Tommy Xu's Statement about Chicago Consulate's Denying His Passport Renewal

My name is Zhiwei Xu (Tommy), Ph.D., a Research Scientist at Motorola Labs. I have practiced Falun Gong for five years. My passport renewal application was rejected by the Chinese Consulate in Chicago on April 26. Even though they refused to give me any reason, both sides know very well they did so because I am a Falun Gong practitioner

On April 22, 2002, Consul Ye Zhen from the Passport Service called my home with the excuse of making a general investigation. The real purpose of this phone call was to verify whether I had once been the local Falun Gong contact person in Florida. My case lends support to the evidence that the Consulate keeps a black list of overseas Falun Gong practitioners. Actually, you don't have to investigate me in such an underhanded way. I can tell you now: I, Zhiwei Xu, am a Falun Gong practitioner no matter where I am. I was a practitioner when I was in Florida. I am a practitioner here in Chicago. And I will be a Falun Gong practitioner forever. It doesn't matter whether you call me a contact person, or coordinator, or ordinary practitioner, I will do whatever I can to expose the brutal persecution of Falun Gong practitioners to everyone I know and I don't know.

During the last three years Jiang's regime has used all means, including the army, police, spies, and diplomatic personnel to persecute kindhearted practitioners. When the staged Tiananmen self-immolation, Fu Yibing's case and the like were exposed, they didn't regret the lies they had told, but simply became even more brutal. The Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., and the Chinese Consulates around the country, actively participate in the persecution as well, aggressively bringing the persecution here inside the United States. They have used all kind of base means, such as threats, beatings, setting a car on fire, etc. to stop the voice of justice. What they have done, no matter whether driven by the pressure from higher authorities, or done for the sake of some tiny interest of their own, can only bring shame to themselves, and serves only to reveal further the ugly face of Jiang Zemin.

According to sources inside the Chinese government, by October 2001 more than 1600 Falun Gong practitioners had been tortured to death. Tens of thousands have been tortured while confined in labor camps, prisons, and mental hospitals. My mother is a Falun Gong practitioner in China. A retired, older lady, with no interest in politics, she was nevertheless not safe from persecution, and has been arrested twice. She was detained for four months the first time and three months the second time. During the detention, she had no choice but to launch a hunger strike against the mistreatment. She almost died after ten days of being on hunger strike. The authorities, fearing their brutality would be exposed, didn't allow my father to visit her. In addition, my parent's home was ransacked. The police broke into their home at midnight, grabbing everything they could take, including all the letters and photos I had sent home, and my mother's passport. So my mother couldn't come to the United States to attend her only son's Ph. D. graduation ceremony. My friends, don't you think I should stand up and speak out against all this unfairness?

In speaking out, I only do what any Chinese should do, I give voice to justice and my conscience. But this becomes their excuse for further persecution, trying to deprive me of my right to stay in USA. Without a passport, I will not be able to travel outside the U.S. If I cannot get my passport renewed before it expires, my legal status in the U.S. will be jeopardized, unless I apply for asylum. That would create many difficulties for me. With no passport, how can I maintain the H1-B visa I need to continue working at Motorola? If I have to go back to China, my wife (H4 Visa) has to go with me. My young son is a US citizen and only five months old. Since I don't have any relatives in US, my son has to go with us back to China. They are using such contemptible means to force my whole family to return to China, where there will be no restraints on their ability to persecute us. Can one believe that anyone would want to persecute the simple pursuit of "Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance?" And can one believe the way in which China forcefully denies the universal right to tell the truth?

I would like to tell those Consuls who have participated directly in the persecution of Falun Gong: your work and pay check are not given by Jiang Zemin, but by ordinary Chinese people. Chinese people are your true employers, including Falun Gong practitioners in China. As a government officer, who gives you the right to be so rude to the Chinese people overseas whom you are supposed to serve! You take the money that comes from the people, and then you persecute them. Where is your sense of conscience?

Good will be rewarded with good, and evil with evil. History rewards benevolent acts and penalizes atrocities. History will reveal the goodness of Falun Gong.

The following Consuls are responsible for my case:

Shen Weilian

Wei Ruixing

Ye Zhen

What they have done today will be the evidence they will have to face tomorrow.