Feb 17, 2004

With plans to reunite with her boyfriend Sheng Mei in Utah, USA, twenty-two year old Shanghai resident Qian Li applied for a visa to the United States and prepared to leave China. Then, the unthinkable happened.

When Shanghai and Suzhou security officers found that her bank account had received money from overseas, they arrested her with charges ranging from heresy to colluding with anti-Chinese forces. The heart-broken Sheng Mei appealed to the public in Utah newspapers, the Global Mission to Rescue Persecuted Falun Gong Practitioners initiated efforts to have her freed, and Ms. Li was finally released. Though the experience has left her homeless and without a passport, Ms. Li still speaks with hopes of traveling abroad and continuing with her life.

In an interview last year with Utah's Deseret Morning News, Sheng Mei exclaimed, "I will be unhappy for the rest of my life if I can't get her out."

Yet the unfair treatment of Qian Li in the Chinese public security system is but the tip of the iceberg of a greater issue: families from inside China and around the world have been torn apart when a family member is unjustly detained for practicing Falun Gong. U.S. citizen Dr. Charles Li has been in a Nanjing prison for over a year after the Chinese authorities charged him with the "intent" to televise in China the facts about the persecution of Falun Gong. His fiancée, Ms. Yeong-Ching Foo, spent another Valentine's Day without her beloved. Mr. Sam Lu in Georgia, USA hasn't seen his wife, Zhou Xuefei, for over three years after she was arrested in China for distributing booklets about the persecution. Although Xuefei was released in January, the couple has yet to be reunited.

The Epoch Times spoke with a still-homeless Qian Li after she endured nearly two months of intense psychological pressure in police custody.

Q: Would you say a few words about why you were arrested? How did it happen?

Ms. Li: Some of my friends from abroad sent money to my bank account for transfer to some other friends in China who lead hard lives because of lack of money.

So why did they arrest you for that?

Ms. Li: The State Security Bureau of Suzhou (a city in Jiangsu province) thought that it was illegal for a Falun Gong practitioner to do that.

Wow, that is really an outrage.

Ms. Li: They also wanted to charge me for collusion with Anti-China forces and heresy.

How long were you detained?

Ms. Li: They detained and threatened me from November 2, 2003 to December 22, 2003, but they never were really clear about why they arrested me.

Everyday we hear reports from Mainland Chinese about Falun Gong practitioners being mistreated or tortured while being detained. Did you meet any other practitioners there or see anyone mistreated?

Ms. Li: No. They didn't let me see anyone else. Even when going out to take a breath, two people would follow me. They detained my passport without any explanation. Later, when I called them to ask for my passport back, they said that they need to know my whereabouts at all times. They want to control my behavior and learn more information about overseas.

Did the police physically abuse you?

Ms. Li: No, but they really hurt my spirit. It was just TOO much pressure. You are forced to do what they tell you to do. If you resist, they threaten you in so many ways. They said that they could put me in jail for anywhere from 3 to 7 years at the least. They claimed that it was illegal to send money to a Falun Gong practitioner, that it was colluding with Anti-China forces. They threatened me like that again and again. It's too absurd to understand, but it's true.

Do you think that you are still in danger?

Ms. Li: Not in danger, but I'm still not safe here. They know that I'm planning to go to the USA so they took away my passport. They're afraid that I'll go abroad and tell this to the whole world. So what I need to do now is to ask for my passport back.

They also sent me to that terrible brainwashing class during that time; you know what I mean of the "brainwashing class," right?

Yes, what happened there?

Ms. Li: For example, they make you watch these awful videos, and then they have you write down your impressions. They tried to make me betray my original belief in Falun Gong and write down a statement such as:

"It's evil and I will give it up; what I did before is a crime."

They "re-educate" you at every moment to force you to acknowledge that your belief is evil, and that it will lead people to extinction. The re-educators try to convince you that what they and the policemen are doing is the kindest and the most just thing in the world, and that it's to "rescue" you.

That class doesn't seem to be too relevant to the reason for your arrest.

Ms. Li: They don't need reason; it's illegal because they thought it should be: "practitioners abroad send you money, and you're sending this money to practitioners in China; that's illegal, that's colluding with Anti-China forces."

How did being arrested affect your work and home life?

Ms. Li: Now I have no home and no place to live. My father doesn't dare to let me back home. The police also monitor my home phone number to control what I do now. They gave so much pressure to my family, making them hate Falun Gong and repelling me even more. My family thought that the policemen are good people; they knew nothing about the policemen's ulterior motives. They thought the policemen were good, and that I am the black sheep of the family. My father has treated me badly ever since the persecution started in 1999. He told me to never come back if I still insisted on my belief. I have no home now. If I were to stay at home, he would take me to the police station as soon as he found that I still insisted on my belief. I have no passport now, so I can not go to the USA. My way is just too tough.

Well, it's remarkable that you're able to keep going in such a difficult situation.

Ms. Li: My mother is still in jail now for refusing to give up her belief. It is taking me a long time to walk out from the shadow of that nightmare, and sometimes I feel like just collapsing. I just hope that all Falun Gong practitioners will keep going on and doing well, and that more and more people can come to know the facts about what's happening in China. And one of the most important things is to get my passport back. That's all.

http://english.epochtimes.com/news/4-2-17/19882.html

Posting date: 2/18/2004
Original article date: 2/17/2004
Category: News & Media Reports

 Yearly Archive  Printer Version