Vol. XXIX No. 1 April 01 2003

Cheng Wan has gone public to help free his mother, who is jailed in China for Falun Gong activity Photo by: Kathy De Foe

A few months ago, Cheng Wan unexpectedly received a letter at his Southeast home from his mother in China. Over the past two years, his letters to her have gone unanswered. When he finally received that reply, he read it carefully. He knew it was meticulously crafted not to mention the words: Falun Gong.

That's because the words, ideas and beliefs of Falun Gong put Cheng Wan's 52-year-old mother, Chen Jingjiang, in prison in January 2001. China declared the spiritual practice of Falun Gong illegal in 1999, setting off a cycle of persecutions that Falun Gong members say have shackled them in fear and secrecy for performing a spiritual practice they say changed their lives.

Cheng Wan is a Ph.D. student in electrical engineering at the University of Minnesota. He came to the United States four years ago, leaving his family behind, never guessing how hard it would be to reunite with them again.

The softspoken young man with a small stature is now fighting for the release of his mother. She has been living in a hard labor camp for two years and has only seen her husband a couple of times, he said.

Cheng Wan has learned not to mention Falun Gong, the practice that imprisoned his mother by her refusal to give it up. "Anything I wrote to my father about Falun Gong, that part of the letter was torn out or she didn't receive it at all," said Cheng Wan. Every word he shares with his family is heard or read.

The forbidden practice of simple exercises and moral teachings is what Jingjiang and her family believes cured her of a painful disease in 1996. From a frail woman who was embittered by her disease, she became healthy and energetic. "Her attitude has also changed; she was more calm and peaceful," said Cheng Wan. The profound results convinced his whole family to begin the practice.

This nonviolent belief is what became their crime when China began sweeping arrests, persecution and torture of Falun Gong members. Jingjiang was among the hundreds who were forced to attend "transformation classes" to give up her practice of [Falun Gong].

In January 2001, she was arrested when police raided her home and found Falun Gong flyers. She is currently serving a three-year prison term [under false charges]. Cheng Wan said he believes those three years will be extended if his mother continues her refusal to denounce Falun Gong.

That's all Cheng Wan knows of his mother's story. The persecution in China has made it impossible to visit his family. But the accounts of persecution coming out of China against other Falun Gong members have Cheng Wan worried.

Amnesty International continues to receive numerous reports of torture against Falun Gong members. Such reports give details of police brutality and torture, which lead to death. The Chinese government is reported to have used many methods of torture, including electric shock batons, beatings and a painful device that shackles the wrists and feet. Hundreds of victims and pictures of their gruesome torture have been reported. Victims have been sent back cremated to family members without a reasonable explanation for the cause of death. Autopsies of bodies before cremation show some victims suffering from wounds and haematoma on many parts of the body.

Falun Gong sources say more than 420 confirmed cases of Falun Gong members having died as a result of police torture in China. Hundreds are still imprisoned. Amnesty International stated in a report that it "fears they are at risk of torture or ill treatment."

Barbara Frey directs the Human Rights Program at the University of Minnesota, and has joined efforts to release Jingjiang.

"This is a real serious human rights violation. People are practicing their nonviolent life and are being detained just for their ideas. It is a classic human rights problem," said Frey. Her department became involved in this case when she heard about Cheng Wan, a current student.

China's persecution of ideas and beliefs is not new. Followers of many religious groups are routinely silenced. Mosques have been shut down and pastors of underground "house churches" have been arrested. But the persecution of Falun Gong has reached a level of intensity that is catching the world's attention.

In early 1999, an official report showed that 70 million Chinese were practicing Falun Gong. The number was shocking to the Chinese government. It had even outgrown the Communist party's membership. Many believe the numbers alone is what motivated [dictator Jiang] to act with such fierceness.

"I think it is a kind of personal jealousy. The leader does not have authority. No one worships the Communist leader anymore," said Cheng Wan. "They try control everything. They control even the mind. Once they find something they can't control, they feel threatened. What we believe is something totally out of their control," he continued.

That grip of power is hard to loosen even with pressure from democratic nations. Barbara Frey thinks it is unlikely that China will change its policy.

"China has a lot of national pride on how it handles internal affairs. It doesn't believe any outside government has a basis to interfere and tell them how to deal with their own issues," said Frey. "They have used this force for generations, and it has gotten in the way of their foreign relationships and they don't see this as any different."

While international pressure has not forced China to change general policy, it has changed individual cases. "That's what makes it worthwhile to work on behalf of Cheng Wan's mother. It might actually have an impact," Frey said.

Cheng Wan, other Falun Gong members and human rights advocates in the Twin Cities have started a grassroots effort to release Cheng Wan's mother.

In a small meeting at a home in Southeast, Cheng Wan tells his story. Many at the meeting don't know what Falun Gong is about. Meetings like this motivate community activists to write letters to prison officials where Jingjiang is being detained or sign petitions being sent to U.S. government officials. Cheng Wan believes the letters to prison officials will help protect his mother if they know her case is being closely watched outside of China. He is also trying to persuade U.S. officials to intervene in his mother's case.

His activism has gained his father threats from Chinese officials. But Cheng Wan is convinced silence would only further endanger his family. "The more we reveal the truth, the better situation it will become. They are trying to hide what they are doing. If they know it is being revealed, they will hesitate," said Cheng Wan.

Cheng Wan recently got engaged and had always hoped his parents would be at the wedding. Instead, he's planning a small wedding as he continues to focus on his mother's release.

Until China begins to hear the plea for justice, Cheng Wan waits anxiously to hear from his mother a world away working in a prison camp. One day he hopes to get a letter that says she has been freed.

Cheng Wan's struggle is a simple one. "If you [China] say your people have freedom, then just give it. That's all," he said.

http://www.southeastangle.info/articles/article.php?id=43