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Former Engineer of FAW-Volkswagen Co. Ltd. Writes to the CEO about Being Persecuted for Practicing Falun Gong
(Clearwisdom.net) From 2000 to 2003, at least ten Falun Gong
practitioners were dismissed by FAW-Volkswagen Co. Ltd. for practicing Falun
Gong. The headquarters of the company in Germany keeps silent about such
wrongdoings. A former engineer from FAW-VW of Changchun wrote to CEO
Pischetsrieder. Following is a translation of the letter: Dear Dr. Pischetsrieder: As a Falun gong practitioner I am writing to ask you and the directors of VW
Company to pay special attention to the current survival conditions of some
dismissed employees of FAW-VW and, as the CEO of VW Group, to help us. I'm a former engineer in FAW-VW of Changchun. I was dismissed with the
evasive excuse of being absent from work for over three days. The actual reason
was that I practice Falun Gong. FAW-VW is considered to be one of the most
profitable firms in the Northeast area, and no one would willingly endanger his
or her their career in FAW-VW. But from 1999 to 2003, at least ten Falun Gong
practitioner employees were dismissed for refusing to give up their belief in
Falun Gong. This incomplete list includes: Mr. Ren Yue-Qiang: Worked in the Passenger Car Plant. Dismissed
in the fall of 1999 for reading a Falun Gong manuscript in his dormitory. Mr. Wang Yong-Qing: Worked in the Marketing department. Arrested for
giving out information revealing the truth of Falun Gong to the public in the
fall of 2001 and sentenced to four years imprisonment and dismissed as a
result by FAW-VW. Mrs. Deng Hong, Mrs. Tian Yan, and Mrs. Li Hai-Feng: Worked in
the Production department. Made a peaceful plea to the public in October 2000
for the unjust treatment they received at the hands of the CCP regime but were
arrested and sentenced to forced labor and jail. Unable to go back to work due
to the unlawful detention, they were dismissed in December 2000. Mr. Li Rong-Ze (Korean-Chinese) and Mrs. Li Ming-Xia: Worked in
the Transmission Plant. For making an appeal to the higher authorities and
distributing information about the true circumstances of Falun Gong to the
public, they were condemned to imprisonment for three years. Unable to go back
to work due to the detention, they were dismissed in December 2000. Mr. Wang Jian and Mr. Jiang Long-Sheng: Worked in the Passenger
Car Plant. In March 2002 they were arrested for no particular reason on their
way home from work during the period of the "All-out Capture of Falun
Gong Practitioners" spurred on by the so-called Changchun TV Interrupting
Incident; dismissed by FAW-VW. Mr. Jiang Wan-Chen: Worked in the Logistics Department. Arrested in
summer 2001 and sent to forced labor imprisonment for one year for giving out
information about the facts of Falun Gong to the public. Dismissed as a result
by FAW-VW. FAW-VW has never given any of us a formal written document indicating the
real reason for our dismissals. We were only informed orally that we were laid
off for violating the regulations of the company. We believe that the Human
Resource Department and the Chinese General Manager covered up the fact that
these Falun Gong employees were laid off for defending their civil rights
guaranteed by the constitution. The words spoken by the labor union chairman at
the time, Mr. Lu Liang-Sheng, were revealing, "We are claiming this is not
because of Falun Gong, but the reason really is Falun Gong." Everyone knows
that this is an immediate consequence of practicing Falun Gong. Great mental and
physical harm was thus brought upon these employees, their families and their
friends. At least one of them got divorced as a result. Unfortunately the Volkswagen headquarters in Germany hears nothing of these
scandals happening at Volkswagen of China. China is already Volkswagen's second
largest market outside of Germany. Volkswagen's presence in China has grown
steadily. China's objective in encouraging investment from Germany and other
Western nations comes at a cost of lowering the value of natural resources and
sacrificing the interests of laborers. Not only does China aim to increase its
social wealth, more importantly, it wants to showcase Western democracy within a
tyrannical environment. As the largest car manufacturer in Europe, Volkswagen
should take on the moral responsibility of promoting the value of humanity
instead of being co-opted by the local regime. As we know, during the Second World War some 20,000 forced laborers worked at
Volkswagenwerks. In September 1998, in recognition of the events of that time,
the humanitarian fund of Volkswagen AG was established on behalf of those
compelled to work at Volkswagen during the Second World War. Furthermore, a
memorial in remembrance of the forced labor was also established at Wolfsburg to
keep alive the sentiment often expressed among Western nations following World
War II: "Never again,"We are witnessing the exact same thing happening
again in China today. Hundreds of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners have
been illegally arrested and detained. More than 500 have been sentenced to
prison terms of up to eighteen years. Several thousand Falun Gong practitioners
have been forced into mental hospitals, an act condemned by the World
Psychiatric Association. Over 100,000 have been illegally sent to labor camps
without trials. More than 1,000 deaths of Falun Gong practitioners caused by
persecution in police custody have been confirmed and more are being uncovered
each day, although sources inside the Chinese government have disclosed that the
actual number is many times higher. More than 2898 practitioners have been
verified as being tortured to death. FAW-VW has incontestably facilitated this
persecution. We understand that the conduct of German enterprises in China are inevitably
dominated to some extent by the policies of the Germany Government concerning
China. During his seven years in power, Chancellor Schröder implemented a
policy of "Commerce comes before human rights." As a result, no
accusation against the human rights persecution in China was ever heard in
public. Chancellor Schroder knew that promoting the long-term values of
democracy might harm the short-term commercial benefits.We are very glad to see
that German Chancellor Angela Merkel has changed Germany's long-term stance on
China's human rights issues and has begun to take notice of Chinese dissidents.
She raised divisive issues of human rights at meetings in Beijing in May on her
first visit to China as chancellor: "I have made it clear that human rights
are inviolable." she said. [...] For over a decade Western countries had
stuck to the custom of speaking only of China's economy and avoiding the subject
of China's human rights violations, but they are now apparently taking a new
diplomatic tack. German Falun Gong practitioners have written to the Human
Rights Working Group and Charity Assistance of the Federal Parliament to appeal
for their attention to the persecution of Falun Gong. Mr. Hermann Gröhe, the
chairman of the Workgroup, Mr. Markus Lackamp, the principal for human rights
policies, Mr. Alois Karl, and Mr. Thomas Silberhorn have given their responses.
In his response letter, Mr. Alois Karl wrote, "According to my personal
experiences, details in individual human violation cases should be particularly
stressed. We should not underestimate the significance of describing each
individual case precisely, so that my colleagues and I can talk to the
representatives from these countries and deliver the necessary assistance to the
victims directly." [...] Based on the above, I ask you to: 1. Urge the German General Manager of FAW-VW to investigate what happened to
the Falun Gong employees in Changchun, look into the current survival and health
conditions of those dismissed practitioners, and rehire those employees and
compensate them for what they suffered. 2. Pay attention to an on-going labor dispute lawsuit against FAW-VW brought
by one of the former employees of FAW-VW and use your power to give it your
moral support. 3. Let every member of the Directorate of VW in Germany knows what's been
happening in Changchun. Thank you for your time. Sincerely yours, A former employee of FAW-VW |