Freedom
Under Attack
The Persecution of Falun Gong Targets U.S. Officials, Citizens and Residents in America
On the web at: http://www.faluninfo.net/specialreports/freedomunderattack/
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“The Chinese government, not content with persecuting the Falun Gong in China, has [urged] local U.S. officials to shun or even persecute them right here in America. The approach…tends to combine gross disinformation with scare tactics and, in some cases, slyly implied diplomatic and commercial pressure.
– The Wall Street Journal, Feb. 21, 2002
“I was chilled to the bones that a communist nation would go to this extent to suppress someone’s freedom of action in this country.”
– Randy Voepel, Mayor of Santee, California, responding to pressure tactics from the Chinese consulate in L.A.
“This meddling in the affairs of our government is simply unacceptable. It bears an uncanny resemblance to the efforts of the Nazi government of Germany in the 1930’s to persuade the rest of the world that persecution of its citizens simply was not taking place. And the parallels don’t end there. Today, as was also the case in 1930’s Germany, major American corporations have significant investments in China. The temptation is to look the other way, to ignore what is happening because we are fearful of disrupting trade in an emerging market. If there is one lesson we should have learned from the 1930’s, turning a blind eye to such events will cost us dearly in the long run.”
– Saratoga Council Member and former Mayor Stan Bogosian’s press statement in San Francisco on April 4, 2001
Table of Contents
Section I: The Role of the Chinese Embassy and Consulates in the U.S.
Section II: The Blacklist and Homeland Security
Section III: Systematic Efforts of Intimidating and Silencing U.S. Elected Officials
Section IV: Intimidation and Violence Against U.S. Citizens and Residents
Appendix A: House Concurrent Resolution 188
Appendix B: House Concurrent Resolution 447
Appendix C: Summary of RICO/Civil Rights Lawsuit
Appendix D: FDI – Crisis News Bulletin, Aug. 30, 2000
Appendix E: FDI – Crisis News Bulletin, Oct. 19, 2000
Appendix F: FDI - China’s Persecution of Falun Gong Breaches U.S. Border
Appendix G: Testimony from Mayor Pat Somerville, Rochester Hills, Michigan
Appendix H: Former Mayor Stan Bogosian’s Statement to the Press
Appendix I: Letter From Chinese Ambassador to Members of Congress
Wall Street Journal: Will Chinese Repression Play in Peoria?
Associated Press: China Expanding Campaign Overseas to Discredit Falun Gong
Chicago Tribune: China’s Battle Leaps Borders; Consulates Lean on U.S. Groups
Newsday: Silencing the Movement; Crackdown from afar
Washington Post: Falun Gong Honors Rescinded
We wish to thank the government officials of the United States who have faced pressure and harassment by agents of Jiang Zemin’s regime with calm, courage and a sense of duty to protecting the freedoms of speech, assembly, and belief here in the United States. We also wish to thank volunteers in Washington D.C., New York, Chicago, Seattle, San Francisco and other cities for their time, diligence and care in assembling this report.
Most of all, we offer our deepest respects to those in China who – in the face of imprisonment, torture and even death – continue to peacefully appeal for the freedoms of speech, assembly and belief in China.
The Information presented in this report was gathered by a team of Falun Dafa Information Center researchers and writers. Some excerpts were taken from reports issued by Freedom House’s Center for Religious Freedom, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, CNN, The Chicago Tribune, The Associated Press and New York City’s Newsday.
Report Authors:
Mr. Levi Browde, New York City
Mr. Tao Wang, Washington DC
Report Editors:
Dr. Shiyu Zhou, Philadelphia, PA
Dr. Sherry Zhang, Berkeley, CA
Mr. Riordan Galluccio, Seattle, WA
What is Falun Gong?
FALUN GONG (also called Falun Dafa) is an ancient form of qigong, the practice of refining the body and mind through slow-moving exercises and meditation. Many have come to call qigong, “Chinese Yoga.” Like yoga and tai chi, qigong is a vital part of many people’s lives in Asia; almost every Chinese park is brimming by the break of dawn with people practicing these arts.
Yet Falun Dafa is different from most other qigong practices in that it goes beyond the pursuit of health and fitness to the goal of wisdom and returning to one’s original, altruistic nature. At the heart of the practice are three principles: Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. Through a combination of studying the books of Falun Dafa and performing the exercises, practitioners strive to become better people by embodying these principles in everything they do.
The Evolution of Falun Dafa
Falun Dafa was introduced to the public in May of 1992, when Mr. Li Hongzhi gave his first lecture in Changchun City, China. Soon afterwards he traveled with several students to the Oriental Health Expo in Beijing where Falun Dafa earned several awards, prompting organizers to invite Mr. Li to give several impromptu lectures on the principles of Falun Dafa.
During the following two and a half years, Mr. Li lectured on invitation in almost every major Chinese city, giving fifty-four lecture series in all. All instruction at that time was overseen by the Chinese government’s top qigong organization, the China Qigong Scientific Research Society.
Although Mr. Li gave his last lecture series at the end of 1994, the practice continued to grow from 1995 to 1999 at an explosive rate. During those years, the practice was passed on by word of mouth and free of charge, and practice sites were organized by volunteers.
Since 1995, Mr. Li Hongzhi has traveled to countries around the world to lecture on Falun Dafa and discuss the practice with students. All lectures have been free and open to the general public. By the middle of 1999, Falun Dafa was practiced in over 40 countries around the world [1] .
The Persecution of Falun Dafa in China
Many Chinese leaders, including Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji and the Director of China's Sports Commission, Mr. Wu Shaozu, applauded the health benefits the practice brought to the nation. [2] Communist Party head, Jiang Zemin, however, grew fearful of such a large number of people and – believing that the peaceful nature of Falun Gong made for an easy target – banned the practice in 1999. Failing to “eradicate Falun Gong in three months [3] ,” as Jiang had proclaimed, Jiang has intensified the propaganda campaign to turn public opinion against the practice while quietly imprisoning, torturing and even murdering those who practice it.
China experts point to the systematic campaign Jiang has carried out against Falun Gong, saying it also demonstrates an ulterior motive: In a Feb. 9, 2001 article, CNN's Senior China Analyst, Willy Wo-Lap Lam, quotes a senior Chinese Party member as saying, "By unleashing a Mao-style movement [against Falun Gong], Jiang is forcing senior cadres to pledge allegiance to his line...This will boost Jiang's authority:" By painting Falun Gong as an enemy of the state, Jiang hopes to mobilize the nation into a struggle with himself at the helm, and thereby consolidate power.
As of October 14, 2002, the Falun Dafa Information Center has verified details of 493 deaths [4] since the persecution of Falun Gong in China began in 1999. In October 2001, government sources inside China, reported that the actual death toll was well over 1,600. On October 14, 2001, the confirmed death toll was 323. If the actual death toll shows the same increase as the confirmed death toll has, then we would expect the true death toll today to be well over 2,500. Due to extreme difficulty in discovering and verifying information in China related to wrongful deaths, this higher figure also likely understates the true death toll. For instance, in March of this year police from several provinces poured into the city of Changchun and placed a several weeks long siege on the city. Residents reported dozens, if not over one hundred, practitioners were killed. In this chaos, little detailed information about these deaths could be gathered by the Falun Dafa Information Center
“Intensifying the Campaign Overseas”
Soon after Jiang Zemin began persecuting Falun Gong in China, the international community reacted, condemning Jiang’s actions. On November 18, 1999, the United States Congress passed joint resolutions (House and Senate), condemning the persecution. The Wall Street Journal’s Ian Johnson began authoring a series of articles exposing the atrocities committed against people who practice Falun Gong in China that would later win him the Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting. U.S. governors, mayors and state legislators began issuing proclamations of support and encouragement to people who practice and/or support Falun Gong throughout the U.S.
This response by the international community put pressure on Jiang to end his anti-Falun Gong campaign. Jiang, however, responded by issuing a directive: “intensifying the campaign overseas. [5] ” Thus, Chinese Embassies and Consulates around the world began escalating efforts outside China to stamp out support for Falun Gong, to disrupt Falun Gong activities, and to try to get them banned.
For the past three years, Chinese Embassy and Consulate officials have worked to slander and persecute Falun Gong here in the United States, and in other countries around the world.
Jiang wishes to nullify any criticism of his handling of Falun Gong. He also wishes to maintain absolute control over what Chinese citizens hear and see about Falun Gong. Most mainland Chinese only know what the state-run media report. Nevertheless, the more positive support Falun Gong receives overseas, the more difficult it becomes to hide this support from the people of China.
Jiang Zemin hands a former U.S. President a book authored by Chinese propagandists about Falun Gong, which distorts the teachings of Falun Gong and calls for universal condemnation of the practice. Stan Bogosian, the former Mayor of Saratoga, California, receives a letter from the Chinese Consul-General in San Francisco that pressures Mr. Bogosian to retract his support for local Falun Gong activities. A mob of Chinese men – echoing slogans propagated by the Chinese government – attack a group of people peacefully practicing the Falun Gong exercises in a public park in San Francisco. Evan Mantyk, a 19-year-old junior at the University of Michigan, discovers his name on a “blacklist” maintained by the Chinese Communist Regime.
What’s going on here?
U.S. Officials, Citizens and Residents Targeted
Across the United States, what began in July, 1999 as a series of isolated incidents of intimidation, harassment and illegal activity on the part of Chinese officials and those working under their direction, has been uncovered as a targeted campaign against officials, citizens and residents who practice or support Falun Gong in the U.S. and other countries.
Under the orders from China’s Communist Leader, Jiang Zemin, to “strengthen the campaign overseas,” Chinese officials have employed economic ties at the national, state and city level, political pressure, and illicit means in an attempt to slander Falun Gong and undermine support for the practice in the U.S. As reported in a Wall Street Journal article on Feb. 21, 2002: “The Chinese government…has [urged] local U.S. officials to shun or even persecute [Falun Gong] right here in America. The approach…tends to combine gross disinformation with scare tactics and, in some cases, slyly implied diplomatic and commercial pressure.”
There have also been dozens of cases across the U.S. of citizens and residents being intimidated, harassed and physically attacked by Chinese consulate officials or those working for them.
The Blacklist and Homeland Security
Agents of Jiang’s regime have also been gathering information in an illicit manner on U.S. soil. Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ) categorizes the threats to U.S. citizens and residents who practice Falun Gong as “part of homeland security.”
In February, 2002, classified documents smuggled out of China and authenticated by renowned China expert Su Xiaokang revealed orders from China’s leadership that call for setting up “intelligence and data portfolios” of those who practice or are supportive of Falun Gong around the world. [6]
These “data portfolios” have surfaced as “blacklists” utilized by Chinese officials in Hong Kong and countries overseas to bar Falun Gong practitioners from entering these countries during state visits by Jiang, in an apparent attempt to “prevent protests.” Many who have found themselves on these “blacklists” are average Americans, such as Evan Mantyk, a 19-year-old junior at the University of Michigan, who is not of Chinese descent and lives a quiet life in Lathrup Village – a suburb of Detroit. Evan was identified by unknown persons as a Falun Gong practitioner and his name was then added to a blacklist maintained by the Chinese Communist regime.
Overseas Chinese Communities
Jiang’s campaign overseas has also taken aim at Chinese communities in the U.S.
There are very strong ties between Chinese consulates and Chinese community associations throughout the country. Consulate officials have utilized these ties to rally the associations, and members of the Chinese community overall, against Falun Gong. On September 6, 2001, New York City’s Newsday newspaper ran an article exposing this activity: “[Chinese] Government officials have appeared at ‘seminars’ in Manhattan to decry [Falun Gong], egging on local Chinese immigrants to oppose the movement. In one session, the consul-general told his audience that immigrants who have not become U.S. citizens were expected to obey Chinese laws, which ban Falun Gong. Further poisoning the atmosphere for local Falun Gong practitioners, powerful organizations in Chinatown -- which had expressed no concern about Falun Gong before the government crackdown started in July 1999 -- began holding countermarches against the group, their charges echoing the government's virulent accusations.”
