April 18, 2002

Dear Mrs. Zhang:

Thank you very much for your recent e-mail message.á I appreciate you taking the time to contact me about your husband's situation.

I understand the difficulties that you and your family must be going through with your husband being held in China.á Please accept my heartfelt sympathies for the pain you must be suffering.á My office has received numerous letters from concerned Canadians over the current conflict over Falun Gong practitioners.á I am deeply troubled over the treatment that these individuals receive and sincerely hope for a peaceful resolution
that sees the human rights of those who practice Falun Gong respected.

Like you, the Canadian Alliance believes that Canada can and should play a major role in fostering and protecting human rights.á We will continue to speak out against human rights abuses around the world, and will do what we can to bring pressure to bear on those governments in a way which will benefit their citizens and global neighbors.

The Canadian Alliance has taken an active role in urging the government to put pressures on countries which flagrantly abuse human rights.á Canadian Alliance MPs have personally urged Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham to support censuring China at the Human Rights Commission in Geneva.á The Canadian Alliance believes that Canada should use its position on the Human Rights Committee to support human rights protection and to put pressure on those states that consistently fail to abide by the Declaration of Human Rights.

Thank you once again for taking the time to write to me.á I sincerely hope for the safe return of your husband and an end to all human rights abuses.

Sincerely,

John Reynolds, M.P.
Leader of the Opposition