Japan: Chinese Consulate General in Osaka Once Again Unreasonably Denies Falun Gong Practitioners' Passport Renewal

Recently, another scandal involving the unreasonable confiscating of Chinese citizens' passports was exposed . There have been several cases where the Chinese Consulate in Osaka, Japan, confiscated Falun Gong practitioners' passports indefinitely.

Mr. Cao Jingzhe, who works in Osaka, went to the Chinese Consulate General to renew his passport on August 28th, 2007. He submitted his old passport and was given a time to pick up his renewed passport on September 10th. The next day, he received a phone call from a staff member at the consulate, saying that they needed to investigate his case, and were unable to issue him a new passport on the scheduled collection date. They asked him to wait for further telephone notification. Over a month later, Mr. Cao called the consulate to inquire about this matter. The staff still told him to wait for telephone notification, and that his case was still under investigation. The staff also said that he might have to wait for another six months. Mr. Li, who is in charge of issuing passports, did not answer his telephones calls at that point. It was obvious that they did not have a proper reason for denying him a passport.

Coincidently, Ms. Songwei who lives in Osaka went to the Chinese Consulate to obtain "living proof" [a document proving one is still alive] on October 13th, 2007. She submitted the required materials and was told October 15th to pick up the document. However, the same afternoon as she submitted the materials, the Chinese Consulate staff phoned her home and told her that she would not be able to collect it on October 15th, because her case needed to be investigated. The time for collection has passed, but she still has not obtained the document.

Ms. Songwei goes to a place near the Chinese Consulate every day to distribute information about Falun Gong. On the morning of October 15th, 2007, a female consulate staff member named Wu Wei from the Chinese Consulate came up to Ms. Songwei and another Falun Gong practitioner and told them not to distribute materials about Falun Gong there. She threatened that if they continued delivering the Epoch Times newspaper to the mailbox of the consulate, they would do something rude to the practitioners.

Mr. Cao and Ms. Songwei had submitted materials as they were required, and the Chinese Consulate staff did not ask them to submit any supplementary materials. Furthermore, as the so-called "investigation," did not have any basis, we are wondering what is going on behind the scenes. The only reason must be that both Mr. Cao and Ms. Songwei are Falun Gong practitioners. The Chinese Consulate abused its authority, and has extended their human rights abuses outside China, polluting civilisation and law in a free society.

Later on, Mr. Cao and Ms. Songwei made numerous phone calls to the consulate to inquire about the delay in receiving their documents, but the consulate staff refused to tell them any reason. They only said that their cases were under investigation. Later, Mr. Cao, his wife and two other Falun Gong practitioners went directly to the consulate to meet with a consul whose surname is Jin. Mr. Jin said that they could not issue passports to Mr. Cao, unless he said he no longer practises Falun Gong. Mr. Jin also said that a country has a choice whether or not it issues a passport to a citizen. As the practitioners always distributed materials outside the Chinese Consulate, an act opposing the Party, the Consulate won't issue a passport to Mr. Cao.

Mr. Cao said that Mr. Jin is neither in charge of the Falun Gong issue, nor in charge of passport issues. In the beginning, Mr. Cao was surprised when Mr. Jin said he had graduated from the same university as Mr. Cao, and they had graduated in the same year. It seems he had met Mr. Cao somewhere before. Later on, Mr. Cao understood that the Chinese Consulate found a person like Mr. Jin to talk to the practitioners, so that their dirty trick would not be exposed. Mr. Cao said that it is not a matter whether this consul is honest or not; since Mr. Jin talked with Mr. Cao and others on behalf of the Chinese Consulate, his opinion must be in line with that of the Chinese Consulate. He is used by them as a tool. Mr. Cao felt sorry for Mr. Jin, because Mr. Jin may also be the victim of the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) brainwashing education. At present, the number of Chinese people who have quit the CCP and its affiliated organisations has exceeded 27 million. For officials like Mr. Jin who are so willing to work for the CCP, they should think over why there is such a grand tide of quitting the CCP. Mr. Cao wants to advise the officials working at Chinese consulates and embassies outside China, before Heaven eliminates the CCP: be quick to quit it to save their own lives. The CCP's demise is imminent. The grand tide of quitting the CCP is irreversible. They should not take their lives for granted. If they can learn more information in a free society, be sure not to be blocked by notions, and miss the opportunity to learn about the truth. It is the wisest choice to be quick to quit the CCP in a safe way, and not be blinded by temporary interests. Listen to this faithful advice for your own sake.

Mr. Cao also emphasised that he hopes the Chinese Consulate will make a correct judgment on the issue of Falun Gong, and not persecute Falun Gong. He said that it won't affect his life much in Japan if the Chinese Consulate refuses to issue him a renewed passport. It is only that he will be unable to return to China. Actually, he is only engaged in gaining his due right as an ordinary Chinese citizen. Even if he obtains the passport, he is unable to return to China right now, because the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners is still quite severe in China. According to the Falun Gong website, 3100 Falun Gong practitioners have been verified to have died as a result of the persecution. There is a large number of news reports published on websites daily about the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China. Some Falun Gong practitioners around him were once detained and suffered persecution in China. Some of them were detained for several months, and some for several years. They personally experienced the inhumane and brutal persecution. Falun Gong has been spread and warmly received by people in over 80 countries around the world, but the persecution of Falun Gong occurs only in mainland China. It is not wrong for Falun Gong practitioners to peacefully do the exercises. If the CCP had not persecuted Falun Gong, Falun Gong practitioners around the world would not have been to Chinese consulates and embassies to protest, Falun Gong practitioners in China would have been able to freely do the exercises in parks, and practitioners overseas would have returned to their homeland freely. Actually, more and more people have learned about the persecution of Falun Gong committed by the CCP, and have seen clearly the CCP's lies.

Finally Mr. Cao said that the CCP does not want to acknowledge the persecution of Falun Gong publicly, yet it still extends acts that seriously trample upon human rights overseas. Now, since they do not feel ashamed enough to stop violating human rights, we will let more people learn about this scandal, and also provide an opportunity for people to learn about the truth.