A Swedish Practitioner's Appeal for the Release of his Chinese Friends (Photos)

Saturday, June 22, 2002

I have cultivated Dafa since autumn 1995. On my first trip to China in October 1996, I really understood how great this cultivation system is. After listening to numerous Chinese practitioners' experiences my understanding of the Fa deepened. This happened every time I visited China. The Chinese practitioners' pure minds and unselfish behaviour made a strong impression on me and I was often moved to tears just by being in their righteous field.

After the persecution started I often wondered what happened to the friends that I met during my three visits to China. Are they still cultivating? Have they suffered from torture? Are they still alive? Why are such good people being persecuted? I just could not understand.

I remember, especially well, one young man that I met every year. Since July 1999 I have been wondering how he and his wife are doing. Recently I saw the picture of a family on Clearwisdom, and under the picture it said "Child is missing her mother." It was them, my Chinese friends!

In China, one afternoon in 1996, I went to a Fa study group at a University in Beijing, led by a man who was the same age as I. A young woman was reading Master Li's articles with a clear voice; she could speak some English. We met later on other occasions. She was always smiling and very helpful.

My next trip to China was in December 1997. Practitioners from many countries celebrated Christmas Eve together with the Chinese practitioners. At my table there was a man that I recognized. It was that young man who led the Fa study group in which I had taken part the previous year. His name was Lin Chentao and he was a scientist. Later we had shared experiences at our hotel together with practitioners from different countries. I was very glad when Lin proudly presented his wife. They had recently married. She was that helpful, smiling woman I had met in 1996.

I got to know Lin Chentao a little better this time. I remember his warm, humble smile and his deep understanding of the Fa. He was a scientist and sometimes his work required him to do experiments on rats. He told us that he refused to mistreat or kill the rats, in spite of the fact that it could hinder his career as a scientist. As a Dafa practitioner one cannot deliberately kill any living being and I think he was able to clarify that to his professor. Once he cut his hand very badly on glass. He bled profusely and one of the bones in his hand was broken and visible. Because of his deep faith in Dafa he just put a bandage on it and it healed by itself. I met him again in Beijing in January 1999.

I have now heard that he has been tortured so severely in Tuanhe Labour Camp that he has became mentally disabled. He knew that Falun Dafa is a righteous way, yet it was demanded of him that he give it up. Of course he did not! His wife Zhang Xiaojie, a music teacher, is now suffering in a female labour camp. Meanwhile their 2-year-old daughter is missing her parents.

áá?

Lin Chentao and his family have been torn apart. Sadly to say, there are many, many others who have suffered like this and it makes my heart bleed.

Hereby, I appeal to the Chinese government: Stop this ridiculous persecution! Release Lin Chentao, Zhang Xiaojie, and all other imprisoned Falun Dafa practitioners in China. These good-hearted people have done nothing wrong! They do not want political power - they have other, much finer goals in their lives: to be good persons, and become even better persons. What is wrong with that?