Global Mission to Rescue Persecuted Falun Gong Practitioners Writes to Members of the Hong Kong Legislative Council to Rescue Mr. Chan Wing-Yuen

Feb 5, 2003

Dear the Members of the Legislative Council:

Happy Chinese New Year!

I am a Falun Gong practitioner in Canada. On behalf of the Global Mission to Rescue Persecuted Falun Gong Practitioners, I would like to bring something to your attention and seek your kind assistance to rescue a Hong Kong resident, Mr. Chan Wing-yuen, who is being jailed in Myanmar.

Mr. Chan is a 70-years old senior citizen who is full of kindness. He has received substantial physical and mental benefits from practising Falun Gong. In December 2001, Mr. Chan was visiting his relatives in Myanmar and also translating the book Zhuan Falun. He was arrested and sentenced to 7 years in prison by the Myanmar authorities solely because he unfurled a small banner that read "Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance" on the street to the airport when China's dictator Jiang was visiting Myanmar. The Chinese Embassy even tried to force him to give up his belief via the Myanmar police in exchange for his freedom. Mr. Chan refused. As a result, Mr. Chan has been imprisoned for more than one year.

This case was exposed to the public about three weeks ago. We are shocked by such a heavy jail term handed down to a senior citizen who did nothing wrong. This is another example of how the Chinese authorities persecuted Hong Kong SAR residents. As of today, three Hong Kong Falun Gong practitioners Chu Oi Ming, Cheung Yu Cheong, and Sun Zung Man are still imprisoned in China.

From our past experience, the government's involvement is very important to rescuing the citizens, residents and family members persecuted overseas. The Canadian government, being the first to officially condemn the suppression of Falun Gong in July 1999, has made extensive efforts to secure the release of a number of jailed Falun Gong practitioners in China and to bring them back to Canada, among them are Professor Kunlun Zhang, Ms. Ying Zhu and Mr. Shenli Lin.

In July 2002, Canadian Falun Gong practitioners initiated the "Urgently Rescue Family Members Being Persecuted in China" campaign. The rescue effort is strongly supported by all levels of Canadian government and international organisations such as Amnesty International. On October 24th 2002, the Canadian House of Commons passed a motion unanimously asking the Prime Minister to request Chinese dictator Jiang to release 13 jailed practitioners in China with Canadian ties. As a result of our combined efforts, 4 of our family members have been released so far. However, they still remain under the watchful eye of the Chinese authorities. The Canadian government also issued a special Temporary Resident Permit to Ms. Yuzhi Wang, who was in danger of being repatriated back to China from the United Arab Emirates under pressure from the Chinese government. She entered safely into Canada in early November 2002. For these events, we are encouraged and very grateful.

As Mr. Chan Wing-yuen is a Hong Kong resident, the Hong Kong SAR government has an obligation to help get Mr. Chan out of prison.

We call on you, as members of the Hong Kong Legislative Council, to extend your assistance to rescue Mr. Chan Wing-yuen immediately and ensure his safe return to Hong Kong.

Thank you for your immediate attention to this very important matter.

Sincerely

Global Mission to Rescue Persecuted Falun Gong Practitioners