March 7, 2003

At 10:00 AM on March 3^rd, a press conference was held at the reporter's club in the east city hall of Shizuoka, Japan. The subject of this conference was "Rescuing Kaneko Yoko." This activity was part of the global effort to rescue Falun Gong practitioners' families and relatives in China who have been tortured. It was inspired by the successful rescue of practitioner Lin Shenli after Canadian practitioners clarified the truth, called for rescue efforts, and got help from the Canadian government. Mr. Lin was finally rescued from China and returned to Canada.

Sankei Shinbun, Cyunichi Shinbun, Yomiuri Shinbun and two other media attended the press conference. Shizuoka practitioner Hirobayashi Mitsuhiro talked about the situation of his five relatives who have been tortured in China for the past three years. Canadian practitioner Lin Shenli verified the terrible situation in China from his own experience. He called on the Japanese government and media to urge Jiang's regime to immediately end the inhumane persecution that violates the Chinese constitution and the International Declaration of Human Rights. He called on the Chinese government to release Kaneko Yoko, whose husband is a Japanese citizen, and many other Japanese's relatives who have been tortured in China, as well as all other detained overseas practitioners. Mr. Lin said: "Kaneko distributed truth-clarifying materials, which is a courageous act of daring to speak the truth, which is every Chinese citizen's legal right guaranteed by the Chinese constitution. Up to now there have been at least six hundred practitioners tortured to death by Jiang's regime. In addition, they have blocked all the channels that practitioners could use to engage in dialogue with the government. Under the situation that basic human rights are being severely violated, any peaceful way to uphold human rights is legal and acceptable." After learning the truth, some representatives explicitly expressed that they should step forward and rescue Kaneko Yoko.

Before the conference began, two local Japanese practitioners submitted two petition letters to the Shizuoka township council.

The conference ended successfully under the strong righteous thoughts of attending practitioners. Afterwards, we shared our experiences. We realize that we need to not only tell the truth but to clarify the truth well. We firmly believe that more and more people will actively resist and stop the evil's torture after knowing the truth.