Globe and Mail: Protest groups gather for Hu's last stop [Excerpt]

By Petti Fong

Friday, September 16, 2005

VANCOUVER -- Supporters of a free Tibet, independent Taiwan and Falun Gong will get one more chance to dog Chinese President Hu Jintao during his 24-hour whirlwind visit to Vancouver, the final stop on his first trip to North America.

The President's tour, which began in Ottawa last week and then took him to the United Nations and Mexico, has been low key, with an emphasis on trade agreements and economic partnerships.

But at nearly every stop, protesters have shown up to urge better protection of human rights in China. And Mr. Hu will probably see more demonstrations in Vancouver when he arrives this afternoon. Yesterday, about two dozen Falun Gong demonstrators gathered outside the Chinese consulate in anticipation of Mr. Hu's arrival and intend to protest all Hu events, as they did during his time in Ottawa and Toronto. The spiritual group is banned in China.

Mr. Hu returns to his homeland tomorrow. But before he goes, Susan Fang is hoping he or some of the politicians surrounding him will help her parents.

Fang Yaobing and Xiong Fengying, followers of Falun Gong living in Vancouver, were ordered to leave Canada by Sept. 30 after their refugee claim was rejected.

Ms. Fang said she has no hope that Mr. Hu will heed her pleas to allow her parents to stay in Canada rather than risk persecution in China. "But maybe some of the politicians who are here can help us," she said in an interview. "I strongly urge the President to stop the persecution."

Last month, Hu Xiaoping, a Falun Gong member since the 1990s who came to Canada to care for her dying sister in Montreal, was deported to Beijing after her refugee claim was denied.

Mr. Hu is to meet with B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell this evening, and then attend a private dinner with western business and political leaders at the Pan Pacific Hotel, whose hosts are Senator Jack Austen and David Emerson, the federal Minister of Industry. Tomorrow, Mr. Hu will be feted at a luncheon given by Prime Minister Paul Martin at the Westin Bayshore.

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