Falun Gong is
freely practiced in more than 50 countries, but relentlessly persecuted in
China. The peaceful courage of practitioners there has shocked their oppressors
and moved the people of the world. While China continues to block information
about the persecution, FGMtv brings you the stories you may not hear anywhere
else.
Hello, and
welcome to the FGMtv weekly news review
on September 10th,
2002
I'm Susan
Mitchell
and I¨m David
Tompkins
In this week's update from China´
， The number of Falun Gong practitioners verified to have died while in detention is 466, with details of 2 more deaths received in the past week. However, reliable sources inside China put the actual death count in the thousands.
， In the last 7 days, reports of persecution have come in from 16 provinces and from the cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, and Chongqing
， 461 people solemnly declared their statements extracted under torture are null and void. They said they intend to continue to practice Falun Gong.
Our top story this week:
Falun Gong practitioners met with Officials from the Icelandic Government in hopes of resolving the blacklisting and detention of practitioners in June.
And some of our other
stories:
，
The public appeal in Canada for the release of
relatives had its first success
， An update on the investigation of China¨s mental hospitals
， Secret trials
， The price of persecution in Wenzhou
， Healthy children in Australia
， An SOS bicycle trip in Germany
， And, an old woman is able to walk again after 21 years of being bedridden
Dialogue is unresolved between Falun Gong practitioners and the Icelandic Government
， On September 6, 2002 eight Falun Gong practitioners from the US, Canada and Europe met with Icelandic government officials from the Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Foreign Affairs to discuss the blacklisting and detention of practitioners in June of this year.
， In particular, they discussed ways to remedy the situation and ensure that this could not happen again.
， However, little progress was made.
， When Jiang Zemin visited Iceland earlier this year more than 100 practitioners had their visas denied,
， were turned away at the border,
， were held in a makeshift detention center, and/or
， were denied boarding on IcelandAir flights in Europe and North America
， Icelandic officials did not deny that the list used to identify practitioners had come from Jiang¨s regime.
， They did however deny that it came from Interpol.
， They also said that although most copies of the list had been destroyed, one still remained on file.
， Practitioners expressed that by caving in to the Jiang regime's pressure, the Icelandic government damaged their standing in the international community.
， They said that they believed the ban was a consequence of incorrect information they received about Falun Gong.
， They hoped that through dialogue, these matters could be directly addressed, leading to improved mutual understanding.
The public appeal in Canada for the release of relatives had its first success
， Practitioners in Canada a few months ago began a public appeal asking for the release in China of their relatives who had been detained for their practice of Falun Gong.
， This past week Wu Yangying, the 42 year-old sister of Toronto resident Wu Yanxia was released. She had been held in the Nankai District Labor Camp in Tianjin.
， In a telephone call after her release she said life in the Labor Camp was very harsh. She did forced labor from 5:30 in the morning until midnight.
， Practitioners were brutally beaten, and many disappeared. And she said, ＾They are in danger every moment.￣
， Yangying and her brother, Zhanzhong had been arrested on January 18, 2001 and sentenced to two years in forced labour camps when their children took slips of paper to school that said "Falun Gong wishes you well".
， Yanxia¨s brother, Zhanzhong, is still being detained at the Beichen District Shuangkou Labor Camp.
An update on the World Psychiatric Association's investigation of the torture of Falun Gong practitioners in China's mental hospitals
， This week practitioners in the west received a report that more than ten Falun Gong practitioners are imprisoned in the People's Liberation Army No. 215 Mental Hospital in Liaoning Province. This is specifically a mental hospital.
， They are being held on the 3rd floor of the hostel of this hospital. Iron bars have been welded to the doors and windows.
， More than 20 policewomen, doctors and nurses work there.
， In a recently released newsletter on the Abuse of Psychiatry in China, details are given of many individual cases where healthy Falun Gong practitioners have been kidnapped and detained in mental institutions where many have died, or been tortured beyond recognition. It is known that more than 1,000 healthy practitioners are still being held in mental hospitals around China.
， Medical staff frequently administer heavy doses of medications like Perphenazine, Chlorpromazine, Fluphenazine, Fluorohydroxyperidine and other unknown substances by force feeding patients, or mixing drugs into their food.
， As a result, many practitioners suffer tremendously from toxic effects such as loss of memory, severe headaches, fainting, extreme weakness, uncontrollable tremors, nausea, vomiting, seizures and loss of consciousness.
， In 1991, the United Nations established "Principles for the Protection of Persons with Mental Illness and for the Improvement of Mental Healthcare." Principle 4 of this document states: "A determination of mental illness shall never be made on the basis of political, economic or social status, or membership in a cultural, racial or religious group, or for any other reason not directly relevant to mental health status."
， Doctors from the World Psychiatric Association are in the process of negotiating inspections of China's mental facilities early next year.
Numerous practitioners have recently been sentenced in secret trials to lengthy prison terms
， Despite the fact that freedom of belief, freedom of assembly, and freedom of expression are enshrined in the Constitution of the Peoples Republic of China, the Chinese regime uses its autocratic power to persecute Falun Gong practitioners. Despite the fact that China signed the International Covenant on Civil and Political rights, in October 1999, it systematically tortures and mistreats Falun Gong practitioners.
， On August 19, 2002, the Yunhe District Court in Cangzhou City of Hebei Province sentenced ten Falun Dafa practitioners to long prison terms. They were tried without following proper legal procedures. The longest sentence handed down was twelve years, and the shortest one was seven years.
， Around August 20th, the Chaoyang District Court in Changchun City of Jilin Province held a secret trial of Falun Dafa practitioners. The police cordoned off the area around the courthouse three days before the trial. Practitioners' families were not notified. Further information regarding the verdict is not yet available.
