United Kingdom: The Process of my Passport Being Unreasonably Denied Extension by the Chinese Consulate in Edinburgh

My name is Christina. I came to Edinburgh, Scotland in 1996 and started practising Falun Gong in 1997.

In June 2001, it was about one or two months before my Chinese passport expired. I went to the Chinese consulate in Edinburgh to apply for a new passport. I had been voluntarily teaching the exercises of Falun Gong in the Edinburgh region for several years and also, since Jiang Zemin banned Falun Gong in China in 1999, I often participated in the peaceful protests outside the consulate. Thus I was blacklisted by the Chinese consulate. The officer wanted me to give up the practice of Falun Gong in exchange for a new passport. I refused and he subsequently returned my old passport to me. During this period, they also asked my husband (he is not a practitioner) to persuade me to practise at home and not to hand out flyers on the streets and so on. To protest against their unreasonable requests, I started a daily two hour peaceful appeal outside the consulate.

Subsequently, a reporter from one of the major English media organisations wanted to shoot a documentary on Falun Gong. Thus once again I went to the consulate to enquire about the matter of my passport. This time when the staff in the consulate saw the reporter waiting outside, they came out and started hurling abuse at her, telling her to mind her own business. What took place that day was shot by the reporter and subsequently broadcast to the whole of England. Yet the consulate ignored my repeated enquiries and made me wait indefinitely.

After that, a new consul was appointed. A fellow practitioner and I went to the consulate to enquire about the extension of my passport. I asked them what was wrong with me practicing Falun Gong, why did they refuse to extend my passport. The staff answered that I had violated the law of China. I asked him which law I had violated and he could not answer. I requested to meet the new consul and he threatened to call the police, saying that I had obstructed them in the carrying out of their work. The police came. In front of the police and those at present who were waiting to obtain visas, I told them what happened. Everyone was furious to hear about the behavior of the consulate. The policemen stepped forward to talk with the staff. He said, this lady did not interfere with your duties and reminded him that this was a basic human right.

For three years, I took the initiative to contact the local media, magazines etc to explain the facts about Falun Gong to them. I also obtained the sympathy and support of some members of parliament in Scotland. Now many people know about the matter of my passport being unreasonably refused for extension by the Chinese consulate.