(Clearwisdom.net July 1, 2003)

A Journalist from the Epoch Times phone interviewed Mr. Stuart Patt, a spokesperson for the Consular Affairs Bureau of the U.S. State Department. He said, "On June 25, U.S. Consulate Officials met with Mr. Charles Li." This is the first direct meeting between U.S. Consulate Officials and Charles Li since the severe outbreak of SARS on April 23, 2003.

Mr. Stuart said, "U.S. Consulate Officials requested that prison officials allow Charles Li to practice the exercises, but this was rejected."

Mr. Stuart said, "U.S. Consulate Officials have written a protest to the prison, and are considering protesting to the higher levels [of the Chinese government] right now."

[Note: Although the basic meaning is the same, Mr. Stuart's statements may not be the exact same as the ones he actually made since they have been translated back to English from Chinese.]