Support for Elderly Falun Gong Practitioner Imprisoned in Myanmar Grows (Photos)

By Washington DC Practitioners

(Clearwisdom.net) January 26, 2003 - Falun Gong practitioners and supporters in the Washington metropolitan area braved unseasonably cold temperatures to rally in front of the Myanmar Embassy on January 24. The Free Burma Coalition, Burma Fund, National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma, and Free Political Prisoners Campaign Committee - Burma (FPPCC) joined the Falun Dafa Practitioners Association in calling for the release of 71-year-old Chan Wing Yuen, a Falun Gong practitioner, who was detained in Myanmar more than a year ago. Mr. Chan is a permanent resident of Hong Kong. News of his arrest and detention is only now reaching the West.

Press Conference	Falun Gong Practitioners Request Mr. Chen's Release
Peaceful Apeal in Front of Myanmar Embassy	Falun Gong Practitioners Attempt to Deliver an Appeal Letter Several Times but it Is Refused by the Myanmar Embassy.

On December 12, 2001, Mr. Chan displayed a small banner that read "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance" on a street in Rangoon, Myanmar during Chinese Communist Party leader Jiang's visit. Rangoon police arrested Mr. Chan within seconds. More than a month and half later, without legal representation or the presence of his family, Mr. Chan was secretly sentenced to seven years in prison. In the presence of Chinese officials, police offered to release Mr. Chan if he would renounce his belief in Falun Gong.

Jiang has orchestrated the widespread suppression of Falun Gong (also known as Falun Dafa) since July 1999, when he outlawed the peaceful, spiritual practice. Falun Gong practitioners regularly perform five sets of meditative exercises and seek to embody the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance.

Although it is freely practiced in more than 50 countries worldwide, Jiang has exported his persecution of Falun Gong to other nations. In a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia last spring, practitioners in the United States recounted a litany of civil rights abuses, assaults, break-ins and harassment at the hands of Chinese agents. At a Congressional hearing, the former mayor of Saratoga, California, Stan Bagosian, reported receiving a letter from the Chinese Consulate requesting he withdraw his support for Falun Gong activities.

The U.S. is not the only target. Last April, Chinese secret service agents assaulted Falun Gong practitioners during Jiang's visit to Germany. Two months later, the government of Iceland barred Falun Gong practitioners from visiting while Jiang was there.

Southeast Asian countries such as Myanmar may be particularly vulnerable to pressure from their larger, more powerful neighbor. In August, a Chinese couple living in Cambodia was abducted by Chinese agents and imprisoned in a Chinese labor camp.

In his remarks, Dan Beeton, Campaign Coordinator of the Free Burma Coalition, suggested a possible motive behind the Myanmar government's arrest of a Falun Gong practitioner. "We are not surprised at the news that a high-level delegation from Burma went to Beijing last week [regarding] a $200 million loan," he stated. "China has always been supportive of the Burmese military dictatorship, by providing weapons or financial support."

Washington DC Falun Dafa Practitioners Association drafted a letter to the Myanmar Ambassador that explained the truth about the persecution of Falun Gong and expressed concern about the government of Myanmar. It read in part:

In a separate letter, the Association urged Hong Kong leader Tung Chee-hwa to intervene on Mr. Chan's behalf.
Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.cc/mh/articles/2003/1/27/43453.html

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