Statement
Erping Zhang, President, Falun Gong International Committee for Human Rights,
Open Forum on Human Rights and the Rule of Law in China
04 March 2002

Mr. Chairman, members of this Commission, ladies and gentlemen:

Thank you for giving us this opportunity to speak on the flight of Falun Gong practitioners in China.

As you may recall, the United States House and Senate unanimously passed concurrent resolutions in November 1999, condemning the People's Republic of China for its brutal persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. Some victims have also been invited to testify their stories before the Congress. We are grateful for the support the US Congress has shown us during this difficult time.

We are, however, sad to report that in the year 2002, the repression has only worsened. At last count, it has been confirmed that 375 practitioners have died in police custody since Falun Gong was banned in China in July of 1999, while the unofficial report is over 1,600 deaths. Chinese vice premier, Li Lanqing, said in a speech that in just three short months between July and October of 1999, over 35,000 people who appealed to the Beijing regime were arrested. According to human rights groups and media reports, at least 100,000 people have been sent to labor camps without a trial; some 600 people have been handed extended jail sentences up to 18 years; more than 1,000 have been sent to mental institutions where they are given forced injections and drugs.

One harrowing case is that of Ms. Zhao Xin, a 32-year-old lecturer in economics at Beijing Business University. After she was rounded up in a park for doing her exercises with her friends, police beat her so viciously that they crushed three of the vertebrae in her spine. She was paralyzed from the neck down, and her vocal cords were damaged during surgery so she could no longer speak. Later, she died, and the police tried to interrupt her funeral procession organized by her university colleagues and students. We can imagine the despair of her family - all their efforts to appeal to the courts or to get some explanation from the authorities about how their daughter could have been treated in this way have been summarily dismissed.

Su Gang, a young software engineer from Shandong Province was injected with nerve-damaging drugs while he was kept in a mental hospital. Within a week, this healthy man became extremely weak and his motor functions were severely compromised. He was released only because a family member went on a hunger strike on his behalf, but it was too late - he died shortly thereafter.

For every case that we know about, there are many, many more, and there are cases of discrimination and harassment that, while less severe than torture, have nonetheless wreaked havoc with people's lives. Thousands upon thousands of practitioners have lost their jobs, schools, pensions, and even their homes. Unlike in the U.S., Chinese citizens cannot just change jobs as they wish, so many families have become destitute and must rely on the kindness of friends and other practitioners. In some towns, corrupt local police are demanding stiff 'fines' before they release Falun Gong practitioners from detention, and very often the amount is more than the life savings of entire families.

The list of abuses continues to grow. But counter to the Chinese Government's expectations, Falun Gong practitioners are going stronger in their nonviolent struggle for freedoms. If there is one thing that the world is beginning to see is the sheer perseverance of the Falun Gong practitioners in China. They know that their cause is just.

As a spiritual practice with ancient cultural roots, Falun Gong is based on undeniably good and universal principles of Truthfulness, Benevolence, and Forbearance. In addition to the health benefits, Falun Gong has guided people to achieve greater inner peace and wisdom. Over the past two years, the practice has helped people develop a strength of character that is not commonly seen. With all the beatings and mistreatment, the practitioners in China have not retaliated and, in many instances, they are turning the other cheek. They are forbearing, and they have chosen to use only peaceful, non-violent means to appeal. People sometimes ask why the practitioners in China don't just denounce Falun Gong, and then practice it secretly anyway. For many millions, the reason is simple - such an action would be a lie and a betrayal of their deepest convictions. These are people who don't just pay lip service to their integrity - they live it.

Given the escalating persecution against other spiritual and religious faiths in China, Rabbi David Saperstein, former Chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has said "Falun Gong has almost become the symbol of religious freedom more broadly." These practitioners are showing the people of China that freedom of belief is so utterly basic to almost every other freedom. No matter what your faith may or may not be, what we as human beings believe in our souls must ultimately arise from free will. History tells us that anyone who tries to dictate otherwise is ultimately not fighting on the right side.

Falun Gong is not a China issue, but an international matter. Recently, groups of Western Falun Gong practitioners throughout the world went to Tiananmen Square in Beijing to peacefully appeal to the Chinese regime for stopping the killing and lifting the ban. Over 30 of them were Americans. For their peaceful appeal, they were harshly treated and physically abused before being deported. Many had their personal belongings taken away by police such as credit cards, cash, cameras, etc. It is hard to imagine that this apolitical meditation is being peacefully practiced in over 40 countries, and yet it is brutally suppressed in its homeland.

While China is stepping up its domestic efforts in persecuting Falun Gong practitioners, its propaganda and harassment against Falun Gong have also arrived overseas, especially here in America. The Wall Street Journal reported (Feb. 21, 2002):

"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 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."

Such blunt assault on the civil liberty of US citizens and intervention on American internal affairs are in direct violation of the US and international laws. Last month, He Yafei, deputy chief of mission of the Chinese Embassy visited Mr. Rocky Anderson, Mayor of Salt Lake City, who issued a proclamation last year honoring Falun Gong. In a "security briefing" for Mr. Anderson, He attempted to label Falun Gong as a "terrorist group," as Falun Gong was one of many groups that had applied for permission to hold a peaceful demonstration during the Olympics. The Wall Street Journal reported: "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.'" We appeal to this Congressional-Executive Commission on China to investigate and stop such harassment by the Chinese Government on the U.S soil.

We are hoping to work with this Commission to put in place concrete and specific measures to (1) pressure the Beijing regime to release those detained and imprisoned Falun Gong practitioners; (2) help those imprisoned Falun Gong practitioners seeking medical treatment abroad, due to maltreatment and harsh conditions in prison; (3) hold hearings for victims of Falun Gong practitioners so that this largest modern-day atrocity in China is highlighted; (4) identify those Chinese officials who have engaged in human rights abuses and ban them from entering the U.S.; (5) use every opportunity and tool this Commission has to call for an end of Beijing's suppression of Falun Gong.

Thank you for your consideration, and I will be pleased to take your questions.

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