By Lauren Janis
Burlington County Times

PHOTO/PETE PICKNALLY

Gang Chen (left) who was held prisoner in China for 18 months because of his belief in the practice of Falun Gong, sits at his new home in Evesham wirh his wife, Pin Bai, and his parents, Ningfang and Rutang Chen.

EVESHAM - With searing clarity, Gang Chen recalls the 18 months he was held in a Chinese labor camp. He remembers the agony of not being permitted to sleep for 15 consecutive days, the pain of being beaten by 10 men, and the electric shocks that made him feel that his skin was being set on fire.

"I have recovered from most of the physical damage, but the memory is still painful," Chen said of the torture he endured from June 2000 to December 2001. "I need a longer time to recover from that." Chen was held prisoner for his belief in Falun Gong, a spiritual practice of exercise and meditation banned in China.

When Falun Gong was publicly introduced in China in 1992, the Chinese government endorsed it for its health benefits and its focus on moral behavior. By 1999, there were 70 million to 100 million practitioners of Falun Gong in China, a number that exceeded the membership of the Communist Party. Considered a threat to the regime, the Chinese government banned Falun Gong in July 1999.

The next year, Chen was arrested and taken to a labor camp. After 18 months of torture, he was released, but his actions were monitored at his home in Beijing. Finally, with help from his family, he found a job with a company in the United States that was willing to bring him here on a work visa. He applied for and was granted immigration. Seven weeks ago, he was reunited with his sister and parents in Evesham.
Now that he is here, he is speaking out.

"We have no voice in China because everything is controlled by the government," he said, "so it's very important to ask foreign people in a country of freedom to understand and speak up. Otherwise, the persecution will not be restrained."

Chen has joined Coast-to-Coast Rescue Drive, a nationwide effort to raise awareness of the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners and particularly of the plight of Dr. Charles Lee, a California doctor who has been jailed in China for more than six months.

The drive began in San Francisco last month and has traveled across the country. Chen joined rallies last week in New York, Delaware and Pennsylvania to tell of his persecution. Next week, he will head to Maryland and Washington, D.C.

After that, Chen will get back to work. He has a three-year visa to work at an import-export company and hopes ultimately to stay here permanently. Compared to what he has lived through, Chen said his life here feels like a dream.

"At first I could not believe it was real," he said. "After so many torments, the difference is huge. Life here is free. Everyone is kind. I'm not persecuted for my beliefs. It's like being reborn."

For his family, Chen's safe homecoming seemed equally unreal.
"I kept suppressing my emotions and not letting myself believe," said his sister, Ying Chen, who moved to Evesham 15 years ago. "It was not until I actually saw him here that I released all the emotions and cried out and hugged him. Even the next morning, I said, 'You're here. It's real.' "

Ying Chen opened her home to her parents three years ago and has now made room for her brother and his wife. Now that the family members are reunited, they want to use their good fortune and newfound freedoms to get results.

"I am free now and living happily with my family, but I am getting more and more worried about others being tortured," Gang Chen said. "We are calling for help to stop the persecution."

http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/112-09152003-159799.html