(Clearwisdom.net)
[Editor's note: Mr. Wayne Tang was released on November 21 while Ms. Fu Xue-ying is still in detention.]
Hong Kong Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Wayne Tang was detained by police in Shenzhen on November 13. Mr. Tang said he was arrested by the State Security Bureau at the offices of a fashion design company owned by relatives in Shenzhen. Three employees were detained for possessing Falun Gong materials, Tang said. Tang, a 51-year-old businessman who also holds British citizenship, said the State Security Bureau in Shenzhen released him on Thursday, November 20 after authorities found no evidence against him.
Ms. Fu Xue-Ying has been under detention since October 30. Police in Shenzhen detained Fu, a 28-year-old housewife, when she was found distributing Falun Gong VCDs. She is currently being held in the First Detention Center in Nan Shan District of Shenzhen. The Hong Kong Falun Dafa Association urges the Hong Kong SAR government to secure the release of Ms. Fu Xue-Ying because practicing Falun Gong and speaking the truth about Falun Gong are both reasonable and protected under the Chinese Constitution. However, depriving Falun Gong practitioners of their basic human rights is against the law.
According Radio Free Asia on November 19, a Hong Kong Falun Dafa Association spokesperson said two Falun Gong practitioners were arrested in China, and hoped that the Hong Kong SAR government would secure their unconditional release.
According to a report from the Associated Press (AP), the two detained Falun Gong practitioners include a British businessman and a Hong Kong housewife. According to AP, relatives of the two wept at a demonstration, claiming officials at Hong Kong's Immigration Department had refused to help them. "We're urging the Hong Kong government to take a more active role" in the case, said Falun Gong spokesman, Kan Hung-Cheung. The Chinese police are reported to have told Tang's family that Tang was suspected of organizing Falun Gong activities.
About 50 Hong Kong Falun Gong practitioners gathered in front of the Legislative Council Office on Wednesday, November 19, urging Hong Kong legislators to help secure the release of the two Hong Kong Falun Gong practitioners detained in China. After the appeal, they proceeded to the Hong Kong SAR government office, and handed in an appeal letter urging Hong Kong SAR Chief Executive Tung Chee-Hwa to communicate with the Mainland Chinese officials and help free the detained Falun Gong practitioners.
Spokeswoman of the event, Chen Rui-Jin, said that the Chinese officials had not sent relatives of Ms. Fu Xue-Ying and Mr. Wayne Tang any notice of the arrests. Ms. Fu Xue-Ying's family had not received any notice from Nan Shan District police or the First Detention Center. Ms. Fu's husband went to the Nan Shan District Police Station, but was not allowed to visit Ms. Fu, or obtain any information about her arrest.
Mr. Wayne Tang called home after his arrest, to let his family know that he was alive and well. When Tang's family called the State Security Bureau in Shenzhen, the bureau said that they had been onto Tang for some time, but did not provide any explanation of what that meant.
To date, at least three Hong Kong Falun Gong practitioners have been illegally sentenced to jail terms in China. Mr. Chu O-Ming was arrested in 2000 in Beijing, and sentenced to five years in prison. Mr. Chu is currently serving time in a prison in Tianjin. Mr. Zhang Yucang and Mr. Sun Zhongwen were sentenced to three and four years in prison, respectively, by a court in Guangdong Province in October 2002.