European Victims of China's Persecution of Falun Gong

The Chinese government has extended its persecution against Falun Gong practitioners to Europe and other countries overseas. European officials have been sent propaganda material and have even been visited in attempts to intimidate and prevent anyone supporting the freedom of belief of Falun Gong practitioners. The following testimonies reveal the different measures Chinese embassies in Europe are using to interfere with the freedoms of Falun Gong practitioners in Europe.

Sweden

Detained for 14 hours at the police-station in Canton, China

My name is Anne and I am 33-years old. I started practising Falun Gong in Sweden in 1995. In August 1999 I received a scholarship to study Chinese for 1 year in Dalian (a harbour city in eastern China).

It was hard for me to meet or make any contact with other practitioners during my study in China. But on November 24th 2000, I went to Canton to visit some Falun Gong practitioners. Around 2-3 am, on the 25th of November, all of a sudden, more than 15 policemen rushed into the flat. Without showing any search or arrest warrants, I was detained together with 14 other practitioners (3 overseas Chinese and 11 mainland Chinese). They interrogated me and confiscated my passport and visa. Five policemen escorted me to the police station in a van. They took me to a separate room. I told them that I had the right to contact the Swedish Embassy but they refused to let me do so. They told me ”You are now in China and you must obey the Chinese law”. I asked the policemen again but they refused. I was questioned for a couple of hours. I was forced to sign the report they had written. They even took two pictures of me. I was deprived of any rights in China to which a Swedish citizen is entitled. Later on I tore the report in two pieces. This made them angry. I was alone with 4 policemen. I asked why I was treated as a criminal? Why did they still keep us there? One policeman said that Falun Gong was illegal. But the only thing we did was to meet at a friend’s house and talk with each other like friends do. Are Falun Gong practitioners not allowed to meet each other? Is it criminal? I never got any answer to that. Even if they didn´t use any violence against me, I saw that they were harsh against Chinese practitioners. In the room opposite mine, I saw how the policemen dragged one practitioner and how they raised their voices. They quickly closed my door and closed the curtains to not let me see. Once a group of men wanted to go through my bag but I refused to open it. I asked to make contact with my embassy but they didn´t let me do that and then they left the room. Suddenly, after 14 hours they released me and at that moment I also lost all contact with my fellow practitioners. Until today I don´t know what happened to them.

United Kingdom

Pregnant Woman Beaten and Her Child Made Stateless

Mo Zheng is a female student from Dundee, Scotland. She was arrested with her husband, You Yi, in December 1999 whilst on a trip to China. They were detained without a warrant and beaten. At the time Mo was 8 months pregnant. When their baby daughter was born in the United Kingdom, Mo applied to have the little girl registered on her passport. The Chinese Embassy refused this request giving the condition that Mo and her husband had to renounce Falun Gong before permission would be granted. They refused to give up their beliefs. The baby girl is now stateless.

Sister Illegally Detained and Hong Kong Pressurized to Refuse Entry to Britsh Citizens

Jane Liang is a British citizen. Her sister, Miss Wenjian Liang, was illegally sent to a labour camp in China where she was tortured. She was due to marry before she was taken away. On hearing of her detention, their mother who lived with Jane in England, became distressed and ill. Despite appeals to the Chinese authorities to release Wenjian so that she could visit her sick mother, no reply was received. Their mother eventually died in June 2000. After her mother’s death, Jane needed to visit China to take care of some family matters. However, her application for a visa was rejected by the Chinese Embassy in London.

Furthermore, Jane and her husband, Li Shao, were refused entry to Hong Kong in May 2001. They were hoping to attend a peaceful rally and parade to coincide with President Jiang Zemin of China’s visit to Hong Kong. They were among a hundred or so Falun Gong foreign nationals who were refused entry.

Families Threatened, Young People Denied Education and Elderly Parents Intimidated

The families of practitioners in the United Kingdom have been pressurized to force their relatives to stop practising Falun Gong. Xiao Bing Deng, a graduate of Cambridge University in England, was arrested twice in China. His mother, who is in China, was threatened with the loss of her job if she did not make him stop practising Falun Gong in the United Kingdom.

Lily is 17 years old and is now studying in England. Young people in China who practise Falun Gong are refused their right to education. Lily’s family has been deeply affected and torn apart by the persecution in China.

British citizen, Ze Xia’s elderly parents in China have been intimidated into trying to stop her practising Falun Gong. They were threatened with the loss of their pension and housing. She was also refused entry into Hong Kong.

Chinese Officials Threatening Behaviour
Robert Gibson, a British citizen, has been approached in London by Chinese officials acting in an intimidating manner.

France

Restaurant Owner Intimidated by Chinese Officials

The owner of a Chinese restaurant in Paris, Mr Wu, was visited by Chinese officials in his restaurant just before 20th of July 2000. After having a meal there, they told him that practising Falun Gong was "not good" and he should not participate in Falun Gong activities such as the demonstration on the first anniversary of the crackdown (planned to take place a few days later). They told him they knew the name of his wife and 4 daughters. Two days after Mr Wu went to the demonstration, his restaurant was partially destroyed (the big window at the front was broken, things were turned upside down inside - but no money was taken, which was as a "warning"). The same incident occurred again in June 2001.One of the people, who had been to his restaurant, was the head of the Chinese consulate in Paris (this was discovered by looking at photographs).

Husband and Wife Cursed and Refused Visa by Chinese Embassy

A male Falun Gong practitioner is a professor of history and his wife is a professor of Chinese in a French university. They went to the Chinese embassy in July 2001 to ask for a new visa. Chinese officials started to curse them and Falun Gong, and refused to give them a new visa, which means they either have to go back to China and be arrested or they have to ask for special status in France as refugees.

French National receives Anonymous Telephone Calls

A French practitioner, Mr Genin, is a biologist. He asked the consulate for a visa to go to Beijing in September 2000. That evening, after having applied for the visa, he received about 20 anonymous telephone calls at his home, from 10pm to midnight, with no one talking on the other side. One week afterwards, his application was refused because he practised Falun Gong.

Relatives in China Pressurized

Jian Ping Zhang went to the Chinese embassy in Paris to hand in a letter. The First Secretary shouted at him: "You want to have problems? You will have problems." The parents of Mr Zhang’s wife, who are not practitioners, received visits from the police in China to talk about their daughter and son-in-law and to encourage them to make Mr Zhang and his wife stop practising Falun Gong in France.