Table of Contents

Foreword
I Introduction
1 Background

1.1 What Is WOIPFG?
1.2 Where Does WOIPFG Get Its Information?
1.3 What Is Falun Gong?
1.4 Why Is the Chinese Government Persecuting Falun Gong?
1.5 How Many People Has This Oppression Affected?

2 Summary

2.1 Involvement of the Embassy and Consulates
2.2 About This Document

II Case Reports

3 Hate Incitement and Pressure in the Community

3.1 Propaganda Display inside Toronto Consulate
3.2 Consul General Speaks at Public Hate Rally
3.3 Defamation on the Embassy's Web Site
3.4 Defamatory Materials Available in the Calgary Consulate
3.5 Consulate Distributes Defamation in Calgary's City Hall
3.6 Consul General Writes to Practitioner
3.7 Other Incidents
3.8 Reports under Investigation

4. Hate Incitement and Pressure towards Canadian Government Officials

4.1 Mailing to Federal and Provincial Levels
4.2 Ambassador's Package to British Columbia MP
4.3 Embassy's Package to Ontario MP
4.4 Consul General Writes to Mayor Lou Rinaldi
4.5 Ambassador Writes to MP Gordon Earle
4.6 Ambassador Writes to Mayor Andy Wells
4.7 Other Incidents
4.8 Reports under Investigation

5 Physical Assault, Harassment, and Obstruction

5.1 Member of Parliament Assaulted in House of Commons
5.2 Student Beaten inside Chinese Embassy
5.3 Assault and Harassment at Delegation's Public Meeting
5.4 Toronto Consulate Soaks Meditators
5.5 Toronto Consulate Obstructs Appeal Site
5.6 Reports under Investigation

6 Monitoring, Threatening, and Blacklisting Canadians

6.1 Extensive Blacklist Appears in Iceland
6.2 Blacklist Reappears in Mexico
6.3 Vancouver Woman Followed and Abducted in China
6.4 "We Cannot Extend Your Passport until You Denounce Falun Gong"
6.5 Calgary Consulate Videotapes Practitioners
6.6 Mississauga Woman Told She Is Blacklisted
6.7 Other Incidents
6.8 Reports under Investigation
6.9 Practitioners Report Being Monitored

7 Manipulating Canadian Media

7.1 Consulate Places Defamatory Advertisement in Newspaper
7.2 Consulate Stifles Independent Media's Cultural Gala
7.3 Other Incidents
7.4 Reports under Investigation

III Retrospective
8 Analysis of the Propaganda's Claims

81 Claim: Falun Gong is "illegal" and "banned according to the law"
82 Claim: Falun Gong is an "organization" with "members" and "leaders"
83 Claim: Falun Gong promotes a "doomsday theory" and "forbids taking medicine"
84 Claim: Falun Gong is political and practitioners oppose the Chinese government
85 Claim: Falun Gong practitioners set themselves on fire on Tiananmen Square
86 Claim: Falun Gong is harmful to society and leads to derangement and death

Afterword
IV Appendices
A Interference in Other Countries

A.1 Germany
A.2 Hong Kong
A.3 Romania
A.4 UK
A.5 USA
A.6 Others
A.7 Jiang Zemin's Orders: Disrupt Falun Gong Overseas
A.8 US Congress: House Concurrent Resolution 304

B References

B.1 Letter from MP Rob Anders Regarding Harassment
B.2 Letter from MP Gordon Earle to Chinese Ambassador
B.3 Letter from Mayor of St John's to Chinese Ambassador

 

"Staff members of the People's Republic physically assaulted me in the
House of Commons. . . "
– Member of Parliament Mr. Rob Anders

"I say to the Chinese Ambassador to Canada that it is absolutely undemocratic,
that it is a violation of people's basic human rights, and that we as
a country, and we as a people, and as citizens of this world, find that attitude,
those comments, morally offensive. I want to compliment everyone
here who is standing up in defense of people's basic human rights. I hope
in the future we will have a world free of torture."
– Member of Parliament Dr. Keith Martin

 

Foreword

This document presents interim results from WOIPFG’s investigation into Chinese officials’ unlawful activities in extending China’s crackdown on Falun Gong to Canadian soil. To date, confirmed reports paint a picture of discreet surveillance, hate incitement, diplomatic pressure, and physical assault. As the investigation continues, WOIPFG will continue to collect information and evidence. The case reports in these pages address only activities directly attributable to Chinese envoys in Canada. They do not address incidents with no established link to Chinese officials (such as anti-Falun Gong literature appearing mysteriously in libraries and restaurants) or incidents of discrimination and harassment stemming from misinformation propagated by Chinese officials. Also not included are actions of Chinese officials abroad against Falun Gong practitioners in Canada (such as disabling Falun Gong web sites) and the arbitrary arrest, beatings, and deportation of Canadian citizens in China.

Even so, the incidents in this report are numerous and varied. They present compelling
reason to believe that Chinese diplomatic and consular staff in Canada are actively –
and in some respects, clandestinely – exporting the Chinese government’s persecution of Falun Gong to Canada, in direct violation of Canadian laws and standards. The purpose of this document is to expose these damaging actions, so that they may cease, and to support Canadian authorities’ efforts to address this issue through diplomatic and legal means.

Chapter 1 Background
 

1.1 What Is WOIPFG?

The World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong (WOIPFG) is a non-profit organization with a mandate to investigate human rights violations against practitioners of Falun Gong and to restore justice in these cases. Some of our recent efforts include:

• "610 Office" – Investigating the Chinese government agency created to oversee the persecution. It has authority over all levels of the administration and the judiciary.
• Staged self-immolation incident – New forensic evidence shows that this key propaganda item against Falun Gong was a government hoax.
• Genocide and torture – Supporting crimes against humanity lawsuits by investigating human rights abuses committed by former Chinese leader Jiang Zemin and key officials.
• Forced labour camps and psychiatric abuse – Investigating arbitrary imprisonment, torture, maltreatment, and those responsible.
  
  WOIPFG has branches in Australia, Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, and the USA.

1.2 Where Does WOIPFG Get Its Information?

Most WOIPFG investigations focus on mainland China, and so they tend to emphasize informationgathering methods that concentrate on China, such as telephoning the staff of labour camps to confirm details of death reports. This investigation focusses on Canada, and therefore involves different methods. The information in this report comes primarily from the following sources:

• Inquiries among Falun Gong practitioners in Canada
• WOIPFG investigators' first-hand findings
• Reports submitted to WOIPFG
• Inquiries among Canadian government officials
• Credible media reports
  
  WOIPFG has endeavoured to confirm the particulars of case reports and to obtain evidence where possible. In some cases, WOIPFG has accepted credible first-person testimony as evidence.

1.3 What Is Falun Gong?

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual discipline that has roots in ancient China. Best known for its five sets of gentle, meditative exercises, Falun Gong emphasizes self-improvement through moral teachings based on the principles of "Truth, Benevolence, and Forbearance". To practise Falun Gong is to cultivate these virtues within oneself.
   The concept of cultivation – meaning refinement of body, mind, and spirit – is an important aspect of Oriental culture. Over the centuries, many different systems have existed.
    Mr. Li Honghzi introduced Falun Gong to the public in 1992. It is now practised in at least 50 countries. For more information, visit http://www.falundafa.org.

1.4 Why Is the Chinese Government Persecuting Falun Gong?

By 1998, Falun Gong had attracted an estimated 70-100 million practitioners – far more than the membership of the entire Communist Party. Although Falun Gong is non-political, then-Chairman Jiang Zemin perceived a threat to his rule1 and ordered a nationwide crackdown in July 1999.

Communist Party sources said that the standing committee of the Politburo did not unanimously endorse the crackdown and that President Jiang Zemin alone decided that Falun Gong must be eliminated.
– Washington Post Foreign Service2

    At the time, most Chinese government leaders were opposed to the persecution. Falun Gong had previously been widely supported and awarded by the government3 for its benefits to the people4.

Dozens of governments and human rights organizations around the world have condemned this crackdown. Many have issued proclamations or awards honouring Falun Gong and Mr. Li Hongzhi, Falun Gong's teacher. Mr. Li is a four-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee.

1.5 How Many People Has This Oppression Affected?

According to the U.S. Congress5:

. . . the campaign of persecution . . . is carried out by government officials and police at all levels, and has permeated every segment of society and every level of government in the People's Republic of China . . .

As of February 2004, the confirmed death toll through police torture has reached 886, while government sources inside China reportedly indicate that the actual figure is much higher6. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners have been arbitrarily arrested and detained, more than 100,000 sent to labour camps without trial, and thousands more forced into mental hospitals or illegally sentenced to prison terms of up to 18 years. Tens of millions have been deprived of their constitutionally guaranteed rights.
   A nationwide extrajudicial agency exists specifically to eradicate Falun Gong, with sweeping powers far beyond the limits set in the Chinese constitution, while an extensive campaign of hate-inciting misinformation seeks to turn public opinion against the once-respected practice. Meanwhile, through its embassies and consulates abroad, the Chinese government actively extends the persecution beyond China's borders.
    Sustaining the worldwide campaign to "annihilate" Falun Gong has required massive diversions of China's resources: finances, manpower, the state-run media apparatus, diplomatic ties and trade relations, public security forces, etc.. Authorities use these resources to construct "re-education" facilities, install surveillance systems, and reward those who participate in the persecution; to maintain the information blockade, disseminate propaganda materials internationally, and edit school textbooks to include anti-Falun Gong content; to fund special police units and sustain the "610 Office"7; etc..

Chapter 2 Summary
 

2.1 Involvement of the Embassy and Consulates

As detailed in Appendix A, the Chinese government has mobilized its diplomatic missions abroad to export the persecution of Falun Gong around the world. This report presents evidence that Chinese diplomatic personnel in Canada have actively engaged in the following acts:

• Refusing to renew passports or perform routine services for Falun Gong practitioners
• Pressuring government officials and the public to withdraw their support for Falun Gong
• Compiling and maintaining a blacklist of Canadian practitioners
• Supplying anti-Falun Gong propaganda to Canadian media
• Physical assault
• Sending hate-inciting misinformation to all levels of Canadian government
• Hosting defamatory anti-Falun Gong exhibitions
• Obstructing practitioners' peaceful, lawful, and legitimate appeal activities
• Inciting hatred in Canadian communities
• Attempting to silence criticism of China's gross human rights abuses against Falun Gong practitioners

    These actions constitute unjust and unwarranted abuse of Canadians' basic rights under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Such activities in stirring up hatred are an inappropriate breach of diplomatic protocols and a threat to the well-being of Canadian society.
   WOIPFG has reason to believe that some of these actions also violate Canadian law. Similar happenings in the U.S.A. have been the subject of a Congressional briefing and are now the focus of a resolution presently before U.S. Congress.

In presenting this report, we wish to acknowledge the efforts of Canadian officials who have spoken out against such violations on Canadian soil and provided much of the information and evidence in these pages.