Walking into the Passport/Visa offices of the New York Consulate earlier this year, one might be a little taken aback by the decorations – with the exception of one traditional Chinese-style painting occupying the back wall, the office was covered in propaganda posters decrying Falun Gong, accusing the practice of horrendous crimes and echoing the slanders that have saturated Chinese state-run media for more than three years. There was nothing about Taiwan, Tibet or any of China’s other hot-button issues … it was all Falun Gong.
Serving as the nation’s Embassy and consulates, these offices are established to facilitate and maintain relations with the host country – in this case the U.S. Judging by the content of their office walls, the priority of their agenda is quite clear.
The Chinese Embassy in Washington DC and the Chinese Consulates throughout the United States have, for more than three years now, utilized their offices and personnel to pressure U.S. officials supportive of Falun Gong, harass people who practice Falun Gong, and interfere with regular Falun Gong activities here in the United States.
The following are a list of activities conducted by Chinese Embassy and Consulate officials in their campaign against Falun Gong in America:
1. Pressure and lobby Executive Branch and Members of Congress
2. Pressure and threats aimed at state and city government officials
3. Leverage trade and economic ties to influence U.S. officials
4. Chinese Ambassador, Consuls spreading propaganda to U.S. officials, citizens
5. Physical assault and violence against U.S. citizens and residents
6. Harassing U.S. citizens and residents with intimidation and fear tactics
7. Disruption of community activities
8. Interference with private business
9. Gathering information on people who practice Falun Gong through illegal surveillance, and through Chinese associations, businesses, and University faculty and students
Evan Mantyk, a 19-year-old junior at the University of Michigan, lives a relatively quiet life in Lathrup Village - a suburb of Detroit. So it came as a surprise when he discovered this summer that his name appeared on a blacklist assembled by the Chinese government; a blacklist used to screen out people who practice or are supportive of Falun Gong from traveling to cities during visits from Chinese leader Jiang Zemin.
Evan was stopped at the Baltimore airport on June 11th as he attempted to board a flight for Iceland the day before Jiang Zemin was scheduled to arrive there for a state visit.
Evan was among dozens of people stranded in airports throughout North America and Europe in the days leading up to Jiang's arrival in Iceland on June 12. IcelandAir ticket counters in these airports were using lists IcelandAir says were supplied by Iceland's Ministry of Justice – to screen out people who are known to practice or be supportive of Falun Gong. At least one Icelandic paper – The Visir – reported on June 8th that Chinese consular officials in Iceland had supplied the blacklist to the Iceland government.
Evan is not of Chinese descent, and so his being denied travel was not an instance of racial profiling. He is not listed as a volunteer on any of the Falun Dafa websites or flyers, and says he has never done anything that would bring attention to himself from Chinese officials, such as demonstrating in Tiananmen Square or joining Falun Gong demonstrations in countries outside the U.S.
Still, while quietly going about his life in a Detroit suburb, he was identified by unknown persons as a Falun Gong practitioner and his name was then added to a blacklist maintained by the Chinese Communist regime.
Blacklist Employed in Hong Kong and Countries Receiving Jiang on State Visits
What happened to Evan Mantyk on his aborted trip to Iceland - the use of blacklist to restrict the travel of Falun Gong practitioners by countries Jiang Zemin is visiting, has happened on several other occasions.
By the evening of June 29, 2002 – two days before Jiang Zemin was scheduled to arrive in Hong Kong –over 100 Falun Gong practitioners from eleven countries had been denied entry into Hong Kong by the Hong Kong Immigration Department because their name appeared on a blacklist. Those travelers included 16 Australians, 2 Japanese, 4 from Macao, and others from the U.S., France, Sweden, Switzerland, Singapore, Korea, Indonesia, and at least 70 from Taiwan.
On the same day, Hong Kong Falun Gong practitioners delivered a letter to the government of the SAR, urging the government to abolish the use of Jiang Zemin's "blacklist," and allow Falun Gong practitioners access to Hong Kong during Jiang's visit.
This is not the first time that the Hong Kong government intercepted Falun Gong practitioners on a large scale. In January 2001, over ten Falun Gong practitioners were turned away after landing in Hong Kong and being identified as practitioners through an unknown means. Hong Kong citizens and Falun Gong practitioners alike criticized the action, which many said showed clear signs of pressure from Beijing.
Similar reports of the use of a "blacklist" were made in Germany, Russia, Lithuania and other European countries during Jiang's recent visit there.
Authenticated Chinese Government Documents Call for Overseas “Data Portfolios”
In February, 2002, classified documents smuggled out of China and authenticated by renowned China expert Su Xiaokang revealed orders from China’s leadership that, “We should focus on building up data banks and further fulfill and complete the intelligence management systems on “Falungong”… and on religious organizations abroad that infiltrate [China], and bring the function of the systems to full display. We should set up intelligence and data portfolios… and constantly fulfill and complete these portfolios to make sure the data is accurate and updated.” [7] These directives apparently follow orders from China’s Jiang to “intensifying the campaign overseas against those foreign forces, collect more information, and prevent protests” as reported last year by the Falun Dafa Information Center. [8]
Address Books Gone Missing
Early signs of China’s overseas intelligence operations appeared a few days after Jiang banned Falun Gong on July 20, 1999. The apartment of Manhattan resident Gail Rachlin – who had recently volunteered to act as a Falun Gong spokesperson – was forcibly broken into. Over the next two years, it was broken into twice more. The break-ins were to collect information. Each time only her address book filled with contact information of people who practice Falun Gong and other documents were taken. Nothing else was removed from her apartment.
Since July 1999, practitioners across the country have reported missing laptop computers, address books and other items that contain name and contact information for fellow practitioners of Falun Gong.
On April 30, 2002, Falun Dafa practitioners in New York opened a case with the FBI regarding a man who was working as a spy for the Chinese government, and who had been caught stealing address books and other documents from Falun Dafa practitioners both in Washington DC and New York. The man, whose Chinese name is Mr. Hsien-Ping Liao, was confronted by practitioners in New York on the morning of April 17, and asked to provide an explanation for the stolen materials. Mr. Liao acknowledged he had been gathering information for Chinese officials, but refused to give any further information.
Mr. Liao later disappeared. Among his belongings were found the stolen address books and documents, film of photographs he had taken of the stolen documents and a journal chronicling his rendezvous with a Chinese official he called “Mr. Lee” in Hong Kong on December 8, 2001 and then again just prior to his departure for the U.S.
FBI officials were unable to apprehend Mr. Liao, but did open a case.
Blacklist Employed in Hong Kong and Countries Receiving Jiang on State Visits
By the evening of June 29, 2002 – two days before Jiang Zemin was scheduled to arrive in Hong Kong –over 100 Falun Gong practitioners from eleven countries had been denied entry into Hong Kong by the Hong Kong Immigration Department because their name appeared on a blacklist. Those travelers included 16 Australian, 2 Japanese, 4 from Macao, and others from the U.S., France, Sweden, Switzerland, Singapore, Korea, Indonesia, and at least 70 from Taiwan.
On the same day, Hong Kong Falun Gong practitioners delivered a letter to the government of the SAR, urging the government to abolish the use of Jiang Zemin's "blacklist," and allow Falun Gong practitioners access to Hong Kong during Jiang's visit.
This is not the first time that the Hong Kong government intercepted Falun Gong practitioners on a large scale. In January 2001, over ten Falun Gong practitioners were turned away after landing in Hong Kong and being identified as practitioners through an unknown means. Hong Kong citizens and Falun Gong practitioners alike criticized the action, which many said showed clear signs of pressure from Beijing.
More recently, dozens of Falun Gong practitioners were denied entry into Iceland during a visit there by Jiang Zemin in mid-June. IcelandAir said it was ordered by the Iceland government to cancel the flights of anyone appearing on a "list," which sources in Iceland – including one of Iceland’s national papers, The Visor – say was given to the Iceland government by Chinese authorities. The list contained the names of both Chinese nationals and citizens of democratic countries in North America and Europe.
Similar reports of use of a "blacklist" were made in Germany, Russia, Lithuania and other European countries during Jiang's recent visit there.
"Part of Homeland Security”
In a June 26 hearing in Washington D.C. on the Homeland Security Act of 2002, Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ) raised before the committee concerns regarding the Chinese Communist regime’s activities against Falun Gong: “We also know that here in this country, there have been threats against Falun Gong practitioners. And this is part of homeland security, I would think. You know, it is not about who comes in, but who’s actually here from the Chinese government, fomenting, and making these threats against American citizens who are Falun Gong…” Representative Smith further asked that the U.S. “check into these threats that are being made against Americans who are Falun Gong…it’s outrageous.”
“Falun Gong is a peaceful spiritual movement that originated in China but has grown in popularity worldwide and is now accepted and practiced by thousands in the United States […] Chinese consular officials have pressured local elected officials in the United States to refuse or withdraw support for the Falun Gong spiritual group”
-- U.S. Congressional Resolution No. 447
During the 1999 APEC meeting in New Zealand, Chinese Communist Party head, Jiang Zemin, met with then U.S. President Bill Clinton. Many of the details of their discussions were never made public. What is known, however, is that Jiang handed President Clinton a book assembled by Chinese propagandists about Falun Gong, attacking the practice and blaming it for horrendous crimes (none of which have been corroborated by a third party). Since the beginning of the persecution of Falun Gong in China, Jiang had rejected criticism from the international community calling the issue an “internal affair.” Yet, why would Jiang go through the trouble of assembling packages for foreign heads-of-state regarding an “internal affair?”
Clearly, condemnation from the international community regarding the persecution campaign in China against Falun Gong has put pressure on Jiang to halt his course. Thus, under orders from Jiang, Chinese officials throughout the world have been ordered to “strengthen the campaign overseas” not only to stamp out Falun Gong in other countries, but also stifle support for Falun Gong in those countries so as to alleviate the pressure on Jiang from outside China.
Pressure and Threats Aimed at State and City Government Officials
On June 11, 2002, Congresswoman Lynn C. Woolsey chaired a briefing at which city mayors testified about intimidation activities carried out by Chinese consular officials and other agents of Jiang Zemin’s regime. Witnesses testified that Jiang’s regime has pressured the mayors of Seattle, Saratoga, Baltimore, St. Louis, Chicago, San Francisco and many others with a targeted campaign of slander. In California alone, more than 300 letters were sent to U.S. government officials slandering Falun Gong and its practitioners at the direction of Vice-Consul Liu of the P.R.C. San Francisco Consulate [9] .
Other U.S. elected officials have received similar pressure via phone calls or personal visits by Chinese diplomats, pressuring them to shun or persecute Falun Gong here in the United States (See cases listed below).
Chinese Consulate Officials Leverage Trade and Economic Ties to Influence U.S. Officials
After fighting off pressure from the Chinese consulate in San Francisco because he issued a proclamation in support of Falun Gong, Saratoga Council Member and former Mayor Stan Bogosian held a press conference in San Francisco on April 4, 2001, to bring attention to the problem of Chinese consulates pressuring U.S. government officials throughout the United States. In his statement to the press, Mr. Bogosian – drawing on lessons from history – talked about the dangers of sacrificing principles in the interests of trade and economic ties: “Today, as was also the case in 1930’s Germany, major American corporations have significant investments in China. The temptation is to look the other way, to ignore what is happening because we are fearful of disrupting trade in an emerging market. If there is one lesson we should have learned from the 1930’s, turning a blind eye to such events will cost us dearly in the long run.”
Some cities in the United States have particularly strong economic ties with China. Seattle, for example, is home to Boeing Co., Microsoft Corp. and a number of agricultural exporters, all of which do significant business with China.
