The Malta Times - Letters to the Editor

August 8, 2001

I would like to congratulate the people of China for having been chosen to host the 2008 Olympics.

Before the ballots were cast, Chinese pledged to allow greater press freedom and improve its human rights situation if it won. But promises like these have been heard before.

History has shown us that the regime of President Jiang Zemin has taken advantage of every major international event to silence all dissenting voices, and the 70 million-plus Falun Gong practitioners persecuted in China will most likely continue to bear the brunt of such political campaigns; [...]

Many people, not only Falun Gong practitioners, have already died in the weeks leading up to the vote, as Beijing began to rid itself of so-called "undesirables."

The Chinese leadership has pledged in horrifying terms to "completely eradicate" Falun Gong. Two concentration camps have already been built. We have already had an Olympics celebrating an oppressive, inhumane regime.

It is our moral responsibility to warn the world so there won't be another one.

Leeshai Lemish
Kfar Sava, Israel