Dutch Falun Gong Practitioner Kidnapped in China

[Bangkok / Maastricht, May 31st 2005] Peter Valk, a 28-year-old Dutch man from Woerden, was kidnapped from his hotel room by 15 Chinese secret agents in the night of the 24th to the 25th of May. He was forced into a car with his head between his knees under a blanket and taken to the local ‘6-10 Office’. After two and a half days of detention, he was put on a plane to Thailand on the 28th of May and told he is prohibited from entering China for the next five years. The only reason for his arrest is that Peter practises Falun Gong, a meditation practice for mind and body.

His family in Holland and the Dutch Embassy in China have not been informed about his arrest by the Chinese authorities. Only after arriving in Thailand, could Peter call his family. Peter thinks he has been arrested and kidnapped because he talked to Chinese people about the persecution of Falun Gong and because he carried Falun Gong materials. During his hearing, he was sometimes told he would be released, but he was also threatened with being sent to a Chinese labour camp for several years. One police officer told him that if he had been Chinese, he would be very unlikely to get less than three years in a labour camp and could be tortured.

Including Peter Valk, the number of arrested Dutch Falun Gong practitioners is now four. Earlier this year, Chinese-Dutch lady Mona Tang was also taken from her bed in the middle of the night by eight secret agents in southern China. She was released thanks to the mediation of the Dutch Embassy in Beijing. In 2002, two Dutch Falun Gong practitioners were violently arrested on Tiananmen Square, expelled and put on a plane to Holland. The experiences of Irish Falun Gong practitioner Zhao Ming show that it can be much worse. He was released after pressure from the Irish authorities after 22 months, having endured horrible torture including electric shocking.

Why was Peter Valk arrested and why is Falun Gong, after six years, still being persecuted in China? The CCP wants complete control over the minds of the Chinese people, which they have already had for dozens of years. The principles of Falun Gong, truthfulness, compassion and forbearance, do not fit within this ideal of total control. Countless examples show that the Chinese Government has no qualms about using cunningness and deception to protect its power and control. In China, people are overwhelmed with propaganda on TV and in the media to defame Falun Gong. Recently an independent Chinese newspaper, The Epoch Times, successfully revealed the true nature of the Chinese Communist Party in a comprehensive 9-article commentary, which has already led to 2 million resignations from the CCP. This number is still increasing daily.

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NEWS – Apr. 12, 2005
European Falun Gong Information Centre
www.clearharmony.net

Background

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa (about), is a practice of meditation and exercises with teachings based on the universal principle of “Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance.” Practised in over 60 countries world-wide, Falun Gong has roots in traditional Chinese culture. With government estimates of as many as 100 million practising Falun Gong in China, China’s then-Communist leader, Jiang Zemin, outlawed the peaceful practice in July 1999 (report). Since that time, Jiang’s regime has intensified its propaganda campaign to turn public opinion against the practice while imprisoning, torturing and even murdering those who practise it. The European Falun Gong Information Centre has verified details of 2336 deaths (reports) since the persecution of Falun Gong in China began in 1999. In October 2001, however, Government officials inside China reported that the actual death toll was well over 1,600. Expert sources now estimate that figure to be much higher. Hundreds of thousands have been detained, with more than 100,000 being sentenced to forced labour camps, typically without trial.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Peter Houben, [email protected] / tel. +31(0)6-50641906
www.falundafa.org
www.faluninfo.nl