Dear Mr. ___________(name omitted to avoid harassment by the Chinese embassy):

Thank you for visiting my office and providing me with additional information regarding human rights abuses in China; specifically, the persecution of practitioners of Falun Dafa. I hope the Falun Dafa rally hosted on the capitol lawn went as well as expected. I believe Falun Dafa's premise of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance embody the basic freedoms afforded by our constitution; these individual freedoms represent the basis from which our nation considers Human Rights.

I am deeply concerned about China's human rights record. I have communicated my concerns over human rights practices directly to the Chinese government on a number of occasions. The United States must continue a comprehensive Asian policy that takes into account human rights and security concerns. I have urged President Bush to continue communicating our displeasure to the Chinese government over their human rights violations.

The United States should not remain silent about these issues. As a U.S. Senator, I have made clear on many occasions my concerns about repressive Chinese practices. I wrote an article on this subject that appeared in The Washington Times. I concluded the article by stating that: "Above all, we cannot remain silent." We must tell the leadership in Beijing that cooperation between our countries will proceed faster and farther if there is progress on human rights.

We should leave no doubt where the United States stands on that principle that has been so central to the American political culture and so important to the conduct of American foreign policy; our reverence for human rights and the rule of law, and our eagerness to cooperate with those countries that share our ideals.

I believe we must keep the pressure on the Chinese government to respect and adopt internationally recognized standards of human rights. Again, thank you for contacting me on this most important subject.

Sincerely,

Richard D. Lugar

[Editor's note: In fairness, and for the sake of accuracy, we must point out that the persecution of Falun Gong does not reflect the will of the Chinese people as a whole, or even the will of the entire Chinese government, as many high ranking officials are opposed to this persecution. Jiang Zemin and a few of his political henchmen are totally responsible for this attempt to eliminate a group of people based on their spiritual beliefs.]