(Minghui.org) The U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) held a hearing on December 18, 2012, titled, “Falun Gong in China: Review and Update.”
Voice of America reported on the CECC hearing, stating that the Chairman of the CECC, House of Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ), and Co-chairman of the CECC, Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), heard testimonies of eight witnesses concerning the status of Falun Gong in China.
Bruce Chung, a Taiwanese Falun Gong practitioner, flew to Washington D.C. to give his personal account of being arrested in China by state security agents, while on a family trip in June. He was released only after he signed a so-called “repentance statement,” which he regards as a “stain” on his character.
Rep. Smith shared an experience that he had about a week ago with a group of high school students from China. When he mentioned Falun Gong to the students, they became very agitated and wanted to avoid the topic. Mr. Smith said that he was surprised at how thoroughly the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) had brainwashed its citizens.
One of the witnesses, Hu Zhiming, a Falun Gong practitioner and former major in the Chinese Air Force, said that the CCP relied on lies and violence in order to sustain the persecution against Falun Gong. Chinese people who didn't have a deep understanding of the meditation practice were deceived by the CCP's lies. Since the CCP was unable to deceive Falun Gong practitioners, they used violence and torture to “transform” practitioners so that they would give up their faith. When Mr. Hu refused to be “transformed,” he was sentenced to eight years in prison. He told members of the hearing that he had started a hunger strike to protest the torture that he had been subjected to. He was later sent to a hospital and forcibly injected with unknown drugs.
Chairman Smith introduced Bill H.R. 2121 last year, which authorizes the U.S. President to deny entry into the United States of Chinese senior officials and their immediate family members who have violated human rights in China.
Radio Free Asia reported on the CECC's hearing in Washington D.C. on Tuesday, in an effort to update its listeners on the status of the persecution of Falun Gong in China.
Rep. Smith attended the U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China hearing. Experts and Falun Gong practitioners gave testimonies at the hearing. Taiwanese Falun Gong practitioner Bruce Chung was the first witness to recount his experience. He started practicing Falun Gong in 2001. He went to Ganzhou City, Jiangxi Province, to visit his family on June 15. As he was getting ready to board his flight back to Taiwan on June 18, he was arrested by Ganzhou City security agents and charged with endangering state security. He was sentenced to 54 days in detention and allowed only one call, which was to his attorney.
Mr. Chung said that Beijing has always been secretly monitoring Falun Gong activities in Taiwan. Chinese security agents had suspected that Mr. Chung had brought broadcasting equipment to China, in order to tap into the state-run TV broadcasting station. He was forced to sign a repentance statement, before they would release him. Chung said that based on his personal experience, Beijing had extended its persecution to Taiwan. “First, according to the Taiwan Falun Dafa Association, I am the seventeenth Taiwanese Falun Gong practitioner to be persecuted in mainland China. Second, the CCP hires overseas spies to illegally collect personal information on Falun Gong practitioners, as well as information on their activities. That way, overseas practitioners will be immediately arrested once they enter mainland China. The international community should condemn these activities.” Mr. Chung thanked the American government and the European Union for all of their rescue efforts.
Hu Zhiming, a former major in the Chinese Air Force, gave his testimony next. He arrived in the United States on August 2, 2012, after years of being persecuted in China. Mr. Hu started practicing Falun Gong in 1997. After the Chinese regime banned Falun Gong on July 20, 1999, his friends suddenly started treating him as if he was their enemy. He was arrested in a Shanghai hotel in October 2000, and thrown into Tilanqiao Prison in April 2002. Hu recalled how he was tied to a prison bed for extended periods of time. After being untied, he said that he was barely able to walk. He was released in 2004. After recuperating for six months, he found a job in Beijing the following year. However, the Beijing police and Domestic Security Division abducted him on September 23, 2005 and sentenced him to four years in prison for introducing people to The Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party,” and telling them about the tide of overseas people quitting the CCP.
Hu started a hunger strike in May 2006, to protest the brutal treatment he was receiving. On the fifth day of his hunger strike, he was shackled and sent to a hospital emergency room in a very weakened state. He was later force-fed in the hospital. They inserted a feeding tube into his nose, measuring about three feet long, then violently pulled it out, which caused severe bleeding and long-term pain whenever he swallowed.
Sarah Cook, senior research analyst at Freedom House, gave an introduction to Falun Gong and discussed why the CCP launched the persecution against the practice in 1999.
Chairman Smith called for both an immediate stop to the CCP's persecution of Falun Gong and the release of prisoners of conscience in China.
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