Statement of Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-4) at Falun Gong Rally in Trenton on March 27, 2002

(Clearwisdom.net)

Washington, DC 20515

Falun Gong Rally in Trenton, March 27, 2002

China's abuse of persons who exercise their freedoms of religion and speech is a moral outrage that ought to be condemned worldwide. Sadly, those who practice Falun Gong appear to have drawn the PRC's strongest ire. And the reason they have incurred the wrath of the Beijing dictatorship is because they fear what they cannot control. And what the PRC cannot control, they attempt to destroy. But freedom cannot be destroyed -- it can only be temporarily denied.

The arrogance and paranoia of the PRC has seemed to increase in recent years at a rate faster than our bilateral trade deficit, In years past, the victims of the PRC's human rights violations were limited to China's own citizens. However, over the last several years, it has become obvious that the PRC's war against the freedoms of speech and religion have expanded to include Chinese-American citizens and Chinese-American permanent residents. One need look no further than the case of Teng Chunyan to see how Chinese-Americans have become increasingly victimized by the tyrants in Beijing. Teng Chunyan, an American permanent resident, has been subjected to imprisonment -- and probable torture for her practice of Falun Gong, and for her efforts to expose China's brutal campaign of religious repression.

The case of Mr. Fuming Fong, an American citizen recently sentenced to five years in prison on trumped-up charges of bribery and illegally obtaining state secrets, is just the latest in a series of outrages perpetrated against Chinese-Americans by the PRC.

A regime which is allowed to grossly violate the human rights of American citizens is not a normal nation. The vicious campaign waged by the PRC against the Falun Gong reminds me of the Holocaust-era poem by Pastor Martin Niemoller:

First they came for the Jews
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Jew
Then they came for the Communists
and / did not speak out
because I was not a Communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists
and I did not speak out
because I was not trade unionist.
Then they came far me
and there was no one left
to speak out for me.

Today, the PRC has targeted the Falun Gong for persecution. If we do not speak out on their behalf, who will be the next victims of the Beijing dictatorship? If the PRC does not fear the consequences of rounding up American citizens and permanent residents, what else will they feel they can get away with?

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