by a Western practitioner in the U.S.

A Falun Gong practitioner questions Ambassador Randt about human rights in China.

(Clearwisdom.net) September 17, 2003 New Haven, CT: The United States Ambassador to China, Clark T. Randt, Jr., spoke to approximately 150 people at Yale University today, most of whom were Law School students and scholars, to discuss Chinese legal reform. The discussion ranged from the Chinese constitution to labor-camps, from human rights to US-Sino trade negotiations. No doubt influenced by the righteous field generated by the Falun Gong practitioners in attendance, he spoke most passionately about the issue of human rights. In his prepared statements, he discussed the fact that there is no rule of law in China and that the Chinese police are free to do whatever they want regardless of what it says in the Chinese constitution. "Those people that do those bad things should be punished" he said referring to police officers who break the law by abusing the human rights of Falun Gong practitioners in China.

Falun Gong practitioners were able to ask many questions and clarify the truth about Article 23 in Hong Kong, the various international lawsuits against Jiang, the case of Charles Li and other US citizens whose human rights have been violated by Jiang's regime, and the numbers of practitioners arrested, jailed, and tortured to death. "We know how many American Falun Gong practitioners are detained, but we have no idea how many Chinese are detained because they're all held in those horrendous labor-camps" he said. He also said that he hoped that these labor camps were abolished.

Ambassador Randt assured those in attendance that promoting human rights was of paramount importance to the United States. He told one practitioner, "Upon their first meeting, President Bush said to Jiang Zemin, 'I want you to know that I'm a man of faith, and I understand that people who have various faiths aren't allowed freedom in your country. I think that's wrong.'" He then went on to describe how surprised Jiang was at this comment.

Afterwards, a Chinese person said to an American practitioner who was deported from China last year, "I feel so bad for what happened to you. The situation in China is so terrible. I wish we [Chinese students in the US] could go back to China and change things, and speak to people about the terrible things going on, like what's happening to Falun Gong. But at least for you, you are an American citizen, so there's not much they can do [to you]." The practitioner then clarified the case of Charles Li, of whom the Ambassador spoke at great length. Ambassador Randt said that he has repeatedly asked the Chinese government for Charles Li's unconditional release.

One practitioner spoke to the Director of the International Human Rights Center at Yale Law School who said that there was doubt in academic circles about whether or not a sitting head of state should be granted immunity from lawsuits.

The practitioners felt that these things are showing how people's hearts are changing and that people showed their righteousness after they learned the truth.

Posting date: 9/21/2003
Original article date: 9/20/2003
Category: Open Forum

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