Taiwanese Falun Gong Practitioner Forcibly Taken Away While Visiting Relatives in China

Because she practises Falun Gong, Ms. Shao Yuhua, a permanent resident of Taiwan, was forcibly taken away by agents from the Chinese Communist Party National Security Bureau on the morning of July 31st, 2009. She had travelled to China to visit relatives in Nanyang, Henan Province. Her whereabouts remain unknown.

According to Ms. Xiao, who lives in the same city, agents from the National Security Bureau first deceived Ms. Shao with a phone call and coerced her into leaving her sister's home. They then forcibly took her away and searched her sister's home, confiscating her money, passport and luggage. They then took away Shao Yuhua's sister Shao Yuxiu as well.

Yang Yi, spokesman and director of the information office for the China-based Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council is currently visiting Taiwan. Chang Ching-hsi, chairman of the Taiwan Falun Dafa Association, handed a statement to Yan Yi on the evening of August 1st and asked for the immediate release of Ms. Shao Yuhua.

Eleven years ago, Shao Yuhua went to Taiwan from Nanyang, Henan Province to be married. She started practising Falun Gong in December 2007. This July, she went back to her home town with her ten-year-old daughter to visit relatives, and they stayed in her sister's home. On the evening of July 31st, when Shao Yuhua was leaving the Nanyang Cigarette Factory in Henan Province, she was abducted by agents from the National Security Bureau, who then searched the home and confiscated her personal property.

Chang Ching-hsi, chairman of the Taiwan Falun Dafa Association, and Chu Wan-chi, chief executive of the United States Human Rights Law Association in Asia, as well as other people, held a press conference at 5:00 p.m. on August 1.

Chu Wan-chi pointed out that Ms. Shao committed no unlawful deeds while in China. She was forcibly taken away by National Security Bureau agents simply because of her faith in Falun Gong. Chu Wan-chi asked Yan Yi, director of the information office for Taiwan Affairs of the State Council who is visiting Taiwan, to quickly make inquiries and ensure Shao Yuhua's basic human rights.

Qiu Yi, a legislator of the Chinese Nationalist Party, also spoke at the press conference via phone link. He condemned the Chinese Communist Party's violations of human rights. He said the Chinese Communist Party often casually arrests people without giving a reason. He said the Taiwan Executive Yuan's mainland China committee and the Foundation for the the Exchange Across the Straits should actively pursue the release of Shao Yuhua. He said that since Yang Yi is emphasizing information exchange and freedom of the media, he should voice his opinion about this case.

Ms. Shao's husband, Zheng Shuda, said that his wife went back to her home town just to visit relatives. She went back to Henan Province in 2007 as well. At that time, everything was normal. Later she started practising Falun Gong, and was forcibly taken away when she returned to China. Mr. Zheng sincerely asked Taiwanese people from all circles to "help my wife."

Ming Chu-Cheng, a professor from the political department of Taiwan University, said that since the Chinese Communist Party regards Falun Gong as a danger, it shows that the human rights situation in China has not improved.

The speakers presented an appeal calling on the Chinese Communist Party to immediately release Shao Yuhua, and asking the Straits Foundation to help mistreated Falun Gong practitioners come back to Taiwan. They then went to the place where the Foundation for the the Exchange Across the Straits was having a banquet, intending to express their appeal to Yang Yi face to face. But guards would not allow them through.

On July 20th, 1999, the Chinese Communist Party launched a comprehensive persecution of Falun Gong. According to incomplete statistics, 3292 Falun Gong practitioners have been persecuted to death. This number only includes those we know about, while the actual number could be much higher. The deaths are spread across more than thirty provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government. Among them, women count for roughly 54 per cent, while senior people over fifty count for 57 per cent.

Ten years have passed, and the Chinese Communist Party's persecution of Falun Gong still continues, and even extends overseas. This is not the first time that the Chinese Communist Party has forcibly taken away Taiwanese Falun Gong practitioners when they visited China.

In January and October 2003, Taiwan residents Wang Xiuhua and Lin Xiaokai were both locked up by the Shanghai National Security Bureau for almost a month. The Security Bureau tried to "convert" them, make them do undercover work and betray other Taiwan Falun Gong practitioners. In another case, Ms. Li Xinjue went back to her home town in Jiangxi Province on January 29th, 2004, to celebrate her elderly mother's birthday. As soon as she got off the plane, she was forcibly taken to an unidentified place by agents from the Nanchang City National Security Bureau, and locked there for 96 hours.

Falun Gong practitioners in other countries and areas have also been persecuted by the Chinese National Security Bureau. Among them are Mr. Wang Xingguo and his wife Wu Fengjiao in Geneva, Switzerland, Ms. Li Juan in the United States, Ms. Xin Qin in the United States, Mr. Liu Yi in Wellington, New Zealand, Mr. Zhang Junan in Germany, Mr. Fan Ziyu in Canada, Mr. Zhu Ying in Montreal, Canada, Ms. Cai Yingzi in Japan, Ms. Wang Zhengtian in Hongkong, and others. They were all harassed by the Chinese National Security Bureau when they went back to China. They published articles on the Minghui/Clearwisdom websites describing their experiences.

After Shao Yuhua was forcibly taken away, many media including the Central News Agency, Liberty Times, Taiwan Times, China Times, Taipei Times and Central Broadcasting Station followed the issue and published the news on August 2nd. The Taipei Times published it on the front page of its online paper.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2009/8/3/205828.html