Press Releases and Media Reports

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EFIC: Chinese Celebrate the New Year: Increasing Persecution, Torture and Killing

2003-01-26

At the time of the Chinese New Year, Falun Gong practitioners in the UK are holding a number of activities throughout the UK to help rescue their family members who have been incarcerated in China. Three of these cases are listed herein.

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FDI: National Security Bureau Agents of Jiang’s Regime Kidnap Australian Woman

2003-01-26

Nancy and her daughter travelled to China on January 17 to visit her parents. On January 20, after she went to visit some friends in Chengdu, her family didn’t hear from her again until 6:00am on January 22, when her mother received a call from Nancy, saying: “I have been kidnapped near the American Consulate, Chengdu..."

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Daily Telegraph (Australia): Australian 'snatched' in China

2003-01-26

A Sydney woman has been snatched off the street by police while visiting relatives in China, with friends believing she has been arrested because of her spiritual beliefs..Nancy Chen, 34, last contacted her family on Wednesday, telling them she had been "kidnapped" in Chengdu city in central China...Ms Chen, of Canterbury, is a practitioner of Falun gong

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AFP: Australian embassy in Beijing seeks whereabouts of missing national

2003-01-26

The Australian embassy in Beijing said Friday it was investigating claims that one of its nationals has been kidnapped in China's southwestern Chengdu province..."The embassy has been in contact with authorities in China to try to establish the whereabouts of Nancy Chen," a spokesman told AFP.

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EFIC: National Security Bureau Agents of Jiang’s Regime Kidnap Australian Woman

2003-01-25

Nancy and her daughter travelled to China on January 17 to visit her parents. On January 20, after she went to visit some friends in Chengdu, her family didn’t hear from her again until 6:00am on January 22, when her mother received a call from Nancy, saying: “I have been kidnapped near the American Consulate, Chengdu..."

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Herald Sun (Australia): Kidnap fears plague family

2003-01-25

On Wednesday, she phoned her mother with the message: "I have been kidnapped near the American Consulate, Chengdu..."They searched and took all my files including passport. Please ring my husband and ask the Australian Government to save me.".. Falun Gong was banned in China in 1999. Since then, 557 practitioners have died as a result of torture or brutality..

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EFIC: Elderly man jailed for 7 Years for “Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance” Banner

2003-01-25

While in detention, officials from the Chinese Embassy supervised as local Burmese police repeatedly demanded that Mr. Chan present a written promise to forsake practicing Falun Gong, a demand commonly imposed on practitioners in China. In exchange for acting against his conscience, they offered him personal freedom.

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AFP: Falungong petitions HK chief to release old practitioner in Myammar

2003-01-24

'[Falun Gong practitioners] urged Tung to help secure the release of Hong Kong native Chan Wing-yuen, 71, arrested in Rangoon December 12, 2001, for unfurling a Falungong banner during President Jiang Zemin's visit.'

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French International Radio Station Broadcasts News about the Founding of the “World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong”

2003-01-24

This is a report from the Chinese program of the French International Radio Station, which broadcasts to Mainland China and the Greater Paris area.

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AFP (Agence France-Presse): Trade unions say Hong Kong's new security laws threaten rights

2003-01-22

'More than 1,000 trade unionists from around the world have sent e-mails to Hong Kong's chief warning that planned security laws threaten political and civil rights, labour groups said. Meanwhile, Bill Rammell, British parliamentary under-secretary at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, said he had told Chinese officials during a recent visit to Beijing that international confidence in Hong Kong would be undermined if the issue were mishandled.'

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AFP reports on Public Relations Tactics by the Chinese Government aiding the Persecution of Falun Gong

2003-01-21

A Human Rights Watch World Report issued on Tuesday January 14th stated that in 2002 China is still moving to limit freedom of expression, censorship of news publications and is cracking down on dissidents.

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BBC: Nearly One Thousand Labour Unions Oppose Legislation on Anti-subversion Law (Photo)

2003-01-21

'People worry that Hong Kong's judiciary would be damaged by legislation of the anti-subversion law'

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Reuters Reports on China's Human Rights in 2002

2003-01-20

'China has implemented "highly repressive policies" in 2002, using the global war on terror and a pivotal Communist Party Congress as excuses to violate human rights, a U.S.-based rights watchdog said on Tuesday.'

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Daily Times:Report about Article 23 in Hong Kong

2003-01-20

'Heated exchanges between the authorities and opponents of the laws led many to believe that the devil is, indeed, in the details. What has emerged is an almost unanimous demand that the Tung government publish a detailed draft of the laws for one more round of consultation. The government, under intense pressure from Beijing to enact the blessed version, calls this unnecessary.'

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Human Rights Watch World Report 2002 --China (Excerpt)

2003-01-19

'Falungong spokespersons reported that, as in previous years, practitioners died in custody in 2002. (As of November 12, spokespersons claimed that since the start of the [persecution] in 1999, 513 practitioners had died in custody.) Followers from abroad detained in China, upon returning home, recounted tales of beatings and torture. Courts continued to sentence [practitioners] to long prison terms; public security officials sent others directly to reeducation camps. In December, a Beijing court sentenced six academics to terms of up to twelve years for distributing Falungong materials.'

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