The Orion: Family visits Chico on tour for Chinese prisoner

March 05, 2003

When friends of Charles Li received word of his detainment by the Chinese they struck out on the road with a travelling protest. The Friends of Charles Li van tour made a stop in Chico Friday afternoon to raise awareness about Li's plight.

A handful of Li's friends and his fiancee reached Chico City Hall at 2 p.m. to address a small crowd of reporters and concerned citizens about his imprisonment. Li was taken into custody 42 days ago at Guangzhou Airport on January 22 when he returned to China to visit his parents for the Chinese Lunar New Year.

His arrest came as a shock to those who know him in America. Li is known as a kind intelligent man. There is no way to contact him and his friends fear he is being abused while in custody.

"I don't know what's going to happen in that dark cell," said Yeong-Ching Foo, Li's fiancee. "I'm very worried about him."

China is holding Li, an American citizen, on [false] charges [...] If convicted, Li could face 15 years in prison.

The U.S. Consulate is allowed to see Li once a month, and on the last visit, Li said that he was being imprisoned because he's a Falun Gong practitioner.

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa is a system of meditation and exercises popular in Asia for promoting physical and spiritual health. The practice is currently being persecuted in China by the government. The teachings of Falun Gong center on principles of truth, compassion and tolerance and stress cultivating a peaceful lifestyle.

Chinese President Jiang Zemin outlawed the practice in July of 1999 because more than 100 million Chinese study Falun Gong and its influence is seen as a viable threat to the Communist Party, according to the Falun Dafa Information Center (http://www.faluninfo.net).

Chico resident Michael Courter has studied Falun Gong for two and a half years. He is puzzled by the Chinese reaction to the peaceful practice.

"All it does is teach you to treat others well," Courter said. He added that the reason Falun Gong spread so fast is that everyone wants to be treated with compassion and tolerance, so people are attracted to the teachings.

In the four years since outlawing Falun Gong, the Chinese government has sent more than 100,000 practitioners to labor camps. Human rights groups and Falun Gong practitioners have collected details of 581 deaths while in police custody. The most conservative estimates report the number of Chinese citizens who have been detained because of ties with Falun Gong is in the hundreds of thousands to millions.

Some people who have been detained in China for Falun Gong study tell horror stories of beatings and torture. Friends fear that Li is currently being subjected to this treatment.

"Every day there he's facing death and life," said Kerry Hyang, a friend of Li's and fellow Falun Gong student. "How can it be? I know him so well, he's such a good person."

To compound matters, there have been Falun Gong practitioners from other countries who were arrested and then released at the insistence of their governments. An Australian who was arrested the same day as Li has been released after the Australian government insistently demanded she be set free.

This type of aggression toward the Chinese government has not been replicated by the U.S. State Department, which said it is doing all it can to get Li sent home.

Li has a doctorate in medical science and owns an import-export business dealing with traditional Chinese medicine and medical products.

Li's friends have started a Web site (http://rescuecharles.org) dedicated to freeing him and have written numerous letters to government officials in America and China.

Anna Eshoo, congressional representative for Li's district, has also taken up his cause starting a letter to the Chinese ambassador soliciting Li's release that has been signed by 82 members of Congress.

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