Article from German Newspaper “Heilbronner Stimme” about Practitioner who Spent Two Years in a Forced Labour Camp

Ms. Xiong Wei was detained in a Chinese labour camp for two years. Following that, she was put under house arrest for several months. She was released only after protests from abroad. On Friday, she arrived in Öhringen to meet with friends who have supported her.

“I am very grateful that so many people have supported me. The protests from Germany had an especially good effect,” said the thirty three year old who was studying Economic Engineering in Berlin. She was arrested in Beijing in January 2002 when she was distributing flyers about the persecution of the meditative practice Falun Gong. Xiong Wei says: “In China, Falun Gong has turned into a grassroots movement and is regarded as a threat by the government.” She was taken to a women’s labour camp without trial, where she regularly suffered torture to re-educate her. Hearing about her arrest, her brother turned to the public with the help of the International Society for Human Rights (IGFM). They managed to collect more than 40,000 signatures, write support letters and inform the media. They also informed the federal government. Thus, the Chancellor personally wrote a letter to the Chinese President pleading for Xiong Wei’s release.

Öhringen resident Annett Munter went to Beijing to lodge a personal protest. On this trip, she became acquainted with Chinese police batons. Last year, the twenty nine year old export assistant sent a Christmas parcel to China that unexpectedly reached its destination. Among friends at the welcome party she handed Xiong a picture she had painted on the occasion of her release. Xiong Wei says, “I would like to just lead a normal life but I certainly do not want to return to China for a while.”