Media Alert: Chinese Authorities Forcibly Brainwash American Citizen -- Protests from the US Government Are Ignored

The American Consulate official in Shanghai China today informed Ms. Yeong-Ching Foo, Dr. Charles Lee's fiancé, that in order to force Dr. Lee to give up his belief in Falun Gong, the Chinese authorities have been forcing him to attend brainwashing sessions. The persecution against Dr. Lee has escalated this month despite numerous protests from the U. S. state department over China's violation of Dr. Lee's basic human rights. Friends and family of Dr. Lee are calling on the U.S. government as well as the public to lend stronger support to protect the basic rights of an American citizen, and they are calling on China to stop persecuting people for their beliefs and release Dr. Lee immediately.

What: Rally to protest Chinese authority's abuse of American citizen Dr. Charles Lee
When: 1:00 pm, Thursday 11/13/2003
Where: 1450 Laguna St, in front of the Chinese consulate in San Francisco
Contact: Dr. Sherry Zhang 415.845.5295, Steve Ispas 408.489.5752

Dr. Lee's fiancé' Ms. Yeong-Ching Foo will be available for interviews.

********************* Background *********************

Dr. Charles Lee, a US citizen and resident of Menlo Park, California, has been detained in China for over 10 months. More and more evidence reveals that Dr. Lee has been mentally and physically tortured, and the persecution is escalating. Dr. Lee was arrested as soon as he got off the plane at the Guangzhou Airport on January 22, 2003. He was later rushed through a one day show trial and sentenced to a 3-year prison term for his "intention" to expose the human rights violation suffered by Falun Gong practitioners in China.

From a 95-page letter that Dr. Lee managed to get to the U.S. Consulate only by means of an eight day hunger strike, as well as from information provided by the U.S. Consulate in Shanghai, we understand that Dr Lee has endured severe abuse while in prison. He was beaten by the police, deprived of sleep for three days, and both hands were handcuffed in awkward positions for as long as 130 hours. During his 8-day hunger strike, Charles was force-fed by the police. A rubber tube was inserted from his nose down to his stomach. To torture him, the police left the tube in his body for an extra four hours, which was described by Charles as extremely painful.

In order to force him to give up his belief in Falun Gong, the authorities have been forcing Dr. Lee to attend brainwashing sessions. When he refused to go on July 8, an inmate twisted his arm, and knocked him down to the ground, dragging him on the ground down a flight of stairs to the brainwashing session. There are now 10 inmates living in the same cell with Charles to monitor him 24 hours a day to prevent him from practising Falun Gong exercises. Whenever he tries to do the exercise, they beat him up.

The U. S. State Department has protested China's violation of Dr. Lee's human rights in the past months. The new evidence indicates that China has ignored the protests from the U.S.