2.2 About This Document

This document presents known cases together with a selection of evidence. Additional supporting material and evidence are omitted for various reasons, such as brevity, copyright, or confidentiality, or in some cases due to their misleading and defamatory nature. WOIPFG has collected this additonal material in a separate companion document; given the nature of its contents, it is not intended for public circulation.
Additionally, this document is a work in progress. For the latest version, please checkWOIPFG's website at http://www.upholdjustice.org.
As a convenience for readers, the text includes occasional references to media reports and other additional information.

Part II
Case Reports

Chapter 3 Hate Incitement and Pressure in the Community
 

3.1 Propaganda Display inside Toronto Consulate

Dates:       The photographs below were taken in the summer of 2003. The propaganda posters have reportedly been on display from early 2003 to the present.
Location:     Chinese consulate in Toronto (240 St. George St., Toronto)
Summary:     The Toronto consulate displays an extensive array of anti-Falun Gong posters along the wall where people wait in line to apply for visas.

 

Figure 3.3: The exhibition is entitled “Combat Cults and Protect Human Rights” and prepared by the “China Anti-Cult Association”.

Figure 3.4: “The scene of Wei Shaoming’s death, and the axe Lan Yunchang used to kill him”.

3.2 Consul General Speaks at Public Hate Rally

Date: 21 January 2001
Location: Toronto's Chinatown (436 Dundas St. West, 3rd floor)
Summary: The Chinese Consul General was the primary speaker at a publicly advertised anti-Falun Gong hate rally in Toronto.
Details: In mid-January 2001, advertisements appeared in two Chinese-language Toronto newspapers inviting members of the Canadian public to attend a "forum to condemn Falun Gong". Approximately 200 people attended the event.
    According to a subsequent media report1, "There were approximately seven or eight officials from the Chinese Consulate General in Toronto who attended the rally, some of whom were also standing at the entrance to identify Falun Gong practitoners." The fact that they were able to do this – as Falun Gong practitioners were indeed identified and excluded – suggests that consulate staff must have been monitoring local practitioners for some time previously. The Consul General, Mr. Zhou Xingbao, was the primary speaker at the rally. WOIPFG has obtained an audio recording of his speech.
    The advertisements for the rally appeared in the 13 January 2001 edition of the Chinese Canadian Post and in the 16 January 2001 edition of Ming Po. The Chinese Canadian Post was distributed with the overseas edition of the People's Daily, a Chinese state-run paper.

3.3 Defamation on the Embassy's Web Site

Summary: The web site of the Chinese embassy in Canada2 contains several sections devoted to anti-Falun Gong propaganda, accessible via two prominently placed links on the site's main page.

Details: The two links – labelled "MEMORANDUM ON 'FALUN GONG'" and "CULT FALUN GONG" – lead to:

• An introduction to the "Memorandum on 'Falun Gong'", an extensive collection of anti-Falun Gong propaganda hosted at another site. The introduction accuses Falun Gong of "doomsday" teachings and announces:
  
  Exposed here are the wickedness of Li Hongzhi and the cult nature of "Falun Gong" organization which has ruined lives, destroyed families and harmed society. Included are many true stories about how the Chinese government and society patiently help, educate and rescue those people who have been deceived by "Falun Gong" and welcome them back to society.
• A "What's New" section containing dozens of propaganda articles, such as:
  • Vice Premier Calls for Determined Fight Against Falun Gong Cult
  • Falun Gong Mother Chokes Daughter to Death in Northeast China
  • Falun Gong Practitioner Kills His Wife
  • Chinese Police "Torture 'Falun Gong' Follower": Sheer Lie
  • Another Irrefutable Evidence of Falun Gong's Anti-Humanity
  • Falun Gong Leads Its Followers to Homicides(2)
• A large section, devoted to anti-Falun Gong propaganda, that contains:
  • Articles such as "No One Should Interfere in China's Battle on Falun Gong", "China sets up anti-cult web page", "Falun Gong Practice Causes Health Problems and Death", and "Grassroots communist units urged to fight Falun Gong: People's Daily"
  • Animated graphics that read "Li Hongzhi Uses Falun Gong to Amass Dirty Money" and "Safeguard the Well-being of the People / Further Expose and Criticize the Cult – Falun Gong"
  The web site contains this material in both English and Chinese.
     Until recently, the web site of the Chinese consulate in Vancouver3 had a link called "Cult FaLun Gong" on its main page.

3.4 Defamatory Materials Available in the Calgary Consulate

Date: 31 December 2002, approximately 9:30 a.m.
Location: Chinese consulate in Calgary (Suite 100-1011, 6th Avenue S.W., Calgary)
Details: A WOIPFG investigator found a large assortment of anti-Falun Gong propaganda materials in a brochure stand inside the Chinese consulate in Calgary.

The materials were available in English, French, and Chinese. Their titles include:

• Abandoning the Cult: Bringing Shackled Souls Back to Life
• Fu Yibin Hacked Family Members to Death
• Pourquoi les disciples du Falungong ont-ils tu´e l'une des leurs? (Why did Falungong disciples kill one of their own?)
• The Experiences of Xie Yufeng – a Former Disciple of "Dafa"

Figure 3.6: An assortment of propaganda materials obtained from the Calgary consulate.

Figure 3.7: A close-up of Chinese materials. Note the subtle image of the spider and spiderweb in the center flyer.

 

Figure 3.8: A close-up of English and French materials.

 

3.5 Consulate Distributes Defamation in Calgary's City Hall

Date: September 2001
Location: Calgary City Hall
Summary: Consular staff distributed several types of anti-Falun Gong literature at a photo exhibition in Calgary City Hall and attempted to silence objections from Falun Gong practitioners through shouting and pressuring local police.
Details: In September 2001, the Chinese consulate in Calgary sponsored a display in City Hall called "Review of Chinese History in the Last Century". Two practitioners attended the exhibition's opening. One of them, Mr. Ian Oliver, describes the events as follows:

I walked around the exhibit area and found the display table. Of about 20 books, pamphlets, and leaflets available, no fewer than six directly slandered Falun Dafa. There were two books and two leaflets in English and two leaflets in Chinese, all of which had titles calling Falun Gong an XX.
. . .
After the speeches, we immediately went to City Hall authorities to lodge a complaint about the illegal distribution of the deceitful propaganda. Authorities were shocked, having reviewed the photo exhibition for appropriateness, yet unaware that the Consulate was also distributing its slanderous propaganda.

[Later,] the Consul's wife was available so I walked right up, introduced myself, and told her that it was illegal to distribute such propaganda here. She denied it, calling it a freedom of speech issue. I very calmly told her again that we were in Calgary's City Hall and that it was illegal to hand out such material. She loudly denied it and then told me that I had no right to be there (perhaps forgetting that in Canada, public places are open to the public and not under the control of Chinese government officials). She then went on to question my sanity. . . As a Canadian, what was I doing protesting in front of her Consulate? What was wrong with me? Why don't I protest to my own government? I calmly explained that it was because of the 278 Falun Gong practitioners killed by China's government, to which she angrily retorted that they weren't killed. . . they took their own lives.

The Vice-Consul then approached and started yelling at my fellow practitioner, denouncing him by name, calling him a traitor, losing face for China. I told the Consul's wife that I just wanted her to know that the propaganda had to go and that I was on my way to report it to federal government authorities. Since they were loudly overreacting, attempting to create a 'scene' for which we would be blamed, we calmly walked outside. The Consul's wife rushed to complain to a local police officer, who came to ask us what had happened. We calmly explained the truth to him and he went on about his business.

I went back to the City Hall a couple of hours later, to find a city authority finishing a conversation on his cell phone that had something to do with the Chinese exhibition. I introduced myself to him and apologized if I had had anything to do with what clearly was a very stressful day for him. After a brief discussion, he explained that the propaganda was removed within half an hour of our bringing it to the City's attention and that the Consulate had been told not to ever bring it back.

Figure 3.9: “‘Falun Gong’ Is a Cult II” is among the available flyers. Other propaganda materials on the table included “‘Falun Gong’ Is a Cult V”, “View America’s Double Standard on Human Rights from Its Attitude Toward the ‘Falun Gong’ Cult”, and “Fifty Years of Progress in China’s Human Rights”.

Figure 3.10: The Vice-Consul addresses the audience. The table is visible at his left; the jacket hung over the chair is the same as that shown in Figure 3.9.

 

3.6 Consul General Writes to Practitioner

Date: December 2002
Locations: Edmonton, Ottawa, and Calgary
Summary: Ms. Camille Budhoo of Edmonton wrote to Mei Ping, China's ambassador to Canada, requesting that the Chinese government reconsider its crackdown on Falun Gong. In response, she received a propaganda letter and defamatory materials from Song Xizhu, the Consul General of the Chinese consulate in Calgary.

Figure 3.11: The propaganda materials accompanying the Consul General’s letter: two VCDs, entitled “Falun Gong – Cult of Evil” and “Falun Gong Cult”, and several booklets, including “Liu Renfang Died Far from Home” and “Fifty Years of Progress in China’s Human Rights”.

 

Figure 3.12: The “Falun Gong Cult” VCD is produced by China Central Television, a Chinese state-run media agency.

 

Figure 3.13: The envelope’s return address.

Figure 3.14: The Consul General’s reply letter, page 1.

 

Figure 3.15: The Consul General’s reply letter, page 2.

3.7 Other Incidents

• The Chinese embassy in Ottawa has hosted an anti-Falun Gong poster exhibition and made available anti-Falun Gong propaganda materials. (For a photograph of the exhibit, see page 41.)
• In the spring of 2001, practitioners in Ottawa organized free Falun Gong exercise demonstration and information sessions at a local library and posted related flyers around the neighbourhood. Soon after, a librarian told one of the practitioners that two men from the Chinese embassy had come to the library and pressured her to cancel the arrangement, saying that the library should not be allowed to host such events. She replied that the library was in Canada, that they were indeed allowed to host the sessions, and that it was the purpose of libraries to offer information to their communities.

