A small group of people protesting the alleged organ harvesting of Falun Gong practitioners in China stood outside Abbotsford City Hall on Tuesday morning in an attempt to persuade local, provincial and federal authorities to back their cause. The group, which included (from left) April Zhu, Winston Liu and Ying Xiong Fong, will be visiting 12 other Lower Mainland cities during the campaign. Below is protester Sue Zhang.

Aug 10 2006

It is more than five years since Winston Liu sat in isolation in a small cramped room, a traffic jam of thoughts clogging his mind.

Where was his sweetheart?

How long would he have to sit this out?

Would he be tortured for his beliefs?

Would he keep himself sane?

Liu had plenty of time to think about these questions, as well as countless others. For he was in the midst of a six-month stint in solitary confinement, enforced upon him by the Chinese Communist Party, for practicing the outlawed Falun Gong.

Liu spent a further three years behind bars. His wife is not scheduled for release until 2012.

Falun Gong, which is also known as Falun Dafa, was founded in northern China in 1992. Linked to Buddhism and Taoism, it is viewed as a form of Chinese yoga to aid health and spiritual sensitivity. [Editor's note: Falun Gong is a standalone cultivation system with its own unique principles and methods.]

It also professes to improve the hearts and minds of its followers.

In 1999, the year in which the movement was banned by the Chinese government, there were an estimated 70 million practitioners in China.

At that time, Liu was a top class student at the prestigious Tsinghua University in Beijing.

But according to Liu, he was suspended from university in 2000 for practicing Falun Gong and then arrested with his wife when police invaded their home on Jan. 1, 2001.

Both spent one year in a detention centre before being sentenced to prison terms for an unwillingness to renounce their faith.

Liu said he was lucky. After his release, he was accepted to study at the University of Calgary due to his high educational capabilities.

As of Tuesday, Liu did not know if he can or will return to China, even though he has not been in contact with his wife for more than a year.

"It is so dangerous. If I come back I will be arrested again and tortured," he said.

Having been through it once, Liu said the prospect of spending more time in a six metre-square room with no human contact was not enticing.

He has also since heard of fellow Falun Gong followers who "became crazy" when faced with that punishment.

"Then they (the government) say you went crazy because you practiced Falun Gong. Everything is very fabricated," he said.

Liu was one of five people who stood outside Abbotsford City Hall on Tuesday morning as part of a protest into the alleged organ harvesting of Falun Gong members in China.

The public appearance followed the publication of a 63-page report in July, by immigration lawyer David Matas and former Canadian Liberal MP David Kilgour, which came to the "regrettable conclusion" that the "allegations are true."

"We believe that there has been and continues today to be large scale organ seizures from unwilling Falun Gong practitioners," the report states.

"We have concluded that the government of China and its agencies in numerous parts of the country . . . since 1999 have put to death a large but unknown number of Falun Gong prisoners of conscience. Their vital organs, including hearts, kidneys, livers and corneas, were virtually simultaneously seized involuntarily for sale at high prices."

Vancouver-based Falun Gong practitioner Sue Zhang said Abbotsford was the group's first stop in a Lower Mainland tour that would take them to 13 cities.

Zhang claimed there is no doubt her fellow practitioners in China, after being arrested, are having their organs "harvested" while still alive.

"It is evil and it is happening," Zhang said, adding that support for the campaign is growing.

"But it's a very, very hard battle. The policy (of the Chinese authorities) to Falun Gong practitioners is to destroy them. They use hate propaganda to destroy your reputation. You will be physically tortured and finally they will take your organs."

According to Zhang, Falun Gong saw a dramatic rise in popularity before it was banned by the ruling Chinese Communist Party in 1999.

It was made illegal, Zhang said, because the government perceived it as a threat.

"Many people practice it and that makes the central government nervous," she said, adding that the estimated figure of 70 million practitioners exceeded the Communist Party membership in 1999.

"Since then it's been like a nightmare."

As well as their stint outside City Hall, the group met with Abbotsford MP Ed Fast on Tuesday.

Fast said he received a wealth of documentation, including the "most important" report by Matas and Kilgour.

"They determined these claims are truthful and there is such a thing as organ harvesting. If that's true, then that's horrific," he said.

Fast said he not only feared for the Falun Gong, but also for other minorities in China such as Christians, Buddhists and Muslims.

"If it happens to their organization, I would imagine it would be happening to other people deemed expendable for political purposes," Fast said.

According to Fast, western governments can take a stand if necessary.

"They are many considerations that come into effect," Fast said.

"China is a significant trading partner of Canada, but Canada has a reputation for standing up for people's human rights."

As for Liu, he said western countries must take swift action both for his wife and for countless others.

"Every day she has to read a lot of propaganda. If she does not want to renounce she will be tortured. Sometimes they do not allow sleep for seven days or nights," he said.

Despite his predicament, Liu will not entertain the prospect of his wife remaining behind bars for another six years.

"I do not think she will be there so long," he said.

"The communist party has done so many cruel things. I think just like Hitler, they can not continue for long.

"If people in the world try to expose them and stop this kind of persecution, then it surely must stop."