“We have received your letter of support concerning Falun Gong, and have learned that there are more than one hundred million people practising Falun Gong around the world, including in the U.S.A., Canada, Sweden, the U.K., Germany, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Russia and Latvia, etc.
I would especially like to stress that Latvia is a democratic European country, and to this end it stands to reason that Latvia is concerned about the issue of freedom of belief worldwide, and this of course includes the situation in China. Based on mutual respect, Latvia has held dialogues with China concerning human rights, culture and freedom of belief. I also would like to make it known that a Latvian parliamentary delegation, composed of seven members of parliament also discussed these issues with Chinese authorities during their visit to China in 2001.
In the meantime, I would like to point out that on April 19, 2001 the Baltic Falun Gong Association was set up and approved in Latvia. This clearly shows that Latvia supports freedom of belief. Also, on June 27th, 2001, representatives of Falun Gong practitioners in Baltic countries and the Falun Dafa Association were invited to participate in a conference on new belief and new cultural movements (in Latvia), which explicitly indicates that this country is concerned about the organisation you are supporting.”
The State Secretary also mentioned that “Latvia respects the principles of the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and it will urge the People's Republic of China to observe these principles.”
Finally, he mentioned that he would like to further discuss with Falun Gong practitioners issues that concern them, and will provide them with any information needed.
Translated from Chinese at http://www.yuanming.net/articles/200306/21323.html
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