A challenge and a test

By Jennifer Zeng

In January 2002, eight months after I was released from the female labour camp in Beijing and four months after I submitted my refugee application to the Australian Immigration Department, I was interviewed by my case manager. Even before the questioning began, I was told by the official with a very serious face that if I were to tell a lie during the interview I would face 'penalties' and a certain period of time was mentioned.

I could not make sense of her words at first. Being a Falun Gong practitioner, how could I tell a lie?! The vicious guards and criminals in the labour camp might have tortured some Falun Gong practitioners to death, yet even they had long ago become aware of the fact that Falun Gong practitioners mean every word they say. In other words, practitioners of Falun Gong have built themselves a reputation, even under the most difficult circumstances, of being truthful and trustworthy. They will not tell a single lie even if their lives are at stake.

It felt a little bit strange and somewhat hurtful to be reminded of the consequences of telling a lie. Then I realised it was just routine: she was saying the same thing to everyone. And she might not know what it means to be a Falun Gong practitioner.

After I decided to participate in the legal action against the Chinese president, Jiang Zemin, it struck me how ridiculous it was that, as a refugee applicant, I would be punished if I were to tell a single lie during the interview, while President Jiang, the man responsible for spreading the most astonishing lies and propaganda about Falun Gong throughout the world, is received by so many countries as an 'honourable guest'. For me, it is really a travesty.

What struck me even more is the ever-increasing death toll of Falun Gong practitioners in custody. If I found my neighbour had gone mad and was trying to murder his children, I would be able to call the police for help. But when the president of a nation is murdering thousands of innocent people, what should I do? What should the international community do? What kind of role should the UN play in maintaining the world order? I see this legal action of ours as a challenge and a test. And its historic significance may not be fully recognised at this moment.

After September 11 and the recent Bali attacks, everybody is asking in what direction the world will now go and how should we react amongst this chaos. By taking this legal action against systematic and state-sanctioned terrorism, we, as the residents of the global village, have again made a firm stand: to remain peaceful, to remain rational, to remain courageous and righteous, and to uphold common principles and justice for the good of all humanity.

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