Epoch Times San Francisco Staff

Aug 04, 2006

Lou Hongwei, a recent Cambridge graduate, appeared in front of the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco on July 31 to demand the release of her husband who was detained in Beijing because of his faith in Falun Gong. (Roy McDowell/The Epoch Times)

Lou Hongwei, wife of Asia Foundation employee Bu Dongwei who has been detained in China since May, held a news conference in front of the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco on Monday to demand the release of her husband.

Bu Dongwei was taken away from his residence in Beijing by police on May 19. According to Lou, the only reason for his arrest that she could ascertain from authorities was that he practices Falun Gong.

Falun Gong is a Chinese Qigong that helps practitioners to achieve health by practicing slow motion meditation exercises and cultivating their conduct according to the principles of "truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance."

The Chinese communist regime outlawed Falun Gong in 1999 fearing that the group had grown too large and threatened communist rule. Lou and her husband both started practicing Falun Gong in 1996.

"They took our Falun Gong books. We didn't do anything wrong so we didn't disclose his arrest to the news media," said Lou. "I had hoped to reach my husband and I tried every means, but I couldn't find him. In China, Falun Gong practitioners are arrested not because of their conduct but their belief."

After 70 days without a clue of her husband's whereabouts, Lou realized the only option she had was to take this issue to the public. She flew to San Francisco from Cambridge where she graduated recently to make her last attempt to rescue her husband.

"In China, Falun Gong practitioners are treated worse than murderers. There is a law that allows murderers to defend themselves, but this doesn't apply to Falun Gong practitioners," said Lou. "According to an independent report from Canada, some Falun Gong practitioners' organs were removed while they were still alive. I'm very worried."

"I had first-hand experience of how they treated Falun Gong practitioners," said Lou. She and her husband were sentenced to one year in a labor camp after they wrote to the communist leadership about the unjustified crackdown on Falun Gong.

According to Sherry Zhang, spokesperson for Falun Gong in the Bay Area, the establishment of labor camps may not be legal under Chinese law. Nevertheless, they are widely used to detain Falun Gong practitioners. Many torture methods are used in the labor camps to force Falun Gong practitioners to give up their belief.

"We not only went through inhumane physical punishment but also were deprived of sleep. The psychological punishment was even worse than torture. Some practitioners were given medical injections to break down their nervous system. They (the authorities) do anything to force you to give up your belief."

Lou and her husband survived the labor camp. Bu later took a job at the San Francisco based Asia Foundation. He had been focusing on providing legal assistance to underprivileged groups and individuals. According to its website, the Asia Foundation is a non-profit, non-governmental organization committed to the development of a peaceful, prosperous, just, and open Asia-Pacific region.

Lou will also meet officers from the Asia Foundation to seek ways to rescue her husband. In the meantime, she and her 18-month-old baby girl are enduring many sleepless nights.

Source http://www.theepochtimes.com/news/6-8-4/44564.html