(Clearwisdom.net) On the eve of the 10th anniversary of the handover of Hong Kong to Mainland China, close to one thousand citizens from Taiwan were denied entry to Hong Kong, making this the largest mass deportation in the history of Hong Kong. During the morning of July 6, 2007, a group of Falun Gong practitioners from Taiwan who had been forcibly deported held a press conference at the City Council building. Accompanied by Councilor Chen Tingfei, the practitioners solemnly condemned the Hong Kong officials for submitting to the CCP regime and denying passengers from Taiwan entry, based on a CCP- regime provided black list, and they appealed to the Taiwanese people to see through the CCP's mirage of "one country, two systems."
  Tainan Councilor Chen Tingfei solemnly condemns Hong Kong officials for submitting to the CCP regime and denying passengers from Taiwan entry. She showed photos of Hong Kong police surrounding and capturing people and their violence. |
During July 1, 2007, a large number of Falun Gong practitioners holding valid Hong Kong entry visas traveled to Hong Kong to participate in a parade. but they were denied entry and violently sent back to Taiwan. Others were stopped from boarding their planes, and still others were denied entry visas. More than 800 people were unlawfully denied entry into Hong Kong.
More than 20 people from Tainan who had been violently repatriated attended the press conference. Du Meixian and a few others talked about how their human rights were violated.
  Deported residents from Tainan accompanied by Councilor Chen Tingfei attend the press conference |
Du Meixian said all had valid visas but were detained one after another at customs. Their mobile phones, CD players, passports, visas and Falun Gong books were confiscated. They were denied contacting anyone on the outside. Some of them were wrapped in anti-riot blankets and tied to stretchers while being violently deported. Falun Gong practitioners expressed their strong protest of the Hong Kong officials' serious violation of human rights.
Regarding the reasons the Hong Kong officials gave, such as that they had "instructions from above;" "wrong time to come;" "there is nothing we can do, because Hong Kong has been returned [to China]," Chen Tingfei said, "The Hong Kong government submitted to the CCP and used force to deprive people of freedom. This is a big setback for democracy and freedom! The former 'Eastern Pearl' has completely lost its luster! It is really sad! We are here today to lay bare the CCP's lies of "one country, two systems!"
Chen Tingfei pointed out that the Hong Kong government's conduct under pressure from Beijing has violated basic international human rights. To protect the basic human rights of the people in Taiwan, the Taiwanese government should without delay take up the matter with the Hong Kong government or even request a third party to get involved in dealing with the matter.
Chen Tingfei further pointed out that the promises the CCP regime had made to the international community at the beginning of the handover, such as "Hong Kong will be governed by the people of Hong Kong; the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong government will be directly elected by the people" have not been honored at all, which has made China lose the trust of the international community, and furthermore it demonstrates to the world that the so-called "peaceful advancement" the CCP advocates is simply not possible.
Chen Tingfei solemnly reminded the Taiwanese people who still hold hope for the CCP regime to not ignore the fact that the CCP regime has failed to honor its promises to Hong Kong. If you constantly and blindly appease the Chinese Communist Party, Taiwan will lose its independence, just like Hong Kong.
Kaohsiung County Commissioner signs an open letter to the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
On July 4, 2007, Kaohsiung County Commissioner Yang Qiu-xing signed an open letter from Falun Gong in Taiwan to the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, calling on him to apologize to the people of Taiwan.
More than 30 Falun Gong practitioners, accompanied by Councilor Xu Rongyan from Kaohsiung County, went to see Mr. Yang Qiu-xing during a council meeting recess. The practitioners took with them an open letter to Zeng Yinquan, the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The letter was headlined "Strongly Condemning the Hong Kong Government for Violently Deporting Hundreds of Taiwanese Falun Gong Practitioners on the Eve of July 1, 2007 - Calling on the Chief Executive of Hong Kong and the entry department head to apologize to the People of Taiwan." They asked Mr. Yang Qiu-xing if he would like to sign the letter.
The open letter addressed several things: after Zeng Yinquan took over the office, and while the CCP regime was advocating the achievements of an autonomous Hong Kong during the last ten years, what the international community saw was not success under the principle "one country, two systems," but the darkest page in Hong Kong's human rights history, a gross violation of the basic rights of more than 500 Taiwanese people who held valid visas to participate in legal activities in Hong Kong.
The open letter points out the harm the large-scale refusal of entry to Taiwanese citizens has caused the Taiwanese people, and calls on the authorities in Hong Kong to take swift action to make it up, and with justice and conscience, openly admit their mistakes and apologize for their wrong conduct, so as to reverse Hong Kong's present unfavorable image of regressing in terms of freedom and rule by law.
Mr. Yang Qiu-xing expressed that he has for a long time supported and acknowledged the efforts of Falun Gong practitioners. The CCP-ruled Mainland China completely ignores human rights and tramples on democracy and freedom.
