Japan Times: Husband frets over fate of wife held in China Falun Gong bust

The Chinese wife of a Japanese man has been detained for more than a month in China after she was arrested for supporting the Falun Gong spiritual movement. Atsushi Kaneko, 46, an engineer on Sado Island, Niigata Prefecture, has grown increasingly worried about the fate of his wife, Yoko, as he has no more information to go on than the terrifying rumors about how Chinese officials treat Falun Gong [practitioners].

"I learned that hundreds of Falun Gong [practitioners] have died while in detention," Kaneko said. "I only hope the Chinese government will settle the issue peacefully."

According to the latest human rights report released by the U.S. State Department, thousands of Falun Gong [practitioners] have been sent to labour camps and prisons, and more than 200 are believed to have died during the past two months. Falun Gong [practitioners] are often subjected to torture and other harassment at the hands of security personnel, the report says.

Yoko Kaneko visited Beijing in May, intending to teach Japanese at a Chinese university. There she met up with two Japanese Falun Gong [practitioners] she knew previously, according to one of them, Yoko Horie, 31, from Osaka.

All three were apprehended by Chinese police May 24 while distributing Falun Gong leaflets and chanting in Chinese, "Falun Gong is good," in Tiananmen Square, Horie said, claiming the Chinese officers hit her in the face during the arrest.

Horie said she and her Japanese friends were deported after being questioned and detained by security police for one night.

They had wanted to protest Beijing's [persecution] on Falun Gong [practitioners], although they were aware of the risk of doing so, she said.

Atsushi Kaneko has asked the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo to help push for the return of his wife.

A ministry official who is handling the case declined to disclose details, citing privacy concerns. But she said the ministry is doing its best to respond to the request.

According to the ministry's explanation to Kaneko, his wife was arrested for allegedly violating a Chinese law banning [...] and has been detained as a criminal suspect. He said he still doesn't even know exactly where she is being held. [...]

At least eight Chinese [practitioners] have applied for refugee status in Japan since last year, claiming they have been refused entry to their homeland, said Tadanori Onitsuka, a Tokyo lawyer who is handling five of the cases.

A Chinese asylum seeker studying at the University of Tokyo could not renew her passport when it expired in October 2000. She said she was told by Chinese officials that she would be able to renew her passport only if she gave up her commitment to Falun Gong.

The number of Chinese asylum seekers may grow sharply within a few years as hundreds of Chinese Falun Gong [practitioners] in Japan see their passports expire.

Tokyo has yet to express a clear position concerning the spiritual movement. During bilateral human rights talks in 2000, the ministry only told its Chinese counterpart that legal procedures should be transparent, the ministry official said.

Lawmaker Seishu Makino of the Democratic Party of Japan, the largest opposition party, expressed sympathy for Kaneko. He said the human rights issue is a sensitive area for China's government.

"They are desperate to maintain the status quo because they could be accused as criminals should the government be toppled," Kaneko said.