Seattle Mayor Paul Schell, a former port commissioner, was pressured by Chinese officials to rescind proclamations his office had issued for Falun Gong and Falun Gong founder, Li Hongzhi. A December 11, 1999, Washington Post article [10] quoted his office as saying, “[we are] well aware of the amount of trade we do with China.” The Post article went on to report: “Although Chinese Ambassador Li Zhaoxing did not threaten retaliation for the ‘Li Hongzhi and Falun Gong Days’ that were to coincide with the recent World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle, the ambassador ‘did make his displeasure clear in no uncertain terms,’ said Schell aide Clifford Traisman.”
Jiang’s Officials Lobby Executive Branch; Members of Congress
On March 9, 2001, the Washington Post reported that President Bush’s National Security Advisor came under fire from visiting Chinese diplomats: “National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice got an earful from a group of three Chinese diplomats who came calling on her at the White House complex,” the Post reported. “The three diplomats, former Ambassadors Zhu Chizhen, Li Daoyu and Zhang Wentu, were expected to hold discussions with Miss Rice on a variety of U.S.-China topics: arms sales to Taiwan, China's human rights record and U.S. missile defense plans. Instead, one of the diplomats pulled out a prepared speech and harangued Miss Rice for some 20 minutes about the Chinese religious group Falun Gong.” The Post article continued, “Miss Rice, we are told, was angered by the Chinese diplomats' tirade and quickly ended the meeting after the 20-minute reading. The ambassadors are part of a major propaganda campaign now under way by Beijing to influence the new Bush administration before it can get its national security team up and running.”
Members of U.S. Congress have also been the targets of anti-Falun Gong campaigns. In December 2001, members of Congress received packages from former Chinese Ambassador to the United States, Li Zhaoxing. Included in the package was a letter stating – in no uncertain terms – that U.S. officials were expected to stifle the activities of Falun Gong or else invite further troubles in “U.S.-China relations.” [11]
Some members of Congress have said they have received similar packages on more than one occasion, and sometimes are visited by Chinese officials with the same agenda.
Chinese Ambassador, Consuls Spreading Propaganda to U.S. Officials, Citizens
Chinese officials frequently promote their anti-Falun Gong campaign during public appearances. For example, on October 11, 2001, Yafei He, Minister and Deputy Chief of Mission of the Chinese Embassy in the U.S. gave a speech entitled, “China-US Relations in the 21st Century: Challenges and Opportunities “ to a group of VIPs, including Senator Bob Graham. During the speech, Mr. He reiterated much of the propaganda aimed at demonizing Falun Gong, telling his audience: “We hope the American public will …support us in our fight against Falun Gong”
China’s U.S. Ambassador, Jiechi Yang, consistently uses the opportunities afforded by his position to breed hatred and distrust towards Falun Gong. On June 19, 2001, the Ambassador repeated a slew of anti-Falun Gong propaganda during a public address to business leaders in Florida. During his speech, he called on “people of vision in American industrial and commercial circles” to “resist” Falun Gong, citing a common Chinese Communist propaganda accusation that Falun Gong has “foreign” or “anti-China” influences behind it.
U.S. Congressional Resolution 447
As part of the nation-wide efforts to expose the illicit, and often illegal, activity of Chinese consulate officials in the United States, Congresspersons Hilliard, Lantos, Lee, Ros-Lehtinen, Burton, Andrews, Tancredo, McCarthy (NY), Rohrabacher, Meeks, Frank, and Towns sponsored a resolution condemning the actions of Chinese consular officials – H. Con. Res. No. 447. [12] Among the resolution’s recommendations for action are:
(1) the Government of the People's Republic of China should--
(A) immediately stop interfering in the exercise of religious and political freedoms within the United States, such as the right to practice Falun Gong , that are guaranteed by the United States Constitution;
(B) cease using the diplomatic missions in the United States to spread falsehoods about the nature of Falun Gong ;
[…]
(3) the Attorney General of the United States should investigate reports that Chinese consular officials in the United States have committed illegal acts while attempting to intimidate or inappropriately influence Falun Gong practitioners or local elected officials, and, in consultation with the Secretary of State, determine an appropriate legal response;
.
A Few Sample Cases
Case #1:
Date: December 5, 2000
Location: Rochester Hills, Michigan; Mayor’s Office
Summary: In October 2000, Mayor Pat Somerville’s office agreed to issue a proclamation declaring a Falun Dafa Day in Rochester Hills, Michigan. A few days later, the Mayor’s office received a phone call from the Chinese Consulate in Chicago. According to the Mayor’s office, the Chinese official was “very upset” and “insisted on meeting with me to discuss the matter further.”
Three officials from the Chinese Consulate in Chicago flew to Rochester Hills, Michigan in the first week of December, 2000 to meet with the Mayor for 15 minutes. During the meeting, the Mayor says, “They were very irate…and strongly suggested that I should not become involved with the Falun Dafa group.” The Mayor went on to say, “They became extremely belligerent about the entire matter. At that time, I requested that they leave. I found them to be extremely unprofessional in their behavior.”
Contact: Charlie Liu (248) 766-3848
Case #2:
Date: September 9th, 2000
Location: Newark, Delaware
Summary: Mayor Godwin of Newark, Delaware proclaimed September 9, 2000 Falun Dafa Day. On September 29, however, a Chinese news agency reported the following item: “Some Falun Gong practitioners in Delaware ‘cheated’ Mayor Godwin into giving Falun Gong the proclamation, and that Mayor Godwin had apologized to the Chinese government for the ‘misunderstanding.’”
On November 6, a number of concerned Delaware residents met with Mayor Godwin. At the meeting, Mayor Godwin said that the U.S. State Department had called and asked him to drop the proclamation two weeks after he issued it. He claimed that the person who called him on behalf of the State Department went by the last name of “Hue” (a Chinese surname). The Mayor said that if the U.S. State Department really did not have any concerns regarding the proclamation, neither did he.
At the same time, the Chinese Embassy in Washington DC sent the Mayor some CDs, pictures, and brochures defaming Falun Gong.
After this conversation, some Falun Gong practitioners visited the U.S. State Department to inquire. According to the State Department’s representatives, they never called Mayor Godwin about the proclamation, nor have they called any other mayor with such instructions. They did not know a “Mr. Hue.”
Contact: Dr. Shiyu Zhou (267) 246-3792
Case #3:
Date: December, 2000
Location: Washington DC
Summary: Former Chinese Ambassador to the United States, Zhaoxing Li, personally mailed packages to every member of the United States Congress containing propaganda materials attacking Falun Gong. In his cover letter for the packages, Mr. Li called for each Congressperson to join the “efforts” of the Chinese government in stamping out Falun Gong, thereby “prevent the issue from becoming a new irritant in China-U.S. relations.” [13]
Contact: Dr. Lijuan Zhang (202) 285-7675
Case #4:
Date: May 4, 2001
Location: San Francisco, California
Summary: According to a May 4, 2001, World Journal report, in California alone, more than 300 letters were sent to U.S. government officials defaming Falun Gong and its practitioners at the direction of Vice-Consul Liu of the P.R.C. San Francisco Consulate.
Contact: Dr. Sherry Zhang (415) 845-5295
“All Americans should be very upset that the Chinese totalitarian regime, under the orders of its leader Jiang Zemin, has been conducting unethical and illegal activities in the U.S. on a wide scale. It is important that we utilize our Judiciary system to stop this. It must be made clear to Jiang Zemin that his persecution policies have no place in the modern world and certainly not here in the United States of America."
-- Ambassador Mark Palmer, former U.S. Ambassador to Hungary and Co-Chairman of Freedom House
Physical Assault and Violence
Physical assault and violence have frequently been used on U.S. citizens and residents who are known to practice Falun Gong. On most occasions, the assailtants appear to be thugs hired by local Chinese officials. However, some assault cases directly involving officials from Chinese consulates and Embassies have also occurred.
The following are just a few examples.
In November 1999, Mr. Tao Wang was participating in a peaceful sit-in outside the Chinese Embassy when he was surrounded, accosted and threatened by approximately 25 Chinese individuals who had all emerged from the Embassy. Also in Washington DC, in November of 2000, Hailian Zhang was physically attacked while distributing Falun Gong literature, having individuals screaming at him: "Hit him! Hit him! Beat him up! You practice Falun Gong-- you ask for death!"
On October 22, 2000 in San Francisco's China Garden Park, Sheng Mei was physically attacked by a mob of thugs while distributing Falun Gong literature. The assailants punched him repeatedly and shouted allegations about Falun Gong practitioners identical to those published in various Chinese government-controlled newspapers. The attack on Mei was part of a larger assault involving a group of 30-40 thugs hired by Chinese Consulate personnel.
On September 7, 2001 in Chicago, Illinois, Lin Fang was physically attacked while distributing Falun gong literature near the Chinese consulate. The assailants pushed him up against a fence and pummeled him repeatedly. As they left, one of them reportedly said: "If you sue us, we’ll kill you."
On January 16, 2002, in San Francisco Mr. Jason Wu, whose picture had been taken on two separate occasions by visiting Chinese officials while he was distributing Falun Gong literature, had a window in the second floor of his house shot out with a gun.
Intimidation and Fear Tactics
Since the persecution of Falun Gong began in China on a wide scale in July 1999, practitioners of Falun Gong throughout the country have frequently been the victims of scare and intimidation tactics.
The following are just a few examples.
On two separate occasions, Dr. Sen Nieh, a professor at Catholic University of America in Washington D.C, has come home to find private conversations with friends-which took place in public venues such as parks or walkways-recorded on his answering machine. The second of the two instances, reported in the Washington Post on July 20, 2001, was a conversation he had with other Falun Gong practitioners while standing outside a Senate building on Capitol Hill immediately after meeting with a senator's staff to brief them on the persecution of Falun Gong. "Obviously, they are trying to send a clear message that they are watching us at every moment...they're trying to scare us," says Dr. Sen Nieh.
Ms. Jin Youming, who recently received her Master's degree from South Eastern University and is now living in Washington DC, gets up each day at 3 a.m. to practice Falun Gong exercises in her local park. On March 11, 2001, she received a phone call a few minutes past 3 a.m. On the other end of the line, a recording of a conversation she had with another Falun Gong practitioner during a recent trip to Los Angeles was played back to her. "It sent chills down my spine," says Ms. Jin. "Not only did the caller have a recording of a private conversation I had on the other side of the country, but he apparently knew what time I get up each morning and so knew exactly when to call."
In New York City, Falun Dafa Information Center spokesperson, Erping Zhang, has received death threats on three separate occasions. Falun Gong practitioners Lin Fang and Wai Ling Lam, also from New York, Sen Yang, from Chicago, and Hailian Zhang, from Washington DC have also received death threats. [14]
On July 24, 1999, a Falun Gong experience-sharing conference was scheduled at the Fairmont Hotel in San Jose, California. On July 23, the hotel manager called Lisa Wendl, a local Falun Gong practitioner, requesting that she go to the hotel immediately. The manager said that the hotel had received numerous harassing phone calls. The caller threatened that, if the hotel did host the Falun Gong conference, it would be burned down and suffer other consequences. Lisa then met with the hotel’s security manager, and a decision was reached to have extra police on site at the conference, just in case. During the conference, the fire alarm was pulled at least twice. Also, someone broke into the Fairmont Hotel’s office and vandalized it.
Physical Assault and Violence
Physical assault and violence have frequently been used on U.S. citizens and residents who are known to practice Falun Gong. On most occasions, the assailtants appear to be thugs hired by local Chinese officials. However, some assault cases directly involving officials from Chinese consulates and Embassies have also occurred.
The following are just a few examples.
In November 1999, Mr. Tao Wang was participating in a peaceful sit-in outside the Chinese Embassy when he was surrounded, accosted and threatened by approximately 25 Chinese individuals who had all emerged from the Embassy. Also in Washington DC, in November of 2000, Hailian Zhang was physically attacked while distributing Falun Gong literature, having individuals screaming at him: "Hit him! Hit him! Beat him up! You practice Falun Gong-- you ask for death!"
