Friends of Zhao Ming Press Release

THE FRIENDS OF ZHAO MING
Graduate Students Union Office, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.

Only when a man looks into the abyss and can’t see the bottom does he discover his character. Zhao Ming has survived his 22 months in the abyss of a Chinese Labour camp and now he has returned to Ireland to tell his story.
“I am very grateful to the people of Ireland, the government and the media for helping me to return to Ireland” said Zhao Ming on his return from China from detention in Tuan-He Labour Camp in the Chinese capital Beijing. “It is a great feeling to have regained my freedom” continued Ming, “and I am very happy to see my friends and colleagues again”.

The Friends of Zhao Ming have been campaigning vigorously for the last 2 years to secure his release from the labour camp and return to Ireland and are overjoyed at his safe return to Ireland. We would like to thank everybody who has supported Ming’s cause in the last two years, and in particular we would like to thank: Mary Lawlor (Frontline Defenders), Lord Moyne, Suzie Guinness, Amnesty Ireland, John Heggarty (Provost, TCD), Bertie Ahern, Ruari Quinn, Brian Cowen, Maurice Ahern, Mary Robinson, Mary McAleese, David Norris, Joe Higgins, Pat Kenny, Ian Mallon, Miriam Donoghue, Conor O’Cleary, Joe Humphreys, John Cushnahan, the European Parliament, Richard Madigan, Friends of Falun Gong Europe, John McGuiness, Deirde Clune, Jim O’Keefe, Jim Mitchell, Micheal D. Higgins, Nora Owen, Richard Bruton, Dublin Corporation, Finan McGrath, Brian Hayes, Brendan Kennedy, Sean Haughey, Sean Flemming, Charles Flanagan.

Zhao Ming Biography:
Zhao Ming graduated from the Computer Science Department in Tsinghua University in 1993 and afterwards worked for Tsinghua Unisplendour Group as a network engineer, department manager and project leader for many years.
In March, 1999, he was admitted to the Computer Science Department at the Trinity College in Dublin to pursue his Masters degree. In addition to studying in the Networks and Telecommunications Research Group (NTSG) and tutoring undergraduates, with the help of the D.U. Meditation Society he arranged for Falun Gong practice in Trinity. Ming started to practice Falun Gong in 1994 and had attended Mr. Li Hongzhi's lectures in Dalian, Liaoning Province. Before he practiced Falun Dafa, his health was so poor that, at times, he could not even work. Shortly after practicing Falun Dafa, he became completely healthy and full of energy. As a person who had greatly benefited from Falun Dafa, he spent his spare time actively promoting Falun Dafa and assisted other practitioners in Tsinghua University before he went to Ireland.

In January 2000, when he went home for the holidays during Christmas break, he was captured after filing a complaint against the government policy on Falun Gong and placed under house arrest. Indications are that he was arrested because of his religious beliefs and that the Chinese government then pressured him to write a confession agreeing not to complain about human rights violations in China again. According to an article in the Irish Times, it appears that Ming broke house arrest to attend a rally in Tiananmen Square, evaded capture by the Chinese police, and went into hiding somewhere in China. His whereabouts were unknown through the summer. We have since learned that Ming had been detained without trial by the Chinese government in Tuan He Farm Labour Camp near Beijing since May 2000.

In the spring of 2001, Zhao Ming was transferred from Beijing Tuanhe Labour Camp to Beijing Xi'an Labour Camp, where he was forced to go through brainwashing sessions. On 25th April, Ming was moved to the 4th Brigade. Under command of the Commander Li of the Brigade, they tormented Zhao Ming physically and mentally by means of swearing, slap, deprivation of sleep etc. For more than ten days, however, they still failed to transform him. Then Ming was imprisoned and forced to stand still without the slightest movement for as long as 18 hours a day. After three days of such ill-treatments, Ming became swollen all over the body. Later on Ming was ordered to clear rubbish bins, he had to carry out the task by himself that was usually done by four or five people, and when he went back to the cell after work, he was forced to stand absolutely still for long periods of time. During that period, Ming was only fed with plain corn bread, salted vegetables and plain water.
On 12th May 2001, Ming's one-year illegal labour camp term was completed, but it was extended for another 10 months just because Ming would not renounce Falun Gong.
On March 12th 2002, Ming was finally released from the labour camp and allowed return to his family. On March 22nd 2002, he returned safely to Dublin to re-start his life in Ireland.

Notes on Friends of Zhao Ming:
The Friends of Zhao Ming are a group involved in lobbying both Irish and Chinese Governments to obtain the official release of Zhao Ming by the Chinese government as well as his return to Ireland to continue his studies at Trinity College Dublin. The FOZM group was set up in March ’00 as an umbrella group to help co-ordinate the great work publicizing Ming’s case by the Trinity G.S.U. and others. Our membership consisted of Trinity Graduate Student’s Union (G.S.U.) officers, Amnesty Ireland members, Trinity College Computer Science students and lecturers, Falun Gong practioners, members of D.U. Meditation Society and students at second level schools.