Letters to the Cambodian Ambassador Concerning the Deportation of Two Falun Gong Refugees

I was extremely saddened to read in media reports that your country deported two Falun Gong U.N. refugees (Li, Guojun and his wife Zhang Xinyi) to China last week. Not only did this action violate U.N. regulations, but more importantly it has put 2 innocent people into a deadly situation. According to human rights groups, various government bodies, and UNHRC, Falun Gong practitioners in Mainland China are currently suffering widespread, systematic persecution which includes arbitrary detainment, beating, torture, psychiatric abuse, rape, and even death.

My wife and I have been practicing Falun Gong here in New York City for the past three years and have benefited from it tremendously. Falun Gong teaches people how to become better people--to be more truthful, benevolent, and tolerant. The practice has no political agenda and is free for anybody to learn. Falun Gong is now freely practiced in over 55 countries around the world.

Over the past 3 years, we have been appalled to see that the president of China, Jiang Zemin, has been pressuring many other countries to persecute Falun Gong. On a broader scale, Jiang Zemin's brutal persecution of Falun Gong is a disgrace to all humankind, and we should use all means to stop it.

We sincerely hope that your government can resist Jiang Zemin's pressure and immediately take necessary means to return Li Guojin and Zhang Xinyi back to Cambodia were they belong. Please remember that "good will be rewarded with good, and evil with evil".

For more information about Falun Gong and the situation in China, please visit: www.faluninfo.net

I am writing to you out of my deep concern for the two Falun Gong practitioners who were recently deported back to Mainland China by the Cambodian government. This breaks my heart, knowing the torture and misery these two people could face after the deportation. I strongly urge you to look into this issue and help them if you can.

Li, Guojun and his wife Zhang Xinyi are former residents of Changsha City. They escaped from China to Phnom Penh after Chinese President Jiang Zemin launched the persecution campaign against Falun Gong in July 1999. They were having a new life in Cambodia. They had acquired the United Nations refugee status before being deported.

It pains everyone's heart to know that two peaceful lives were forcefully sent back to where they made so many efforts to escape. They did nothing wrong. Practicing Falun Gong is not wrong. It is legal and widely recognized everywhere in the world, except China. Jiang Zemin, fearing international criticism, is now trying every means to deceive or coerce other governments to co-operate with him in persecuting innocent Falun Gong practitioners.

Meanwhile, he uses every way he can to torture and force Falun Gong practitioners to give up their belief.

Deporting Li and his wife back to China is equivalent to sending two survivors of the torture of the Nazis back to the concentration camp! I'm deeply worried about their situation. Having grown up in Mainland China, I know how hard Jiang Zemin's regime retaliates against people who manage to escape from its control.

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I'm sure that helping Jiang with killing his own people, and good people who merely want to be better through practising Falun Gong, is the last thing you would like to do. Please reverse this unfortunate mistake. This would also be good for Cambodia. In ancient China, people believe that everything is based on virtue, and that good people will be rewarded with good fortune. Please kindly help the two innocent Falun Gong practitioners. Please get to know more about the truth of the persecution of Falun Gong by Jiang Zemin in China. I'm certain that, upon knowing the truth and facts of the persecution, you'll feel as worried and anxious for these two people as I do.