International Committee to Rescue Persecuted Falun Gong Practitioners Writes to US Ambassador in Beijing Concerning the Safety of Mr. Charles Li

February 4, 2003

Mr. Clark T. Randt, Jr, Ambassador
The American Embassy
3 Xiu Shui Bei Jie
Chaoyang District, Beijing
People's Republic of China

Fax: 86-10-6532-6929

Dear Mr Randt:

Re: Urgently Request Help to Rescue Falun Gong Practitioner Mr Charles Li

On behalf of International Committee to Rescue Persecuted Falun Gong Practitioners, we are writing to you to seek your kind assistance since we are deeply concerned about the safety of Mr. Charles Li, who is being detained in China.

Charles Li, a U.S. citizen and also a Falun Gong practitioner, arrived in Guangzhou on January 22, 2003. He was immediately arrested at the airport and then transferred to Yangzhou Detention Center in Jiangsu Province. We believe that Mr. Li was detained because he believes in Falun Gong. Mr. Li is one of the local contact persons for teaching Falun Gong exercises in his hometown of Menlo Park, California.

We had news that Mr Li would be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison. It is absolutely unacceptable for a person to be arrested simply for his personal beliefs.

China has recently arrested another citizen who practices Falun Gong. Nancy Chen, an Australia citizen, visited her family in Sichuan province before Chinese New Year. She was tracked and then detained by Chinese police in Chengdu on January 22, 2003. She was arrested solely because of her belief of Falun Gong. With the help of the international community and Australian government, Nancy Chen was released on January 30, 2003.

The persecution against Falun Gong has been going on more than three and a half years in China. As of today, 560 Chinese Falun Gong practitioners have been persecuted to death in Chinese police custody. Since November 2002, we have received about 50 individual reports of Falun Gong practitioners being killed. With escalating reports of death, we have grave concerns about the safety of Charles Li. We believe that he is in danger of being tortured.

We call for the United States Embassy in Beijing to urgently rescue Charles Li and ensure his safe return to the U.S. We must also send a clear message to the Chinese authorities that world government leaders will not tolerate the random arrests and persecutions of foreign citizens.

I would like to express my deepest gratitude for your immediate attention to this matter.

Yours truly,

International Committee to Rescue Persecuted Falun Gong Practitioners