New York: Practitioners Hold Press Conference Regarding Cambodia's Deportation of Falun Gong Practitioners Under Pressure by Jiang's Regime

On August 19, New York practitioners held a press conference in front of the UN to bring attention to the deportation from Cambodia to a Mainland Chinese detention centre of Zhang Xinyi and Li Guojun in violation of their status as "persons of concern".

New York Practitioner reading a statement at the press conference in front of the UN	Clarifying the truth of the deportation of Falun Gong practitioners in Cambodia to the Chinese people
Delivering letters to Kofi Annan and the Cambodian Ambassador

Several media outlets such as AP, Radio Free Asia, and Epoch Times covered the press conference. After reading the press statement, practitioners proceeded to deliver the letter from the New York Falun Dafa Association to a representative of Kofi Annan and also went to the Cambodian Mission to the UN to deliver a letter and speak to the Ambassador. As the Ambassador was on leave, we spoke to a staff member of the Mission, who accepted the letter and promised to deliver it personally to the Ambassador.

Many passers-by accepted our materials and stayed to talk to us about the situation. Looking over the scene, you could see the looks of concern on their faces as they spoke to practitioners about Jiang extending his persecution to other countries.

Below are the letters to the Ambassador of Cambodia's Mission to the United Nations and to Kofi Annan respectively.

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New York Falun Dafa Association Letter to the Ambassador of Cambodia's Mission to the United Nations

August 19, 2002

Dear Ambassador Borith:

We are writing to you regarding an urgent matter and to correct a grave injustice that was carried out in your country against two Chinese citizens living under UN refugee status as "persons of concern". The matter that we speak of is the unlawful deportation of Mr. Li Guojun and Mrs. Zhang Xinyi to Mainland China at the behest of Chinese authorities.

On August 2, 2002, Li Guojun, 46, and his wife Zhang Xinyi, 39, were arrested at their Phnom Penh apartment by the Cambodian police and deported to Mainland China on August 9, 2002, to a detention centre in Hunan Province. Before their deportation, it was reported that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees sought the couple's immediate release from the Cambodian authorities. First the authorities denied that the couple was in their custody. Later when the UNHCR Regional Office in Bangkok sent a letter to the Cambodian officials they were told that the Chinese couple had already been deported back to China on the same day. The couple's friends have not heard from them and are very concerned for their safety.

The arrest occurred less than a month after the couple was granted "persons of concern" status by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. This is clearly a violation of the 1951 Global Convention on Refugees, which both China and Cambodia ratified.

The couple arrived in Phnom Penh from China in 1998, taught Chinese in a school and was known to practice the Falun Gong meditation and exercises several times a week at their home with a small group of friends.

Last June Zhang Xinyi received a package in the mail from Taiwan containing Falun Gong books. Later, on July 3, 2002 the couple was summoned by the Cambodian Department of Foreigners who informed them that "Cambodia and China enjoy friendly relations" and that the couple was damaging those relations. Near the end of July, Zhang Xinyi went to the Chinese embassy to have her passport renewed. The Chinese authorities confiscated her old passport and refused to issue her a new one. By the end of July, Zhang and her husband were dismissed from the Chinese school where they had been teaching.

With six more deaths of Falun Gong practitioners held in Chinese detention centres and labour camps at the hands of the authorities, reported just this week, we have grave concerns for the safety of Zhang Xinyi and her husband Li Guojun.

Falun Gong practitioners reside in over 60 countries around the world and have always acted peacefully and in accordance to the principle of Truthfulness, Benevolence and Forbearance in their every action. Committing this act of deportation in order to appease the desire of the Jiang Zemin regime and gain a short-term benefit can never outweigh the tragedy if harm should come to these two people now being detained in China. For the good future of yourselves and your country we sincerely ask you to reconsider your actions in this matter. The time is coming soon when the persecution against Falun Gong will be fully exposed for what it is. We call upon you as the Ambassador from Cambodia to the United Nations to intercede on behalf of Zhang Xinyi and her husband Li Guojun to insure their safe return to their family and friends. We implore you to conduct yourselves honourably in this matter. The entire world is watching this issue very closely.

Thank you for reviewing our concerns, we look forward to a positive response from you soon.

Sincerely

New York Falun Dafa Association

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New York Falun Dafa Association Asks Secretary General of the United Nations to Insure the Safe Return of the Cambodian Falun Gong Practitioners Deported to China

August 19, 2002

Dear Secretary Annan:

We'd like to applaud the great achievements of the United Nations in the areas of world peace and human rights under your leadership. The Noble Peace Prize you received last year confirms that world peace and human rights are a valued priority to both you personally and through your leadership in the most prestigious organization in the world. Your tireless efforts to save others from harm will be a legacy of your vision and leadership to the people of the world.

Today, we urgently must bring a situation to your attention that while on the surface appears to affect two people in a small country, the implications of it are widespread and foreshadow an ominous future if left unchallenged and uncorrected. The situation that we speak of is the recent news of two Falun Gong practitioners living in Cambodia, having their UN refugee status violated, and being deported to a Chinese detention centre for practicing their personal spiritual belief abroad.

On August 2, 2002, Mr. Li Guojun, 46, and his wife Zhang Xinyi, 39, were arrested at their Phnom Penh apartment by the Cambodian police and deported August 9, 2002, to a Mainland Chinese detention centre in Hunan Province. It was reported that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees sought the couple's immediate release, but Cambodian authorities denied having the couple in their custody. The couples' friends have not heard from them and are very concerned for their safety.

The arrest occurred less than a year after the couple had been granted "persons of concern" status by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. This is clearly a violation of the 1951 Global Convention on Refugees, which both China and Cambodia ratified.

The couple arrived in Phnom Penh from China in1998, taught Chinese in a school and was known to practice the Falun Gong exercises and meditation several times a week privately at their home with a small group of friends.

Last June, Zhang Xinyi received a package in the mail from Taiwan containing Falun Gong books. Later, on July 3, 2002 the couple was summoned by the Cambodian Department of Foreigners who informed them that "Cambodia and China enjoy friendly relations" and that the couple's presence in the country was damaging those relations. Near the end of July, Zhang Xinyi went to the Chinese embassy to have her passport renewed but instead it was confiscated by Chinese authorities who refused to issue her a new one. By the end of July, Zhang and her husband were dismissed from the Chinese school where they had been teaching.

This incident is a clear example of how the Jiang Zemin Regime has extended its persecution of Falun Gong outside China's borders and uses pressure and direct interference to manipulate other governments into persecuting Falun Gong in exchange for favourable relations with China.

With six more deaths of Falun Gong practitioners held in Chinese detention centres and labour camps, at the hands of the authorities, we have grave concerns for the safety of Zhang Xinyi and her husband Li Guojun.

We call upon the United Nations to intercede on behalf of Zhang Xinyi and her husband Li Guojun, to insure their safe return to a country that will accept their status as "persons of concern." If we do not correct this grave injustice, what hope will there be to halt the Jiang Zemin's Regime's escalation of this misbegotten campaign of persecution. What country will become the next victim of China's pressure to persecute Falun Gong? Whose lives will be the next to be unnecessarily sacrificed for their personal belief?

We look forward to hearing from you on this issue soon.