Article from Danish Newspaper: The Different Refugee

The following article was printed in the Danish newspaper “Weekendavisen” on the 14th of October 2005.

Originally he was on a business-trip in Denmark when the Chinese authorities suddenly shut down his enterprise. Xuezhi Zhu practises Falun Gong and now he is forced to stay in Denmark to avoid the persecution. He has made it his mission to remind the Danish people, that China still is an oppressive dictatorship.

Economic growth, more openness for the surrounding world, the future superpower of the world — the media is brimming with stories on the world community's great expectations for China. But amidst the story of progress, stories that unveil the Chinese Communist regime's control over the people of China keep coming forth.

One of these stories is Xuezhi Zhu's. In 2000, he travelled to Denmark as a businessman. His enterprise at home in China was a success and he came here to strengthen cooperation with his Danish business partners. While he was here, his religious belief came to the attention of Chinese authorities. Xuezhi is a practitioner of the spiritual discipline Falun Gong and because of this, Chinese authorities closed down his business overnight.

"I lost everything I owned, and had no idea of how to provide for my family," Xuezhi says through his interpreter. He is currently learning Danish, but feels most comfortable speaking Chinese. It is now one year since Xuezhi was granted asylum. "Now I have to live on social welfare. When I lived and worked in China I had lots of furniture and other things, but now I gather furniture off the streets. I would like to become a businessman again, but I have to learn Danish first," he says. While talking, he constantly flips through his papers in front of him. He shows letters and photographs from his time as a businessman.

While Xuezhi lived in China he did not have any problems practising his faith. But since Falun Gong was banned in China in 1999, the authorities have fiercely attacked many of the movements' members and Xuezhi is sure that he would be arrested if he were to return to China. Giving up his faith is out of the question. For Xuezhi his belief in Falun Gong is connected to the belief in a better world. Its main principles are Truth, Compassion and Tolerance and in Denmark he can meet freely with other Falun Gong practitioners to practise his faith. This is what nourishes his spiritual life while he is waiting to be able to start from scratch in Denmark.

Xuezhi Zhu's message is that China still is a dictatorship. He therefore visits the Chinese Embassy in Hellerup every day, where he distributes material about Falun Gong and the Chinese authorities' persecution to passers-by. He has been doing this for three years now. Xuezhi's experience is that Chinese control extends far out across the country's borders. "I'm quite sure that it was the Chinese Embassy in Copenhagen that sent information about my relationship to Falun Gong to the Chinese government," he says. He hopes the Danish people will demand that the Chinese government stops the persecution. "The Chinese government is not a friend of Denmark, it is dangerous," he says.

From one day to the next, Xuezhi changed from a thriving businessman to an asylum-applicant. "I had never imagined, that I would become a refugee," he says, and flips through the papers from his firm. Xuezhi is grateful that in Denmark, anyone can write a letter to politicians or visit Christiansburg (the parliament). If the persecution stopped in China, he would return. In a democratic Denmark he has great freedom, but the possibilities are few. "I lived a good life in China, and my business flourished. Even though I have freedom here, I cannot choose myself where I would like to go or live. As a refugee one is not free."