Radio Free Asia reports on February 19, 2002 -- China has postponed the sentencing of six students arrested for posting articles on the Internet against the persecution of Falun Gong, days before President Bush is due in Beijing. The situation's development has captured significant media attention.

Mr. Goodrich, spokesperson for the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, said during an interview with RFA on Tuesday that he was aware of the report on the postponed sentence. He also said that the action might reflect [the Chinese government's] concerns: the Chinese government does not want their persecution of Falun Gong to evoke unnecessary attention during Bush's visit. Mr. Goodrich continued and expressed that the Commission hoped that the students would not be sentenced, however, from what the Chinese government has done in the past two years to Falun Gong, the Commission does not hold out much hope for that prospect.

One of the founders of the Falun Dafa Information Center headquartered in New York City, Professor Zhou Shiyu from the University of Pennsylvania remarked, "Even though the sentencing of the six Tsinghua University students has been postponed, the authorities may have already decided their punishment behind the scenes."

This Falun Gong practitioner stated that the suppression of Falun Gong has injected an unstable element to society in China.

Dr. Zhou Shiyu once again appealed to President Bush to raise the issue of Falun Gong's persecution to the Chinese leadership.

Mr. Goodrich said that President Bush has already expressed his intent to raise the issue of human rights and religious freedom once he arrives in China. He expressed that it is the desire of the Commission for him to do so and send this message to China: on one hand we want to do business with China and gain its cooperation on many issues, but this does not mean that we no longer have interest in the issues of human rights and religious freedom.

Mr. Goodrich explained further that Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights asserts that "everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion," and China is one of the ratifying countries of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Radio Free Asia reporter Yang Jiadai conducted the interview.