On October 22, 2000 in San Francisco's China Garden Park, Sheng Mei was physically attacked by a mob of thugs while distributing Falun Gong literature. The assailants punched him repeatedly and shouted allegations about Falun Gong practitioners identical to those published in various Chinese government-controlled newspapers. The attack on Mei was part of a larger assault involving a group of 30-40 thugs hired by Chinese Consulate personnel.
On September 7, 2001 in Chicago, Illinois, Lin Fang was physically attacked while distributing Falun gong literature near the Chinese consulate. The assailants pushed him up against a fence and pummeled him repeatedly. As they left, one of them reportedly said: "If you sue us, I'll kill you."
On January 16, 2002, in San Francisco Mr. Jason Wu, whose picture had been taken on two separate occasions by visiting Chinese officials while he was distributing Falun Gong literature, had a window in the second floor of his house shot out with a gunshot.
Disruption of Community Activities
From local community parades to photo exhibits at city hall, Chinese officials have attempted to block Falun Gong’s presence in community affairs across the country. A Sept. 22, 2002, Chicago Tribune article entitled, “China's battle leaps borders” highlighted this activity: “Earlier this month in Flushing, N.Y., a spokesman for the Chinese consulate in New York had a letter published in a local Chinese newspaper that urged the parade’s organizing committee to ‘think seriously’ about its decision to allow Falun Gong to participate. ‘It’s not wise [for] the sponsors to allow the Falun Gong to participate in this parade.’ […] Shortly afterward, the group’s parade application was denied.” [15]
Such interference is not limited to local community parades.
For example, the 2000 China Expo, held by the China Expo (USA) Inc., took place at the Los Angeles Convention Center from December 8 to 10, 2000. Ms. Teresa Chao, a local Falun Gong practitioner, had reserved and paid for a booth at the Expo. However, several departments of the Chinese Consulate in Los Angeles subsequently called China Expo (USA) Inc. and demanded that it cancel the Falun Gong booth. If the booth was not canceled, the Consulate threatened, it would withdraw the dozens of booths the nation of China had reserved. After communicating with China Expo (USA) Inc. about the threats from the Consulate, Ms. Chao and other local Falun Gong practitioners decided to withdraw their booth in order not to cause business losses to China Expo (USA) Inc.
In early July of 2000, the Chinese Association of Delaware held its annual Chinese Festival. The Association declined a request from Delaware Falun Gong practitioners to rent a booth at the festival. When Falun Gong practitioners decided to hand out literature explaining the nature of Falun Gong and exposing the human rights abuses committed by Jiang’s regime against those who practice in China outside the festival entrance, they were asked to stop distributing literature because the Chinese Embassy’s agents were present. The practitioners stopped.
It was later learned that the Chinese Embassy’s terms for allowing the Association to borrow the Embassy’s traditional Chinese clothing (to be worn at the festival) were that the Association would have to display at the festival anti-Falun Gong CDs and other materials that defame and attack Falun Gong.
RICO/Civil Rights Lawsuit
On April 3, 2002, representatives of 51 practitioners and supporters of the Falun Gong spiritual practice from every region of the country announced the filing of a landmark civil lawsuit against three ministries of the People’s Republic of China, alleging a systematic – and often violent – campaign of criminal activities in the U.S. designed to deprive American citizens and residents of their constitutional rights and privileges.
The lawsuit documents three years of violations and injustices on US soil, and was filed against the People’s Republic of China Ministry of State Security, Ministry of Public Security, and China Central Television (CCTV), along with affiliated individuals.
Congressman Ben Gilman said in a statement about the lawsuit, "In the PRC Falun Gong practitioners have long suffered abuse, repression, baseless arrests, convictions and harsh treatment in prison for exercising the right of free assembly and to practice one’s religious and spiritual beliefs in a peaceful manner. It is regrettable that in our own nation - - the beacon for religious tolerance, understanding and respect, agents of the Chinese would conduct themselves in a manner that is clearly in violation of the rights that all people in our great nation enjoy."
Legal counsel, Mr. Martin F. McMahon, described the activities of the PRC ministries as "a nationwide criminal campaign … orchestrated by very dedicated and single-minded individuals inside the Embassy here in Washington and the PRC consulates in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Houston, and San Francisco." Mr. McMahon summarized the case, saying "Based on the Racketeering, Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act and the federal civil rights laws, the parties have asked the Court for basic relief, i.e., to stop this campaign of terror."
The lawsuit charges the PRC ministries with repeated counts of physical assault, intimidation, harassment, death threats, vandalism and other violations on U.S. soil in numerous cities across the US over the past 32 months. The suit asserts that these violations were orchestrated by the named PRC ministries and various personnel in their Washington-based Embassy and affiliated Consulates throughout the U.S.
“Back in 1999, network administrators at the U.S. Department of Transportation noticed a problem: requests for information bombarding their network server. It looked like a classic denial-of-services attack, which overloads servers and crashes them. The perpetrator appeared to be a server in Maryland run by practitioners of the spiritual movement Falun Gong, which is persecuted in China. In fact, the Falun Gong server itself had come under attack by hackers who sought to disable both sites and leave Falun Gong bearing the blame. But the hackers blundered, leaving a digital address traceable to a computer at 14 East Changan Avenue in Beijing – home to China's Ministry of Public Security.”
-- TIME Magazine, September 30, 2002 [16]
That China’s Ministry of Public Security would hack into a U.S. government server is alarming. That they did so solely to frame Falun Gong, however, provides insight into the importance and urgency Chinese officials attribute to the task of attacking Falun Gong, stifling support for Falun Gong overseas and keeping it from forming a broad base of support in the U.S.
Why is this so important to Chinese officials? Because they have been given orders to do so from the very top – Jiang Zemin.
The persecution of Falun Gong was Jiang’s brainchild and his directives have carried out that persecution since July, 1999. Yet, Jiang not only miscalculated the ease with which he could “eradicate” Falun Gong in China, but he also overlooked the fact that people around the world had taken up the practice. There are practitioners of Falun Gong in over 50 countries around the world. [17] Thus, beginning shortly after Jiang moved against Falun Gong in July, 1999, condemnation for his actions escalated as the persecution of Falun Gong was exposed in greater and greater detail to the international community.
The more support for Falun Gong that develops outside China, the more pressure Jiang faces for the decisions he has made to persecute this practice. Should that support generate enough attention and momentum, it could leave Jiang with no alternative but to answer some very difficult questions in front of the international community.
For the time being, Jiang has largely avoided having to address those questions. His effort to stifle any and all support for Falun Gong overseas is an attempt to keep it that way.
This makes for a dangerous situation for Americans – a Communist dictator has banked his political life on his ability to control freedom of speech, assembly and belief here in the United States and other countries around the world, and he is clearly willing to unleash the vast arsenal of the Chinese government propaganda and political machine to do so.
Whereas Falun Gong is a peaceful and nonviolent form of personal belief and practice with millions of adherents in the People's Republic of China and elsewhere; (Engrossed as Agreed to or Passed by House)
HCON 188 EH
107th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. CON. RES. 188
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Whereas Falun Gong is a peaceful and nonviolent form of personal belief and practice with millions of adherents in the People's Republic of China and elsewhere;
Whereas the Government of the People's Republic of China has forbidden Falun Gong practitioners to practice their beliefs, and has systematically attempted to eradicate the practice and those who follow it;
Whereas this policy violates the Constitution of the People's Republic of China as well as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights;
Whereas Jiang Zemin's regime has created notorious government '610' offices throughout the People's Republic of China with the special task of overseeing the persecution of Falun Gong members through organized brainwashing, torture, and murder;
Whereas propaganda from state-controlled media in the People's Republic of China has inundated the public in an attempt to breed hatred and discrimination;
Whereas the number of known deaths from torture has reached 422 so far, tens of thousands have been tortured while confined in labor camps, prisons, and mental hospitals, and hundreds of thousands have been forced to attend brainwashing classes;
Whereas official measures have been taken to conceal all atrocities, such as the immediate cremation of victims, the blocking of autopsies, and the false labeling of deaths as from suicide or natural causes;
Whereas women in particular have been the target of numerous forms of sexual violence, including rape, sexual assault, and forced abortion;
Whereas the campaign of persecution has been generated by the Government of the People's Republic of China, is carried out by government officials and police at all levels, and has permeated every segment of society and every level of government in the People's Republic of China; and
Whereas several United States citizens and permanent resident aliens have been subjected to arbitrary detention, imprisoned, and tortured in the People's Republic of China: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that—
(1) the Government of the People's Republic of China should cease its persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, and its representatives in the United States should cease their harassment of citizens and residents of the United States who practice Falun Gong and cease their attempts to put pressure on officials of State and local governments in the United States to refuse or withdraw support for the Falun Gong and its practitioners;
(2) the United States Government should use every appropriate public and private forum to urge the Government of the People's Republic of China—
(A) to release from detention all Falun Gong practitioners and put an end to the practices of torture and other cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment against them and other prisoners of conscience; and
(B) to abide by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by allowing Falun Gong practitioners to pursue their personal beliefs; and
(3) the United States Government should investigate allegations of illegal activities in the United States of the Government of the People's Republic of China and its representatives and agents, including allegations of unlawful harassment of United States citizens and residents who practice Falun Gong and of officials of State and local governments in the United States who support Falun Gong, and should take appropriate action, including but not limited to enforcement of the immigration laws, against any such representatives or agents who engage in such illegal activities.
Passed the House of Representatives July 24, 2002.
Expressing the sense of the Congress regarding the Chinese Government's oppression of Falun Gong in the United States and in the People's Republic of China. (Introduced in House)
HCON 447 IH
107th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. CON. RES. 447
Expressing the sense of the Congress regarding the Chinese Government's oppression of Falun Gong in the United States and in the People's Republic of China.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JULY 24, 2002
Ms. WOOLSEY (for herself, Mr. HILLIARD, Ms. LEE, and Mr. LANTOS) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
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CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the Congress regarding the Chinese Government's oppression of Falun Gong in the United States and in the People's Republic of China.