3.8 Reports under Investigation
WOIPFG is currently investigating the following unconfirmed reports:

• Since early 2002, the Chinese consulate in Vancouver has displayed an anti-Falun Gong bulletin board and distributed related materials, including magazines, videotapes, and CDs.
• After a Falun Gong web site published a letter of support4 from Mr. Richard Hardacre, the President of the Toronto branch of Canada's actors' union, Mr. Hardacre received a letter from China's ambassador to Canada. The letter defamed Falun Gong and expressed the ambassador's displeasure that Mr. Hardacre had written his letter of support. Included with the letter were anti-Falun Gong propaganda materials in the form of videotapes and a glossy magazine.
• Staff of the Chinese embassy in Ottawa went to Montreal and spread materials defaming Falun Gong at a free movie show and at a Chinese community group meeting.
• Three officials from the Chinese embassy travelled to Halifax on 31 October 2000, reportedly on a routine trip to extend passports for people who held Chinese passports. However, the officials had a luncheon with people from the Chinese Society of Nova Scotia, where they gave instructions regarding how to handle Falun Gong-related issues and mentioned the Falun Gong contact person in Halifax by name. The luncheon was held at a Chinese restaurant called "China Town" in Bedford, Nova Scotia.
• In March/April 2002, when Falun Gong practitioners in Ottawa applied for entry to the annual Tulip Festival Flotilla boat parade, they were refused. They had participated the year before. The Festival's programme manager told practitioners that part of the reason was that the Chinese embassy was going to participate in some of the Festival events, that embassy officials had already asked whether Falun Gong practitioners would be participating in that
• year's flotilla, and that Festival staff had replied "No". (Later, after media coverage and intervention by a concerned city councillor, Festival officials allowed Falun Gong practitioners to participate.)
• In August or September of 1999, a Falun Gong practitioner in Windsor, Ontario went to the University of Windsor's Chinese Student Association office to borrow some videotapes. He found a videotape entitled "Li Hongzhi Deceives People and Deceives the World" on their shelf. When he asked the president of the Chinese Student Association where it had come from, the president replied that the tape had come from the Chinese embassy.
• Representatives of the CUPE, CAW, and TWU unions in Vancouver all received pressure and defamatory materials after issuing letters in support of Falun Gong.
• Chinese embassy officials interfered in cultural galas organized by the Ottawa Weekend, a Chinese-language newspaper, after the Ottawa Weekend published Falun Gong-related information. An editorial entitled "Chinese Embassy, Why Do You Manhandle the Ottawa Weekend Like That?", published on 29 September 2000, provides details.
• The Chinese embassy has organized forums in Ottawa to defame Falun Gong and played defamatory anti-Falun Gong videotapes. One such tape, entitled "Moving Towards the New Life", contains alleged testimonials of practitioners.
• Video CDs entitled "Against Evil Cult Falun Gong Study Guide" have been given to Chinese VCD stores in Toronto.
• In July 2000, when Falun Gong practitioners in Montreal learned that there would be a forum and videotape shown to slander Falun Gong in a public place, they went to the site, but they were refused entry by the guards at the door.
• In January 2002, Falun Gong practitioners were approved to participate in a Chinese New Year celebration in Toronto. On the day before the activities, the host organization reportedly cancelled the practitioners' booth under pressure from the Chinese consulate in Toronto.

Chapter 4 Hate Incitement and Pressure towards Canadian Government Officials
 

4.1 Mailing to Federal and Provincial Levels

Date: August 2003
Locations: Known incidents are related to Toronto and Ottawa
Summary: An unknown number of M.P.s and Ontario M.P.P.s received a glossy book of hate propaganda from the Chinese consulate in Toronto.
Details: The book, entitled Poppies of Modern Society: Stories of Falun Gong, contains pages. It includes many distorted and out-of-context quotations from Falun Gong's teachings, accusations of various harmful activities1, and testimonials of practitioners who gave up the practice in state-run brainwashing classes.
      The book identifies its creator only as the "China Care and Compassion Society".

WOIPFG is aware that at least four M.P.P.s and at least two M.P.s have received a copy of Poppies. An example of the accompanying cover letter follows.

4.2 Ambassador's Package to British Columbia M.P.

Date: June 2001
Locations: Ottawa and B.C.
Summary: An M.P. from British Columbia wrote to Mei Ping, the Chinese ambassador to Canada, condemning the persecution of Falun Gong. In response, he received a defamatory letter and other propaganda materials from the ambassador.
Details: The three-page letter is dated 5 June 2001 and marked as received, with a House of Commons stamp, on 14 June 2001. It describes the crackdown on Falun Gong as "education and persuasion" and invites the M.P. to "make contributions to the friendly relations between China and Canada".

4.3 Embassy's Package to Ontario M.P.

Date: February and March 2003 Location: Ottawa and the M.P.'s riding in Ontario Summary: An M.P. who spoke favourably about Falun Gong later received a package of propaganda from the Chinese embassy.
Details: The package included a three-page letter, a CD, and other propaganda materials.
   The letter is dated 27 February 2003 and marked as received, with a House of Commons stamp, on 10 March 2003. It uses inaccurate and misleading language, like "members" and "cult"; denies that the persecution of Falun Gong exists at all; and also appears to issue a threat of diplomatic retaliation:

The Chinese government have on many occasions expressed its position and policy towards Falun Gong, and advised the Canadian government of the sensitivity of the issue in the overall bilateral relations. I hope you and your city government will understand our position and be vigilant against any attempt of Falun Gong to jeopardise our bilateral relations.

4.4 Consul General Writes to Mayor Lou Rinaldi

Date: 12 September 2001

Locations: Toronto and Brighton, Ontario

Summary: Mayor Lou Rinaldi of Brighton, Ontario received a letter defaming Falun Gong from the Chinese Consul General in Toronto the day before five Falun Gong practitioners arrived in Brighton on an awareness-raising "S.O.S. Global Walk".

Details: The letter, from then-Consul General Sun Shuxian, is dated 31 August 2001. It calls Falun Gong "anti-human, anti-scientific, and anti-social", warns of "social unrest", and urges the mayor not to give any form of support to the S.O.S. walkers. When staff of a local newspaper, The Independent, contacted the Chinese consulate in Toronto for comment, a staff member responded with anti-Falun Gong propaganda.

References:

Media report in The Independent on 19 September 2001, entitled "Falun Gong proponents seek support in struggle against suppression in China" (http://www.eastnorthumberland.com/news/news2001/newsseptember2001/sos09192001.html)

4.5 Ambassador Writes to M.P. Gordon Earle

Date: 24 August 2000 Location: Ottawa

Summary: After issuing a public greeting for Falun Dafa Week in August 2000, M.P. Gordon Earle received a letter from the Chinese ambassador.

References:

• Mr. Earle's reply letter on page 83 

4.6 Ambassador Writes to Mayor AndyWells

Date: The letter was dated 22 May 2001.

Locations: Ottawa and St. John's, Newfoundland

Summary: Mayor Andy Wells of St. John's received a letter from the Chinese ambassador defaming Falun Gong and asking him not to support it.

References:

• Mayor Wells' reply letter on page 84

4.7 Other Incidents

• The constituency assistant of a Toronto city councillor contacted WOIPFG and reported receiving a propaganda book, entitled Li Hongzhi's Falun Dafa: Ruining People's Lives, that is "riddled with colour photographs of people stabbed, dead, [and] lying in pools of blood".
• M.P. Libby Davies received a letter defaming Falun Gong from Chinese official Chu Guangyou ("Charg´e d'Affaires a.i."). The letter was dated 4 June 2002.

4.8 Reports under Investigation

WOIPFG is currently investigating the following unconfirmed reports:

• On 14 May 2002, at a Falun Gong-related presentation to the city council of North Vancouver, it was found that the councillors had packages of anti-Falun Gong materials in front of them.
• After the city councils of Vancouver, Port Moody2, and Coquitlam3 either sent a greeting letter or issued a proclamation for Falun Dafa Day, 20 July 2000, their mayors all received complaints, pressure, and defamatory materials from the Chinese consulate in Vancouver.
• In August 2000, the Chinese ambassador wrote to M.P.s and other government officials who issued letters congratulating or supporting Falun Gong, requesting them to "refrain from supporting Falun Gong's activities [in Canada]". This letter is reportedly the one M.P. Gordon Earle received (see page 35).
• After proclaiming 8-14 October 2000 to be "Falun Dafa Week"4, Mayor Michael Hurst of Windsor, Ontario received a letter defaming Falun Gong from the Chinese government. On an awareness-raising car tour across Canada in November 2003, Falun Gong practitioners found that the mayors of some Ontario cities had received anti-Falun Gong propaganda packages from Chinese officials.
• In August 2003, an Ottawa city councillor told two local practitioners that he has from time to time received anti-Falun Gong materials from the Chinese embassy.
• An Ottawa-area M.P. received propaganda materials in the summer of 2003.
• One method of reprisal used by the Chinese embassy and consulates against officials who express support for Falun Gong is to deny their visa applications for travel to China. According to one report, after a Toronto city councillor delivered a speech in support of Falun Gong, officials of the Chinese consulate in Toronto threatened to cancel his invitation to visit China and refuse to issue him a Chinese visa.
• Practitioners in Calgary report that they were told, in a meeting with a city official, that staff of the Chinese consulate had visited local officials and included defaming Falun Gong in the agenda.
• In July or August of 2000, after writing a congratulatory letter to the "Falun Dafa Open Forum", an official from the Chinese consulate in Vancouver visited local officials and implied that Vancouver's trade with China could be affected.
• The Chinese consulate in Toronto has pressured local city councillors not to rent space to Falun Gong practitioners for their activities.
• In the summer of 2002, Falun Gong practitioners in Calgary applied for a proclamation recognizing the benefits of Falun Dafa, but the City refused. The Mayor's Chief of Staff explained that they "don't want to deal with all the phone calls and pressure from the Chinese consulate".

Chapter 5 Physical Assault, Harassment, and Obstruction

5.1 Member of Parliament Assaulted in House of Commons

Date: February 2000

Location: Room 200, West Block, House of Commons, Ottawa

Summary: Embassy staff physically and verbally harassed a Member of Parliament inside the Parliament buildings while he wore a T-shirt supporting Falun Gong.

Details: Mr. Rob Anders, M.P. for Calgary West, describes the incident as follows:

I wore [a T-shirt that talked about Falun Dafa] out to a function that was being hosted by the People's Republic's embassy here, in this building [Parliament]. I stood at the back of the room, and then all of a sudden I had four or five men surround me and start to harass me, and point fingers, and jostle me physically, saying that I had to leave, that I wasn't welcome, go home, you know, cowboy, you don't know what you're doing. . . and what crossed my mind immediately was four or five people that comprise a gang on behalf of the People's Republic of China think they can get away with doing that to me as a Member of Parliament, on Canadian soil, in my place of work, in the House of Commons . . . can you imagine what they're doing to people back home in their own country? It was absolutely over the top! And then when a media reporter came over with his camera, they started to grab his camera, they tried to force it down to the ground, they told him to go away. . . They were issuing orders to a member of the free press here in Canada. . . . It was absolutely outrageous. And it just proved what Falun Dafa is up against. . . .We're at a very critical moment. If we don't take a stand now, history will look back at us and sigh.

The event was a Chinese New Year's celebration.

References:

• Letter from Mr. Anders to the Minister of Foreign Affairs on page 82 Video of Mr. Anders describing the incident (http://fgmtv.org/videos5/2002/03/Harassment Eng/harassment eng 256k.ra)

5.2 Student Beaten inside Chinese Embassy

Date: 28 December 2001, evening

Location: Chinese embassy (515 St. Patrick St., Ottawa)

Summary: Mr. Wang Xueliang, an invited guest attending a function at the Chinese embassy, was beaten by embassy staff after being recognized as a Falun Gong practitioner.

Details: Mr. Wang, a graduate student at the University of Ottawa, was invited to a New Year's Eve movie party at the embassy by the student contact in charge of issuing invitations to fellow students. Shortly after arriving at about 16:00, Mr. Wang found that one room contained a large pictorial exhibition of approximately 90 anti-Falun Gong posters. The exhibition also included anti-Falun Gong literature.

