Script:

• Falun Gong is freely practiced in more than 50 countries, but relentlessly persecuted in China.
• The peaceful courage of practitioners there has shocked their oppressors and moved the people of the world.
• While China continues to block information about the persecution, FGM TV brings you the stories you may not hear anywhere else.

Hello, and welcome to the FGM TV weekly news review on December 17, 2002

I'm David Tompkins

In this week's update from China...

• The number of Falun Gong practitioners verified to have died while in detention is 529, with details of eight more confirmed deaths received in the past week. Reliable sources inside China, however, put the actual death count in the thousands.
• In the last 7 days, reports of persecution have come in from 12 provinces and from the city of Beijing.
• 533 people declared as void all statements they had made under torture and at times when their minds were not clear. They said they intend to continue to practice Falun Gong.

Our top story this week:

• As the date approaches for the end of public consultation on Hong Kong's Article 23, hundreds of thousands of people around the world come out to march and protest.

And some of our other stories:

• Persecution details from a survivor of the infamous Wanjia Labor Camp
• Noted Human Rights lawyers in France initiate legal action against China's Vice Premier for torture of Falun Gong practitioners
• Dafa Practitioners from Sichuan province were stuffed into sacks, then kidnapped and Robbed
• Archeological relics from Poland verify the existence of a pre-historic civilization
• Christine Loftus interviews FGMtv's first news anchor, Susan Mitchell, about her recovery from breast cancer after starting to practice Falun Dafa

World Wide Protests Against Upcoming Hong Kong National Security Legislation

• Over the weekend of December 14 and 15, tens of thousands of people around the world came out to march and condemn Hong Kong's Article 23, the upcoming controversial legislation on national security.
• As many as 50,000 turned out in Hong Kong, forming a 6 Kilometer demonstration that snaked through the city. Representatives from dozens of local groups included the Roman Catholic Church, the Falun Gong spiritual movement, trade unions and journalists. China has more journalists locked up than any other country.
• They all came together to form one of the biggest demonstrations since the territory came under Chinese sovereignty. Some carried black balloons to symbolize mourning; some sang religious hymns and others chanted slogans against "this evil law."
• More than 9,500 formal submissions have been received to date, including a strongly critical one from the Hong Kong Bar Association. But a government spokesman said that the government has both moral and constitutional obligations to implement Article 23. Hong Kong, being an integral part of the People's Republic of China, must enact laws on its own to protect national security."
• Contrary to Hong Kong's Basic Law, which provides for "one country -- two systems" for 50 years following Hong Kong's 1997 return to China, Article 23 in its present form would allow the Chinese government to ban any Hong Kong-based organization deemed to be "affiliated" to a mainland organization classified as a threat to national security. Free trade unions and Falun Gong are both banned in mainland China.
• It isn't hard to imagine what could happen in Hong Kong.

Support for the marchers in Toronto:

• Falun Gong practitioners in Toronto said, "When we were walking along in the parade, a coffee shop owner generously invited all participants to have some coffee for free in his shop. I could tell that he was very touched because he is very concerned with Article 23, and because we were stepping out for him."

Dafa Practitioners from Sichuan province were stuffed into sacks, then kidnapped and Robbed.

• A report has been received that more than 40 Falun Dafa practitioners from Chengdu City were violently kidnapped by police during the 16th Party Congress.
• Apparently, Xindu regional police in Chengdu City organized dozens of police to surround the buildings where practitioners lived. Then, more police would rush into the buildings, grab the practitioners and stuff them into large gunnysacks. The tied up practitioners were then beaten and kicked before being carried downstairs and thrown into waiting police cars.
• Some of those abducted are storeowners who were not only forced to suffer in the same humiliating way, but also had all their merchandise confiscated by the police. The whereabouts of more than 40 practitioners is unknown, but it is believed that large numbers have been detained in the Nibatuo Brainwashing Center.

