Manningham Leader (Australia): Widow Tells of Horror

Mr. Chengyong Chen believed in truth, compassion and tolerance.

And for that Jane Dai says her husband was kidnapped, brutally tortured, and murdered.

Fearing for her life, Mrs. Dai fled China with her nine-month-old daughter in 2001 after her husband was arrested and sent to a detention centre for practicing Falun Gong, the traditional Chinese spiritual discipline.

Desperate to find her husband alive, a simple Internet search from her new home in Australia confirmed Mrs Dai's worst fears when her husband's partially decomposed body was found in an abandoned hut.

"I was completely speechless when I found out. I was in shock. My hair literally went white overnight," Mrs Dai said.

The 42-year-old is determined that the rest of the world know why her husband, 34, died. She has visited 41 countries since his death to spread the word.

"When I look at my daughter I see him, and it makes me happy and sad at the same time," she said. "I got a chance to speak out because I am an Australian citizen, but this has happened to thousands of families and they don't have a chance to speak."

Mrs. Dai said that her husband's persecution started in 1999 when the government-owned paper mill he worked at forced its employees to stop working and instead watch propaganda for the entire day.

She said the Communist Party had become suspicious of the challenge Falun Gong represented to the party and banned it. (1)

"They were brainwashing them, and if they didn't support the Communist Party, they would lose their jobs," Mrs Dai said. "The Government also shut down all the media in China. We had only [anti-Falun Gong] propaganda on the radio, television and the newspapers."

Tortured and [subjected to brainwashing] repeatedly, Mr. Chen was arrested three times, never abandoning his belief. He was even homeless at one stage, too scared to go home for fear of being arrested again.

"In 2000 he was arrested and forced to watch propaganda for 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If he fell asleep they would beat him and pour water over him," Mrs. Dai said.

Now living at Box Hill with her five-year-old daughter, Mrs. Dai wants to continue traveling the world to spread the truth.

"It's the children who are the most vulnerable and innocent," she said.

(1) Editor's note: Falun Gong is not a political organization and has no political aspirations. Falun Gong teaches people to be good citizens and kind people under all circumstances. Any fears of political challenge on the part of the Communist Party were completely unfounded.