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Central News Agency: Five Falun Gong Practitioners Welcomed Home in San Francisco
Lu, ZhiXiang Central News Agency, San Francisco, February 15, 2002. Five western Falun Gong practitioners who were brutally beaten in Beijing by
state security officers and then deported, came back to the San Francisco Bay
Area today and were welcomed home. Meanwhile, they strongly condemned the
Chinese government for its violent persecution of religious freedom.
More than 50 western Falun Gong practitioners were forcefully rounded up on
Tiananmen Square as they started appealing for Falun Gong. Many of them were
severely beaten. After one day's detention, most of them were sent home. The
five practitioners' appeal on Tiananmen Square and their brutal treatment
received a lot of attention from the major media and the public.
Ms. Chun Lee, a petite woman, received the most brutal treatment because she
looks Chinese. Ms. Lee, age 24, said that she was not only manhandled by more
than ten plain-clothes security officers and pushed to the ground, she was also
beaten and kicked. Her glasses were broken and the wounds on her face were still
visible.
When asked about her feelings upon returning to U.S., Chun Lee burst into
tears and said, "I only feel sad. Why can't Mainland China be tolerant of
the basic freedoms of religion and belief? Why do they have to resort to force
and violence, even against a small woman like me?"
Steve Ispas indicated that the plain-clothes police followed them all the
time in Beijing. On the14th, before they started to take out the
banner, the security officers rushed at them, violently pulled them away from
the street and beat them. They were expelled after being detained and
interrogated for one day.
The persecution of western Falun Gong practitioners on Tiananmen Square
became a serious issue of human rights violations. David Kute expected that
President Bush would strongly express his disappointment concerning the human
rights conditions in China when meeting with Chinese senior officials during his
planned visit to China.
These young and courageous westerners stated that it was hard to imagine that
by simply expressing goodwill, they were violently persecuted. On the other
hand, the incident revealed the nature of a totalitarian regime.
Lu Huy, a Vietnamese, stated in a letter addressed to his parents that,
"I am going to Tiananmen with a pure heart and righteous thoughts to appeal
for the basic rights of Chinese people who practice "Truth, Compassion, and
Tolerance." However, he came back with wounds on his body.
More than 100 Falun Gong practitioners welcomed and presented flowers to the
five practitioners in the afternoon. Many passengers passing by stopped and
inquired about the incident. |