Friday, March 29, 2002

VASSALBORO - Diane and Mike Pomerleau had waited three days before learning their youngest son was safe after being locked up in China and abused by Chinese authorities this week.

Now, they are waiting again. This time their oldest son, Jason, is missing.

Jason and Dan Pomerleau left Boston on Sunday for China, where they planned to speak out about Falun Gong, a form of meditation banned by the Chinese government.

The brothers split up at an airport in Vancouver, British Columbia. Jason Pomerleau, 25, took a flight to Hong Kong and Dan Pomerleau flew to Beijing. But shortly after Dan Pomerleau arrived, the 20-year-old was incarcerated by Chinese authorities for passing out literature about Falun Gong.

Jason Pomerleau, meanwhile, contacted a fellow Falun Gong practitioner in Boston after arriving in Hong Kong. He called every day after his arrival on Monday, but his family began to worry when they didn't hear from him on Thursday.

Jason Pomerleau introduced Falun Gong to his younger brother about three years ago, giving him a book that describes the methods of meditation and exercise.

When he returned home, Dan Pomerleau said, an official at the U.S. State Department told him that Chinese authorities plan to take harsher action against people who make appeals for Falun Gong.

"Having experienced the viciousness of persecution, I'm very concerned for his safety," Dan Pomerleau said of his brother.

Jason Pomerleau graduated from Tufts University with a double major in biology and environmental science in 1999. He is employed at the Joslin Diabetes Center in Massachusetts.

http://www.portland.com/news/state/020329falun.shtml