Latest News from China - 02/19/2000

[Beijing, February 18, 2000] On Feb. 17, 2000, the State Council's press office released a White Book: 50 Years of Development of PRC Human Rights.

It has six parts, but none of them mention anything about the unprecedented persecutions against millions of peaceful Falun Gong practitioners, which are still escalating.

[Beijing, February 18, 2000] The Beijing government officers are demanding tourists to Zhongnanhai, Tiananmen and Qianmen etc. to curse Falun Dafa and its founder. Such behavior of these uniformed state employees is tarnishing the image of the state.

A regional newspaper in China claimed that 98.7% of local practitioners had given up Falun Gong after being "educated". But in fact, only a few of them said that they would give up Falun Gong, while the vast majority of them are still continuing their cultivation practice of Falun Gong.

At present, policemen require detained practitioners to pay a bail ranging from several thousand Yuan to 20,000 Yuan (two years' salary of a common employee in China). This has made life even tougher for practitioners who are already in poverty. We appeal to the relevant government departments to stop doing that.

[Beijing, February 18, 2000] In January 2000, Li Zhen-ge, Zhang Dian-shu, Wu Dong-sheng and Nie Jian-yong from Liu-bin-bao Village of Yan-qing County went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong according to the law of petition. They were arrested and escorted back to their hometown by the local police officers. They were forced to lie on the snow for up to four hours.

A couple from Yan-qing County was removed from their posts because they refuse to give up Falun Gong.

Practitioners from Dong-mao Village of Chi-cheng County of Hebei Province, Zhang Wen-sheng and Ms. Wu, got arrested by the head of village and were put on handcuffs and shackles. They were beaten up and denied access to the toilet.

[Xinjiang, February 18, 2000] Practitioners from Wu-shu of Xinjiang Province, Li Hou-zhuang and her daughter, Chen Hui-fang, got officially arrested after having been detained for four and a half months. Ms. Chen is very weak now. The doctor said that she was dying. Ms. Li's condition is also not good. However, their family members were not allowed to visit them. They were taken away from the hospital. It was said that they were put on trial on February 14, 2000.

[Guizhou Province, February 18, 2000] The recent situation in Guizhou Province:

[1] On January 20, Gui-yang Evening Newspaper reprinted an article that fabricated some slanderous news to defame Teacher Li. Many practitioners stood out to defend Teacher Li. In the end, about a hundred practitioners got detained. Later, the communist authorities had to admit that the news was a 100% fabrication.

[2] Practitioners from Gui-yang, Ye He-ping and Tang Wen-ping, and practitioners from Xiuwen, Hu Da-li and Deng Tian-ping, were sent to labor camps for having gone to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. Meanwhile, Ye He-ping has been on hunger strike for seven days. He is now being force-fed. He looks well.

[3] Two female practitioners (both are contact people) from Zhao-tong of Yun-nan Province got arrested when reading "Zhuan Falun" on the train to Kai-li city in Guizhou Province. They were picked up by their local police officers after one day of detention there.

[Beijing, February 18, 2000] On the morning of February 16, six practitioners from Hai-dian district of Beijing were taken away by the local police when they were practicing Falun Gong exercises in public area. After a whole day of interrogation, one of them was detained. The other five were picked up by their family members or their workplace sat around 8:30pm.