    According to a Chinese state-run newspaper1, the exhibition was entitled "Anti-Heresy, Safeguard Human Rights, Expose and Criticize 'Falun Gong'" and was followed by two movies. Hundreds of overseas Chinese and students from Ottawa and Montreal, including some young children, attended.
    When Mr. Wang took a photograph of the exhibit, an embassy staff member recognized him as a Falun Gong practitioner. Mr. Wang recalls:

Three or four Chinese embassy staff forcefully dragged me into a room where they hit my head very heavily. I felt my head spinning, though I didn't lose consciousness. I was forced to the ground many times. One embassy staff member twisted my arm and kicked my legs. He pulled and dragged me, attempting to throw me to the ground. . . . There were no signs prohibiting taking pictures, so I took a photo. For this, I was beaten as they tried to get my camera from me. What are they hiding? Why are they so afraid of a picture being taken?

Mr. Wang described his assailant as "about 23 or 24 and 1.70 m tall". AWOIPFG investigation has identified him as Xiaolong Ma, 36 years of age, a former front desk receptionist at the Chinese embassy who was transferred back to China in June 2002.     An official statement from the Chinese embassy2 calls Mr. Wang's attendance a "break-in" and states that some Falun Gong practitioners were "taken away by RCMP officers"; however, the RCMP reportedly has no record of anyone being escorted from the property. Ironically, the embassy's account also states: "The Chinese Embassy is a diplomatic agency, which is under the strict protection of international and Canadian laws."

References:

• Media report in the Ottawa Sun on 2 January 2002
  (http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2002/1/3/17380p.html)

Figure 5.2: The only photograph Mr. Wang managed to take inside the embassy. It shows two of the exhibition’s propaganda posters, which are of the same design as those displayed in the Chinese consulate in Toronto (see page 9).

5.3 Assault and Harassment at Delegation's Public Meeting

Date: 9 August 2001 between approximately 10:00 a.m. and noon

Location: Hongmen Minzhi Party headquarters, 436 Dundas St. West, Toronto

Summary: When a delegation of Chinese officials visited Toronto to establish an appeal office3 for Chinese-Canadians, they announced that "Falun Gong practitioners are not allowed to appeal." Practitioners who were present were assaulted and silenced.

Details: When the officials announced that "Falun Gong practitioners are not allowed to appeal", Ms. Liu Haiying asked "Could you tell me, aren't Falun Gong practitioners human beings, too?" She was then rushed by two men, grabbed by her arms, and dragged from her chair towards the door.

Another practitioner took some photographs while waiting, and was slapped on his face and splashed with hot tea on his body and his camera.
    The Chinese Deputy Consul General, Xu Jinzhong, reportedly pushed a reporter from the Sing Tao Daily in front of police.
    When some practitioners went to speak with the people in the delegation after waiting for their numbers to be called, the delegation stopped them rudely as soon as Falun Gong was mentioned.
    The delegation included Mr. Dong Yiming, Department Chief of the Beijing Appeal Office. When Montreal artist Ms. Li Jinyu spoke about how she and her husband had been arrested for appealing at the Beijing Appeal Office, and said that their arrest was illegal, Mr. Dong replied "Even if it is a crime, we would still arrest you [in the Appeal Office]."
    Mr. Zhu Xueye, a PhD student at Concordia University, was immediately arrested on arrival at the Beijing Appeal Office, detained for 12 days, and deported. He reported that Mr. Dong told him "Arresting people is exactly what we want to do."

References:

• Photographs and media report in the 10 August 2001 edition of the Sing Tao Daily newspaper

5.4 Toronto Consulate Soaks Meditators

Date: August 2001

Location: Chinese consulate in Toronto (240 St. George St., Toronto)

Details: Starting in early August 2001, sprinklers at the Chinese consulate in Toronto began drenching Falun Gong practitioners who were peacefully meditating outside the consulate while appealing for an end to the persecution of Falun Gong. The practitioners were on City of Toronto property (adjacent to the consulate) and had appropriate permits to be there.
        Police requested that the consulate officials reschedule the watering to avoid the one-hour daily group exercise. However, consulate officials told the RCMP that they were unable to reprogram the sprinklers.

        The assault continued for the rest of the summer.

References:

• Media report entitled "Falun Head Games" in the 27 September - 3 October 2001 issue of NOW magazine (http://www.nowtoronto.com/issues/2001-09-27/news flashes.html)

5.5 Toronto Consulate Obstructs Appeal Site

Date: September 2001 (approximately)

Location: Chinese consulate in Toronto (240 St. George St., Toronto)

Details: The Chinese consulate in Toronto erected a large plywood barricade, blocking the small area where local practitioners had been holding peaceful appeal activities.

       A local magazine reported:

It's unclear what work is going on behind the barricade. According to city officials, the consulate is doing light construction and landscaping.

Practitioners say it's just another attempt to get them to move.

References:

• Media report entitled "Falun Head Games" in the 27 September - 3 October 2001 issue of NOW magazine (http://www.nowtoronto.com/issues/2001-09-27/news flashes.html)

5.6 Reports under Investigation

WOIPFG is currently investigating the following unconfirmed reports:

• In June 2001, on his way into the Chinese consulate in Toronto, a Chinese man spat at several Falun Gong practitioners who stood outside.
   
• A Falun Gong practitioner peacefully meditating outside the Chinese consulate in Calgary was twice approached by a man who came out of the consulate, threw down anti-Falun Gong propaganda materials, and then went back inside the consulate. The first time, the material was printed in both English and Chinese. The second time, the material was printed in Chinese only, and was very professionally printed. The content showed blood, gore, and various fabrications about Falun Gong.

Chapter 6 Monitoring, Threatening, and Blacklisting Canadians
 

In February 2002, classified documents1 smuggled out of China and authenticated by Su Xiaokang, a renowned expert on China, revealed orders from China's leadership that:

We should focus on building up data banks and further fulfill and complete the intelligence management systems on 'Falungong' . . . and on religious organizations abroad that infiltrate [China], and bring the function of the systems to full display. We should set up intelligence and data portfolios . . . and constantly fulfill and complete these portfolios to make sure the data is accurate and updated.

The documents also state, "We should . . . implement reconnaissance measures on each and every important individual, keeping close surveillance on them."

Numerous incidents over the past few years indicate that the Chinese government has indeed been clandestinely compiling and maintaining information about Falun Gong practitioners around the world, including in Canada.

6.1 Extensive Blacklist Appears in Iceland

Date: June 2002

Summary: 25 Canadians discovered that they were on a blacklist of Falun Gong practitioners apparently maintained by the Chinese government. Icelandic authorities illegally restricted their travel to Iceland under pressure from Chinese officials.

Details: Shortly before a state visit to Iceland of China's then-Chairman, Jiang Zemin, Falun Gong practitioners from several countries travelled to Iceland to conduct peaceful appeals. At least 25 practitioners from Canada found their names on a mysterious blacklist and had their carriage to Iceland denied by Icelandair at several international airports. Eleven who had arrived earlier were detained for over 18 hours and required to sign a declaration as a condition of entry into Iceland. These practitioners were among over 200 from at least nine countries affected by the blacklist.
     According to a report in the Icelandic newspaper The Visir on 8 June, the blacklist was compiled by the Chinese government and supplied to Icelandic officials well in advance of Jiang's arrival.
    Falun Gong practitioners who later travelled to Iceland to discuss the blacklisting incident with Icelandic officials2 describe:

. . . Earlier, officials of the Icelandic government had declared that the blacklist came from Interpol.

Practitioners contacted Interpol in France. Interpol explained that it "only provides information about crimes." Thus, Interpol does not have a name list of Falun Gong practitioners. At the same time, Interpol confirmed that they had never provided any name list of Falun Gong to Iceland.

However, during the recent dialogue, Iceland insistently denied that the blacklist had come from Interpol.

When the practitioners persistently asked the origin of the blacklist, the Icelandic officials indicated that "it was from the reservations of Falun Gong practitioners as a group at the hotels and their applications for visas."

The practitioners immediately pointed out that the reservations of Falun Gong practitioners had only information of certain individuals, those making the reservations. They could not know the information of all practitioners. Besides, many practitioners didn't need visas.

Meanwhile, the Icelandic officials did not know how to respond. An official admitted, "We have received various kinds of information from China." When the practitioners asked whether it included the blacklist, the Icelandic officials did not deny it.

6.2 Blacklist Reappears in Mexico

Date: October 2002

Summary: At the time of Jiang Zemin's state visit to Los Cabos, Mexico, Falun Gong practitioners who travelled to Mexico to hold appeal activities found their names on a list in Mexican immigration authorities' computer system.

Details: A Canadian practitioner who travelled to Mexico, Ms. Cindy Gu, reported that the customs computer made beeping alert sounds and immediately displayed a blacklist when some Falun Gong practitioners passed through customs. Some practitioners clearly saw their names on the list, and some saw the phrase "dangerous person" after their names.

    Ms. Gu recalls:
We learned through a private inquiry of certain Mexican government officials that a blacklist with names of Falun Gong practitioners does exist, and it had been provided by the Jiang government. Since Jiang is here to attend the APEC meeting, his regime put pressure on the Mexican government, citing "safety concerns". . . .

Although there is a blacklist, the Mexican government has not blocked the entrance of any Falun Gong practitioner into Mexico so far.

Mexican immigration authorities also photocopied the identification pages of Falun Gong practitioners entering Mexico.

6.3 Vancouver Woman Followed and Abducted in China

Date: February-March 2000

Summary: Shortly after arriving in Beijing on a business trip, Dr. Ying Lee of Vancouver was followed, interrogated, and threatened by Chinese authorities. Her application to renew her Chinese passport was later denied in May 2000.

Details: Dr. Lee travelled to China on a mission with the Canadian International Development Agency. On the day she arrived, she noticed that she was being followed back to her hotel.

    At approximately 23:45 the following day, she received a telephone call from someone claiming to be a friend waiting in the hotel lobby. She recalls, "When I went down, two plain-clothes national security officers approached me and asked me to follow them. They took me in a car with blinds to their office."
     Dr. Lee reports being interrogated for eight hours. "They threatened me to write a confession, which I refused to do. They threatened to detain me for a criminal investigation. They also threatened that I would be sent to jail despite the fact that I had a Canadian passport. They showed me a form that would send me to a detention centre." She was also shown and questioned about Falun Gong-related books and materials taken from her hotel room.
     Later, state security officers advised the CIDA mission's Chinese partner to exclude Dr. Lee from the project.
    Dr. Lee reports that she was questioned twice more and under constant surveillance for the rest of the trip.
    That Chinese authorities were able to single out Dr. Lee as a Falun Gong practitioner so quickly suggests that they had identified her as a practitioner even before she arrived in China – i.e., while she was in Canada.

