UK: A Practitioner Exposes the Sham Hong Kong Trial in a Radio Interview

On Sunday 18th August 2002 I was interviewed on the city of Leicester’s largest radio station. The interview, which was very relaxed and lasted approximately 10 minutes, gave me a wonderful opportunity to clarify the truth about the trial of the 16 Falun Gong practitioners charged with obstruction of the pavement and assault of police officers outside the Chinese Liaison Office in Hong Kong and the subsequent guilty verdict on 15th August. The presenter of the programme took great pains to get her facts right regarding the case, talked to me at length before we went on air and was truly interested in the implications of a guilty verdict for the Hong Kong people. I expressed my concern that the trial had been a sham and that the evidence weighed heavily in favour of the practitioners who had been sitting peacefully on the pavement in protest of the escalating persecution of Falun Gong in China, but leaving plenty of room for passers-by. Video footage showed that the police had violently removed the practitioners; although there was no evidence to support the fact that the practitioners had allegedly assaulted the police.

I said that the Hong Kong police had arrested the practitioners following pressure from the Mainland Chinese government, which is attempting to have a stranglehold on Falun Gong outside of China as well as within. I also said that this was a test case, because the freedom of speech, the right to peaceful public assembly and the right to practise one's beliefs freely, up to now guaranteed in Hong Kong due to the legacy of being under British rule, was now in jeopardy not just for Falun Gong but for all the Hong Kong people.

The interviewer was very sympathetic and aware of the possible negative effects for Hong Kong and its citizens. I also spoke about Chinese President Jiang Zemin's trip to Iceland and how due to his huge fear of Falun Gong, a blacklist of known Falun Gong practitioners had prevented some of them from entering Iceland. She was amazed when I told her how the Icelandic people had been so shocked that practitioners were refused entry that 3000 came out on the streets and rallied against the Icelandic government's decision to succumb to the Chinese President’s command. They even paid to feature a full-page announcement in their newspapers apologising for their government's action.

This was the second interview I gave on this radio station, the first one being after I had been deported from China. Having done this interview, it made me realise that building up a good relationship with the media is very important, because when this happens the media can really be our ally and help us in clarifying the truth about the persecution of Falun Gong. The interviewer warmly invited me to keep her up to date with events in the future.