Letter to Japan's Prime Minister from Global Mission to Rescue Persecuted Falun Gong Practitioners

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi
2-3-1 Nagata-cho, Chiyoda-ku,
Tokyo 100-0014, Japan
May 28, 2003

Dear Prime Minister Koizumi,

Upon the eve of your visit to Russia for the G8 Summit Meeting, where you will have an opportunity to talk with Chinese Chairman Mr. Hu Jintao, I am writing on behalf of the Japan Branch of the Global Mission to Rescue Persecuted Falun Gong Practitioners to appeal for your help with the release of Mrs. Kaneko Yoko, an innocent Japanese resident and wife of a Japanese citizen who is still imprisoned in a labour camp in China merely because she practised Falun Gong.

As one of the main governments of the industrialised democracies which initiated G7, Japan wields an important influence in improving the world's economic and political situation. Thus I write to your attention of the injustice happened to Mrs. Kaneko Yoko, who was seized by Chinese Security Bureau agents one year ago during her trip back to China to visit her family there. One year has passed, but she is still unjustly imprisoned in a labour camp in Beijing for so-called "labour re-education" (or to put it directly, brainwashing.) Her present situation in the labour camp remains unclear as China has refused her husband and family in Japan the right to either visit her or freely communicate with her; however, inside sources reflect that she has been suffering from serious health problems and has been subject to torture. The whole existence of the labour re-education system itself raises serious concerns about human rights violations, and more so when is it being utilised against an overseas resident to deprive of her belief. (Please note that Chinese law prohibits permanent overseas residents from being sent to labour camps; Yoko's detention is illegal even by Chinese law.)

In the past decade China has worked to earn global acceptance by opening its burgeoning economy to world trade, and has lured the industrial democracies to pour enormous investments into this enormously corrupt Communist dictatorship, which has the world's worst human rights record. The recent deadly toll from SARS, which has spilt over from China to the rest of world reveals to the world how this regime's dishonesty and moral corruption can endanger their lives and bring great loss to the world economy. Luckily, a single man's courage and conscience saved the world from being further victimised by China's lies, which manifests how the power of morality can benefit every one of us. In the face of the pressure from this brutal dictatorship, Dr. Jiang Yanyong courageously disclosed the dreadful facts that China had been hiding, thus saving countless lives.

A similar act of courage and conscience, not as widely publicised, was conducted by Mrs. Kaneko Yoko during her trip back to China in May of last year. Witnessing the regime's brutal crackdown and persecution of Falun Gong, a practise which embodies the universal principles of truthfulness, compassion and tolerance, Mrs. Kaneko courageously stepped forward to disclose the lies fabricated by the regime in defaming Falun Gong, and revealed the truth of the persecution. For this, the regime arrested Mrs. Kaneko and put her into a labour camp to be brainwashed and tortured.

The courageous lady's act has won worldwide respect and attention. Amnesty International treats her as prisoner of conscience and continuously appeals for her release. The concern of citizens in Japan is also high. We have already received over 110,000 signatures from ordinary citizens, and hundreds from MPs and senators. We are very encouraged by the more positive attitude the Japanese government has manifested on the rescue of Yoko, which will be "treating her as an overseas Japanese," a comment made by a Japanese official during a recent trip to the U.S.

International society is united in condemning the persecution of Falun Gong. It is clear that the crackdown of Falun Gong arose completely out of ex-Communist Chairman Jiang Zemin's personal political ambition and was to a large extent opposed by most high-level officials in China. Due to the serious harm and the great loss the persecution of Falun Gong has brought to the country and its people, ex-Chairman Jiang is being sued for genocide and crimes against humanity in the United States and other countries.

The SARS incident shows how international pressure and the voice of justice can restrict China's injustices, and how the new government represented by Hu Jintao is conscious of international opinion. We hereby sincerely appeal to you to please appeal to the present Head of China, Mr. Hu Jintao, at any opportunity either in public or private, for the release of Mrs. Kaneko Yoko, together with other imprisoned Falun Gong practitioners who are family members of Japanese citizens or Japanese residents, and express your concern about Jiang's persecution of Falun Gong. We believe this will not only best help Mrs. Kaneko to recover her freedom, but also serve as a new start to help establishing a good and healthy relationship between Japan and China.

I sincerely wish you a pleasant journey and fruitful achievements at the G8 Summit.

Thank you for your attention.

Sincerely,

Global Mission to Rescue Persecuted Falun Gong Practitioners,
Japan Branch