August 14, 2002
Dear President Bush:
We are writing to you today to bring to your attention new developments and tactics deployed by the president of China, Jiang Zemin, in his campaign of terror against Falun Gong.
You are doubtless already aware that in the past three years, there has been a systematic escalation of horrific attacks launched by Jiang against Falun Gong practitioners. Less well known is just how much this bloody campaign dominates Jiang's agenda, both foreign and domestic, and the extremes to which he will go to carry it out. The persecution has gone beyond China's borders and reached into the land of western democracies.
One by one, Jiang has brought under attack the freedoms and constitutional rights as well as the morality of the entire world.
- Australia - The minister of foreign affairs, Mr. Alexander Downer signed in March of this year, under Beijing's pressure, a certificate that restricts Falun Gong practitioners' protest in front of the Chinese Embassy. On August 8, 2002, Mr. Downer was rewarded with the biggest energy export contract to date -- a $13.5 billion deal to supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) to China.
- Germany - The German government gave in to Jiang's pressure last April when he visited Berlin and blocked Falun Gong practitioners' peaceful protest out of his view. Jiang went so far as to insist that no by-standers "wear the color yellow" - Falun Gong's trademark color during numerous peaceful appeals - within his line of sight.
- Iceland - A blacklist of Falun Gong practitioners' names mysteriously surfaced just days before Jiang visited Iceland in June. Hundreds of those whose names appeared on the blacklist, many of them American citizens, were denied boarding the Icelandair flights at four major US airports and many other major European airports.
- New Zealand - In June of this year, posters that showed the words, "Falun Dafa," and "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance" in both English and Chinese, were removed from the Auckland International Airport and Christchurch bus shelters after several phone calls from the Chinese Embassy in Wellington and the consulate in Auckland were received.
- Hong Kong - Last month, sixteen Falun Gong supporters including four from Switzerland were put on trial in Hong Kong. They are charged with obstruction and assault during a peaceful protest and appeal to the government of China that took place on the sidewalk in front of the Chinese Liaison Office on March 14, 2002. The Chinese government's commitment to "one country, two systems " is now put on trial.
- Cambodia - On August 2, 2002, Cambodian police, under pressure and direction from the Chinese Embassy in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, arrested a Chinese couple who escaped from China to Phnom Penh after Jiang launched the persecution campaign against Falun Gong in July, 1999 and were living and working in the city with U.N. Refugee Certificates.
Mr. President, this evidence reveals a desperate and reckless man, grasping for support for his failed and flawed policy of persecution. In doing so, he has put the cornerstone of the western democracies under serious test.
Disturbingly, this deplorable behavior is now being employed in the United States.
Falun Gong practitioners here in the United States are the victims of death threats, car bombs, vandalism against their homes, cyber attacks and harassment. Our own U.S. government officials have not been spared by Jiang's agenda, either. Chinese agents and consulate employees have applied pressure to U.S. officials at the city and state levels, successfully forcing them in several cases to rescind proclamations supporting Falun Gong in our own land.
Given the increased evidence linking Chinese officials to this wave of persecution, Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) initiated House Concurrent Resolution 188 calling on the Chinese regime to cease its persecution of Falun Gong. It was passed on July 24, 2002 with a sweeping vote of 420-0. "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men and women to do nothing," said Ms. Ros-Lehtinen to her colleagues. "We must send a clear message to the PRC that such behavior will not be tolerated in this country and that violators will be held accountable for their actions."
The position of Congress echoes a statement made by you in a letter to Congressman Benjamin Gilman (R-NY) in March of this year, which stated "We have repeatedly stressed to the Chinese government that there is no justification for its brutal repression of Falun Gong."
Mr. President, should we Americans allow a totalitarian regime stand between our citizens and our rights as guaranteed in the Constitution? Should we allow the Constitution to be trampled here in America and become booty of a greedy evildoer?
Mr. President, it is our hope that the above facts will give you pause - a moment of thought in which to realize just how important it is to rise to this challenge, and come face-to-face with this very real threat. We believe you, the leader of a great nation on Earth, will set an example for the world to follow.
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Sincerely,
A group of Falun Gong practitioners in the U.S.
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Category: Perspectives
