Assembly
California Legislature

Patricia Wiggins
Assembly Member, Seventh District

Memorandum

Date: August 27, 2001

To: Whom It May Concern

From: Assembly Member Patricia Wiggins

Re: Falun Gong Practitioners Illegally Detained in China

To Whom It May Concern:

I write to request the immediate release of Dr. Teng Chunyan, a respected New York acupuncturist and permanent United States resident, and the hundreds of other innocent Falun Gong practitioners being illegally detained at the Masanjia Labor Camp in Shenyang, China.

It is unconscionable to me that in this day and age, a group that practices truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance, can be the continuous victims of torture, illegal prosecutions, forced and unwarranted commitments to labor camps, mental hospitals, and jails. Dr. Teng was jailed in China after exposing to the nations of the world, the abuse endured by hundreds of Falun Gong practitioners who have been forced in to mental hospitals throughout China.

To date, at least 267 people have died as a result of the torture and police brutality during the Chinese government's crackdown on the innocent Falun Gong practitioners - this absurdity cannot continue. The Jiang Zemin government must stop this unjust persecution and release all the illegally detained Falun Gong practitioners.

Respectfully,

(Signature)
Patricia Wiggins
Assembly Member, 7th District
California State Legislature