong and Master Li Hongzhi were well recognized in China and received many honoring awards. Below is a thank-you letter from an organization under China's Ministry of Public Security (which later became one of the main departments that execute government's orders on the persecution) , dated in 1993.

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The Ministry of Public Security of the People's Republic of China
Thank-you letter to
The China Qigong Science Research Society

To: Mr. Zhang, Zhenhuan, Chairman of the China Qigong Science Research Society

The Third National Outstanding JianyiYongwei Individuals Honoring Conference, which was co-sponsored by the Central Propaganda Ministry and the Public Security Ministry, has been successfully wrapped up. Many representatives attending the Conference got injured or disabled from fighting against criminals. After conventional medical treatment, many of them still suffered from various symptoms. To help those outstanding individuals alleviate their sufferings, CJYF had formally submitted a request to CQSRS to invite Mr. Li, Hongzhi, founder of China Falun Gong, to offer free health recovery treatment to the outstanding figures during the Conference. Our request received immediate endorsement from general secretary Mr. Zhang, Jian, deputy general secretary Mr. Guan, Qian and Director Mr. Fei, Dequan.

On August 24, upon our invitation, Mr. Li Hongzhi made a special trip to the Public Security Ministry and offered treatment to Chairman Wang, Fang. On August 30, Mr. Li, Hongzhi, leading a group of Falun Gong masters (veteran practitioners), offered treatment to up to 100 representatives at the Conference venue. Because of the remarkable effectiveness, the treatment received wide acclamation. Prior to the treatment, some people were suffering from ailments left over from knife and gunshot injuries. After the treatment, they were relieved of such symptoms as pain, numbness and chronic weakness. Those suffering from brain injury post illnesses recovered sober mind after the treatment, and were relieved of such symptoms as headache and dizziness. Some people were ridded of tumors right on the spot. Some excreted gall stones in 24 hours after receiving the treatment. Some people suffered from stomach diseases, heart diseases or arthritis. After the treatment, all of them were relieved of symptoms right on the site. Among those almost 100 people receiving treatment, only one person claimed no obvious effects. All others felt obvious improvements of various degrees. The representatives treated by Falun Gong were very grateful for this event arranged by the China JianyiYongwei Foundation and credited it as a tangible help offered during the Conference. Whereas the leaders of CQSRS and Mr. Li, Hongzhi directly offered that help, and the activity would help promote the general public's sense of voluntarily combating criminal activities, we hereby express our sincere thanks to you, other CQSRS leaders and Mr. Li, Hongzhi!

We hope that our activities will receive continuous support from your Society and all walks of life.

China JianyiYongwei Foundation (Valor Foundation)
August 31, 1993
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Original letter in Chinese (click on image to enlarge)

Glad to share something of mine with you.

My name is Victoria. I am a Falun Gong practitioner, very fortunate to practice Falun Dafa.

Before cultivating Falun Gong, I was weak, always in sickness. Falun Gong has improved my immune system, apparently effective in healing and fitness. Now I seldom take medicine.

Before cultivating Falun Gong, I had many shortcomings. For example, I was egocentric for consideration, turndown for criticisms and zealous for fortune, etc. Nowadays, I frequently give myself reminders to think other people prior to me, to let go of vanity and to introspect if behave inappropriately today.

Falun Gong brings serenity to my mind and instructs me to think lightly of human pursuits. “Contentment brings happiness”（知足常樂）and “To let nature takes its course“（順其自然）．With cultivation, I understand these two sentences, experiencing joy of harmony and peace. What is more important, I know the genuine purpose of what I have to be a human being in this world.

Today, Falun Gong flourishes and prospers in 83 countries. The growing numbers of people are participating in Falun Dafa cultivation group every day. Everyone learns and practices Falun Gong free of charge. By means of Falun Gong practicing, you can get a healthier body and improve your moral character.

As long as you cultivate Falun Gong, you will know how wonderful it is

Falun Gong (aka Falun Dafa) is a an ancient form of Qigong, and it is a cultivation method with the principles of Zhen, Shan, and Ren (Truth, Compassion, and Tolerance). The former Chinese Communist leader Jiang Zemin launched the persecution on Falun Gong in July 1999. Jiang was insecure about his authority and jealous of Falun Gong's popularity - by the late 1990's, 70-100 million people were practicing in China, outnumbering the CCP membership. But why would any government feel threatened by a group of peaceful people who have no political interests, and who measure themselves by the stand of Truth, Compassion, and Tolerance?

A friend of mine from Malaysia, who is not a practitioner but knows I am one, once told me: "I think I understand why the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) can't stand Falun Gong - it's because Falun Gong is so good. It's the same reason why the CCP could not stand Confucius - he is just "too" good." (Note: Confucius had been respected by Chinese people for more than 2000 years as the Greatest Master in the history, whose philosophy, emphasizing on Ren, Yi, Li, Zhi, Xin (benevolence, righteousness, etiquette, wisdom, faith), is a main part of the essence of traditional Chinese culture. Mao Zedong, an ex-leader of the CCP, started the infamous Anti-Confucius Campaign in the 70s. All Chinese people, from children to elderly, were required to criticize Confucius.)

Falun Gong's principles of Truth, Compassion, and Tolerance stand in direct opposition to the nature of the CCP, which defies traditional values and does not allow any freedom of belief. The head of the CCP fears losing control over people's minds, which is the main method they have been using to maintain their power. The CCP created one after another so-called "political movements", under which some people would be labeled as "bad people" and other "good" people are encouraged to use whatever methods to "destroy" the "enemies". Due to these "movements", 60 to 80 million innocent Chinese people have been killed during the 57 years of the CCP's rule over China.

The main target of the CCP is currently Falun Gong practitioners. Jiang Zemin initially swore to "eliminate Falun Gong in three months". Since then, hundreds of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners have been illegally detained in prisons, labor camps, and so-called mental hospitals for refusing to denounce Falun Gong. They are routinely beaten, tortured, raped, and injected with nerve damaging drugs. Part of Jiang Zemin's policy of genocide against Falun Gong practitioners has included "defaming their reputations, bankrupting them financially, and destroying them physically." Over 2,800 have been confirmed dead as a result of torture by March of 2006. The real figure is believed MUCH higher than this.

The CCP's brutal persecution on Falun Gong has been going on for almost 8 years. However, they did not succeed to "eliminate Falun Gong". In quite a contrary, Falun Dafa has been spreading to everywhere in the world. And even in mainland China, it is still growing. One of my aunts, who lives in southern China, started to practice Falun Gong two years ago (there is quite an amazing story here). Last year when I visited Beijing, my sister-in-law asked me to teach her Falun Gong as soon as she saw me, before I even had chance to mention anything about Falun Gong.