STRASBOURG, December 18, 2002 (European Falun Gong Information Centre) – On December 19, 2002 the European Parliament will be voting on a resolution against the ominous Article 23 legislation in Hong Kong.

As Falun Gong is the main reason why the Jiang regime has asked the Hong Kong authorities to introduce this leglislation, Falun Gong practitioners from around Europe will be holding activities in front of the European Parliament, from 8:00 to 18:00, on Dec 18th and 19th at the crossing of "Boulevard de Dresdes" and "rue Lucien Febvre". Practitioners will also be holding a press conference at 11 am on 19 December at which the following MEPs will be speaking:

• Mr.Lennart Sacredeus


• Mr.Roger Helmer


• Mr.Oliver Dupuis

Many suggest that the whole raison d’etre for suddenly rushing through this legislation is precisely to give the Chinese dictator, Jiang Zemin, a new weapon in his irrational war against Falun Gong. The recently appointed Catholic Bishop for Hong Kong, Joseph Zen, has said the regulations currently being drawn up threaten Falun Gong's freedom to practise in the territory.

But Bishop Zen is also concerned about the future of the Catholic Church. The Vatican has relations with Taiwan, not Beijing. It also has links with an estimated 10 million members of the underground Catholic Church inside China. That might be grounds enough for it to be banned too. “If tomorrow they say the underground church in China is dangerous for the State and then they say you are the same Catholic Church,… then we are in trouble,” said Bishop Zen.

“An attack on freedom anywhere in the world undermines that freedom everywhere else,” comments Ms. Sophie Xiao, a spokeswoman for Falun Gong in Hong Kong echoing sentiments immortalised by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. “If enough voices are raised in opposition to Article 23 it can be stopped. If not then the territory’s days as ‘Pearl of the Orient’ appear to be numbered.”