(Cleariwisdom.net) The Chinese New Year, January 22, was also American citizen and Falun Gong practitioner Charles Li's birthday. January 22 was also the one-year anniversary of his illegal arrest and detention by the Chinese regime. Ms. Foo Yongqin, Charles Li's fianc¨¦e, wanted to relay Charles' New Year's greetings to Teacher and fellow practitioners through Clearwisdom.

A U.S. consular official based in Shanghai visited Charles Li on January 15, bearing birthday and New Year's cards from around the world. The consular official told Ms. Foo that prison officials were going to inspect the cards first before giving them to Mr. Li. The official requested that the cards be immediately turned over to Charles, since it should not take much time at all to inspect them.

Ms. Foo said, "Charles Li asked the consular official to tell me that he remains steadfast and encouraged me to be strong, and to remain confident."

Charles Li also sent New Year's greetings to Master Li Hongzhi and fellow practitioners, and wanted to express his appreciation for all of the support he has received.

Ms. Foo said, "In the process of trying to secure Charles' release, I have met many kind-hearted people who have clearly distinguished between right and wrong. They wanted to give their best wishes to Charles but were afraid that the prison would confiscate their letters, so they sent the cards directly to the U.S. Consulate in Shanghai to be routed to Charles."

When asked about her state of mind and plans for 2004, Ms. Foo said with emotion, "In order to rescue Charles, I have traveled all over the U.S., and the year passed by in a flash. But for Charles, who is enduring mental and physical torture every moment, perhaps this was a long, long year. In 2004, I will continue to persist in my efforts. I firmly believe that the day for Charles to regain his freedom is not far away, because I have seen with my own eyes how more and more people have seen through the lies and propaganda against Falun Gong, and found out the facts for themselves. If everyone all over the world knew the facts, then no one would believe those lies that were fabricated to persecute Falun Gong."