March 31, 2007

The wife of a Chinese diplomat announced yesterday that she has defected to Canada, accusing Beijing's embassy in Ottawa of spreading "hate propaganda" about Falun Gong, a spiritual group of which she is a member.

Jiyan Zhang, who fled the Chinese embassy on March 5, says she is seeking refugee status, because she fears she will be prosecuted if she returns to her homeland.

"A lot of my fellow practitioners were sent to labour camps and brutally, brutally tortured and forced to renounce their beliefs," Ms. Zhang said through a translator.

Ms. Zhang, 48, spoke to reporters yesterday on Parliament Hill, timing her announcement to coincide with a rally organized by a coalition of Chinese Canadians who support those who have quit the Chinese Communist Party.

"I am here calling for all the fellow Chinese to say 'no' to the Chinese Communist Party so that together we make ourselves free men and women who can hold our rights and the fate of our life in our own hand(s)," Ms. Zhang said. "I take pride (in) myself ... (to) stand forward today and let out the words that have been hidden in my heart."

Ms. Zhang says she first learned about Falun Gong in 1995 when she was living at the Chinese Embassy in France. At the time, it was widely practised across China. Then, in 1999, the government outlawed Falun Gong and began arresting and incarcerating practitioners.

Ms. Zhang came to Canada in 2003, with her husband, who worked as an accountant at the embassy. She saw local Falun Gong practitioners demonstrating on Parliament Hill, got involved, and distributed flyers for the group, when she says she realized members of the Chinese embassy were monitoring her activities. She quickly stopped any public displays with Falun Gong, but continued to talk about the practice "in private" with embassy members.

"I saw the spreading of hate propaganda, and the embassy interfering and spying on practitioners. I tried my best to clarify the truth," she said. Recently, Ms. Zhang felt that embassy officials had learned she was a practitioner and were monitoring her every move.

"When I (went) out to buy something, I would meet people from the embassy, or people would call me on my cellphone to check on me. I felt I was being watched. I could feel it in the air."

When her husband's term at the embassy was not renewed this year, she said she knew something was wrong.

Ms. Zhang says she has not seen or spoken to her husband since she left the embassy in early March. The couple also have an adult son living in Canada.

"I don't want my beliefs ... to affect my husband," Ms. Zhang said, requesting not to be asked further about her husband, who returned to China shortly after her defection.

Ms. Zhang is now living with and being supported by local Falun Gong practitioners in the Ottawa area.

"We are a group that practises truthfulness, compassion and forbearance," said Lucy Zhou, spokeswoman for Falun Gong in Ottawa. "This is the least we can do for a fellow practitioner who will face danger if she goes back to China."

Ms. Zhang said she hopes Canada will grant her refugee status, a process that could take months or even years.

"I will continue to clarify the truth and to let the people know the truth about Falun Gong and about what's happening in China," she said.

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Source http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=12dccb8c-acd5-4e66-a1bf-5b2c524dd7e8&p=2