Publications, Press Releases
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CNN: China Censors CNN SARS Report
2003-05-16In recent months, many CNN reports on controversial government issues -- human rights, Tibet, and the Falun Gong spiritual movement -- have been blacked out. "We regret the Chinese action and we are checking the circumstances and details of the interruption," a CNN spokesman said. "In the meantime, we will continue reporting forthrightly and responsibly on SARS and other important matters." -
Post and Courier (NC): China Shuns Doctor Who Told SARS Truth, WHO says
2003-05-16"Most people in China don't read Caijing, a business biweekly with a small circulation and a reputation for daring reportage. And they don't have access to newspapers like the Singapore Straits Times, which said in a recent column, "In other countries, Dr. Jiang would probably have been lauded as a national hero." Instead, Jiang remains an unknown figure in China, neither praised nor punished, but who has been asked by the government not to talk to the press without prior permission, though he spoke briefly with a reporter on Tuesday." -
Swedish Embassy Submits Official Protest to Thai Foreign Ministry
2003-05-15The Swedish Embassy in Thailand last week demanded an immediate explanation into the reason for the detention of a Swedish citizen and Falun Gong practitioner, Mrs. Pirjo Svensson. The Thai Foreign Ministry has still not responded. Mrs. Svensson has now been detained for 15 days unlawfully without an explanation. -
Oxford University Journal Carries a 15-Page Article on Falun Gong
2003-05-15'History has witnessed many persecutions of righteous beliefs yet none of these suppressions succeeded. The current persecution in China is doomed to meet the same fate. If there is any difference, it may be that the efforts of the practitioners and the world community will make the suppression much shorter-lived.' -
The Asian Wall Street Journal: China's Turning Point
2003-05-12'Commentators have praised China's new president and premier for finally taking decisive steps late last month to combat Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome or SARS. What is not said is that they acted only after Chinese doctors and nurses openly contradicted their government and made the continuation of the cover-up, which had lasted almost half a year, untenable. Leaders in the Chinese capital were, for the first time in a decade, left with no real choice but to tell the truth, since health care professionals were already telling all they knew to the foreign media and the World Health Organization.' -
AP: WHO: Beijing's SARS Data Seriously Flawed
2003-05-12'China's SARS data has serious flaws because the information does not show how half of the country's patients caught the highly contagious respiratory illness, a World Health Organization spokeswoman said Saturday."Right now the situation is that we have a whole load of people, and we don't know where they got the disease," WHO spokeswoman Mangai Balasegaram told The Associated Press. "The problem with the data is that there are holes in it."' -
Report from Swedish Newspaper Goteborg Evening Daily: Pirjo from Gothenburg Arrested in Bangkok - No Reason Given
2003-05-10The Swedish Embassy in Bangkok has demanded an immediate explanation, yet no accurate or reasonable explanation has been made available. Consul Stellan Berg of the Swedish Embassy waited until 3am in the morning, hoping to get an explanation. She told reporters that she hopes to talk with the Embassy again to get updated information. -
UK Press Release: World Falun Dafa Day
2003-05-10'In order to celebrate this joyous occasion, Falun Dafa practitioners from all over the world will be arranging special activities and festivities...We hope that this will be a good opportunity for more people to learn about and experience Falun Dafa for themselves...We invite all kind-hearted people from around the world to join us' -
Open Magazine Publishes Inside Story on SARS in China - "Covering up the Epidemic".
2003-05-10The article in Open Magazine said this was not the first time that the Chinese government concealed information of an epidemic and missed the chance to control the spread of the virus. A few years ago, when the first group of AIDS cases due to blood-transfusion were found in Henan Province, to secure Beijing's "stability" during the People's Congress, information was kept from the public. The information withholding lasted for a few years, which caused AIDS cases to spread to many provinces in mid-China and a number of "AIDS villages" appeared. -
FDI: Justice Closes In On Former Chinese Leader
2003-05-10On October 18, 2002, individual plaintiffs filed a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court of the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, against Jiang and the Falun Gong Control "610" Office (a nation-wide Gestapo-like agency created by Jiang specifically to persecute Falun Gong). Specific causes of action pleaded in the complaint include torture, genocide, and denial of the right to life. -
Report from Swedish Newspaper The Expressen: Swede Pirjo Svensson Arrested in Bangkok Without Being Charged
2003-05-09The arrest of Swedish Falun Gong practitioner Mrs Pirjo Svensson in Bangkok, headlined Swedens mainstream media which emphasised her innocence and the swift response of Thailands Swedish Embassy. The following report was translated on May 1st from The Expressen, the biggest evening daily in Sweden. -
SCMP (South China Morning Post) Reports on Various Groups Voicing Their Fears Over Article 23
2003-05-09'The head of the Catholic Church in Hong Kong yesterday launched a harsh attack on the government and "disgusting" pro-government legislators, claiming they were using the atypical pneumonia outbreak to push through controversial anti-subversion laws...Legal and human rights heavyweights such as the Bar and Law Society, Amnesty International, the Article 23 Concern Group and the Asian Human Rights Commission all voiced their fears.' -
AFP (Agence-france Presse): US has "serious reservations" about Proposed Hong Kong Sedition Law
2003-05-08'"Serious reservations remain about provisions for the proscription of organizations endangering national security. As currently drafted, the law stands to blur the dividing lines between the Chinese and Hong Kong legal systems," Reeker said in a statement. Human rights and pro-democracy groups fear China could use the new law to suppress freedoms including those of media, speech and religion.' -
Times of India: Falun Gong Wave Reaches Indian Shores
2003-05-08'"The SARS issue will help focus the world's attention on the way the Chinese government lies," points out Jauhal. "Our newspaper, Falun Dafa Today, reported about the virus as far back as November. But the government made sure that the news did not spread." He feels that India's admiration for China and its economic might is misplaced as the Chinese government is merely inserting statistics to show its development.' -
Time Asia Magazine Criticises Thai Decision to Ban Falun Gong Meeting: "I Thought Thailand Meant "Land of the Free"
2003-05-08(March 2001) The article harshly criticised the decision as an act of persecution and pointed out that despite the countries pride in the fact that it has never been never colonised, its claims of independence in foreign policy, and its profession to be devoutly Buddhist, the government in Bangkok is allowing Beijing to dictate religious policy in Thailand.