AFP: Mother of Beijing-held Falun Gong Member Ends Walk for Son's Return

HONG KONG, Aug 10, 2001 -- (Agence France Presse) The mother of a local Falun Gong member held in Beijing ended her three-day protest walk here on Friday to seek his release.

Lau Yuk-ling, 58, made her last 10-kilometer (six-mile) walk on Hong Kong island to the Chinese government's liaison office here, in her campaign for the release of her Beijing-born son, Chan Yuk-to, 35, whose whereabouts are unknown since he was arrested on July 12.

"It is not only an appeal to seek the release of my son, but to let the people of Hong Kong know about the brutal persecution of Falun Gong practitioners on the mainland," Lau told AFP.

Lau, who is also a member of the religious [group], said her husband had so far failed in attempts to see their son who was said to be detained in a Beijing jail.

Some 20 other practitioners accompanied Lau in the final walk with a gathering in Chater Garden in the financial district of Central in a show of support for Chan as well as other practitioners persecuted in China.

She called on the Beijing authorities to release her son so that they could be reunited in her open letter to the Chinese liaison office here.

Lau started her walk to campaign for the release of her son in eastern Kowloon on Wednesday.

Last week, she petitioned Hong Kong immigration authorities to ask the government for assistance in investigating the case.

Chan, who had moved to Hong Kong in 1992, had been working in the Chinese capital for a foreign company as a technician for two years when he was suddenly seized by Beijing police, who provided no reason for his arrest.

China outlawed the Falun Gong in July 1999 after the group staged a massive silent protest in Beijing, and authorities have rounded up hundreds of practitioners. But the movement remains legal in Hong Kong. ((c) 2001 Agence France Presse)

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