References:

• Media report in the Ottawa Citizen on 8 December 2000, entitled "Eight Hours of Terror in Beijing" (http://www.minghui2000.org/emh/admin/printarticle.asp?id=4161)

6.4 "We Cannot Extend Your Passport until You Denounce Falun Gong"

Date: February-April 2001

Summary: While processing a practitioner's routine passport renewal application, Chinese embassy staff instead cancelled the passport, saying "We cannot extend your passport since you practise Falun Gong."

Details: Mr. Shou Heping describes a series of initial delays in his letter to the Minister of

Foreign Affairs:

March 27th, 2001

Dear Foreign Minister:

My name is Heping Shou, a permanent resident of Canada. I immigrated form China in October, 1998 and now live in Montreal. My social insurance number is [deleted].

Since my Chinese passport will be expired on May 21st, 2001, I went to the Chinese Embassy in Ottawa to extend it on February 26th, 2001. The receptionist accepted my express application which means the applicant could have the extended passport within one day and asked me to be back to the Embassy to pick up the passport at around 11:30 am that day.

When I arrived there again at 11:30 am, I was told that it would be impossible to finish the processing within one day. Instead, I was suggested to go back to Montreal and wait until March 5th, when I would be able to receive the passport via mail.

Unfortunately, I did not receive anything from the Embassy. After March 5th, I contacted the Embassy through phone calls for several times and even asked one friend to go to the Embassy to check out in person. The answer we got was that the passport would be sent in the coming week.

However, there was still nothing sent to me. On March 15th, I phoned once again and I was told that they would not issue the extension for me due to some technical reasons. When asked when I can have the final answer, the receptionist said it could not be determined at that moment and they would contact me later. Furthermore, they did not return the passport to me without any explanations.

I feel very disappointed, especially when I heard that the other person who accompanied me to apply for the extension received the passport during the second week. The unreasonable withhold of my passport brings me inconvenience of my daily life. I am supposed to have a business trip to the United States in Mid March, and I have to cancel it because of the situation. I am not able to go anywhere now.

One more thing should be presented also. I am a Falun Dafa practitioner. One of the fellow practitioners Mr. Tan received a phone call from a woman on February 7th, 2001. The woman threateningly said to Mr. Tan that the Chinese Embassy has a blacklist of some Falun Dafa practitioners, including Mr. Tan and me. I suspect these two events are related to each other.

I call for the kind help form you. I hope the violation of the human rights should be stopped in Canada.

Thank you very much in advance.

Sincerely, Heping Shou

Mr. Shou describes subsequent events as follows:

I called the embassy on April 24, asking again for them to send back my passport. A gentleman whose name is Xu said to me: "We cannot extend your passport since you practise Falun Gong. However, we cannot extend the passport until you denounce Falun Gong." I immediately refused his request and again asked him to send me back my passport.

In the morning of April 30 I arrived at the visa department in the Chinese embassy with [name deleted]. It is Mr. Xu who received us. When he heard the name "Shou Heping", he said, "We have talked about this issue on the phone. Do you still insist your point of view?" I answered, "Yes, because I am not doing bad deeds." Then Mr. Xu said, "If so, we can return your passport. Please wait." A few minutes later, Mr. Xu gave me my passport and said, "We have cancelled your passport." I found that my passport was stamped "Cancelled". I asked why. He said, "Because you are anti-government and were banned," and continued to say something to defame Falun Gong. I said that Falun Gong is [legal] in Canada and is protected by the law. I do not understand why my passport was cancelled. He did not give any answers. We wanted to talk with him. However, he said he was busy with work and asked us to leave.

After we stepped out of the visa office, we went to the reception of the embassy, asking to meet the ambassador. The receptionist reported our purpose and told us that the ambassador was out of the office and asked us to solve the problem with the visa department. We also asked for an appointment with Secretary Huang Ping, but we were refused.

6.5 Calgary Consulate Videotapes Practitioners

Date: November 2003

Summary: The Chinese consulate in Calgary installed a video camera facing the sidewalk where local practitioners routinely hold appeal activities.

Figure 6.1: The video camera.

6.6 Mississauga Woman Told She Is Blacklisted

Details: In a sworn affidavit, Ms. Constance Chipkar writes: A Chinese man came to our practice site in early 1999 to learn the exercises and read our book. He only came a few times. He phoned me one day in May and told me that he was on friendly terms with the Chinese government and always meets with the Chinese officials who visit Canada and that I was on China's blacklist and that I should be careful because he didn't want anything bad to happen to a nice lady like me.

6.7 Other Incidents

• Practitioners report that mail sent to friends and relatives in China does not arrive when sent from their home addresses, but does arrive when sent using a different return address.
• When an Ottawa resident went to the Chinese embassy for some routine paperwork in August 2003, embassy staff told her that she had to return for a special interview because she was a Falun Gong practitioner. When she returned for the interview, an embassy staff member told her that the embassy "knows the situations" of all Falun Gong practitioners in Ottawa and "has a list".
• Many practitioners have reported being videotaped by Chinese officials while appealing in front of the Chinese embassy and consulates.

6.8 Reports under Investigation

WOIPFG is currently investigating the following unconfirmed reports:

• In 2001, while a Calgary practitioner was on a trip to Vancouver to pursue a career opportunity, his associate was threatened and warned by a stranger not to hire him because he was on a Chinese spy agency blacklist. No one knew of his trip. The practitioner believes phone tapping is the only explanation.
• After three practitioners attended a dinner in honour of Chinese Ambassador Mei Ping, at which they spoke to the host about Falun Gong, one of the practitioners received a threatening phone call from someone claiming to be a journalist of Xinhua, the Chinese government's official media agency. He said, "I will report to the Chinese government about what you said and publish it in the newspaper. . .You think the Chinese government is wrong. I hope you take care of yourself."
• Other threats that Falun Gong practitioners have received by phone include: "Do not publicize China's persecution of Falun Gong. Otherwise, you should consider your own personal situation," and "Watch yourself if you continue to practise Falun Gong."
• In August 2000, a clerk at the Chinese embassy asked a Montreal practitioner to denounce Falun Gong in order to renew his passport. When he refused, the clerk confiscated his passport.
• Several Canadian Falun Gong practitioners have had their applications for visas to travel to China refused by the Chinese embassy and consulates with no legitimate reason given. Three practitioners from Montreal were detained during their separate trips to China. One was deported, and another was threatened that he would be sent to a labour camp and his relatives would all lose their jobs if he did not renounce Falun Gong.
• A Canadian author, Mr. Zenon Dolnyckyj, was denied boarding a flight to Hong Kong after Hong Kong immigration authorities sent an "urgent" fax to the airline on which he was booked3. The fax identifies Mr. Dolnyckyj by name, date of birth, and passport number. It was sent directly to the airline and arrived approximately two hours before the scheduled departure time. The fax requested that Mr. Dolnyckyj be denied carriage without a visa; since Canadians do not require a visa to enter Hong Kong, Mr. Dolnyckyj did not have one, and was therefore not allowed to enter Hong Kong. At the time, he was on a book tour promoting his book about appeals for Falun Gong in China.
• The husband of a Falun Gong practitioner looked in the telephone book to call another practitioner, but he dialed the wrong number and coincidentally his call instead reached an official of the Chinese consulate in Calgary. The consular official capitalized on the opportunity and employed him as a spy. He then started asking questions and reporting to the consulate on Falun Gong activities.
• Two practitioners found themselves being videotaped by staff from the Chinese consulate when they were practicing Falun Gong exercises in Queen's Park in Toronto. Soon after, they both received telephone calls from China, threatening them to stop practicing Falun Gong. In May 2001, Hong Kong denied entry to a Canadian because she was a Falun Gong practitioner.

6.9 Practitioners Report Being Monitored

The following incidents do not directly implicate the Chinese embassy or consulates.

However, they may help to explain the origin of the blacklist.

• Ottawa
  • In August 1999, a man who did not give his name when asked attended a Falun Gong introductory workshop. He did not watch the video of Mr. Li Hongzhi's lecture but asked the names of practitioners who coordinate activities in Ottawa.
• Toronto area
  • "In July 2000 when Falun Gong practitioners distributed newspapers in Chinatown, one man who claimed to be a journalist from the Voice of America came to the practitioners. He tried to inquire about the time and location of Falun Gong activities and the organizers of practice sites. Practitioners felt very strange and told him that all those who want to learn Falun Gong are very simple. They just feel very good about Falun Gong and come to learn and wouldn't ask so many questions. On July 20, 2000, this man came to the news conference that Falun Gong practitioners organized in the Media Studio in the Provincial Parliament Building. He once again claimed to be a journalist from Voice of America and left right after he wrote down the name list of all those attending. He also gathered materials in many other Falun Gong activities in the name of a journalist from Voice of America. Practitioners contacted with Voice of America and confirmed that they don't have such a journalist."
  • "Between 6:00 a.m. and 6:30 a.m. of April 22nd, 2000, two 25- to 30-year-old men came to Christie Park and took photographs of the Falun Gong practice group. Since it was still dark early in the morning, they used flashlights. One of them said he came from Harbin of China and also asked where our practitioners came from."
  • "When Falun Gong practitioners held a candlelight vigil for the Chinese practitioners at City Hall on July 20, 2000, several unidentified people took pictures of many practitioners and also asked who were the organizers of practice groups. They stayed for a long time during the activities before they left."
  • "Starting in April 2000, practice sites such as the ones at Milliken Park in Scarborough, the City Hall in Mississauga, and Mel Lastman Square in North York, were visited by some Chinese, age ranging from 20 to 40. They expressed an interest in watching practitioners doing exercises and were often seen busy taking photographs here and there. These people only showed up at the practice site once and seldom joined the group doing the exercises. They also wanted to know local activity schedule of various practice sites, and who came from where (which city in China), especially for those who have practised Falun Gong for several years."
  • "In early summer 2000, in Milliken Park, occasionally suspicious figures showed up and watched us for as long as 40 minutes. There was one who had defamatory materials against [both] Falun Gong and Falun Gong's teacher in his hands. He did not even bother to hide the materials."
  • "On October 21 (Saturday), 2000 at around 8:20 a.m., practitioners in the Milliken Park saw a Mandarin-speaking young man (early 30s, thin build, in glasses, not very friendly-looking) [who] photographed us. He stayed close to us but moved farther away after a practitioner turned back to glance at him twice. When another practitioner approached him and asked if he was interested in learning the exercises, he said no and that he was only interested in taking photos. After the exercises at 9 a.m., he was still there. The practitioner approached him the second time and got the same answer."
  • "Right before Falun Gong's three-day memorial activities starting July 20th, 2000, two women 'joined' our practice group in front of Mississauga City Hall. They claimed that they just came from China and practiced Falun Dafa before China's nationwide persecution. But their real interest was in Falun Gong's activity schedule of the following week. They also showed strong interest in who came from where (which city in China), especially for those senior practitioners. They participated in the three-day activities, took photos here and there, and [insisted] to take photos with other practitioners (those who were visiting Canada instead of immigrated here). Then they asked the practitioners to introduce them to the Markham practice group with an excuse that they found a job in Markham; we refused. They never showed up after that."
  • "In early August 2000, a man took our pictures one by one when we did group exercises. He had been hiding behind a wall for almost half an hour when we pointed out directly why he was doing that. He said that's his personal interest and refused to give the film out."
  • "Right now we still have one stranger [who] joins our practice group every Sunday morning. I remain my suspicion for him."
• Calgary
  • "During the summer of 2003, Falun Gong practitioners were appealing [at the Chinese consulate] on a nightly basis between the hours of 9-10 p.m.. On one evening, only one practitioner arrived for the appeal. After 10 o'clock the practitioner began to drive home, stopping for groceries at the Safeway on the way home. On nearing her house, the practitioner noticed a vehicle following quite closely after turning onto the quiet neighbourhood street. After two more turns, the practitioner felt suspicious as the car was following quite closely. She kept driving rather than turn into the driveway to her house. After a few more turns the practitioner was sure she was being followed. Heading into an unfamiliar part of the city, she performed a U-turn in the middle of the road via a side street. The car behind followed this maneuver. The practitioner turned back to look for the license plate. Failing to get the plate number she looked at the vehicle driver. It was a thin Chinese man who at this point was trying to make himself invisible and looking a little frightened. At this point he stopped tailing her. As the vehicle followed quite closely and obviously, we believe the intention was to frighten and bully the practitioner."
• Montreal
  • "In Montreal last year [2002], quite many months ago, there was a young round man, named himself Zhang [. . . ] He came from time to time to our practice site in Chinatown. In the first period, he came quite often and read [Falun Gong teachings] and practised some exercises with us but leisurely. Then once or two times, while we had new Qu´ebecois practitioners meditating eyes closed, he took many pictures of us. First of all, we didn't react. Then a few weeks later, those Westerners felt that taking their pictures like that was not right, so they warned him not to do it again. By that time, he already took quite a lot of pictures of us. Then he disappeared for a while. A few 54 months [ago], he reappeared a few times. Once I remarked him trying to do as if he was in the bathroom when we were doing the standing stance [exercise], but in fact he was in the computer room alone reading on the computer. When he saw me enter, he was surprised and closed the computer, saying something and left. Now I still saw him from time to time in Montreal, but he didn't come anymore to the Chinatown as by now."