Whereas Falun Gong is a peaceful spiritual movement that originated in China but has grown in popularity worldwide and is now accepted and practiced by thousands in the United States;
Whereas demonstrations by Falun Gong practitioners in the People's Republic of China and the United States have been peaceful, meditative sessions;
Whereas the Constitution of the People's Republic of China provides to the citizens of that country freedom of speech, assembly, association, and religious belief;
Whereas members of the Falun Gong spiritual movement, members of Chinese prodemocracy groups, and advocates of human rights reform in the People's Republic of China have been harassed, libeled, imprisoned, and beaten for demonstrating peacefully inside that country;
Whereas the Chinese Government has also attempted to silence the Falun Gong movement and Chinese prodemocracy groups inside the United States;
Whereas Chinese consular officials have pressured local elected officials in the United States to refuse or withdraw support for the Falun Gong spiritual group;
Whereas individuals that physically harassed Falun Gong practitioners in San Francisco, California, on October 22, 2000, were later seen at anti-Falun Gong meetings and the Chinese consulate in San Francisco;
Whereas San Francisco City Supervisor Chris Daly, after receiving complaints that Chinese officials were intimidating his constituents, authored a resolution condemning human rights violations and persecution of Falun Gong members by the Chinese Government;
Whereas Mr. Daly and the other members of the San Francisco City Council subsequently received a letter from the Chinese consul general in San Francisco, claiming that Falun Gong was an `evil cult' that was undermining the `normal social order' in the People's Republic of China, and that Mr. Daly's resolution should therefore be rejected, which it subsequently was;
Whereas in November 2000, the former Mayor of Saratoga, California, Stan Bogosian, issued a proclamation honoring the contributions of Falun Gong practitioners to the Saratoga community;
Whereas Mr. Bogosian was given a letter from the Chinese consul in San Francisco that strongly urged Mr. Bogosian to retract his support for local Falun Gong activities;
Whereas many local and national media organizations have reported that other local officials across the United States, including the mayors of several major cities, have been pressured by Chinese consular officials to recant statements of support for the Falun Gong spiritual group;
Whereas the United States and the People's Republic of China have developed an extensive trading relationship that is beneficial to local communities in both countries;
Whereas journalists have cited fear of hurting trading relationships as the motivation for some local United States officials to recant their support for Falun Gong after receiving pressure from Chinese consular officials;
Whereas notwithstanding rights provided by the Constitution of the People's Republic of China, the Government of that country has repeatedly and consistently suppressed expression by its citizens of freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, association, procession, and demonstration inside the People's Republic of China, and is now projecting its restrictive practices into the local affairs of the United States; and
Whereas the Constitution of the United States guarantees freedom of religion, the right to assemble, and the right to speak freely, and the people of the United States strongly value protecting the ability of all people to live without fear and in accordance with their personal beliefs: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That it is the sense of the Congress that--
(1) the Government of the People's Republic of China should--
(A) immediately stop interfering in the exercise of religious and political freedoms within the United States, such as the right to practice Falun Gong , that are guaranteed by the United States Constitution;
(B) cease using the diplomatic missions in the United States to spread falsehoods about the nature of Falun Gong ;
(C) release from detention all prisoners of conscience, including practitioners of Falun Gong , who have been incarcerated in violation of their rights as expressed in the Constitution of the People's Republic of China;
(D) immediately end the harassment, detention, physical abuse, and imprisonment of individuals who are exercising their legitimate rights to freedom of religion, including the practices of Falun Gong , freedom of expression, and freedom of association as stated in the Constitution of the People's Republic of China; and
(E) demonstrate its willingness to abide by international standards of freedom of belief, expression, and association by ceasing to restrict those freedoms in the People's Republic of China;
(2) the President of the United States should, in accordance with section 401(a)(1)(B) of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 USC 6401 et seq.), and with the intention of dissuading the Chinese Government from attempting to stifle religious freedom in the People's Republic of China and the United States, take action such as--
(A) issuing an official public demarche, a formal protest, to the Chinese Foreign Ministry in response to the repeated violations by the Chinese Government of basic human rights protected in international covenants to which the People's Republic of China is a signatory; and
(B) working more closely with Chinese human rights activists to identify Chinese authorities who have been personally responsible for acts of violence and persecution in the People's Republic of China;
(3) the Attorney General of the United States should investigate reports that Chinese consular officials in the United States have committed illegal acts while attempting to intimidate or inappropriately influence Falun Gong practitioners or local elected officials, and, in consultation with the Secretary of State, determine an appropriate legal response; and
(4) officials of local governments in the United States should--
(A) in accordance with local statutes and procedures, recognize and support organizations and individuals that share the goals of all or part of the local community, including Falun Gong practitioners; and
(B) report incidents of pressure or harassment by agents of the People's Republic of China to Members of Congress, the Attorney General of the United States, and the United States Secretary of State.
(Filed on April 3, 2002 in U.S. District Court; for more details visit: www.flgjustice.org)
The PRC Ministry of State Security [“MSS”], the Ministry of Public Security [“MPS”], and China Central Television [“CCTV”] have been named as party defendants in this lawsuit, which has been filed in the United States District Court for Washington, D.C. This suit is being served upon them as Peoples Republic of China instrumentalities, pursuant to a United States law known as the “Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act,” section 1608, which can be found in Chapter 97 of the United States Code, entitled “Jurisdictional Immunities of Foreign States.”
The parties who are asserting claims in the lawsuit all practice Falun Gong, and most of them are of Chinese National origin. There are a total of 12 claims in the lawsuit:
First Cause of Action – Racketeering Influenced Corrupt Organizations;
Second Cause of Action – Negligent Hiring, Retention and Supervision;
Third Cause of Action – 1871 Civil Rights Act Violations;
Fourth Cause of Action – Civil Conspiracy;
Fifth Cause of Action – aiding and assisting the commission of “bias related” criminal conduct in the District of Columbia, as that term is defined in 22 D.C. Code Section 3710;
Sixth Cause of Action – invading the privacy of the plaintiffs in that the defendants caused them to have their pictures taken, be videotaped, followed and had their phones listened in on, all in violation of various state laws;
Seventh Cause of Action – invasion of the privacy of Tracie Chao, who testified in the U.S. Congress about human rights violations in the P.R.C.;
Eighth Cause of Action – defaming the reputation of various local Falun Gong “core figures” and leaders based in American cities;
Ninth Cause of Action – maliciously interfering with and terminating the Falun Gong’s prospective contractual rights to have access to international television broadcasts;
Tenth Cause of Action – breach of contract;
Eleventh Cause of Action – interfering with the Falun Gong’s rights to broadcast in the local Washington, D.C. area;
Twelfth Cause of Action – none of the defendants are named for committing designated criminal acts under the laws of the District of Columbia; and
Thirteenth Cause of Action – encouraging and paying for the commission of designated criminal acts under the laws of the District of Columbia.
Chinese Gov’t Plan to “Eradicate Falun Gong in 3 Months”
NEW YORK, August 30, 200 (Falun Dafa Information Center) – Reliable sources in China have disclosed plans by the Chinese Communist Party head, Jiang Zemin, to mount a new attempt to wipe out Falun Gong within three months. The new plan is called "Destroying the reputation of Falun Gong completely, exhausting Falun Gong practitioners financially, and eradicating Falun Gong within three months."
Reports received by the Falun Dafa Information Center indicate that on August
21, 2000, the Chinese Ministry of Public Security held a nationwide telephone
conference to relay new orders from Jiang Zemin. Its key point: "further
intensify the crackdown on Falun Gong." The plan recommends that some
practitioners considered "backbone figures" be "heavily punished."
The authorities also reportedly discussed executing certain practitioners
who have remained faithful to their beliefs. The purpose of such a move is
apparently to threaten a large number by killing a few. The Falun Dafa Information
Center welcomes further media investigations of this new policy before it
is implemented.
Jiang Zemin’s Orders: Disrupt Falun Gong Overseas
NEW YORK, October 19, 2000 (Falun Dafa Information Center) – As a spiritual practice deeply rooted in Chinese society, Falun Gong practitioners in China often have access to non-public documents and information. Obviously these sources must remain confidential, but a recently "leaked" missive has given us cause for genuine alarm: Reliable sources inside China have revealed that Jiang Zemin and his group of supporters within the Chinese government are implementing a new policy to "intensify the struggle [against Falun Gong] overseas."
According to these same sources inside China, on October 12th, a highly classified
document was sent out from the central government via an internal telegram
to the military and top officials at the Ministry level. Sources report that
the document now classifies Falun Gong as 'counter-revolutionary,' as 'anti-Party,'
and as an 'anti-socialist organization' -- the same terms used against the
student protesters just prior to the Tiananmen Incident in 1989. Perhaps the
most insidious item in the document, however, is one that explicitly calls
for "intensifying the campaign overseas against those foreign forces,
collect more information, and prevent protests," indicating greater actions
may be taken beyond Chinese borders in the months to come.
Practitioners in Australia, Europe, the United States, and elsewhere have
long reported harassment from Chinese consulate officers and government agents.
In the U.S, Chinese consulate and other government officials have contacted
a number of mayoral offices around the country as well as major universities
(including Cal-Tech) in an effort to block Falun Gong activities. Additionally,
there have been many documented cases of practitioners, including American
citizens, being followed on U.S. soil and having their email systems attacked
from inside China. In one of the more blatant and outrageous incidents in
recent days, a homeless Chinese woman in Tokyo told police that she had been
given money by P.R.C. agents to pretend that she was a Falun Gong practitioner
and to engage in illegal actions so as to smear the image of Falun Gong.
The Falun Dafa Information Center is asking governmental and news agencies
around the world to closely monitor this situation. We anticipate an increasing
amount of activity of this sort in the months to come as P.R.C. personnel
attempt to carry out their new orders. We can only guess at what kinds of
tactics Jiang Zemin and his associates will use in the near future, and just
how far they will go to extend their campaign of intimidation and defamation
overseas.
We encourage you to contact the Falun Dafa Information Center if you have
questions or need clarification regarding any particular incidents of this
nature.
China’s Persecution of Falun Gong Breaches U.S. Border —
Congressman Proclaims a Violation of “Homeland Security”
Scope and Depth of Chinese Government Influence Inside U.S. Raises Alarms
Americans ask, “Who is doing the snooping and why?”
NEW YORK, July 8, 2002 (Falun Dafa Information Center) – Evan Mantyk, a 19-year-old junior at the University of Michigan, lives a relatively quiet life in Lathrup Village – a suburb of Detroit. So it came as a surprised when he recently discovered that his name appeared on a blacklist reportedly assembled by the Chinese government and used to screen out people who practice or are supportive of Falun Gong from traveling to cities during visits from Chinese leader Jiang Zemin.
Evan was stopped at the Baltimore airport on June 11 as he attempted to board a flight for Iceland the day before Jiang Zemin was scheduled to arrive for a state visit. “At IcelandAir’s ticket counter, they looked for my name on a list they had behind the counter,” recalls Evan. “I was then told that my ticket had been cancelled and I was not allowed to travel to Iceland.”
Evan was among dozens of people stranded in airports throughout North America and Europe in the days leading up to Jiang’s arrival in Iceland on June 12 because IcelandAir ticket counters in these airports were using lists—reportedly supplied by Iceland’s Ministry of Justice—to screen out people who are known to practice or be supportive of Falun Gong. At least one Icelandic paper—The Visir—reported on June 8 that Chinese consular officials in Iceland had supplied the blacklist to the Iceland government.
“I was really surprised when I saw that they had my name,” continued Evan. “I’m not listed as a volunteer on any of the Falun Dafa websites or flyers…I’ve never done anything that would bring attention to myself, such as demonstrating in Tiananmen Square or joining Falun Gong demonstrations in different countries.”
While IcelandAir’s use of such a list clearly raises legal concerns and has thus far sparked at least one lawsuit against the airline, the real concern in Evan’s mind is that while quietly going about his life in a Detroit suburb, he was fingered by unknown persons as a Falun Gong practitioner and his name was then added to a blacklist maintained by the Chinese Communist regime.
Evan believes this is a clear violation of the rights of Americans on U.S. soil by a foreign power or worse: “How did the Chinese Communist regime get the name of a quiet U.S. citizen living deep in the heart of America?” asks Evan. “Are they doing this themselves? If so, that’s alarming. Do they have people here in the U.S. helping them? If so, that’s even more disturbing.”
Evidence of a Growing Pattern of Illicit Activity by Chinese Officials on U.S. Soil
The apparent monitoring of Americans within the U.S. by agents of the Chinese Communist regime joins a growing list of incidents that indicate Beijing’s reach has, for quite some time, extended well beyond China’s borders in attempting to persecute Falun Gong.
Since the persecution of Falun Gong began in China on a wide scale in July 1999, practitioners of Falun Dafa in Washington D.C. have frequently been the victims of scare and intimidation tactics.
On two separate occasions, Dr. Sen Nieh, a professor at Catholic University of America in Washington D.C, has come home to find private conversations with friends—which took place in public venues such as parks or walkways—recorded on his answering machine. The second of the two instances, reported in the Washington Post on July 20, 2001, was a conversation he had with other Falun Gong practitioners while standing outside a Senate building on Capitol Hill immediately after meeting with a senator’s staff to brief them on the persecution of Falun Gong. “Obviously, they are trying to send a clear message that they are watching us at every moment…they’re trying to scare us,” says Dr. Sen Nieh.
Ms. Jin Youming, who recently received her Master’s degree from South Eastern University and is now living in Washington DC, gets up each day at 3 a.m. to exercise in her local park. On March 11, 2001, she received a phone call a few minutes past 3 a.m. On the other end of the line, a recording of a conversation she had with another Falun Gong practitioner during a recent trip to Los Angeles was played back to her. “It sent chills down my spine,” says Ms. Jin. “Not only did the caller have a recording of a private conversation I had on the other side of the country, but he apparently knew what time I get up each morning and so knew exactly when to call.”
