July 2, 2002

(Clearwisdom.net)

The Epoch Times reporter Li Hua reported from Sydney about Mr. and Mrs. Ou, who live in Sydney, Australia. The time when they came back from visiting their relatives in Hong Kong last week was the most immense upset they had ever experienced since they moved to Australia more than ten years ago.

Mrs. Ou suffers from an inborn deformed retina. Mrs. Ou, who was either accompanied by her husband or friends, was accustomed to going back to Hong Kong and visiting her close relatives every year. However this year, she was forced to separate with her husband at the Customs in Hong Kong, and she bumped and tumbled along and "felt" her way back to Australia.

On the evening of June 28, Mr. and Mrs. Ou took direct flight QF127 to Hong Kong. They were taken to an examination room when they handed over their ID's at the Customs building for entering Hong Kong. It was Mrs. Ou's passport that was in question by the Customs officers. They were astonished because this had never happened in the past when they visited Hong Kong.

In the examination room, Mrs. Ou was not informed of any reasons for receiving this special treatment she had never encountered before. Her body was fully searched by 5 police officers, and her personal luggage was completely searched by two groups of policemen, twice. Then she was forced to sign a paper of which she was not allowed to even read the words. The supervisor of the Customs building with the surname He, told her that if she was not satisfied with the demands of these policemen, she could sue him if she liked, but he was just "executing the orders from the authorities," and the decision was out of his control. He expressed that they were absolutely not responsible when Mrs. Ou asked them to compensate for her loss.

Based on her conversation with the Customs officials, Mrs. Ou eventually confirmed the true reasons why she met with special treatment: because she practiced Falun Gong in Australia, and because the government of the special district of Hong Kong was holding the great ceremony activities of the five-year anniversary of Hong Kong returning to mainland China on July 1. Jiang would attend this ceremony.

Mr. Ou had no choice but to see all this happen in front of his eyes. For many years, his wife's daily life was dependent on his care. Ever since she began practicing Falun Gong, her eyesight has remarkably improved, so he supports his wife practicing. The main reason that he brought his wife along to go to Guangzhou via Hong Kong at this time was that he considered that he might be gone from home for several weeks. He was afraid that no one would take care of his wife who would be home alone. He never thought that his wife would meet this kind of unjust treatment in the land that she regarded as her home! But what was he able to do?

After she endured 3 hours of interrogation and examination, Mrs. Ou had no alternative but to separate from her husband. She was forced to fly back to Australia by herself. Before leaving, Mr. Ou told the people at the customs to tell the flight attendants to take good care of this wife.

The staff on the plane, including the commander and interpreter, after hearing her story all shook their heads and expressed that they couldn't comprehend this.

When being interviewed by Epoch Times, Mrs. Ou expressed that she would shudder every time she recalled what happened in Hong Kong customs. Their tough and icy manner towards people made her feel as if she was in Mainland China, not in the friendly Hong Kong she remembered. She said: "Last year, 19 Australian citizens were refused entry to Hong Kong borders. Early this year, Hong Kong police lodged a false accusation against Falun Gong. Now, I, a housewife who has barely left my house due to my eye illness, experienced the refusal from the Customs of Hong Kong only because I practice Falun Gong for mind and body health. It has been observed that the formerly brightest harbor of freedom has already evolved into a place where there is not much freedom left five years after Hong Kong has returned to China."

"In the customs, and in the airport, I heart-achingly asked those policemen that had the icy manner 'wasn't it said that it 'wouldn't change for 50 years'? How much exactly did they want to damage Hong Kong? In the future, how could I love Hong Kong? How could I love China?! Those policemen appeared to be stupefied, but no one actually responded to me." Mrs. Ou said last.

But who could give her an answer? Would the former Hong Kong become only a dream?