Chapter 7 Manipulating Canadian Media
 

7.1 Consulate Places Defamatory Advertisement in Newspaper

Date: 21 September 2000

Summary: The Chinese consulate in Calgary placed a defamatory anti-Falun Gong advertisement in the Canadian Chinese Times newspaper in Edmonton. The advertisement appeared on page 28 of the 21 September 2000 edition of the paper.

Evil Cult “Falun Gong” Like other evil cults in the world, “Falun Gong”’s cult leader Li Hongzhi has fabricated a set of evil teachings to deceive those who practise “Falun Gong” and to maintain mental/ spiritual control over them. . . .

Figure 7.1: Partial translation of the advertisement.

7.2 Consulate Stifles Independent Media's Cultural Gala

Date: January 2004

Summary: The Chinese consulate in Toronto spread anti-Falun Gong propaganda to invitees and performers of a gala organized by a Chinese-language television station that reports favourably on Falun Gong, encouraging them not to attend or support the event.

Details: New Tang Dynasty Television (NTDTV) is a Chinese-language satellite television station based in New York. In early 2004, NTDTV hosted a series of galas, including one in Toronto, to celebrate the Chinese new year.

Shortly before the Toronto gala, the Chinese consulate in Toronto sent letters to the gala's performers and to local government officials, defaming Falun Gong and alleging that NTDTV "belongs to an organization called Falun Gong". (It is not clear how this is possible, since Falun Gong is an individual practice, not an organization1.) One letter advised the reader to "handle this invitation [to the gala] with great caution" and requested his "understanding".
    Mr. Lee Zhong, NTDTV's president, says that his television station is unrelated to Falun Gong, except in that some reporters are practitioners, which he calls their "private business"2. Mr. Lee believes that NTDTV has in the past faced obstacles from Chinese officials, since the station is independent of the Chinese government and reports on issues like the SARS cover-up and the persecution of Falun Gong.

 

 

7.3 Other Incidents

• In an interview with Ottawa Life magazine, China's ambassador to Canada, Mei Ping, defamed Falun Gong as a "harmful cult". His remarks appeared in an article on page 26 of the magazine's February/March 2002 issue.
• Chinese embassy press officer Cai Wei wrote a letter to the editor of the Ottawa Citizen newspaper, published on 16 June 2003, defaming Falun Gong and referring to its "cult nature".
• Pan Xinchun, the Deputy Consul General of the Chinese consulate in Toronto, defamed Falun Gong as a "sinister cult" in a letter to the editor of the Toronto Star, published on page A23 on 1 May 2003. The letter also accused Falun Gong practitioners of having a "hidden purpose" to "instigate hatred and confrontations between China and Canada". (Mr. Joel Chipkar, a Falun Gong practitioner specifically named in the letter, sued Mr. Pan for libel; the Ontario Superior Court found Mr. Pan liable on 3 February 2004 and awarded damages to Mr. Chipkar3.)

7.4 Reports under Investigation

WOIPFG is currently investigating the following unconfirmed reports:

• On September 20, 2001, Sing Tao, a Canada-wide Chinese newspaper, published an article insinuating that Falun Gong practitioners were terrorists and describing Falun Gong as "antiscience, anti-society, anti-humanity" and "evil". The article was one in a series of at least 19 defamatory articles published in Sing Tao over a span of approximately one year, including an article submitted by the Chinese consulate in Toronto.
• A practitioner who hosts a community radio show sometimes talks about the persecution of Falun Gong on the air. One day Chinese consular officials arrived at the radio station and bribed the station manager with favours to have the practitioner's show discontinued. When the practitioner pointed out that their actions were against Canadian law and that he would pursue judicial means if necessary, the officials left.
• Staff of the Chinese embassy hosted two secret press conferences in Ottawa, in December 1999 and July 2000, at which they showed a video tape defaming Falun Gong. Two reporters from China's Xinhua media agency, named Zhang Yingsheng and Xiao Lingjun, interfered at a Falun Gong press conferences held in Montreal in Febrary 2000, and again at another press conference held in Ottawa on 20 July 2000.
• CKNW radio reporter Ms. Melanie Nagy received hate-inciting materials from the Chinese consulate in Vancouver after requesting their comment on a segment she had done on Falun Gong.
• On 16 August 16 2002, a Chinese-language television station in Toronto broadcast defamatory programs supplied by Chinese officials, and was disciplined by the CRTC.
• Staff of the Chinese embassy published a speech defaming Falun Gong in a Canadian Chinese newspaper and also arranged the broadcast defamatory material on a Montreal television station.
• Officials of the Chinese consulate in Toronto have threatened store owners not to place advertisements in the Epoch Times, a Chinese-language newspaper that reports on Falun Gong positively. Many newspaper stands have been stolen and large quantities of newspapers have been taken and thrown away.

Part III Retrospective

Chapter 8 Analysis of the Propaganda's Claims
 

In reproducing propaganda material verbatim, this report also incorporates a significant volume of anti-Falun Gong propaganda. By now, the propaganda's allegations have been investigated by many observers, and are widely regarded as groundless. Many are demonstrably false. It would therefore be remiss of us to reprint this material without addressing its contents.
    Instead of undertaking to provide a comprehensive analysis of every claim, this section briefly addresses several of the most significant accusations and provides excerpts from the reports of other commentators who have already examined them in detail.

The government's accusations against Falun Gong followers range from "organizing illegal gatherings" to "threatening political stability". These accusations include "forcefully occupying parks", organising or taking part in "illegal" sit-ins, assemblies or demonstrations, obstructing "normal religious activities", having "illegally" published and distributed books, "leaking state secrets", "harming people's health" or "causing deaths" through the philosophy it promoted.
– Amnesty International1

. . . the authorities have detained tens of thousands of people and are spewing a deafening barrage of anti-Falun Gong publicity each day. . .
– New York Times, 6 August 1999

8.1 Claim: Falun Gong is "illegal" and "banned according to the law"

The crackdown on Falun Gong violates China's constitution, and the methods employed in carrying it out – including arbitrary arrest and detention, torture, rape, brainwashing, extortion, and murder – are illegal.
     Meanwhile, Falun Gong practitioners have simply exercised their constitutionally guaranteed rights. Many are imprisoned without any legal procedure; others receive show trials on vague charges like "disrupting social order". In this way, China's legal system has become a tool for implementing the persecution. Labelling Falun Gong as illegal serves to disguise the crackdown as legitimate.

When [China's Communist leaders] found themselves without the laws they needed to vigorously persecute a peaceful meditation society, the Party simply ordered up some new laws. Now these will be applied – retroactively, of course – in show trials that could lead to execution. . . This is what the regime calls "smashing them rigorously in accordance with the law." By these standards, Stalin was a scrupulous observer of civil rights.
– Washington Post editorial, 2 November 1999

. . . the police have been so preoccupied with arresting Falun Gong practitioners that they have been diverted from their regular duties.
– Taipei Times, 18 January 2001

The means [Chinese leaders] used show . . . that they wanted to thoroughly discredit Falungong in the process of dismantling it and that they employed rule of law and justice rationales as a cover and as an excuse.
– Human Rights Watch

8.2 Claim: Falun Gong is an "organization" with "members" and "leaders"

As an individual practice, Falun Gong has no institutional structure, membership, or hierarchy.
Some choose to practise at home, while others choose to practise together at group practice sites. All activities are organized by volunteers.

There is no such thing as a "Falun Gong member"; as practitioners point out, there is nothing to join.

This raises the question of whether Falungong is actually organized. Available information suggests that it is not.
– Human Rights in China

8.3 Claim: Falun Gong promotes a "doomsday theory" and "forbids taking medicine"

Falun Gong's teachings, which are freely available on the Internet6, explicitly state that there is no doomsday and that people with serious illnesses should seek medical treatment immediately.

Mr. Li Hongzhi does not, has not, and cannot prevent practitioners of Falun Gong from taking medicine or seeking medical treatment. Mr. Li has never said that practitioners need to abstain from medicine or medical treatment; anyone can read his books to confirm this for themselves. Making prudent decisions on one's own is central to Falun Gong practice. [. . . ]

If many Falun Gong practitioners are not seeking medical treatment, it is because they are healthy and not in need of it. A 1998 study of over 12,000 practitioners, conducted by medical scientists from top institutions in Beijing, found Falun Gong practice to have significant healing effects for 99% of those practicing, with a disease "cure" rate (indicating complete recovery) over 58%. Medical problems of every sort showed improvement. Other studies, including some immunological research done in the United States, have confirmed Falun Gong's positive impact on health. – Falun Dafa Information Center

The People's Temple was an apocalyptic cult predicting the imminent end of the world, but neither Falungong scripture [nor] the writings of Li Hongzhi contain any such claims... – Human Rights in China

8.4 Claim: Falun Gong is political and practitioners oppose the Chinese government

It is evident from many articles written by practitioners9 that the Falun Gong community draws a clear distinction between the Chinese government as a whole and the few key leaders responsible for directing the persecution. Practitioners have never lobbied for social or political reform; instead, they have consistently asked simply for an end to the oppression forced upon them and for those responsible to be brought to justice. This distinction was clearly visible when hundreds of Falun Gong practitioners welcomed Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao to North America in December 2003 and, at the same time, called for bringing former Chairman Jiang Zemin to trial for his crimes against humanity10.
    It is also evident from practitioners' writings, and in conversation, that practitioners simply have no interest in politics or the Chinese government. This is consistent with Falun Gong's teachings, which explicitly emphasize non-involvement in politics.
    Instead, it appears from Jiang Zemin's remarks and handling of Falun Gong that the real element of politics lies in the crackdown itself, not in the practice it targets.