In December, 2001, Mr. Lin Zhan Tong’s car was mysteriously firebombed while parked near the Chinese consulate in Chicago. Mr. Lin’s car was filled with Falun Gong flyers and other materials, and was frequently used to transport materials for Falun Gong events in the Chicago area.
Falun Gong practitioners have also been physically attacked.
On September 7, 2001, three Falun Gong practitioners were attacked by Chinese men while participating in a peaceful hunger strike across from the Chinese consulate in Chicago. On October 22, 2000, a group of Falun Gong practitioners, including an American named Beverly Clark, were attacked while demonstrating the exercises of Falun Gong in a public park located in the center of San Francisco’s Chinatown.
Landmark Lawsuit, U.S. Congressmen Move to Stop Activities of Chinese Officials on U.S. Soil
On April 3, 2002, representatives of nearly 50 practitioners and supporters of Falun Gong announced the filing of a landmark civil lawsuit against two government ministries of the People’s Republic of China, alleging a systematic, and often violent, campaign of criminal activities in the U.S. designed to deprive American citizens and residents of their constitutional rights and privileges.
Regarding the lawsuit, U.S. Congressman Ben Gilman (R-NY) commented: “It is regrettable that in our own nation – the beacon for religious tolerance, understanding and respect, agents of the Chinese would conduct themselves in a manner that is clearly in violation of the rights that all people in our great nation enjoy.”
In a June 26 hearing in Washington D.C. on the Homeland Security Act of 2002, Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ) raised the issue before the committee: “We also know that here in this country, there have been threats against Falun Gong practitioners. And this is part of homeland security, I would think. You know, it is not about who comes in, but who’s actually here from the Chinese government, fomenting, and making these threats against American citizens who are Falun Gong…” Representative Smith further asked that the U.S. “check into these threats that are being made against Americans who are Falun Gong…it’s outrageous.”
Calling for a Detailed Investigation
Evan Mantyk has does not intend to let these events affect his daily life, including his choice to practice the Falun Gong meditation and exercises. “We have rights because we live in a democratic nation that upholds those rights... Anyone infringing upon those rights on our own soil, especially a foreign government, should be cause for alarm among our [law enforcement agencies].”
Evan says his case is not unique, and that many cases of meddling, surveillance, and even violence by people having ties to the Chinese Consulate have been documented in the US, Canada, and European countries. “I hope our own government is paying attention here. What Jiang has instigated inside China is bloody and criminal – the last thing we want to see is similar activities going unnoticed over here.”
May 29, 2002
Congressional Human Rights Caucus Briefing
Washington, DC
To Whom It May Concern:
In October 2000, I received a request from Charlie Lu, A Falun Gong practitioner, requesting a proclamation to declare a Falun Dafa Day in Rochester Hills. A few days later, I received a call from the Chinese consulate in Chicago asking why I agreed to the proclamation. I explained to them that I receive requests for proclamations all the time and unless there is a good reason, I try to comply with the request.
The consulate was very upset that I had declared a Falun Dafa Day and insisted on meeting with me to discuss the matter further.
Three Chinese consulate staff members flew from Chicago to Michigan to meet with me for 15 minutes. They were very irate that I had declared a Falun Dafa Day and strongly suggested that I should not become involved with the Falun Dafa group. The representatives from the consulate insisted that the Falun Gong practitioners are a cult, brainwash their followers and are outlawed in China. They also mentioned that the Chinese government would be upset with the United States government if they were aware that I was doing anything to encourage the practice of Falun Gong. I explained that I was not encouraging the practice of Falun Gong or anything else. I had received a simple request and had complied. They became extremely belligerent about the entire matter. At that time, I requested that they leave. I found them to be extremely unprofessional in their behavior.
If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact me.
Sincerely,
Pat Somerville, Mayor
City of Rochester Hills
1000 Rochester Hills Drive, Rochester Hills, Michigan 48309-3033 – Phone (248) 656-4664
Below is Saratoga Council Member and former Mayor Stan Bogosian’s statement at a press conference held in San Francisco on April 4, 2001.
Ladies and Gentlemen:
We are gathered here today to re-affirm one of our cherished rights as Americans: the right to peaceably assemble. Unfortunately, the very rights that we enjoy as Americans are being denied the people of China by their government. As practitioners of Falun Gong here today will tell you, their friends, mothers, fathers, and grandparents are suffering torture and even death for the right to peaceably assemble and practice Falun Gong.
But I’m not here to tell you about what is happening in China. I’m here to tell you about the systematic attempt by the Chinese government to silence American elected officials who have taken a stand in support of basic human rights. Last November while mayor of Saratoga, I issued a proclamation honoring the contributions practitioners of Falun Gong have made to our community. I included in the proclamation an affirmation of the rights of Falun Gong practitioners to peaceably assemble anywhere in the world.
Shortly thereafter, our city received a call from the Chinese Consulate here in San Francisco, requesting a meeting. When the representatives of the Consul showed up at city hall, they presented me with a letter from the Consul requesting me to rescind my proclamation, based on the assertion that Falun Gong was a “cult” When I refused, they attempted to extract a pledge from me and the City Manager to take a “neutral” stand on Falun Gong. We did not agree.
Soon I discovered that the government of China had approached other mayors who had issued proclamations. In fact, it was reported on the wire services that the Mayor of Alhambra had apologized for issuing the proclamation. When I called him to find out what had happened, the assistant city manager told me in no uncertain terms that the issue was closed.
This meddling in the affairs of our government is simply unacceptable. It bears an uncanny resemblance to the efforts of the Nazi government of Germany in the 1930’s to persuade the rest of the world that persecution of its citizens simply was not taking place. And the parallels don’t end there. Today, as was also the case in 1930’s Germany, major American corporations have significant investments in China. The temptation is to look the other way, to ignore what is happening because we are fearful of disrupting trade in an emerging market. If there is one lesson we should have learned from the 1930’s, turning a blind eye to such events will cost us dearly in the long run.
In 1996 I ran for city council on a platform to open city hall to all citizens to participate in our government, and last year the voters reaffirmed that commitment by sending me back to city hall for a second term. Instead of expending all the effort to silence Americans who speak out for the rights of the people of China, the Chinese government should instead look to our institutions of government as a model to emulate. What is so threatening about opening up parks and public meeting places for the practice of Falun Gong?
On a more personal note, I understand the anguish of the families in China whose members have suffered at the hands of the government just for practicing Falun Gong. Growing up in an Armenian family, I don’t remember one friend or relative whose family was not affected by the terrible genocide, and today, nearly 100 years after it occurred, the perpetrators are publicly denying it happened. Hasn’t the civilized world learned by now to recognize the warning signs?
Today I’m honored that the practitioners of Falun Gong have invited me to join them in taking a stand for freedom. And today I call upon our elected members of Congress and the Senate to stand up and be counted. That is the least we can do for those in China who have sacrificed so much for their beliefs.
Thank you
(Editor’s Note: Congressional staff say this letter was sent to all members of congress. Boldface type is added to highlight key passages.)
LI ZHAOXING Tel: (202)328-2505
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Fax: (202) 328-2582
December 12, 2000
The Honorable Frank A. LoBiondo
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
222Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Congressman LoBiondo,
I am writing to bring to your attention the stepped-up activities of Falun Gong in the United States which threaten to have an ominous impact on American society and the relationship between our two countries.
… Li Hongzhi, now still at large and in hiding, refuses to give up. Styling themselves as a “peaceful meditation” group and decrying “religious persecution”, the remnants of Falun Gong are going out of their way to mislead the American people, including government officials and Members of Congress. Some local officials and Members of Congress have been talked into giving open support to Falun Gong, despite reports of innocent people falling victims of the cult.
I strong believe that it is the lack of information that gives Falun Gong room for manipulation and deceit-Once officials and Members of Congress learn about the appalling truth of the cult, they will make the right judgment-Therefore, I am enclosing herewith some literature on Falun Gong for your reference and hoping that, with our joint efforts, we will stop the spread of this scourge and prevent the issue from becoming a new irritant in China-U.S. relations.
Sincerely,
Li Zhaoxing
Ambassador
Appendix J: In The News…
Will Chinese Repression Play in Peoria?
BY CLAUDIA ROSETT
Thursday, February 21, 2002
Time was when Americans had to travel halfway around the world to feel the steely touch of China's state security apparatus. No longer. In their fervor to trample any grassroots movements that might challenge their power, China's rulers are hustling these days to share their bizarre, oppressive tactics not only with their own 1.3 billion citizens, but with folks all across America.
In particular, Beijing has been offering its own nasty brand of spiritual guidance to hundreds of American mayors, in big cities and small towns, from Los Angeles to Baltimore to the Illinois Corn Belt. This Beijing outreach program has even played in such local papers as the Peoria Journal Star, which noted last April 26 that "a routine, seemingly harmless proclamation recognizing a Chinese religious group has thrust a group of Illinois mayors into the unlikely realm of foreign diplomacy."
Beijing's most visible target, the "religious group" to which the Peoria newspaper refers, is the Falun Gong. This spiritual movement, also known as the Falun Dafa, began spreading 10 years ago inside China, where it evidently holds huge appeal for tens of millions seeking some form of faith more gratifying than the bankrupt and corrosive state ideology of communism.
After some 10,000 Falun Gong practitioners staged a peaceful demonstration in April 1999 in front of Communist Party headquarters near Tiananmen Square, China's rulers condemned it as an "evil cult" and embarked on an official campaign to wipe it out. Since then, China has racked up quite a record of jailing, torturing and in scores of cases killing Falun Gong followers inside China. The Wall Street Journal's Ian Johnson won a Pulitzer Prize last year for his stories documenting such Chinese government abuses, including the case of Chen Zixiu, a 58-year-old woman who was beaten and tortured to death in Chinese state custody for refusing to renounce Falun Gong.
Falun Gong followers outside China have responded--reasonably enough--by seeking gestures of support. Which is how America's mayors get into the act. It is a widespread and largely decorative habit of U.S. mayors to issue all sorts of proclamations, celebrating a great welter of groups, themes and causes of the day. Falun Gong practitioners here in America have asked many mayors in recent years to issue proclamations honoring their movement.
The Chinese government, not content with persecuting the Falun Gong in China, has responded by urging local U.S. officials to shun or even persecute them right here in America. The approach, made variously by letter, phone call or personal visit from a Chinese official based at China's Washington embassy or one of its numerous consulates, tends to combine gross disinformation with scare tactics and, in some cases, slyly implied diplomatic and commercial pressure.
Typical is the experience of Santee, Calif., a city of 58,000 on the outskirts of San Diego County. A little over a year ago, Mayor Randy Voepel received a letter from the newly arrived Chinese consul general in Los Angeles, Lan Lijun. Mr. Lan's letter began with a cheery greeting and rolled right along to describe the Falun Gong movement as a "doomsday" cult that creates "a panic atmosphere" and if left unchecked in America could end up "jeopardizing your social stability." Noting that China would "like to establish and develop friendly relations with your city"--and implying this would require complying with China's wishes--Mr. Lan's letter went on to urge that "no recognition and support in any form should be given to the Falun Gong" and urged banning them from registration as any kind of official organization.
Not so typical was Mr. Voepel's reaction. A Vietnam War veteran, he wrote back: "Your letter personally chilled me to my bones. I was shocked that a Communist Nation would go to this amount of trouble to suppress what is routinely accepted in this country. . . . I have the greatest respect for the Chinese people in your country and everywhere else in the world, but must be honest in my concern for the suppression of human rights by your government as evidenced by your request." Mr. Voepel then issued a mayoral proclamation commending the Falun Gong.
