Report on BBC News Look East: Cambridge University student refused for passport renewal because of the practice of Falun Gong

BBC UK evening news on 4th June reported: A Cambridge University student has been refused for passport renewal by the Chinese Embassy in London simply because of his practice of Falun Gong. Currently the student is still in the middle of his education course.

The Cambridge student in question is Xiaobing Deng, an architecture student, whose passport is due to expire on 12th June 2001. Deng applied for a renewal according to legal procedures but was refused by the Chinese Embassy, forcing him to become a refugee in the UK. The incident has drawn attention from British society.

The BBC news group interviewed Deng regarding this incident. Deng expressed that he had committed nothing against the law either in China or the UK, nor had any criminal record. He has only been involved with peaceful demonstrations under the British law to urge the Chinese authorities to smoothly resolve Falun Gong issues. He also teaches a free local Falun Gong class. Deng also told the journalist that the reason he was doing the news programme at a risk of further persecution on his family in China from the Chinese authorities, was that he wanted to let the British public be aware of the vicious persecution of the innocent Falun Gong practitioners by Jiang Zemin's regime. In so doing, he said he also hopes that the Chinese authorities will stop persecuting more innocent student Falun Gong practitioners abroad.

BBC news group also contacted the Chinese Embassy in London on this specific case. However the Embassy Press spokespersons did not wish to attend an interview with the journalists, nor did they reply specifically on Deng's case. They only provided fabricated materials to sabotage Falun Gong. The BBC news group was very unsatisfied with such a reply, and they interviewed Amnesty International in London for comments from a third party. The Amnesty spokesperson explained that in China thousands of Falun Gong practitioners had been sent to labour camps and prisons. He emphasized that it was simply not understandable why the Chinese authorities would label such innocent people as evil and persecute them viciously.

Cambridge University is one of the wellsprings of modern democracy. It seems perfectly reasonable that Deng, a university student with a good academic record should teach a free Falun Gong class to fellow students who want to know more about the Chinese culture and also call for a peaceful resolution to the Falun Gong issue in China. However the Chinese authorities would not tolerate this and made him a refugee for the rest of his academic life.

British television news seldom focuses on the Chinese people. However this time the news group made special reports on Deng's case. Apart from BBC, the case has also drawn attention from a number of local papers and radio stations. The British National Press Association also expressed that they would like to track any further developments in the case.

(Reported by UK practitioners.)