The Epoch Times: My Chinese Nationality Is Taken Away

The front page of the author's passport is shown on the left, alongside a receipt from Sydney's Chinese consulate.

Translated from the Chinese Edition

Jul 13, 2004

On June 17, 2001, I lost my nationality. That was after the Chinese consulate in Sydney, Australia refused to extend my passport. Their reason was: "You are special and you are from the outside."

My Chinese passport was due to expire on June 17, 2001. On May 25, 2001 I went to the Chinese consulate to apply for an extension. When I handed in my passport, application form and photo, the staff member checked my passport and then gave me a passport receipt.

This receipt usually has a date when the passport can be collected, but instead of a date, my receipt just had the words "wait for notice." I asked the staff member when I could collect my passport and he told me, "Just go back and wait for notice." I asked, "Why?" He didn't answer me. Then I found another on-duty manager, Consul Ju. I showed him my passport collection receipt, and asked him, "Can you tell me why I have to wait for notice to extend my passport?" He told me, "You didn't follow enough procedures." I explained that I had followed all the procedures. He made a telephone call to internal staff members, and then pointed at the gate, and said in a very unfriendly manner, "You are special and you are from outside." After that, he paid no more attention to me.

What Mr. Ju really meant was that I am one of the Falun Gong practitioners who meditate outside the Chinese consulate in Sydney, appealing for an end to the suppression of Falun Gong in China.

I started practicing Falun Gong in January 1998. Before that, I didn't believe in qigong. [Qigong is a general term for meditative exercise practices that are popular in China. Falun Gong is considered a type of qigong.] However, after my husband started practicing Falun Gong, and I saw how much he changed both physically and mentally, I decided I would read the [Falun Gong] book Zhuan Falun. After reading it several times, I began to understand that the reason people suffer pain, diseases and other misfortunes is because of selfishness and greed. Since then, I started changing myself, following the guiding principles in Zhuan Falun of truthfulness, compassion and tolerance. I also started practicing the exercises.

In less than three months, my chronic, incurable asthma disappeared. I was a lot happier than before and my friends and family noticed that I was a totally different person and recognized that Falun Gong is good.

A few weeks after I tried to renew my passport, Mr. Ju rang me one night. He asked me whether I practice Falun Gong. I told him that I did, and asked, "Is this related to my passport extension?" He said, "Of course. We have rules from our authority stating that people like you have to write promise notes." I asked what kind of promise notes, and he told me, "If you promise that you won't meditate outside the Chinese consulate, then we will think about extending your passport."

I told Mr. Ju that I meditate outside the consulate because Jiang Zemin's government persecuted to death so many innocent people who cultivate truthfulness, compassion and tolerance. I told him that we go there to tell the world that what the government did was wrong. I told him that I wouldn't write any promises. If Jiang's government stopped persecuting Falun Gong, there would be no need for me to meditate outside the consulate. He said, "I'll give you some time to think about it carefully." I said, "There's nothing to think about."

A few days later, I went to the consulate to find Consul Ju. He didn't have time to see me that day. So the next morning, I went to the waiting room on the second floor. When Mr. Ju met me, he had my passport in one hand, and promise notes in the other. He asked, "Have you made your decision? As long as you write a promise that you won't practice Falun Gong and won't meditate outside the Chinese consulate, I will extend your passport." I told him, "I will never write any promises. What rules or regulation state that people who practice Falun Gong cannot have their passports extended? Give me a reason why I can't have my passport extended."

Mr. Ju gave me back my passport and said, "That's the rule from our authority. If you won't write a promise, I can't extend your passport."

I handed in a valid passport, but when Consul Ju handed back my passport on September 17, it had expired. Jiang's government took away my right to be a Chinese citizen, and changed me into someone with no nationality.

http://english.epochtimes.com/news/4-7-13/22425.html