WASHINGTON, Dec 6, 2000 -- (Agence France Presse) The United States on Tuesday called on China to release a U.S. resident and Falun Gong practitioner jailed for documenting alleged abuses against the banned spiritual movement. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said a secret one-day trial of Teng Chunyan last month on espionage charges was "deeply disturbing." "We urge the Chinese authorities to release Ms. Teng and to permit her to return to the United States," Boucher told reporters. "We have raised this case with Chinese authorities, both in Beijing and in Washington," Boucher said, urging China to end a crackdown on Falun Gong and to uphold the internationally recognized right of citizens to take part in "peaceful spiritual pursuits." Although Teng is a U.S. resident, she is not a U.S. citizen and as such has no right of consular access, Boucher said. Teng, 37, an acupuncturist who lives in New York, was held on charges of "prying into state intelligence for overseas organizations" at the Beijing Intermediate People's Court. She is accused of arranging an interview between foreign reporters and Falun Gong members who had been incarcerated in a mental hospital. Fifty practitioners from a rural district in Beijing were locked up in the hospital for more than a month to prevent them from going to Tiananmen Square to protest the ban against the group. Teng is also accused of collaborating with Falun Gong members to take pictures of practitioners detained in the hospital and passing the photos on to foreign media. A verdict is expected to be announced shortly, and Teng faces a minimum of 10 years in jail if convicted. China banned the Falun Gong movement in July last year and launched a massive crackdown which saw leaders jailed for up to 18 years and thousands of followers sent to prison or labor camps. ((c) 2000 Agence FrancePresse) http://www.insidechina.com/news.php3?id=227424~{!l~}ion=default
Category: Falun Dafa in the Media