Strictly speaking, Falungong is not political, and up to now has not involved itself in politics. . . . Everything Falungong [practitioners] have been doing is aimed at resisting the intrusion of politics onto Falungong turf. It is only by the CCP's perverse logic that you can be accused of opposing the Party merely by denying the accusation that you oppose it.
– Human Rights in China

All the information available indicates that the crackdown is politically motivated. . .
– Amnesty International

8.5 Claim: Falun Gong practitioners set themselves on fire on Tiananmen Square

This accusation is perhaps the most vilifying and most frequently repeated propaganda item. A large body of evidence suggests that the self-immolators were not Falun Gong practitioners.

WOIPFG has identified several questionable aspects of this incident:

• Voice identification technology at a world-renowned speech-processing laboratory indicates that Wang Jindong, the lead self-immolator, was played by two different people in appearances on state-run television.
• The ambulance took more than two hours to reach Jishuitan Hospital, located just 10 km from Tiananmen Square.
• Medical staff at the hospital report that Liu Siying, the 12-year-old girl, died suddenly under "very suspicious" circumstances after her health had already recovered
• The self-immolators' accounts of the incident and the official reports in the Chinese state-run media contain numerous inconsistencies.
• Other observers have noted many additional discrepancies, such as: Dozens of fire extinguishers were mysteriously available in less than one minute, although the self-immolation site was far from the nearest building.
• Slow-motion footage shows Liu Chunling, the self-immolator who allegedly died from the flames, being clubbed on the head by a man wearing a military overcoat.
• Liu Siying was able to speak and sing clearly soon after having a tracheotomy. A doctor at Jishuitan Hospital told WOIPFG, "It wasn't possible for Liu Siying's voice to be that loud and clear. It seems that CCTV did something there."19
• The close-up video footage reportedly came from CNN, but the CNN producer and cameraman were arrested immediately after the self-immolations began20, and long-range footage shows a cameraman moving freely among police21.
• Wang Jindong was unfamiliar with basic Falun Gong terminology and postures22. The words he shouts in the official self-immolation footage have no foundation in Falun Gong's teachings, which prohibit killing and suicide24.
• Wang Jindong was reportedly engulfed in flames, yet his hair and plastic gasoline bottle remained mysteriously intact.

The regime points to a supposed self-immolation incident in Tiananmen Square on January 23, 2001 as proof that Falun Gong is an "evil cult". However, we have obtained a video26 of that incident that in our view proves that this event was staged by the government.
– International Education Development

The conclusion to be drawn is clear: no matter how the calculation is carried out, suicide rates among Falungong followers are low. . . If anything, it should be said that practicing Falungong prevents suicide rather than promoting it.

[. . . ]

The CCP's accusations that Falungong exercises "mind control" over its followers are similarly unfounded. Effective mind control requires a controlled environment, insulating followers from any other viewpoints, and physical coercion and punishment. . . It is clear that the conditions do not exist for Li Hongzhi to exercise mind control over Falungong followers, even if he wished to do so.
– Human Rights in China

8.6 Claim: Falun Gong is harmful to society and leads to derangement and death

The essence of this assertion becomes clear when one considers why such reports have consistently appeared only in China, and only after the nationwide ban on Falun Gong began in July 1999. Comparable reports from before the crackdown and the dozens of other countries where Falun Gong is practised are conspicuously absent. Instead, the international community has widely supported and awarded Falun Gong.

It is surely remarkable, however, that there so suddenly occurred, according to the official version of events, such a massive epidemiological outbreak of qigong-related mental illness across China during the precise period immediately before and after the start of the government's crackdown on Falun Gong in July 1999. Still more puzzling is the fact that, in the Chinese government's main published compilation of evidence concerning the severe psychological damage that the practice of Falun Gong is alleged to induce in its practitioners, the sufferers are, in all recorded cases, said to have contracted an exotic mental disorder known as "dysphrenia" – a condition that is apparently either so rare or so mild that, not only does it not appear in the World Health Organization's ICD-10, it is also entirely absent from the CCMD-II, the Chinese medical establishment's own official listing of mental disorders. – Human Rights Watch

Despite the drum beat of negative propaganda from Beijing, Falun Gong fits none of the broadly accepted criteria used to differentiate cults from other religions and spiritual practices. [Practitioners] are not asked to give up money or possessions or to separate themselves from nonpractitioners. They are not asked to declare personal loyalty to Li or to Falun Gong. Instruction is free.
– Boston Globe, 22 April 2001

In an official book published in September 1999, the [Chinese] government cited official statistics from 29 provinces aiming to show that 1404 people died over an unspecified period of time as a result of their Falun Gong beliefs. . . the information provided is limited and the conclusions drawn from it are unconvincing. It does not address a number of essential questions. . . In addition to the statistics on the 1404 deaths, the book includes case details of 100 people who allegedly suffered physical or mental problems or harmed themselves or their relatives "as a result of practising Falun Gong". . . . Again, the direct link between cause and effect is not demonstrated in these cases.
– Amnesty International

The charge that Falungong threatens the stability of China does not hold up. Its claim that belief in Falungong is a public health menace is equally bogus. The danger to health comes from the treatment its practitioners receive at the hands of the police and prison officials.
– Human Rights Watch

Afterword

A detective from a Canadian hate crimes unit has indicated that only about 10% of Chinese officials' anti-Falun Gong activities would be traceable back to those who are responsible. If this is so, then the cases presented here represent only a small fraction of Chinese diplomats' systematic actions in extending the persecution of Falun Gong to Canadian soil.

These cases illustrate how Chinese officials have been stepping beyond their diplomatic mandates to spread hatred against, harass, monitor, and assault Falun Gong practitioners here in Canada. Meanwhile, a campaign of misinformation and pressure has reached the public and all levels of Canadian government and attempted to coerce Canadian officials into participating in the persecution by rescinding their support for the victims.

WOIPFG believes that the Chinese regime's massive propaganda campaign against Falun Gong has not only laid the foundation to justify and perpetuate the persecution, but also attempts to deny and conceal the grave human rights abuses that have been widely documented by U.N. Special Rapporteurs, government bodies, human rights groups, and Falun Gong practitioners.

We will continue collecting information to obtain a clear understanding of the situation of intimidation, harassment, discrimination, and hate propaganda against Falun Gong across Canada. This information will be used to alert Canadian authorities to stop these human rights abuses and to protect Canada's sovereignty, values, and peaceful communities under the dignity of our Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Only by addressing what has taken place and disallowing impunity to reign can further abuses be stopped.

If you are a target of these acts or have received these materials yourself, we ask that you support our efforts by informing us or through other means you deem appropriate. We thank you for any assistance you may be able to provide.

Part IV
Appendices

Appendix A Interference in Other Countries

Canada is not the only country where Chinese officials actively participate in extending the persecution of Falun Gong beyond mainland China. In so doing, they overstep their diplomatic mandates and violate local laws. The following are only a few examples.

A.1 Germany

Figure A.1: Chinese secret serviceman assaults a Falun Gong practitioner.

When China's then-Chairman, Jiang Zemin, travelled to Germany on a state visit in April 2002, he pressured local officials to keep Falun Gong practitioners out of his sight.

When Jiang's motorcade arrived in front of the Hotel Kempinski in Dresden on 11 April 2002, at around noon, a woman emerged from among the spectators and cried out the name "Falun Gong".

Immediately, a Chinese secret serviceman pounced on the woman, grabbed her by the throat, and choked her; two German security officers then dragged her from the scene. Other policemen tried to stop reporters from taking photos.

A.2 Hong Kong

Figure A.2: Dozens of Hong Kong police officers arrest Falun Gong practitioners after pressure from mainland Chinese officials.

At 08:50 on 14 March 2002, four Swiss practitioners began a three-day sit-in and hunger strike outside the China Liaison office in Hong Kong, appealing after Chairman Jiang's orders to "shoot [Falun Gong practitioners] on sight". Soon after, twelve Hong Kong practitioners joined them spontaneously. The gathering was peaceful and legal. Between 09:00 and 10:00, the Liaison Office made five phone calls to the police.

Within hours, 50-60 police officers had arrived and violently arrested all 16 practitioners, injuring nine through choking and pressing acupressure points. On 15 March, the practitioners were charged with "obstruction of property", although they had occupied only a few feet of the 30-foot-wide sidewalk, while police barricades blocked the entire sidewalk for five days. On 22 March, they were charged with "assaulting policemen", although video footage and multiple eyewitness accounts show that it was the police who had assaulted the practitioners. The judge was openly biased during the trial and presented a guilty verdict on 15 August 2002.

A.3 Romania

Figure A.3: Chinese diplomats distribute misinformation after barging into the exhibition. Ms. Zhang Cuiying, a painter of traditional Chinese art and a Falun Gong practitioner, was to hold an exhibition of her work at a gallery in Bucharest in March and April 2003. Shortly after the exhibition opened, three Chinese diplomats arrived. The organizers invited them to come see the art, but instead they began pushing people around, grabbed a photographer's camera, distributed false information that the Romanian government opposes Falun Gong, and forced the closure of the exibition through pressure. A media worker later took the documents attributed to the Romanian government to the Chinese embassy in Romania, where a secretary admitted immediately that the embassy had printed and distributed them.

A.4 U.K.

Figure A.4: Anti-Falun Gong exhibition inside the Chinese embassy in London. Chinese officials have organized at least two anti- Falun Gong exhibitions in London: one inside the embassy and another, which the public was invited to attend free of charge, held on 15 December 2001 at the Chinese Student Center in West Ealing. Similar exhibitions have been held in the Chinese embassies and consulates of at least 15 countries.

A.5 U.S.A.

 

Figure A.5: Two men videotape practitioners from the roof of the Chinese consulate in Chicago. According to the Falun Dafa Information Center1, Chinese officials in the U.S.A. have disseminated propaganda to the U.S. public and officials; disrupted community activities; pressured and threatened federal, state, and city-level officials, including leveraging trade and economic ties; physically assaulted and harassed U.S. citizens and residents; interfered with private business; and gathered information about practitioners through illegal surveillance. These actions of Chinese officials were the subject of a Congressional briefing held in July 2003.

