Since the persecution of Falun Gong began in 1999, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has prohibited Falun Gong practitioners from leaving China even when they meet all the legal requirements. It is one of the many means of the widespread persecution, in addition to slander in the media and interference and deprivation in a variety of ways such as employment, graduation, housing, income, and pension.
Although most of the policies related to the persecution are passed down from top to bottom by word of mouth, there is also some written evidence. In China, many travel agencies' published requirements for passport application clearly state that Falun Gong practitioners are not allowed to apply for a passport. This is evidence of the CCP's abuse of Falun Gong practitioners' human rights.
Section Five of the "Application for Chinese Citizens to Travel to Hong Kong and Macao" published by the Sichuan China Youth Travel Service says:
"The local police department, in cases where the company or workplace is listed in the residency permit, the director of the company, should recommend whether to approve or deny any application based on the following factors:
1. The information provided above is accurate;
2. The person does not practise Falun Gong;
3. The person does not belong to the five categories of people prohibited from leaving the country;
4. The applicant agrees to pay all expenses.
The director of the police department or the company must affix an official seal after signing the document."
A search on the Internet yielded many instances of this requirement. For example, Guangxi Fangchenggang International Travel Service, Shenzhen Pengcheng Kanghui Travel Service, Chinese Communist Party Jiangxi Province Leping City Organisational Department, Zhejiang Shaoxing Travel Bureau, Xinyu Jiuzhou Travel Service (under Chinese Citizen International Travel Application for Jiangxi Province), Datong Chinese International Travel Service, Sichuan University Security Department, and Guangdong Provincial Postal Service all have these requirements.
The "five categories of people prohibited from leaving the country" are defined in Section Eight of the "Law of the People's Republic of China on the Control of the Exit and Entry of Citizens."
The first category includes defendants in a criminal lawsuit under review by the court system and suspects identified by the police, the state security system, or the People's Procuratorate.
The second category includes those who are involved in a civil lawsuit on domestic matters, damage disputes, inheritance disputes, contract disputes, or debt disputes.
The third category includes convicted criminals serving a prison term.
The fourth category includes those in a labour camp for violating the law.
The fifth category is officials and researchers with top-secret information or technology whose departure from China may cause serious economic damage or safety threat to the nation.
Falun Gong practitioners, kindhearted people who practise "Truth, Compassion, Tolerance," do not belong to the "five categories." Even the CCP itself knows this. Because Falun Gong practitioners are innocent, the CCP listed them separately, in addition to the cases covered in existing laws and regulations, to deprive them of the right to leave China. In the persecution of Falun Gong, the wishes of Jiang Zemin and the CCP are above the law. Such examples of overriding the law are ubiquitous.
In addition to the distorted desire to intentionally cause pain to others forged over the CCP's long-term rule, the primary reason that Jiang Zemin and the CCP prohibit Falun Gong practitioners from leaving China is that they thought by keeping practitioners in China, the horrific crimes the CCP committed during the persecution would be hidden from the outside world.
Just like the order to "kill with out mercy" the Falun Gong practitioners who spread the truth about the persecution, the deprivation of Falun Gong practitioners' right to legally leave China is another vicious means of the tyranny to hide the truth. However, these attempts have completely failed. The truth of the persecution has been made public to the entire world.
Ms. Li Weixun, a Falun Gong practitioner from Shenyang, China, escaped from the CCP's control and obtained refugee status from the United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR) while in Thailand. She arrived in the United States on September 21, 2005 with assistance from Friends of Falun Gong, UNHCR, United States State Department, U.S. Congress, and other non-governmental organisations.
Ms. Li was able to come to the United States despite the fact that she has no family members in the States. The rescue effort was itself a demonstration of the international community's understanding of the truth of the persecution. Ms. Li will also be able to provide more first-hand information on the persecution of Falun Gong by the CCP.
That is just what the CCP fears the most. From the regulations mentioned above on passport applications, we can see that the prohibition of Falun Gong practitioners' travel abroad itself is evidence of the severity and secret nature of the persecution.
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