Friends Fail to Win Release of Practitioners

Thursday, September 28, 2000

In the three weeks that Xiaohua Du has been under house arrest in China for carrying banned religious materials into the country, friends and supporters of the Atlanta engineer have worked tirelessly for her return to the United States --- but with little success.

Du, a 29-year-old Chinese citizen who has lived in Atlanta for five years, and her husband were detained at Fuzhou City airport Sept. 8 after customs officials found materials pertaining to the Falun Gong movement in their possession. The couple had traveled to China to visit his ailing father.

To press for her release, practitioners of the movement in Atlanta have demonstrated in front of the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., confronted China's ambassador on his visit to Atlanta last weekend, and sent petitions to members of Congress and human rights organizations urging them to pressure Chinese authorities.

But without a nod from the Chinese government, which is handling the case, Du and her husband, Shean Lin, remain in Fuzhou province.

China considers the multimillion-member Falun Gong movement a threat to its stability, and has brutally cracked down on its adherents. At least 52 followers have died in police custody, including two this month, according to the Hong-Kong based Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy.

Followers insist it's a spiritual practice with no political aspirations. They plan to protest their persecution at Tiananmen Square on Oct. 1, China's National Day.

Since their detention, Du and her husband have faced three interrogations and had their tickets and passports confiscated, said Hong Zhou, Du's brother-in-law.

"The Chinese government has been saying to the (U.S.) State Department they were released on the first day and they are free to travel,' but they wouldn't even let her go to Beijing to get her visa renewed," said Zhou, a software engineer in Baltimore. "I am afraid that if they don't let her return soon, it may affect her job in the U.S."

If Du, who took a two-week leave from work, is terminated from her job for prolonged absence, she would lose her U.S. work status and be unable to return to Atlanta.

Officials at the electronic company in Norcross where Du is employed said they were aware of her situation, but any action the company took would be up to its legal department.

Meanwhile, adherents of Falun Gong in Atlanta are continuing their campaign to keep Du's plight in the public eye.

A group of practitioners gathered in front of the Chinese Embassy Sept. 20 and practiced meditation and slow rhythmic movements to demonstrate the physical elements of their faith and its nonviolent philosophy.

Another group tried to meet with the Chinese ambassador, Li Zhaoxin, during his visit to Atlanta Sunday, but was rebuffed, both at the airport and at a banquet in Dunwoody.

"We rented three hotel rooms just to be able to use the lobby of the hotel where he spoke," said Yuan Li, an Atlanta engineer. "When he saw us, he took the kitchen elevator and exited, telling the audience it was a special security measure he had to take because the Falun Gong practitioners were planning to hurt him."

Also, Becky Yao, a piano teacher and Atlanta resident for 40 years, has started a letter-writing campaign to ask state and national lawmakers for their intervention in Du's detention.

"The Chinese government won't listen to us, so we're hoping that by going through the diplomatic channel, we can use a bigger voice in helping us," said Yao.

Michael O'Reilly, national casework director for Amnesty International, said the Chinese government won't feel as obligated to release the couple as it would if they were American citizens. But he added that he strongly believed pressure from abroad would eventually work in freeing the couple.

"The Chinese government puts up a good front that international pressure doesn't matter to them, but it's all an equation to them," O'Reilly said. "If they feel the disadvantage outweighs the advantage in holding someone, they will relent."