(Clearwisdom.net) At 11 a.m. on February 26, a North California organization, "Friends of Charles Li" held a news conference in front of the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco to urge the Chinese government to immediately release American Falun Gong practitioner Dr. Charles Li, who has been wrongfully detained in China. On January 22, Dr. Li was arrested at the Guangzhou Airport in China. His fiancée, Ms. Yeong Ching Foo, delivered a petition letter to the Chinese Consulate and was interviewed by the press.

Press conference	Rescue Charles Li Interstate Car Tour

Delivering the petition letter

On February 25, 2003, officers from the San Francisco Police Department phoned the Chinese Consulate to inform them that Falun Gong practitioners would hand in a petition letter. However, the Chinese Consulate appeared to be indifferent towards the practitioners' appeal. Their attitude was cold and detached. The staff in the Consulate did not open the door, nor did they come out to receive the letter. Under this circumstance, Ms. Yeong Ching Foo faced the gate of the Consulate and loudly read her petition letter.

In her letter, Ms. Foo requested to directly talk with Charles Li and to see her fiancée in person, because this is a most fundamental human right.

She said in her letter that the Chinese government unlawfully arrested her fiancée Xiangchu Li and attempted to use fabricated accusations to put him into jail under a heavy sentence. In fact, Charles Li was arrested simply because he practices Falun Gong. Hundreds of thousands of kind Falun Gong practitioners have been detained, violently beaten and cruelly tortured, some were even tortured to death. Ms. Foo said that in face of the nearly four years of brutal persecution, Falun Gong practitioners have used only peaceful ways to appeal for their fundamental right -- the freedom of belief, a right guaranteed by the Chinese constitution.

In an interview, Yeong Ching Foo said that her fiancée has been imprisoned for 34 days. The Chinese government has not provided any formal accusations and has not allowed any family members to visit Charles. Charles is only permitted to have 30 minutes every month to talk with an US diplomat in China. Other than that, he is completely separated from the outside world. She pointed out that the Chinese government routinely arrests people first and then makes accusations later. It isolates the detainees and then uses brainwashing and torture to coerce them to "confess" their so-called crimes. Such behavior is immoral and should not be tolerated.

The news conference marked the first stop of the "Rescue Charles Li Interstate Car Tour."

ABC TV, KQED radio station, the World Journal, Epoch Times, New Tang Dynasty TV and Voice of the Bay Area came to cover the event.