Feature Article of Yorkshire Post (England): An exercise in Chinese intolerance

(Clearwisdom.net)

December 2, 2001

LITTLE Minghui You only learned to walk a few months ago and dressed in a rose-covered jacket she stumbles around like any other 20-month-old baby eager to explore her new-found freedom.

But Minghui is not like most other babies -- she has no official identity, has had her passport cancelled and faces an uncertain future, all because her mother refuses to give up her spiritual beliefs.

Twenty-nine-year-old Zhengfang Mo, along with millions of other Chinese people, took up Falun Gong to help to improve her mental and physical fitness.

The self-study technique, which involves controlled meditation exercises, was introduced in China in 1992 and was, at one time, practised by over 70 million people.

But as its popularity soared, the Chinese authorities became increasingly concerned about what they perceived as [...] and in July 1999 Falun Gong was banned.

Since then, the communist government has systematically detained practitioners in "reform centres" aimed at rehabilitating them back into normal life.

The Chinese authorities deny allegations of murder and brutality, but according to Amnesty International, at least 77 Falun Gong followers have either died in custody, or shortly after release.

Stories of torture, people being unlawfully detained in labour camps, or fed mind-altering drugs in state hospitals, have emerged with alarming regularity in the past two years, but because of the shackle on information coming out of China the true scale of the persecution is unknown.

Zhengfang, from Chengdu in central China, was one such practitioner who experienced at first-hand the brutality of the Chinese authorities. She visited Leeds with her baby daughter as part of a nationwide tour to highlight alleged atrocities carried out in her homeland.

Zhengfang and her husband Yi You, who were living in Swansea while he was studying at university, returned to China in November 1999, to join a peaceful protest in Tiananmen Square, but the pair were arrested within hours of arriving in Beijing.

Zhengfang, who was eight months pregnant, claimed she was beaten up by guards and kept in a police cell for seven days.

"They asked if we were Falun Gong practitioners, and I said 'yes', so they kicked and punched us, but fortunately they didn't hit my stomach -- I was terrified," she said.

After seven days in a cell where she claimed she was forced to sleep on a table, the pair were deported back to Britain.

A month later Zhengfang gave birth to Minghui and last July travelled to the Chinese Embassy in London to register her daughter.

She claimed she was questioned about Falun Gong and had her passport confiscated because she refused to write a statement renouncing the spiritual movement.

After a month her passport was finally returned but the page for her daughter had been cancelled leaving Minghui, to all intents and purposes, a non-national refugee.

Zhengfang, who finishes her degree in applied computing at Dundee at the end of this month, is worried about her family's future.

"Maybe I will have to apply for asylum because my student visa runs out at the end of the month.

"I can't return to China because I will be arrested immediately, my name is on a blacklist," she said.

"It's a difficult situation -- my baby has no identity but she is innocent, why does she have to suffer?"

Human Rights organisations differ over the extent of the persecution in China, but according to the Falun Gong Information Centre, 274 followers have died in police custody, while tens-of-thousands have been detained in labour camps.

"There is absolutely no question that there is serious persecution of Falun Gong members in China," said Brendan Paddy of Amnesty International.

"Falun Gong members are subjected to serious torture to try and get them to renounce their beliefs [...]."

The Chinese authorities continually deny any human rights violations against Falun Gong followers and refute Zengfang's allegations.

[...]

A spokeswoman for the Foreign office admitted that the treatment of Falun Gong practitioners was a "serious concern" and said that high-level discussions with the Chinese authorities were continuing.

But as Zengfang travels around Britain with Minghui to raise awareness about the continuing persecution in her homeland, she wants little more than the freedom that most of us take for granted.

http://www.ypn.co.uk/scripts/editorial2.cgi?cid=39&aid=414808