It has been almost two years now that Trinity College's Zhao Ming, a Falun Gong practitioner, was summarily arrested and detained without trial by the Chinese authorities when he went temporarily back to his homeland. What was his crime? He simply practised meditative exercises which are designed, "to improve the mind and body..., and to improve the moral characters by following the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance." It appears to be because of the popularity of Falun Gong that the Chinese government decided to eradicate it and launched an offensive against the movement in July 1999.

Over 280 practitioners have been killed, thousands were arrested and tortured. Over 1,000 healthy individuals were sent to mental hospitals. Over 10,000 were sent to labour camps and over 100,000 have been illegally detained without trial.

The visit of the Chinese Premier to Ireland last month was a shameful event for this country. However, it at least allowed the Irish authorities to highlight the case of Zhao Ming and of the thousands of others who suffer daily for their beliefs in self-development and spiritual enhancement. It was reported that Prime Minister Zhu Rongji would look into the matter. I take this opportunity to urge once again the Irish Government to demand that the Chinese Government immediately release Zhao Ming and halt its systematic persecution of Falun Gong practitioners.

As Ireland is taking the chair of the UN Security Council, it can pursue two avenues. It can either sit on the fence and toe the line traced by the leaders of the most powerful Western countries or it can grab this unique opportunity to effectively challenge the many human rights abuses in China and throughout the world.

[...]