Persecution details from a survivor of the infamous Wanjia Labor Camp

• In several previous programs, we've mentioned the Wanjia Labor Camp, but we could not give details of the terrible things that go on behind its walls.
• Recently, through fast action, and while her office was closed for the weekend, Canadian Immigration Minister Elinor Caplan issued a special visa to rescue Ms. Yuzhi Wang to Canada from the United Arab Emirates. Local police there had been bombarded with propaganda from the Chinese Embassy and had arrested Ms. Wang.
• During a recent conference in Toronto, she told a hushed audience the following details:
• "At the Wanjia Forced Labor Camp I went on a hunger strike for more than 100 days. They could no longer force-feed me through my nose. My nose became blocked and I almost suffocated many times."
• With continued torture, her health deteriorated until April, when she said that "I could not stand and both of my eyes were running blood and pus and I could not open them. I was tortured both physically and mentally and I almost went blind.
• Due to my health, I was released on May 8 and went home to recover. Then I transferred to Saudi Arabia.
• All of my experiences verify the facts of the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China, and this is only one part of what tens of thousands of practitioners in China are going through right now. I call upon the support of the international community and all kind-hearted people to continue with us in our efforts to end this cruel persecution."
• Through the miracle of practicing Falun Gong exercises after she left Wanjia Labor Camp, Ms. Wang's eyesight has returned to normal.

Lawyers for Falun Gong Practitioners Initiate Legal Action from France Against China's Vice Premier

• Agence France Presse, reporting from Paris said that on October 4, 2002, four followers of the Falun Gong spiritual group launched legal action in the southern French city of Nice against Chinese Vice Premier Li Lanqing.
• The Vice Premier is also head of China's "610 Office." That's the main above-the-law agency established by the Jiang regime to carry out its state-run campaign of terrorism against Falun Gong.
• Noted human rights lawyers for the plaintiffs, William Bourdon and Georges-Henri Beauthier, said the complaint was based on the UN Convention Against Torture, which France signed in 1984. This Convention allows France to arrest and prosecute any person guilty of torture.
• Beauthier told AFP he had gathered "overwhelming testimony" about the activities of the 610 Office. And, that "It is the first time in Europe that a Chinese leader has faced such a complaint."
• The four plaintiffs are:
• Ms. Yuzhi Wang, currently residing in Canada, and whose story from the Wanjia Labor Camp was related earlier in this program;
• French citizen Ms. Hél ne Petit, who was arrested, detained and beaten when she took part in a peaceful appeal in Tiananmen Square in November of 2001;
• Mr. Ming Zhao, a Chinese post-graduate student at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland, who was tortured both physically and mentally for two years in several forced labour camps, and
• French resident Ms. Zhumei Chen. While appealing in China against the persecution of Falun Gong in July 2000, she was arrested, imprisoned and wildly beaten. Her arm was broken and to this day she remains handicapped.

The State of Illinois House of Representatives hosts a Falun Dafa Photo Exhibit

• From the 3^rd to the 5^th of December, a 3-day photographic exhibition entitled, "Path to Return: Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance" was held in the lobby of the Illinois State House.
• During the opening ceremony, practitioners thanked state senators and assemblymen for passing a resolution condemning the Chinese government's persecution against Falun Dafa.
• The three days of the exhibit coincided with the regular meeting of the state Senate and House of Representatives, so the lobby was always crowded since it is also a popular tourist destination.
• A local weekly newspaper published an article on the exhibition titled, "Persecution of the Innocent." This prompted some local residents to come and find out more about what exactly is happening in China.

Broken Fingers Discovered in a Mountain Cave in Poland verify the existence of a pre-historic civilization.

• In a mountain cave near Podehar, Archeologists from the Polish Academy of Sciences have discovered some men's thumbs and little fingers. Cutting off fingers was a solemn ritual for ancient men. It was usually used for secret associations, circumcision, and funerals.
• The site of these relics was at the 8th archeological level, where people lived approximately 29,000 years ago.
• Rock fences, sharp animal teeth used for protection, and animal horns and shells were found in the same locale, indicating that the place had been used to offer sacrifices to gods or ancestors.
• According to Darwin's theory of evolution, human beings have existed for only about 10,000 years. Archeological discoveries like this shed new light on the existence of pre-historic civilizations. These artifacts verify that as is taught in Falun Dafa, human beings have existed on earth much longer than current theories allow.

An Interview With FGMtv's first English News Anchor, Susan Mitchell

• This week, we're happy to bring you an interview that Christine Loftus conducted with FGMtv's first News Anchor, our own Susan Mitchell, who talks about her recovery from breast cancer after starting to practice Falun Gong.

INTERVIEW VIDEO

• Thanks Christine. And thanks Susan. It's great to hear such positive news about such a life-threatening illness.

Thanks for watching FGMtv...

• dedicated to breaking through China's information blockade, exposing the state terrorism, and bringing you the truth of Falun Gong.