By Sean Seid

Oct 18, 2004

Jianfen Zhou of Queens holds a picture of her sister Theresa (Jianhui Zhou) who was arrested in China and put in a labor camp. Photo by: Noah Parker/Epoch Times

NEW YORK - On Sept. 30, Jianfen Zhou of Queens called her family in China and received heartrending news: her little sister was in a labor camp. Her 27-year-old sister, whose English name is Theresa, was arrested for placing flyers about the persecution of Falun Gong in mailboxes. According to Jianfen's parents, Theresa, a graduate student at Shanghai Medical University, has been sentenced without trial to one year in the Moganshan Labor Camp.

Moganshan Labor Camp is part of China's Laogai system. According CNN, this system of at least 1,100 known forced-labor camps is driven by hard-line ideology, Chinese Communist Party directives and the whims of local cadres. It is designed as a repressive mechanism to control and, in effect, eliminate anyone whose political, religious or societal views differ from those of the Communist Party.

Before the arrest, Theresa was under pressure from her mother to stop practicing Falun Gong. According to the New York-based Falun Dafa Information Center, in July 1999, then Chinese President Jiang Zemin started a campaign to crush the meditation practice Falun Gong with defamation, lengthy prison sentences, and torture. He utilized China's state-run media to spread anti-Falun Gong propaganda. Many Chinese citizens became afraid to practice or be associated with those who still did.

Taken aback, Jianfen's parents admitted that before they did not believe all the stories of Falun Gong practitioners being tortured and abused. However, they realized the reality of the persecution when they witnessed police officers breaking into their home, taking away Falun Gong books and a computer Theresa had worked on.

Jianfen stated, "The persecution can only exist under cover... the so-called law to attack Falun Gong practitioners violates every law in China, including the statutes of the Chinese Constitution."

The Chinese Consulate General of New York has not returned phone calls regarding Theresa's situation and Jianfen's appeal.

Prior to learning of Theresa's arrest, Jianfen received a call from her cousin in Ohio. She relayed a message from Jianfen's mother, indicating not to call or email her parents in China because it was now a very "sensitive" time.

Worried, Jianfen called several times over the next few months. Each time her parents would say "everything is fine". When Jianfen asked to speak with Theresa they would respond "Oh, no need to talk to her."

It was not until almost four months later that Jianfen's father told her, "I know you care about your sister... let me tell you, she was arrested in May." Her father said he could not tell her before because spreading the news of the arrest would result in worse consequences for Theresa in the labor camp.

However, Jianfen's parents did not give up on Theresa and pleaded for Jianfen to spread the news of their daughter's unlawful treatment. Such an approach, though just and rational, is unheard of in China. Based on other reports of persecution from the Falun Dafa Information Center, whenever groups or individuals are targeted by the Chinese government or powerful officials, their families and friends will not visit them. Even their immediate family will treat them as outcasts, in fear of pressure from corrupt officials or the Chinese government.

Periodically, Jianfen's parents contact officials within their local government in China and each time, to their dismay, the officials are unable to do anything. They reply that the order to arrest Falun Gong practitioners comes from "the higher ups".

Working diligently to expose her sister's grim position, Jianfen has been contacting U.S. officials and handing out flyers describing her sister's situation.

Currently, human rights organizations have been making phone calls to the Moganshan Labor Camp in China, letting them know that the world is aware of Theresa's unlawful imprisonment. Because of outside pressure, Jianfen's father can now make monthly visits to his daughter, which is unimaginable for most relatives of Falun Gong practitioners in labor camps.

Source http://english.epochtimes.com/news/4-10-18/23813.html

Posting date: 10/19/2004
Original article date: 10/19/2004
Category: News & Media Reports

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