February 25, 2006

While crying, Anqi Wang, 15, talked about her experience of the Chinese government's brutal persecution of Falun Gong [practitioners]. Two weeks ago she came together with her parents Ying Lin and Yajun Wang to Bodø [a city of ~50,000 in northern Norway]. They escaped from torture and long imprisonment. Altogether eleven Chinese, young and old, have obtained residence permits in Bodø, far away from the inhuman conditions that they experienced in their home country.

Strong feelings
Strong feelings still arise for 15 year old Anqi Wang, when she tells about her own and her mother's, Ying Liu's, experiences.

I have never been as afraid as when we were escaping to Thailand. My mother's name was on the blacklist that the Chinese authorities had given to Thailand, and she risked being arrested at the border, just because she and my dad practice Falun Gong, says a tearful Anqi Wang, while she hides her face in her hands. Both she and her parents got through the control at the border, and then were detained in Thailand before the Norwegian government said yes to welcome them.

Today, eleven Chinese adults, youth and children stay in Bodø. They have escaped from Chinese authorities who persecuted them because of their faith.

"I cried when the police took my daddy. He was just bringing me to the kindergarten, but they took him and left me alone on the street," says six year old Yuchen Hua in a serious manner.

Little Yuchen is one of the eleven Chinese who now live in three small apartments at Hovdejordet in Bodø. Living there are four families with strong histories of torture and persecution in their Chinese homeland.

Truth, Compassion, Forbearance. These are the principles that the Chinese teachings of Falun Gong are based on. It is their belief in these teachings that has brought these eleven people to Bodø.

Forty nine-year-old Jianhui Li was a successful businessman in his hometown in China, one who had made millions. Then he became a follower of Falun Gong. This resulted in many years of imprisonment for both him and his wife Ying Dai, years of torture and inconceivable suffering.

"I was exposed to electric shock and other vicious torture methods," Jianhui tells us quietly, while he looks down at his hands - hands that were once continuously handcuffed behind his back for several months.

When he finally was released from the detention center, he and his wife managed to escape to Thailand - on foot. Chinese authorities had confiscated all of their property. Now, the [former] multimillionaire has to live on what Norway can offer him as a UN refugee.

Six year old refugee
Little Yuchen Hua is still marked by the experience she had in China. Together with daddy Feng and mother Miao, she is happy to be safe in Norway.

Feng Hua, a former stockbroker, also has a strong story to tell, as he had to leave six-year-old Yuchen on the street when four police officers arrested him when they were following her to the kindergarten.

"I had to stay in prison for two and a half years altogether, before I was released and could flee to Thailand. [These were] vicious years for both me and my little family. My little daughter was just ten months old the first time I was arrested, and she cries every time she passes anything that looks like [prison] bars. At such times she believes I will have to go to prison again," Feng Hua tells.

The Chinese refugees are now thanking Norway for letting them come.

"We would like to live here. Norway is a hospitable country and Bodø is a nice town," say the eleven smiling Chinese that can finally start normal lives without fear of detention and persecution.

Eight of the eleven Chinese refugees stayed in Thailand before they came to Norway.

There they were protected by UN High Commission for Refugees, but all eight were arrested by Thai police when they participated in a peaceful demonstration in front of the Chinese Embassy in Bangkok. The demonstration was directed towards the Chinese authorities, and a Chinese policeman's rape of two female Falun Gong [practitioners] in Hebei Province in China.

• It is a Chinese meditation movement with about 100 million practitioners in more than 70 countries.

• The [practitioners] practice qigong-meditation, with spiritual and religious elements.

• The movement started in 1992 and was banned by the Chinese government in 1999.

• Since then, over 100,000 [practitioners] have been persecuted and imprisoned, and several thousands have been tortured.

• Amnesty International has sharply condemned China's persecution of the Falun Gong [practitioners].

After only five months in Norway, Zhengi and Chunhua have already learned a little Norwegian.

The couple Zhengi Tan and Chunhua Zhong has a slightly different story to tell.

Both discovered Falun Gong during a stay in Japan - an interest the Chinese authorities soon became aware of. This resulted in their family at home in China being persecuted and harassed. Zhengi and Chunhua got a warning to not go back to their home country.

"We didn't dare go back home. It was too dangerous. The police were searching for us because of our beliefs," the couple says. They came to Norway in August last year, together with their two year old son, and are already in the process of learning Norwegian.

"I am learning Norwegian, and would also like to learn about Norwegian fish farming," says a smiling Zhengi Tan.