Taipei, Oct. 28
A Taiwanese Falun Gong follower who was detained by mainland Chinese
authorities during a recent visit to Shanghai had been released and has returned
home, the Taiwan Falun Dafa Association (TFDA) said Tuesday.
"Lin Hsiao-kai returned to his home in the central county of Changhua
Monday evening, " TFDA President Chang Ching-hsi told local reporters.
Chang said Lin was haggard due to grueling questioning by mainland law
enforcement officers during his detention in Shanghai.
"Lin will brief the press on his ordeal after he has recovered from his
nightmare," Chang said.
Lin left for Shanghai Sept. 30 to do some sightseeing and visit friends. His
family in Taiwan lost contact with him Oct. 7 and his wife called a news
conference at the Legislative Yuan Oct. 21, pleading for help in rescuing her
husband and urging the mainland authorities to release Lin immediately. Her
appeal drew concern from lawmakers and local human rights activists.
According to Chang, Lin was not tortured but was subjected to long hours of
repeated questioning in an incident that Chang said epitomizes mainland China's
attitude toward human rights.
Falun Gong is outlawed by the mainland authorities, [...] but it is a legal
social or quasi-religious organization in Taiwan, where its adherents number
more than 300,000.
Chang said the mainland's inhumane treatment of Lin and many other Falun Gong
followers only serves to further alienate the people of Taiwan.
Noting that freedoms of assembly and association are basic human rights, Chang
said the mainland's brutal suppression of Falun Gong followers has tarnished its
international image.
Meanwhile, Chang and 19 other TFDA [practitioners] launched an islandwide
bicycle journey Tuesday to enlist public support for a campaign to push the
mainland authorities to release some 20 mainland-born TFDA [practitioners] who
have been detained during visits to their mainland hometowns.
"It seems to me that the mainland authorities especially like to arrest
female mainland-born Falun Gong followers who have married Taiwan men,"
Chang said.
At least one of them has obtained Taiwan citizenship, but she is still in jail
on the mainland because she is a Falun Gong [practitioner], Chang said.
In another case, a mainland wife of a Taiwanese Falun Gong follower was arrested
in September 1998 when she returned to her parents' home in Jinlin in
northeastern China. After serving a two-year prison term, she was released on
parole, but the mainland
authorities still will not allow her to be reunited with her husband in Taiwan.
The 20 TFDA [practitioners] will cycle around the island to seek the signatures
of local people in support of their campaign.
Category: Falun Dafa in the Media