By Deepa Patel
Executive Staff Writer

March 02, 2004

A woman imprisoned by the Chinese government for advocating a banned spiritual practice was freed in January following an international uproar that included a Student Government Association bill calling for her release.

Zhou Xuefei, an Atlanta resident and Falun Gong practitioner, was sentenced to work at a Chinese labor camp for three years after she was arrested for handing out pamphlets advocating the spiritual practice during a visit to China in 2000. She was released from prison Jan. 13 and is still in China today.

Emory's SGA became involved in the matter after Xuefei's husband, Georgia resident Sam Lu, asked then-SGA President Chris Richardson ('03C) to propose a bill to SGA asking for her release. Then-SGA vice president Jason Miller ('03C) wrote a letter to the U.S. ambassador in Beijing requesting Xuefei's release.

The Georgia House of Representatives passed a similar initiative, and the U.S. Department of State placed political pressure on the Chinese government to release her. Human rights organizations across the globe were also involved in the case.

Lu described harsh conditions at labor camps, saying he believed his wife had been tortured.

"[Our] phone calls were monitored, so she could not tell me the details, but I believe she was electrically shocked," he said. "One day, when she was [reflecting] on [the camp], she could not help sobbing."

Lu said all media in China is controlled by the Communist regime, which frequently persecutes Falun Gong practitioners and imprisons them in labor camps.

He said his wife's sentence expired in November, but she was detained two extra months for refusing to give up her beliefs.

"In the labor camp, that's normal," Lu said. "Almost every practitioner who fails to give up their belief gets extended sentences."

In order to subdue a perceived threat, the Chinese government has long persecuted practitioners of the banned spiritual practice, which focuses on physical and mental exercises.

Lu said that because his wife was not allowed to send or receive letters during her imprisonment, he was unable to communicate with her until the embassy in Beijing took action. He recalled giving the ambassador a letter to give to his wife. At the same time, Emory students were also sending their hopeful messages for her to the Chinese ambassador.

After Xuefei was released, the Chinese government quickly succumbed to American political pressure and issued her a passport. Lu acknowledged the Chinese government had insisted that Xuefei, who is a Chinese citizen, divorce him.

"They want [my mother-in-law] to convince my wife to divorce me so that she can't come to the U.S. and expose the conditions in the labor camps," he said. "My mother-in-law avoids persecution by trying to convince her daughter."

Xuefei is waiting for her visa so she can join her husband. They do not have any children.

Lu said the whole process has been significantly hastened because her case has drawn international attention. Usually, it takes about a year, he said, but Xuefei will get money to get a visa in about 10 days.

http://www.emorywheel.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2004/03/02/4043af9f0d2e9