World News

On March 27th, the organisers placed an advertisement in the newspaper “Romania libera”. Very soon after the paper came out, at around 10:00 am on March 27th, the organisers received a phone call from a Mr. Chen (or Chan) who introduced himself as a representative of the Chinese Embassy in Bucharest and who told them that “the Chinese government does not allow such an activity” and told them to cancel the event.

Between March 21 and 27 2003, Mrs. Zhang Cuiying’s painting exhibition was successfully held in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine. Many spectators appreciated Mrs. Zhang’s outstanding traditional Chinese paintings and came to understand her experiences of practising Falun Gong.

“This show trial of an American makes a mockery of the so-called ‘rule of law’ in China,” says Falun Dafa Information Center spokesman Erping Zhang. “In fact, it is, in essence, a trial for the Communist legal system in China, which can prosecute any innocent citizen including an American doctor for its political interests.”

Representative of the European Falun Dafa Association said in the opening remarks that in these especially difficult times when lies, hatred and intolerance are predominant, faced with the urgency of the situation, we Falun Gong practitioners, on this symbolic day of the opening of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, appeal to all people of the world to stop the Chinese authorities’ persecution of Falun Gong.

According to an August 24, 1999 AFP report: “The Chinese Government has ordered Chinese lawyers not to plead for Falun Gong practitioners. This order comes from the notices of Bureau of Justice to attorney offices in major cities.”

Since the House of Commons and Senate accepted the motion in October 2002, this Bill has had a positive effect. It was instrumental in the release of three Canadian residents’ family members in China who had been sent to forced labor camps for practicing Falun Gong.

On behalf of Friends of Falun Gong, I am writing to express our deep concern about the impending deportation to China of an elderly couple, Mr. Wang Juntao, 66 and Ms. Wang Liluan, 62. Friends of Falun Gong is a U.S.-based nonprofit human rights organization consisting of about 1,000 members who support the freedom of belief of persons who practice Falun Gong.

Over 1,000 Falun Gong practitioners have gathered this week in Geneva to bring
attention to the nationwide persecution of Falun Gong in China during the United
Nation Commission on Human Rights’ annual meeting.

UK Falun Gong practitioner Lili Lin, after being imprisoned for 15 days in a deportation centre by the UK Home Office, was released around 2pm on March 14th. She left the deportation centre at London Gatwick Airport and is now back home in Liverpool.