German MPs Back Calls For Wrongfully Deported Practitioners to Return to Germany

Before Hu Jintao’s visit to Germany, German Falun Gong practitioners wrote a letter to German President Horst Koehler, the future Chancellor Angela Merkel, over six hundred newly elected members of the German parliament and many councillors, calling on them to request the German government to help bring an end to the persecution of Falun Gong in China and rescue Jiang Renzheng and his family. The spokesperson for Ms Merkel and some German MPs replied promptly, expressing their support to rescue Jiang and his family and bring them back to Germany and stating that the German government would clearly express their concern over China’s human rights during Hu’s visit.

On March 7th 2005, based on their wrong judgement, related German government departments rejected young couple Jiang Renzheng and Guo Rui’s application for asylum and deported them with their two children back to China. On April 9th, Jiang Renzheng was arrested and sentenced to three years in a forced labour camp. His wife was forced to go into hiding due to the risk of persecution. The family was separated. Jiang’s and Guo’s parents lived in pain and fear. At the beginning of September, Jiang was released home from the forced labour camp for reasons of medical parole. But his domestic activities were closely watched.

Upon Jiang’s arrest, the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs had negotiated with the Chinese communist party (CCP), demanding an explanation of Jiang’s case and his immediate release. Two months later, the CCP had still not given any response. On May the 30th 2005, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mr. Koenigs on behalf of the German government raised Jiang’s case during human rights talks between China and Germany. Not until that occasion did the CCP admit that Jiang was under arrest, but the CCP still refused to release Jiang.

In September and October, the German Foreign Office and the Bavarian Administrative Court re-examined Jiang’s and Guo’s applications for asylum. The German Foreign Office cancelled the order to deport them and allowed them to return to Germany. The court also granted Jiang asylum with his family under the protection of the German government. These decisions not only minimised previous mistakes but also cleared away all the obstacles to Jiang’s return to Germany. Above all, it was publicly declared that the Falun Gong practitioners under persecution in China are consequently under legal protection in Germany.

The German media published successive reports of the fate of Jiang’s family. The human rights abuse by the CCP had caused intense concern among the German public, human rights groups and political figures. Before Hu’s visit to Germany, the call for rescuing Jiang and his family and allowing them to return to Germany had been louder than ever. In their letter to Falun Gong practitioners, the German MPs reiterated: “Please believe that the German Government will surely use this opportunity to bring a solution to Jiang’s case.”

Preparations were well under way. The German Ministry of Foreign Affairs was sparing no effort to negotiate with China. Right before Hu’s visit to Germany, the Shenyang Public Security Bureau had already approved of Jiang’s new passport. With the aid of the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Jiang and his family decided to fly back to Germany on November 11th, once the CCP Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued an order to set them free. But the CCP Ministry did not respond and something unexpected happened. On November 9th, the head of the Benxi Forced Labour Camp rushed to Jiang’s parents-in-law’s home in Shenyang city and took Jiang’s new passport. He threatened Jiang that if he did not give up his passport, he would be sent back to the forced labour camp. Jiang was also told not to expose the event, or he would be in trouble.

The development of Jiang’s case shocked and bewildered the German government, overshadowing Hu’s visit. On November 10th, Radio Free Asia made a timely report of this and even pointed it out that human rights in China worsened before Hu Jintao’s visit to Germany. The case that Jiang and his family were prevented from leaving China serves as hard evidence of China’s worsening human rights.

Another similar case is that right before Hu’s visit to North America, Jiang Zemin’s accomplices, such as Luo Gan and Zeng Qinghong, abused their power to arrest more Falun Gong practitioners in their attempt to make Hu a scapegoat. The international community would consequently condemn Hu. During his leadership the persecution against Falun Gong is escalating. In this way, they hoped to bind Hu with them. Unable to get rid of a sense of guilt and the evil party, Hu would then be trapped in an abyss ridden with guilt and crime.

I wonder if Hu came to a timely awareness of the conspiracy. Would he continued being fooled and manipulated? Or would he move with the tide of the history to defect the CCP and then walk toward a bright future?