The Honorable President Bush,
We are Hong Kong Falun Gong practitioners, and we are delighted that you will meet with Mr. Tung Chee-hwa, the Chief Executive of Hong Kong SAR on July 11, 2001. As we understand Falun Gong would be one of the subjects that Mr. President plans to raise with Mr. Tung, we'd like to take this opportunity to provide you with a brief update on the situation and express our serious concerns over the deterioration of respect for freedom exhibited by Mr. Tung.
Falun Gong is a legally registered group in Hong Kong since mid 1996. As a response to Mainland China's brutal crackdown on Falun Gong, beginning late 1999, practitioners in Hong Kong started to hold peaceful rallies calling for an end to the gross violation of fellow practitioners' basic human rights. Every activity held by Falun Gong practitioners has been peaceful, orderly and law-abiding. Under "One Country Two Systems" and with its exemplary behavior since establishment in Hong Kong, Falun Gong practitioners should be allowed to continue to enjoy their rights and freedoms without prejudice, and should not be treated any differently from other legal groups.
However, Mr. Tung Chee-hwa and his colleagues have irresponsibly attacked Falun Gong in the last few months. By personally declaring Falun Gong "no doubt an [Tung's slanderous term omitted]" when there is no legal or objective definition of an "[Tung's slanderous term omitted]" in Hong Kong, Mr. Tung was clearly trying to please his Beijing boss at the expense of Hong Kong's rule of law. Mr. Tung and his administration have caused great harm to local Falun Gong practitioners.
Although the general public, including legislators, lawyers, religious groups, media groups and private individuals, strongly disagree with Mr. Tung's smear against Falun Gong and have voiced their strong support for the rights of local practitioners, ungrounded rumors from Mainland China and defamatory remarks made by top officials have nevertheless resulted in social discrimination and promoted hatred toward Falun Gong practitioners among uninformed communities in Hong Kong. There have been at least two cases of practitioners being fired from their jobs for practicing Falun Gong. Many more are being discriminated at their workplace as well as in their social and personal lives.
In addition, Mr. Tung is putting the "one country two systems" in jeopardy by verbally attacking Falun Gong without any legal basis. While some people take comfort in Mr. Tung's affirmation that the government would not enact anti-cult legislation at present time, many others worry that this will lay a foundation for a revisit of the subject by Mr. Tung at an opportune time in the future, particularly after Mr. Tung secures a second term at the office.
We are further shocked that Mr. Tung and his colleagues have explicitly stated that they have no interest in communicating directly with local Falun Gong practitioners. They have rejected our repeated calls for a direct and open dialogue to clear up any misunderstandings and to ease their unwarranted fear. This is not a behavior of a "responsible government" who vows to "closely monitor every move of Falun Gong" for the interest of Hong Kong as Mr. Tung and his colleagues frequently claimed.
Like many other Hong Kong people, we are deeply disturbed by Mr. Tung's statements and attitude toward a lawful and peaceful group. Many people fear that it is a sign that Mr. Tung is bowing to the pressure from Beijing against the best interest of Hong Kong. Hong Kong people have clearly expressed their views that they don't want to see Hong Kong become "just another city of China," an outcome that is not in line with the well being of Hong Kong people in particular and our Mainland compatriots in general.
We respectfully urge Mr. President to speak with Mr. Tung Chee-hwa regarding our concern, and help Hong Kong continue to flourish in its tradition of rule of law and respect for human rights. We appreciate the humanitarian support by the United States government as well as voice of justice from all other groups or individuals worldwide.
Thank you for your attention.
Sincerely,
Hong Kong Falun Gong Practitioners
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Category: Perspectives
