March 5, 2003 Wednesday

I READ the article you wrote on the Ashfield Council and how it dealt with the issue of Falun Gong (The Glebe, February 19).

I was deeply saddened by the attitude of certain councillors who prefer to remain silent in fear of offending the Chinese consulate.

The facts are that as I write to you at this moment, tens of thousands are being held in camps in China and millions have lost their basic human rights for wanting to follow the principles of truth, compassion and tolerance.

In these days of demonstrations for peace, we should seriously think about how the future will judge us.

Remaining silent is to agree with those who persecute innocent people.

Thomas Dobson, Summer Hill