9/10/03

WASHINGTON, Sept. 10 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Friends of Falun Gong USA is pleased to learn of the Hong Kong government's recent decision to shelve its proposed anti-subversion legislation known as Article 23. The legislation, which was pushed by Beijing and was dangerously vague in criminalizing "treason, sedition, subversion and the theft of state secrets," set off the largest round of public protests by Hong Kong citizens since the days following the 1989 student repression in Tiananmen Square. More than 500,000 took to the streets in a peaceful demonstration on July first alone.

When the legislation was introduced in September 2002, many groups, including business leaders, human rights advocates, and journalists, saw it as an infringement on the basic freedoms guaranteed under China's "one-country; two systems" policy. FoFG viewed it as a convenient tool for Beijing to extend its violent repression of Falun Gong followers and other peaceful groups to Hong Kong. Under China's current totalitarian regime, practicing a few sets of exercises before going to work in the morning is considered a highly "subversive" and "treasonous" act.

Friends of Falun Gong USA applauds the Hong Kong government's decision to listen to its citizenry and to keep Hong Kong out from under the same veil of terror that currently shrouds tens of millions of Falun Gong practitioners and others in Mainland China. We remain optimistic that the current persecution of Falun Gong, which has lasted for more than four years now and has resulted in at least 770 confirmed deaths, hundreds of thousands of arrests, and countless stories of horror and hardship, will soon be brought to an end. We look forward to the day when former head of state Jiang Zemin and those other few persons responsible for implementing this persecution will be brought to justice under lawsuits that have been filed in U.S., Belgium, and Icelandic courts. At the same time, we once again call upon world leaders, the United Nations, human rights organizations, and people of goodwill to heed the human rights crisis unfolding in China. Not one verifiable case of violent retaliation has been reported as Falun Gong adherents continue to be punished for upholding their beliefs and demanding the freedoms guaranteed to them under the Chinese constitution. Like the non-violent actions of Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatmas Gandhi, they deserve the free worlds' full support and admiration.

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=120-09102003