German Media Reports on Chinese Student who was Rescued from a Forced Labour Camp in China and Returned to Germany

The news network of Karsruhe city in Germany published an article about the release of Xiong Wei, a former student in the Technical University of Berlin.

The report said that Xiong Wei was arrested on January the 5th 2002 because she distributed flyers in Beijing to appeal for a stop to the persecution against Falun Gong. It is said in the report that Falun Gong seems to be a belief with religious characteristics. In China, millions of people practise Falun Gong. It has been spread to more than sixty countries around the world. The basic effect of practising Falun Gong is similar to practising Qigong: people can achieve a state of peacefulness and harmony in both body and mind. Since it was established by Mr. Li Hongzhi in 1992, Falun Gong was widely promoted to the general public for seven years. In 1999, Chinese dictator Jiang Zemin started a systematic persecution against the practice.

The report mentioned that it may be the number of Falun Gong practitioners that made the Chinese Government panic. On April the 25th 1999, more than ten thousand Falun Gong practitioners made a peaceful petition at the Appeals Bureau in Beijing calling for an end to the violent treatment that Falun Gong practitioners had suffered in some areas. The Chinese Government banned Falun Gong and its activities on July 20th of the same year. Owing to the persecution, about ten thousand Falun Gong practitioners were arrested, their homes were searched, and the books about Falun Gong were destroyed.

The report continued that Xiong Wei did not want to keep silent about this injustice. Therefore, she went on the streets and used her actions to call for an end to the persecution. “I knew very clearly what would happen to me. However, I just did not want to tolerate this kind of mental persecution,” said Xiong Wei in a press conference held several days ago in Germany.

After two years of imprisonment in terrible conditions, Xiong Wei was released in January 2004 after rescue efforts from the German Government. At the time when she was released, another run of labour “Re-education” was about to start. After her release, Xiong Wei faced six months of house arrest before she finally came to Germany. Falun Gong practitioners in Germany expressed their sincere thanks to the German Government and all of the parliament members who have provided help in rescuing Xiong Wei. They were also grateful to the international human rights organisations and those compassionate people who provided their signatures, mailed postcards or wrote songs to voice their support for Xiong Wei throughout her illegal imprisonment.

People in Karsruhe city also assisted in the activities. More than one hundred people who support human rights undertook a long distance race on August 28th to call for Xiong Wei’s release. They will continue to help Falun Gong.