August 18, 2003

(Clearwisdom.net) The Japanese newspaper Asahi Shinbun reported on August 9, 2003: "To appeal for the release of a resident of Niigata detained in China, the Alliance for Rescuing Yoko Kaneko will hold a Signature Collection activity in front of Mitsukoshi, Takamatsu City on August 11 and 12. Yoko Kaneko is a Falun Gong practitioner and a Chinese national.

39-year-old Ms. Yoko Kaneko and her Japanese husband live in Hamochi Town, Niigata-Ken. Alliance members said that Ms. Kaneko was arrested and detained in Beijing, China in May 2002 for distributing materials that exposed China's persecution of Falun Gong. She was sentenced to one and a half years of forced labor and is currently detained in a labor camp in Beijing.

To appeal for the release of Ms. Yoko Kaneko, the Alliance started a national tour on June 10, 2003. The Alliance hopes to collect 150,000 signatures and deliver them to the Japanese government at the end of August."