A.6 Others

WOIPFG has encountered many other reports of Chinese officials' anti-Falun Gong activities in Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Macau, Macedonia, Malaysia, Mexico, Moldova, Myanmar, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Russia, Scotland, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, the Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela. Meanwhile, most of the web sites of China's embassies, consulates, and other diplomatic missions contain prominent sections devoted to hate-inciting misinformation about Falun Gong.

A.7 Jiang Zemin's Orders: Disrupt Falun Gong Overseas

A bulletin from the Falun Dafa Information Center

NEW YORK, October 19, 2000 (Falun Dafa Information Center) – As a spiritual practice deeply rooted in Chinese society, Falun Gong practitioners in China often have access to non-public documents and information. Obviously these sources must remain confidential, but a recently "leaked" missive has given us cause for genuine alarm: Reliable sources inside China have revealed that Jiang Zemin and his group of supporters within the Chinese government are implementing a new policy to "intensify the struggle [against Falun Gong] overseas."

According to these same sources inside China, on October 12th, a highly classified document was sent out from the central government via an internal telegram to the military and top officials at the Ministry level. Sources report that the document now classifies Falun Gong as 'counterrevolutionary,' as 'anti-Party,' and as an 'anti-socialist organization' – the same terms used against the student protesters just prior to the Tiananmen Incident in 1989. Perhaps the most insidious item in the document, however, is one that explicitly calls for "intensifying the campaign overseas against those foreign forces, collect more information, and prevent protests," indicating greater actions may be taken beyond Chinese borders in the months to come.

Practitioners in Australia, Europe, the United States, and elsewhere have long reported harassment from Chinese consulate officers and government agents. In the U.S., Chinese consulate and other government officials have contacted a number of mayoral offices around the country as well as major universities (including Cal-Tech) in an effort to block Falun Gong activities. Additionally, there have been many documented cases of practitioners, including American citizens, being followed on U.S. soil and having their email systems attacked from inside China. In one of the more blatant and outrageous incidents in recent days, a homeless Chinese woman in Tokyo told police that she had been given money by P.R.C. agents to pretend that she was a Falun Gong practitioner and to engage in illegal actions so as to smear the image of Falun Gong.

The Falun Dafa Information Center is asking governmental and news agencies around the world to closely monitor this situation. We anticipate an increasing amount of activity of this sort in the months to come as P.R.C. personnel attempt to carry out their new orders. We can only guess at what kinds of tactics Jiang Zemin and his associates will use in the near future, and just how far they will go to extend their campaign of intimidation and defamation overseas.

We encourage you to contact the Falun Dafa Information Center if you have questions or need clarification regarding any particular incidents of this nature.

A.8 U.S. Congress: House Concurrent Resolution 304

A resolution, presently before U.S. Congress, outlining Chinese agents' illegal activities against Falun Gong practitioners on U.S. soil and requesting four main courses of action in response

HCON 304 IH 108th CONGRESS 1st Session

H. CON. RES. 304

Expressing the sense of Congress regarding oppression by the Government of the People's Republic of China of Falun Gong in the United States and in China.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

October 16, 2003

Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN (for herself and Ms. WOOLSEY) submitted the following concurrent resolution;

which was referred to the Committee on International Relations, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of Congress regarding oppression by the Government of the People's Republic of China of Falun Gong in the United States and in China.

Whereas Falun Gong is a peaceful spiritual movement that originated in the People's Republic of China but has grown in popularity worldwide and is now accepted and practiced by thousands in the United States;

Whereas demonstrations by Falun Gong practitioners in the People's Republic of China and the United States have been peaceful, meditative sessions;

Whereas the Constitution of the People's Republic of China provides to the citizens of that country freedom of speech, assembly, association, and religious belief;

Whereas members of the Falun Gong spiritual movement, members of Chinese pro-democracy groups, and advocates of human rights reform in the People's Republic of China have been harassed, libeled, imprisoned, and beaten for demonstrating peacefully inside that country;

Whereas the Chinese Government has also attempted to silence the Falun Gong movement and Chinese prodemocracy groups inside the United States;

Whereas on June 12, 2003, 38 Members of Congress filed an Amended Brief of Amicus Curiae in support of the Falun Gong at the United States District Court, Northeastern District of Illinois, Eastern Division;

Whereas Chinese consular officials have pressured local elected officials in the United States to refuse or withdraw support for the Falun Gong spiritual group;

Whereas Dr. Charles Lee, a United States citizen, has reportedly been mentally and physically tortured since being detained by Chinese authorities in early 2003;

Whereas the apartment of Ms. Gail Rachlin, the Falun Gong spokeswoman in the United States, has been broken into 5 times by agents of the Chinese regime since the regime banned Falun Gong in 1999 in China;

Whereas over the past 5 years China's diplomatic corps has been actively involved in harassing and persecuting Falun Gong practitioners in the United States;

Whereas on June 23, 2003, Falun Gong practitioners were attacked outside a Chinese restaurant in New York City by local United States-based individuals with reported ties to the Chinese Government;

Whereas 5 Falun Gong practitioners were assaulted outside of the Chinese Consulate in Chicago on September 7, 2001, while exercising their constitutionally protected rights to free speech, leading to battery convictions in Cook County Criminal Court of Jiming Zheng on November 13, 2002, and Yujun Weng on December 5, 2002, both assailants being members of a Chinese-American organization in Chicago, the Mid-USA Fujian Township Association, which maintains close ties with the Chinese Consulate;

Whereas individuals that physically harassed Falun Gong practitioners in San Francisco on October 22, 2000, were later seen at anti-Falun Gong meetings and the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco;

Whereas San Francisco City Supervisor Chris Daly, after receiving complaints that Chinese officials were intimidating his constituents, authored a resolution condemning human rights violations and persecution of Falun Gong [practitioners] by the Chinese Government;

Whereas Mr. Daly and the other members of the San Francisco City Council subsequently received a letter from the Chinese Consul General in San Francisco, claiming that Falun Gong was an 'evil cult' that was undermining the 'normal social order' in the People's Republic of China, and that Mr. Daly's resolution should therefore be rejected, which it subsequently was;

Whereas in November 2000, the former Mayor of Saratoga, California, Stan Bogosian, issued a proclamation honoring the contributions of Falun Gong practitioners to the Saratoga community,which prompted the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco to write to Mr. Bogosian urging him to retract his support for local Falun Gong activities;

Whereas many local and national media organizations have reported that other local officials across the United States, including the mayors of several major cities, have been pressured by Chinese consular officials to recant statements of support for the Falun Gong;

Whereas journalists have cited fear of hurting trade relationships as the motivation for some local United States officials to recant their support for Falun Gong after receiving pressure from Chinese consular officials; and

Whereas the Constitution of the United States guarantees freedom of religion, the right to assemble, and the right to speak freely, and the people of the United States strongly value protecting the ability of all people to live without fear and in accordance with their personal beliefs: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that–

(1) the Government of the People's Republic of China should–

(A) immediately stop interfering in the exercise of religious and political freedoms within the United States, such as the right to practice Falun Gong, that are guaranteed by the United States Constitution;
(B) cease using the diplomatic missions in the United States to spread falsehoods about the nature of Falun Gong;
(C) release from detention all prisoners of conscience, including practitioners of Falun Gong, who have been incarcerated in violation of their rights as expressed in the Constitution of the People's Republic of China;
(D) immediately end the harassment, detention, physical abuse, and imprisonment of individuals who are exercising their legitimate rights to freedom of religion, including the practices of Falun Gong, freedom of expression, and freedom of association as stated in the Constitution of the People's Republic of China; and
(E) demonstrate its willingness to abide by international standards of freedom of belief, expression, and association by ceasing to restrict those freedoms in the People's Republic of China;

(2) the President should, in accordance with section 401(a)(1)(B) of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6401(a)(1)(B)), and with the intention of dissuading the Chinese Government from attempting to stifle religious freedom in the People's Republic of China and the United States, take action such as–

(A) issuing an official public demarche, a formal protest, to the Chinese Foreign Ministry in response to the repeated violations by the Chinese Government of basic human rights protected in international covenants to which the People's Republic of China is a signatory; and (
B) working more closely with Chinese human rights activists to identify Chinese authorities who have been personally responsible for acts of violence and persecution in the People's Republic of China;

(3) the Attorney General should investigate reports that Chinese consular officials in the United States have committed illegal acts while attempting to intimidate or inappropriately influence Falun Gong practitioners or local elected officials, and, in consultation with the Secretary of State, determine an appropriate legal response; and

(4) officials of local governments in the United States should–

(A) in accordance with local statutes and procedures, recognize and support organizations and individuals that share the goals of all or part of the local community, including Falun Gong practitioners; and
(B) report incidents of pressure or harassment by agents of the People's Republic of China to Members of Congress, the Attorney General, and the Secretary of State.

Appendix B References

B.1 Letter from M.P. Rob Anders Regarding Harassment

3 January 2002

Hon. John Manley,
Minister of Foreign Affairs House of Commons
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6

Dear Minister,

I am very concerned about the activities of the staff of the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Ottawa and their consulate in Calgary. There have been serious breaches in diplomatic protocol and even activities which border on assault and harassment. I ask you to look into the following cases and to discipline those who have violated Canadian laws.

In February 2000 I was invited to a Chinese New Year's celebration hosted by Member of Parliament Sophie Leung in Room 200 of West Block in the House of Commons. I attended wearing clothing with statements regarding a free Tibet and an end to the repression of followers of Falun Dafa. Staff members of the People's Republic physically assaulted me in the House of Commons for wearing these slogans. They also tried to steal a camera away from a Canadian photo-journalist taking pictures of the event.

It was brought to my attention that a Calgary businessman became a target for harassment for his belief in Falun Dafa. The consulate has threatened his business associates and his family in China. Hate propaganda continues to be distributed about practitioners of Falun Gong in Calgary.

The latest assault of a student from the University of Ottawa by Embassy staff cannot go unanswered. This student was struck violently all over his body for taking a picture, at an event to which he was invited. I understand that this current incident is being investigated by the police, but the actions of the staff of the Embassy must be dealt with on a wider scale. Visitors to our country must obey the rules of this country; they cannot be allowed to flaunt our laws.

You yourself have stated in your speech to the OSCE on December 3rd that ". . . the struggle to keep our small planet on a path of greater openness, tolerance and inclusiveness – as well as one of safety, security and respect for the rule of law – has become a global priority. None of us, no nation and no international organization, can be neutral in this struggle." I would ask that you stand by your words and look at removing diplomatic privileges for those staff who have not respected the rule of law in Canada and to threaten withdrawal of Canada's delegation to the Beijing Olympic games. This is not the time for neutrality. I look forward to your prompt reply.

Sincerely,

Rob Anders, MPCalgary WestRA/dv

B.2 Letter from M.P. Gordon Earle to Chinese Ambassador

 

B.3 Letter from Mayor of St. John’s to Chinese Ambassador

 

 

World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong

Tel：1-347-448-5790；Fax：1-347-402-1444；
Mail Address：P.O. Box 84， New york, NY 10116
Website： http://www.upholdjustice.org/, http://www.zhuichaguoji.org/

 

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