Some other officials, such as former Saratoga, Calif., mayor Stan Bogosian and a raft of mayors in Illinois, have stood up to China's pressure. But many have kowtowed, including the mayors of San Francisco, Seattle, Baltimore and Los Angeles--all of whom in 1999 rescinded proclamations they had issued for the Falun Gong. In Westland, Mich., last year, then-mayor Robert Thomas designated March 4 through 9 as Falun Dafa Week, but later explained in a letter to the Falun Gong petitioners, which he dutifully copied to the Chinese Consulate in Chicago: "I have received information from the Consulate General of the People's Republic of China in Chicago, explaining the real nature of your organization. . . . I hereby rescind the proclamation."
China has been brazen enough to pressure even the mayor of Salt Lake City--currently hosting the Olympics, as Beijing is slated to do in 2008. Last month the Chinese Embassy's deputy chief of mission, He Yafei, paid a call on Mayor Rocky Anderson, who had issued a proclamation last year honoring the Falun Gong. As part of a "security briefing" for Mr. Anderson, Mr. He's message included warnings about the Falun Gong, one of many groups that had applied for permission to hold a peaceful demonstration during the Olympics. Mr. Anderson let the demonstration go ahead, on Feb. 7. It was so peaceful, says a mayoral spokesman, that the sole problem with the Falun Gong was that "they walked very slow."
A half dozen Falun Gong practitioners did engage in a somewhat more aggressive protest against China's international "Condemn Falun Gong Cult" campaign, as the logo goes on the official Web site of China's Xinhua state news agency. When Beijing's Mayor Liu Qi arrived in the San Francisco airport earlier this month, en route to attend the Olympics, they served him with papers for a lawsuit filed under the Alien Tort Claims Act of 1789 and the Torture Victims Protection Act of 1992, for letting grave abuses against Falun Gong followers go unchecked in Beijing. China's Foreign Ministry has denounced the lawsuit as "a nasty trick." Mr. Liu himself, who announced last year that Beijing in preparing to host the 2008 Olympics would "resolutely smash and crack down on Falun Gong and other evil cults," has yet to respond.
Obviously the Falun Gong, with its blend of meditation, exercise and otherworldly visions, may not be everyone's cup of tea. But the soul of America itself centers on allowing individual choice, not only in market transactions, but in matters of faith. China's campaign to snuff out the movement even on U.S. soil not only runs counter to American principles. It also fits into an even larger pattern in which Chinese state security, with its desperate fear of anything that might challenge party dictatorship in Beijing, has snaked its tentacles into numerous communities in the U.S., trying in various ways to intimidate China scholars, harass exiled Chinese dissidents and bully supporters of the world's only full-blown Chinese democracy, on Taiwan.
President Bush is in Beijing today and tomorrow, seeking common ground with his Chinese hosts. It would also be a good moment to remind President Jiang Zemin and his comrades that persecution of a peaceful spiritual movement is the kind of ugly, cruel and embarrassing practice that they need to be trying to shed inside China itself--not share with the wider world.
Ms. Rosett is a member of The Wall Street Journal's editorial board. Her column appears Thursdays on OpinionJournal.com and in The Wall Street Journal Europe as "Letter From America."
China expanding campaign overseas to discredit Falun Gong
07/09/2001
HONG KONG (AP) - While forging ahead with its attempt to eradicate the Falun Gong movement at home, China is taking its campaign against the spiritual group abroad.
Chinese diplomats are seeking to discredit the sect and undermine its image in the United States, Australia and other countries by pressing public officials not to have dealings with the group or allow its participation in local activities.
Critics of the Beijing regime say Hong Kong authorities are caving in to the anti-Falun Gong campaign. They contend officials weakened the enclave's autonomy by barring about 100 Falun Gong practitioners from entering in early May during a visit by Chinese President Jiang Zemin.
Falun Gong remains legal in Hong Kong, under Western-style freedoms left behind by the British. But its active presence here has provoked much local friction as members lash out against China's suppression.
The conflict between China and the sect escalated last week over the deaths of some imprisoned Falun Gong practitioners at a labor camp in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang in June.
Chinese officials offered conflicting numbers, with some saying three deaths and others 14, but all said the women hanged themselves in a mass suicide. Falun Gong, which says its teachings prohibit suicide, insisted Chinese authorities had fatally beaten 15 inmates to death.
China's government is drawing criticism for its efforts to weaken Falun Gong overseas.
In the United States, some mayors have complained that Chinese diplomats attempted to stop them from giving public recognition to Falun Gong.
Falun Gong members in Australia accuse the Chinese Embassy of spreading distorted information about the group and attempting to persuade Australian officials to ban its participation in local events such as village festivals.
China's government fears Falun Gong's organizational abilities - the group was once estimated to have up to 100 million followers in China, or more than the Communist Party's 64.5 million.
Because the sect has no formal membership, it is hard to gauge the number of practitioners worldwide. Taiwan is believed to have the biggest following outside China, with 100,000 adherents.
Falun Gong says it has about 500 members in Hong Kong, 3,000 in Australia, 10,000 in the United States, 1,000 in Singapore and 3,000 in South Korea. There are also small communities in Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and Japan.
Beijing's attempts to use diplomatic pressure to silence Falun Gong have enraged members and government officials in the United States.
Stan Bogosian, the former mayor of Saratoga, Calif., said that a few days after he signed a proclamation late last year declaring a week in honor of Falun Gong, two officials from the Chinese consulate urged him to rescind it.
When he refused, Bogosian said, the Chinese asked him to remain neutral on the issue and asked about his stance on Taiwan, which Beijing considers a renegade province. Angered, Bogosian called a news conference to denounce the Chinese government for "highly irregular" actions.
"The Chinese government should not be interfering in the political process," Bogosian told The Associated Press. "The issue of whether Falun Gong is a cult or not is not important. For me, these are basic human rights."
To Bogosian and many others, Falun Gong is a harmless qigong group, whose adherents, clad in their yellow T-shirts, practice controlled breathing exercises and move slowly to ethereal music in parks.
At least a dozen other mayors from cities in California, Illinois, Washington, Maryland and Michigan have reported pressure from Chinese officials who often pointedly mention the importance of U.S.-Chinese trade.
"The whole thing sounded like a propaganda pitch to me," said Tod Satterthwaite, mayor of Urbana, Ill., who ignored the Chinese demands.
Others have yielded. In 1999, mayors in Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Baltimore - all important shipping centers - revoked proclamations honoring Falun Gong.
Falun Gong adherents in Australia say Chinese officials have sent letters to civic leaders describing the group as "an out-and-out heretical sect, which is anti-science, anti-humanity and anti-society in nature."
"The letters were sent to local government offices in order to try and persuade them to disallow perfectly legal activities being conducted in the area," said Michael Molnar, a spokesman for Australia's Falun Gong.
The Australian government said the Chinese Embassy had denied sending the letters.
Rebecca Tromp, spokeswoman of the Blacktown City Council, said officials from the Chinese consulate in Sydney raised the issue of Falun Gong participation in a festival sponsored by the city government.
"We advised them that any participation Falun Gong has is within our festival and that is what they do and we would continue to allow them to participate," Tromp said.
China's battle leaps borders
Consulates lean on U.S. groups to shun Falun Gong
By Rudolph Bush and Rick Hepp, Tribune staff reporters.
Tribune staff reporter Alex Rodriguez contributed to this report
Published February 22, 2002
Its fingerprints may not have been on the ouster of the Falun Gong from Chicago's Chinese New Year parade, but the Chinese government has moved to keep the spiritual movement out of events elsewhere in Illinois and the rest of the nation, stoking a debate over its influence outside its borders to suppress the movement.
Last year, the Chinese consulate in Chicago persuaded Decatur's mayor to withdraw a proclamation commemorating the movement. In Flushing, N.Y., this year, Falun Gong members were barred from the Chinese New Year parade after Chinese government officials urged parade organizers to keep them out.
Falun Gong members accused Utah's governor of bowing to Chinese embassy demands and reneging on a decision to declare Jan. 8 "Falun Gong Day" in that state.
And in Chinatown Sunday, where the controversial movement has both loyal practitioners and vocal critics, organizers of the Chinese New Year parade through the streets of Chinatown insisted that they barred 80 Falun Gong members solely to keep politics out of the event, not because of any pressure from the city's Chinese consul.
“The very idea that the [Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association] which is fervently anti-Communist, was a willing participant with the Chinese consulate is like the joke of the century,” said Elaine Sit, legal adviser for the association, the parade's organizer.
Officials with the Chinese consulate denied playing any role in what happened Sunday.
Nevertheless, movement members say their exclusion from everything from ceremonial government resolutions to parades is part of a concerted effort by Beijing to stop Falun Gong from spreading its message worldwide.
“I see that the problem is the Chinese mainland government,” said Leo Huang, one of the few members of the parade's organizing group to practice and support Falun Gong. “They are trying to stop [Falun Gong] worldwide and it seems to me they are coming into the Chinese community [in America].”
An amalgam of traditional Chinese exercises and Eastern religious teachings, the Falun Gong movement began in 1992 and gradually became viewed by the Chinese government as a political threat. Membership has been loosely estimated between several million and tens of millions.
Beijing outlawed the group in 1999, labeling it an “evil cult.” Inside China, members have been imprisoned, and in some cases sentenced to up to 3-year terms in “re-education through labor” camps.
Outside China, Beijing has waged a public relations war against the movement, using its consulates to write letters to local governments and business associations with Falun Gong activities on their agendas.
Dressed in gold robes and massed at the staging grounds at Wentworth Avenue and 24th Street, the 80 Falun Gong members were turned away from Chinatown’s annual New Year's parade shortly before it began.
Tien Liu, an influential Chinatown businessman and an association member who voted against Falun Gong’s involvement in the parade, said 90 percent of the association is Taiwanese, and thus pays little heed to the Chinese government.
The movement was barred from the parade because “they make trouble. They go to the United Nations and make trouble,” Liu said. “They protest [in Chinatown] and we don’t have business. The Chinese businessmen don’t like it.”
Backers of the movement say the consulate has worked to sway Chinatown residents against the Falun Gong, and most likely exerted influence on the association’s decision.
“To stop support for Falun Gong is the No.1 priority of the Chinese government,” Huang said.
Shishun Shen, a spokesman for the Chinese Consulate in Chicago, denied that the consulate was involved in the association’s decision but called the group’s exclusion from the parade “a positive development. Falun Gong is not welcome in the Chinese community.”
Beijing has tried to engender that sentiment across the U.S. Earlier this month in Flushing, N.Y., a spokesman for the Chinese consulate in New York had a letter published in a local Chinese newspaper that urged the parade’s organizing committee to “think seriously” about its decision to allow Falun Gong to participate.
“It’s not wise [for] the sponsors to allow the Falun Gong to participate in this parade. It is for legitimate organizations,” said the consulate spokesman, Tang Win. Shortly afterward, the group’s parade application was denied.
Terry Howley, Decatur’s mayor, backed off plans to declare the week of Jan. 21, 2001, as Falun Dafa Week--Falun Dafa is another name for Falun Gong—after the Chinese government mailed him a large packet that described the movement as an evil cult that incites suicide among its members.
Howley decided against the proclamation, telling the Chicago consulate and Decatur residents in a letter that “in light of your correspondence, I believe it is in the best interests of the city that official proclamations ... will only occur for events and
organizations represented in the community.”
Copyright © 2002, Chicago Tribune
Silencing the Movement
Crackdown from afar
By Paul Moses and Mae Cheng
Staff Writers
September 6, 2001
FOR TWO YEARS NOW, Janet Xiong has felt the chill.
In the streets of New York, her adopted city, there have been taunts and jeers against the meditation movement she follows, called Falun Gong. In her native China, friends have been hauled off to prison for those same beliefs.
