(Clearwisdom.net)
Falun Dafa Information Center reported on October 18, 2002:
The "Rescue Our Family Members and Get Them Home" car parade west route arrived at the Chinese General Consulate in San Francisco at noon. They held a press conference together with San Jose residents Hu Zhihua and Fu Fucheng, Fremont resident Zhang Xiaoyan, and Cupertino resident Li Zhiwei. The practitioners called on governments of all levels and kindhearted people to help rescue their family members.
These practitioners on the west route of the rescue effort started from Seattle on October 16th. Before they started, they held a press conference on Westlake Square at the center of the city. Media outlets such as the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and TV station Channel 15 attended the press conference. Three local Chinese newspapers interviewed practitioners either on site or over the phone. The newspapers published the news on the same day. The speakers at the press conference called upon people to speak out their support to help rescue their family members from forced labor camps. At the same time of the press conference, a "Journey of Falun Dafa" photo exhibition was held, attracting many visitors.
  |
  |
| "Rescue our family members and get them home" Car Parade leaves Seattle. | Bay Area residents call for support to save their family members. |
In the San Francisco Bay Area, where many Chinese live, there are five practitioners' family members being detained in China. Hu Zhihua works in a high tech company in Silicon Valley. His two younger brothers are imprisoned in China because they refused to give up their beliefs. The older of his two younger brothers, Hu Zhiqiang, lives in Dangdong City, Liaoning Province. This January, he wrote an email to Hu Zhihua and said he would not give up practicing Falun Gong. This email led him to be sentenced to three years in forced labor camp. Now he has to perform 12 hours of hard labor daily. Hu's youngest brother Hu Zhiming was dismissed from the Chinese Air Force for practicing Falun Gong in 2000. In September 2000, he was arrested in Shanghai and immediately sentenced to 4 years of imprisonment. His only "crime" was "refusing to give up Falun Gong." Hu Zhihua said that his two brothers were very honest and kind people, and both were good in their work and studies. He is very worried about the their safety because in the past two months, over 40 Falun Gong practitioners were reported to have been tortured to death while in police custody.
Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Fu spoke at the press conference. He is an entrepreneur from Chengdu City, Sichuan Province, and his wife is a medical doctor. Since October 1999, she was arrested four times. Now she is still being detained in the Pi County Detention Center. On February 2, 2002, police from the Pi County Police Department and people from the 610 Office took his wife away right in front of him. The first two times his wife was arrested were when he was on business trips. Mr. Fu said, "That day was the darkest day in my life. I was so angry and helpless. I owned a company in China but I could not protect my wife." He joined the car parade after the press conference.
Lu Zhonghua's elder sister Lu Jianhua and Zhang Xiaoyan's elder sister Zhang Alian were both arrested in Lasha Xizhang in Tibet. Lu Jianhua is 47 years old and Zhang Alian is 53 years old. Before, Zhang Alian had a serious illness of the liver. Lu Jianhua was so weak that she couldn't travel far away. After practicing Falun Gong, they became healthy people again. Though one of them lived in Guangdong Province in the southern part of China and the other lived in northern China, their experiences were very similar. First they were repeatedly detained and harassed even after being released. To avoid the harassment from the police, they both traveled thousands miles to the remote area of Lasha Xizhang. At the end of August, they and other nine practitioners were arrested again.
Li Zhiwei's sister Li Zhiping was arrested while walking in the street in Xia County Shanxi Province. The local police department said that they had to wait after the Communist Party 16th National Meeting to discuss when to release her.
Mr. Kim, a member of the car parade, said that the destination of the parade was Texas. Along the way, they will contact local media and governments to let them know the truth about Falun Gong, a peaceful cultivation system. They will also clarify the fact that many family members of American citizens are being persecuted in China because of practicing Falun Gong. Kim said that when more people and governments know the truth, the Jiang regime's lies would have no market.
This team will drive down south to Los Angeles and then through Phoenix. People from the cities along the route will join the car parade, and they are scheduled to arrive in Texas on October 21.
Category: Rallies & Protests
