April 1, 2004

HORNSBY, Australia -- mother worried about her daughter who was imprisoned in China for practising Falun Gong, has turned to Berowra Federal Liberal MP Philip Ruddock for support.

Mrs. Fuying Li handed Mr Ruddock a petition last week signed by more than 1300 Hornsby residents to condemn the persecution of Falun Gong followers.

[...] ⁽¹⁾

Mrs Fuying Li of Hornsby claims her daughter Haiyu Yan was being tortured and "brainwashed" in Guangzhou Cou Tao Lady Labour Camp on Cou Tao Island in Guangzhou city.

Haiyu Yan was released in August last year to visit her sick father in hospital.

Mrs Fuying Li said her daughter was a "totally different person after years of torture."

"Even when she went home she did not get any real freedom. She is still under surveillance and her phone is tapped," she said. Haiyu Yan applied for a passport last year to visit Australia, but was unsuccessful, and has not contacted her family in over two weeks.

Mrs Fuying Li wants Mr Ruddock to address the issue in Parliament and "call upon the People's Republic of China to end its human rights violations and meet internationally recognised standards for human rights."

Mr Ruddock said he would present the petition to Parliament as the member for Berowra.

(1) We have chosen not to reprint a slanderous quote from China's embassy in Australia. The embassy is the source of the slander, not the author of this article.