Halfway around the world, the 47-year- old city researcher from Flushing was told, Chinese authorities were asking questions about her. Police wanted to know about the role that Xiong, a U.S. citizen who arrived from China 14 years ago, plays in the Falun Gong spiritual movement, target of a brutal crackdown in China. First, the word came back from a Falun Gong practitioner from Forest Hills, who was detained and interrogated while in China on business. "He told me, 'Never go back again because they are watching you,'" she said. Then another practitioner, a woman, was questioned. "She was asked the same questions about us," Xiong said.
The Chinese government's relentless drive to beat down the popular meditation movement echoes, faint but chilling, in New York. Government officials have appeared at "seminars" in Manhattan to decry [Jiang Zemin government's slanderous terms omitted], egging on local Chinese immigrants to oppose the movement. In one session, the consul-general told his audience that immigrants who have not become U.S. citizens were expected to obey Chinese laws, which ban Falun Gong. Further poisoning the atmosphere for local Falun Gong practitioners, powerful organizations in Chinatown -- which had expressed no concern about Falun Gong before the government crackdown started in July 1999 -- began holding countermarches against the group, their charges echoing the government's virulent accusations. Even small details have not escaped the government's hawklike attention: The New York consulate contacted a councilman in Queens when he issued a routine proclamation praising Falun Gong.
It is a highly unusual attempt by a foreign government to tackle a spiritual movement within U.S. borders -- complementing a campaign inside China that the State Department and human rights monitors say includes widespread brainwashing and torture. "It just shows how desperate, in my experience, the PRC [People's Republic of China] really is," said Gail Rachlin, Manhattan-based spokeswoman for Falun Gong.
For those who have watched Falun Gong adherents practice their slow-motion exercises in public parks, it's hard to imagine what the fuss is about.
The movement's founder is Li Hongzhi, once a clerk and trumpet player in China. He studied with a Buddhist monk and then Taoist masters, he told Newsday in 1999 in one of his rare interviews. Li, said to live at an undisclosed location in Queens, explained that in the late 1980s, his spiritual masters encouraged him to teach qigong, a traditional Chinese meditative exercise.
[...] In 1992, Li began to teach. According to the Master, as he is called, there is a wheel of energy within the lower abdomen that spins off a healing force. (Falun Gong means "wheel of the law.") Through exercises and meditation, followers try to cultivate this force, which Li says brings both mental and physical benefits. The idea that the connection between body and mind can improve health is hardly new in the Far East, but the focus on physical well-being -- Li, 50, says he has never been sick -- helped make the movement hugely popular in China.
"The Chinese government chose for a long time just to ignore them," said James Richardson, dean of the law department of the University of Nevada in Reno and a sociologist who has studied the crackdown on Falun Gong. "They were under the guise of just an exercise regime. The medical care in many parts of China is so poor that the Chinese government actually recommends these exercise regimes."
[...]
But in April 1999, Falun Gong members protested outside a student newspaper in China that would not recant its negative coverage. The government refused to order it; 10,000 Falun Gong adherents responded by protesting outside party headquarters in Beijing, seeking recognition for their movement. While Li says he has no interest in political might, this show of force sent shock waves through [party's name omitted] leadership in China, [...]
[...]
On July 22, 1999, President Jiang Zemin ordered a crackdown. According to Falun Gong, 50,000 of its practitioners have been detained in China; 10,000 sentenced to labor "re-education" camps; 1,000 committed to mental hospitals where torture and forced use of psychiatric drugs are common. So far, the group says, it has identified 265 people tortured to death in police custody.
Amnesty International, finding that torture or force-feeding hunger strikers had caused many of the deaths in police .custody, called the abuses "appalling" and urged the international community to speak out. And a State Department report on religious freedom that covered the early months of the crackdown largely confirmed the Falun Gong allegations to that point. It said "there were numerous credible reports of police involvement in beatings, detention under extremely harsh conditions, torture (including by electric shock and by having hands and feet shackled and linked with crossed steel chains), and other abuses of detained Falun Gong practitioners."
THE CHINESE CONSULATE in Manhattan is in a shopworn building that used to house a "motor inn" -- a portion of the sign is visible -- at the end of 42nd Street, across from the Hudson River. The ground floor has a brightly lit office where people line up for passports and visas.
In most consulates, the walls display colorful, scenic pictures of the homeland, a welcome to tourists. But at the Chinese Consulate, visitors are welcomed with posters featuring graphic pictures of dead bodies: charred by fire, ripped open with scissors, beaten on the head with a spade, hung from a rope.
[...]
These same posters, in English and Chinese, found their way into the hands of counterdemonstrators who jeered Falun Gong members when they marched through Chinatown on April 21. About 500 practitioners marched, hoping to counter the government propaganda campaign.
[...]
Wai Lind Lam, 54, a Falun Gong practitioner from Manhattan, said one of the opponents tried to burn her hair with a cigarette lighter during the China.town march.
"They said, 'Don't burn yourself,' and that kind of thing," said Yun Song, a 30-year-old actuarial consultant from Manhattan who is a Falun Gong practitioner. "This is one of many instances that we got disturbed or harassed."
Guan Liang, chairman of the umbrella group that led the Chinatown counterdemonstration, the United Chinese Associations of Greater New York, said in an interview that his association has not had contact with Chinese Consulate officials about Falun Gong.
And a spokesman for the Chinese Consulate in New York said he had no information about meetings between government officials and the Chinese community in New York about Falun Gong.
But information on a Web site maintained by the Chinese Consulate in Manhattan makes clear that the government has, in fact, been urging Liang and the New York Chinese community to join its crusade against Falun Gong.
[...]
ACROSS the country, Chinese consulates have not been shy about expressing that view to American elected .officials.
City Councilman Sheldon Leffler, a Queens Democrat, said he recalled issuing a proclamation on behalf of the council in support of Falun Gong practitioners on a Thursday. On Saturday, he went to his district office and found a two-page letter with a book and a videotape from the New York Chinese Consulate.
"It was basically saying they were disappointed I had presented such a proclamation," he said. Leffler didn't consider it threatening, but added, "When you get something from [party's name omitted] China saying you shouldn't have done this ... it's a bit of pressure."
But because of China's importance in international trade, officials in some U.S. cities, including Seattle, have rescinded proclamations. More than a dozen mayors have reported pressure from Chinese officials who often mention the importance of China-U.S. trade, The Associated Press reported.
In a speech in New York, Consul-General Zhang Hongxi even suggested that China's ban on Falun Gong was binding on Chinese immigrants living here if they have not yet become U.S. citizens.
"Of course, if you still hold the Chinese passports, that is, if you are still Chinese nationals without being naturalized as the U.S. citizens, you have dual obligations, you must abide by both the Chinese and the U.S. laws," he told the audience, according to a transcript on the consulate's Web site.
While the Chinese government can't enforce its ban in the United States, a number of New Yorkers have felt its force. In some cases, Falun Gong practitioners here said they've been unable to return to China to visit relatives.
Zhen Mei Xu, a 44-year-old Jackson Heights resident who works as a secretary at the United Nations, said she was turned back at Beijing International Airport when she went to visit her ailing father in August last year.
"I was not allowed to enter my own country," she said.
Wei Lu, 50, a textile designer from Manhattan who is an organizer of local Falun Gong activities, said she had gotten a passport extension pending a background check. "They canceled it," she said, adding that the consulate would not explain why. But Falun Gong practitioners assume the Chinese government knows of their connection to the group by photographing demonstrations or exercise sessions.
For some, the stakes have been higher.
Chunyan Teng, a Flushing woman who is a professor of traditional Chinese medicine at New York College for holistic Health, Education and Research in Syosset, was sentenced to three years in prison in China for leaking information about the abuse of Falun Gong adherents in mental hospitals to foreign reporters. The State Department has urged that Teng, 38, a legal permanent U.S. resident, be released on humanitarian grounds and allowed to join her family in the United States.
Last month, her mother, Yun Fang Qiu, 70, of Flushing, made a tearful plea at a news conference outside the Chinese Consulate for her daughter's release. "Chunyan did nothing but telling the truth," she said. "For telling the truth, she was put into prison and was tortured there."
The following week, a colleague at the school, Lorraine Kabacinski of Huntington Station, took part in a hunger strike for 48 hours to call attention to Teng's plight. "She actually introduced me to Falun Gong," Kabacinski said, adding that it had given her an inner calm. "I'm so grateful to her."
Janet Xiong, too, joined portions of a 130-hour sit-in across the street from the Chinese Consulate on 42nd Street, hoping to help Teng, a friend and .fellow Falun Gong practitioner in Flushing.
"We met almost every day, even in the snow," she said. "She was very determined. We practiced meditation for two years."
Xiong gestured toward the river. "You have the Statue of Liberty here -- New York is like a symbol of democracy," she said. "It's a harbor for liberty. But people are suffering in mainland China, and what are we doing here? Keeping quiet?"
For the first time in three interviews, Xiong's emotions pushed to the surface. As the emotions surged in her throat, she said she was crying. "I put myself in their shoes," Xiong said. "If I were there, I would probably do the same thing. I would probably be in jail. It's like something that could happen to me."
Copyright © 2001, Newsday, Inc.
http://www.newsday.com/features/ny-feat-fcov906.story
Falun Gong Honors Rescinded:
State, City Proclamations for Spiritual Group Irked Chinese
By Steven Mufson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, December 11, 1999; Page A25
American mayors and governors make proclamations all the time. It’s not every day they take them back or apologize for them.
But that’s what Maryland Gov. Parris N. Glendening and the mayors of Seattle, Baltimore and San Francisco have done since the Chinese Embassy complained about proclamations honoring Li Hongzhi, exiled leader of the Falun Gong spiritual and exercise movement. Even the State Department got into the act, according to Glendening’s office, by providing advice about how to word a letter of apology.
The reason for the apologies: fear of hurting local trade relationships with China, which has branded Falun Gong a “cult” and banned the group.
In Seattle, for example, Mayor Paul Schell, a former port commissioner whose city is home to Boeing Co., Microsoft Corp. and agricultural exporters, “is well aware of the amount of trade we do with China,” said a spokesman. Although Chinese Ambassador Li Zhaoxing did not threaten retaliation for the “Li Hongzhi and Falun Gong Days” that were to coincide with the recent World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle, the ambassador “did make his displeasure clear in no uncertain terms,” said Schell aide Clifford Traisman.
…The movement’s leader Li, who lives in New York, and his U.S. followers have gathered statements of support from across the United States, and a congressional resolution called on China to “stop its persecution” of “a peaceful and nonviolent form of personal belief.” A Falun Gong spokesman said 12,000 people signed a petition of support in Seattle before the WTO meeting.
But Schell, when confronted by the Chinese envoy in his office during the chaotic WTO meeting, rescinded his proclamation. He said that he was not familiar with the group and that, as host to the WTO meeting, his city would avoid taking positions on “sensitive trade and political issues.”
… “These are spineless acts,” added Rep. Tom Lantos (D-Calif.), who learned of the letters from U.S. followers of Falun Gong.
Byrnie said Pyke’s letter apologized without actually rescinding the honorary citizenship. Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) called that a “distinction without a difference” and said it was a “green light to the Chinese government to carry on with torture and repression.”
The Chinese Embassy has trumpeted the reversals on its World Wide Web site, calling Falun Gong a “laughingstock in Seattle” and quoting Schell as saying he was “embarrassed by making such a careless proclamation.”
Most municipal and state proclamations are made with little thought in response to requests by constituents. Yesterday Glendening issued a statement calling certificates of honorary citizenship “gestures of hospitality to visitors.” He said he issues anywhere from a few per week to hundreds in a single day. Honorary citizenship “grants no official privileges or status, and does not carry or imply endorsement of . . . any personal religious, philosophical or political beliefs,” he said.
Because the certificate had no political meaning, Glendening added, there was no reason to revoke it.
He also noted that Maryland was founded in 1634 “by those who fled oppression to seek religious freedom and liberty” and that “those who support the principles and values of tolerance . . . will always find a warm welcome in Maryland.”
© Copyright 1999 The Washington Post Company