(Clearwisdom.net) At noon, November 13, Falun Gong practitioners in the San Francisco Bay area held a press conference in front of the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco to expose the Jiang regime's escalating persecution against Charles Li, a Falun Gong practitioner and U.S. citizen who has been illegally imprisoned in China since last January. Practitioners have heard that the Jiang regime has forced Charles Li to attend brainwashing sessions 3 hours per day and is attempting to force him to admit that his righteous act was a crime. Practitioners thus strongly demand that the Jiang regime immediately release Charles Li unconditionally and end the persecution against all Falun Gong practitioners.

In front of Chinese Consulate	Interviewing Ms. Yeong-Ching Foo

Ms. Yeong-Ching Foo, Charles Li' s fiancée, also attended the press conference. She said: "From a conversion with Charles Li on November 5, the American Consulate official in Shanghai, China has learned that Charles Li has been forcefully dragged to brainwashing sessions and forced to stay there for 3 hours a day over the past one month. Furthermore, the Chinese Ministry of Public Security has sent an official named Gong Shao to talk with Charles Li and try to force him to admit guilt. Shao also threatened that Charles would be in trouble if Charles refused to meet with him."

Ms. Yeong-Ching Foo also said, "Charles' several request to see U.S. consulate officials were all rejected by the prison officials. They dispatched 6 inmates to his cell to monitor him around the clock and prevent him from practicing Falun Gong. These prisoners are drug abusers and/or criminals. Charles has been clarifying the truth to them, and some later found their conscience and no longer mistreated Charles. The prison officials thus replace them frequently with new inmates to monitor Charles Li. The Chinese communist regime has also pressured Charles Li's brother, wanting to know who is rescuing Charles Li in the U.S."

Ms. Yeong-Ching Foo said, "The purpose of the brainwashing is to torture him mentally and force him to give up Falun Gong practice and belief in Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance. Even a U.S. citizen has been tortured in such a way; it is beyond imagination how the Chinese government treats its own citizens."

Falun Gong spokeswoman Sherry Zhang said, "Brainwashing is a means of mental torture. In appearance, the person suffering from brainwashing doesn't have any cuts and bruises, however, forcing a person to give up his belief is equivalent to forcing him to give up his conscience and himself. The person consequently loses his own dignity. He would not be himself any more. He would feel that he would rather die. Therefore, brainwashing is a torture no less than other physical torture methods."

"Freedom of speech and belief is the fundamental and most precious value of mankind. We call on people from all walks of life to speak out to stop the Chinese regime's persecution of fundamental human rights." In her speech addressing the issue of the Chinese regime's persecution against Falun Gong practitioners, holocaust survivor Lisa Raphael said, "We must not stay blind this time. We must not kid ourselves into thinking that what happens elsewhere in the world is not our business. I urge each of you to do whatever you can to protest the actions of the Chinese government towards practitioners of Falun Gong. One voice CAN count. Several voices together CAN make a difference. "