A closer look at disasters, and strange occurrences in Wenzhou, China
， Ancient people in China emphasized the relationship between man and the heavens, and often drew a direct correlation between a despotic regime and natural disasters.
， In December 2000, the Washington Post ran an article entitled "U.S. Critical as China Cracks Down on Religion".
， It showed how since early November 2000, authorities in the Chinese city of Wenzhou in Zhejiang Province, had shut down, demolished or converted more than 1,000 temples, churches and ancestral halls in the area into recreation centers.
， The article pointed out how Falun Gong practitioners had been singled out for particularly harsh treatment.
， According to an independent report Zhang Xinhong, a 45 year-old man was arrested in Wenzhou during that period, as was Liu Hong, a woman from Shanghai.
， Their case was heard in court nine months later in August 2001.
， Zhang was sentenced to 15 years in prison for distributing information clarifying the facts about the persecution of Falun Gong.
， Liu Hong had been mistreated so badly by authorities she had to be carried into the court on a stretcher.
， She had dropped from 122 pounds to 77 pounds. Her physical features were distorted beyond recognition.
， She could hardly speak in court, and was only able to use weak hand signs to express herself.
， Since this time Zhejiang, and Wenzhou in particular, a city of 7 million, has been hit by one disaster after another. While government officials commit evil deeds, all the people suffer.
， In October 2001 a report by the Xinhua News Agency said that vast areas of the province were sinking, including the Wenzhou-Huangyan Plain. It said that the rate of the land's depression in Zhejiang Province was accelerating, and this would potentially have serious environmental consequences.
， One problem was that the urban area¨s ability to discharge floodwaters was eroding, aggravating the danger of a flood.
， Experts said that if the depression continued, a catastrophe would be inevitable.
， One day in August of this year the sky in Wenzhou became dark in the afternoon. With a long roll of thunder, flakes of snow fell amongst the rain. This snowfall continued for about 10 minutes.
， Now, one month later, Typhoon Sinlaku, the sixteenth major storm to hit Mainland China this year, has hit Wenzhou, claiming 16 lives in the city and destroying more than 3,800 homes.
， Almost 200,000 people were evacuated and now live in tent cities. Damage is estimated at $120 million.
'Mind & Body Health Day' at a primary school near Melbourne, Australia
， Australian children are being encouraged from a very young age to have a healthy body and mind. On September 6, 2002, two Falun Dafa practitioners, 12-year-old Angel and 5-year-old Nancy were invited to participate in the "Mind and Body Health Day" held at their primary school located 100 kilometers (about 66 miles) outside of Melbourne.
， First, they were treated to a peaceful and beautiful Lotus Dance. Then, more than 80 students from the third and fourth grade were divided into four groups, to learn parts of the five sets of Falun Gong exercises. The children watched attentively and were especially interested in the sitting meditation.
， To remember this introduction to a very healthy and graceful system of mind and body, the children took home bookmarks with pictures of Angel and Nancy practicing the exercises they had just learned.
Bicycle
SOS from Heidelberg to Bonn to Rescue Xiong Wei
， Wanting to spend their summer vacation doing something to help Xiong Wei, a Chinese friend of theirs who was a former student at Berlin University now detained in a labour camp in China, three young sisters from Heidelberg in Germany, and a friend of theirs from Pirmasens undertook an SOS bicycle journey from Heidelberg to Bonn.
， They told people they met about the plight of Xiong Wei, asking them to extend their support to secure her release.
， Although they made few appointments ahead of time, they were able to meet with many mayors and city councillors.
， Many, like the Mayor of Kolpingdiözesan of Alzey City inspired the girls to continue their difficult journey by saying, "To fight for freedom and Justice, you are doing the right thing. Continue your efforts and I wish you success!"
， When they heard the words "Falun Gong" many people wanted to learn the exercises.
， On arriving at their destination in Bonn, the girls were joined by other practitioners to hold a peaceful appeal outside the consulate.
The Nanjing Zijinshan Astronomical Observatory reports the 16th sighting of UFOs in many simultaneous places since 1971
， On September 1, 2002 the Mingpao Daily News in Huaxi reported that in late August people in Shaanxi Province, Shandong Province, Inner Mongolia, Jiangsu Province, Hebei Province, Sichuan Province, Gansu Province, and Henan Province reported having seen a UFO.
， Wang Sichao, a researcher in Nanjing Zijinshan Astronomical Observatory, said that this is the 16th time since 1971 that unidentified flying objects have been reportedly seen in many places simultaneously.
， People in Shaanxi reported that it was a "cylindrical-shaped, shining object moving slowly from the northeast toward the southwest, becoming larger and larger and eventually disappearing."
And finally´
， A 79 year-old Chinese woman from Hebei Province reported recently that after 21 years of being paralyzed and bedridden she was able to walk after practicing Falun Gong. In the 1970's, she had contracted a serious disease. Although her life had been spared, her legs had become crooked.
， In 1996, her daughter started practicing Falun Dafa. She had her silently read the three Chinese characters "Zhen-Shan-Ren" (Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance). Later, she had her listen to the lectures by Mr. Li Hongzhi. She also read Zhuan Falun to her. She soon felt stronger and was able to move her legs and feet. Then she started learning the movements, while still lying in bed. Three days later she miraculously sat up.
， Several months later she decided to get down from her bed and walk. At the beginning, she held a stool to move forward and sometimes she held a stick to walk. But after several days she could walk by herself. Gradually she was able to cook and sweep the floor.
， Fellow villagers gathered around her when she walked. She said to them, "It is Falun Dafa that saved me. Its power knows no bounds!"