Jiang Regime's Persecution Against European Citizens (Part 8) - Alfredo Fava

Case 2-1: Italian Businessman Denied Access to His Business in China

Country: Italy
Name: Alfredo Fava (Italian)
Personal Details: Entrepreneur (male)
Location and date of incident: Shanghai, China; October 2001.
Description:
Alfredo Fava set up the Shanghai Famas in 1995. It is a company that is specialised in the production of technical fabrics.

In October 2001, Mr. Fava was stopped at Shanghai airport by local Chinese police. He was later deported to Frankfurt.

During his detention, he was not permitted to call an Italian consulate, his company, or home. The police told him that he was on a black list. Mr. Fava commented “I am a practitioner of Falun Gong; this is the reason why they didn’t allow me to enter China. I started to practice Falun Gong in 1995 when it was not only completely legal in China but also encouraged by the authorities.”

Thanks to the efforts of the European parliament, the Italian parliament, the Italian Foreign Ministry and the Italian Embassy, that booked effective steps to protect my rights, the Chinese authority later promised that Mr. Fava could come to China whenever he wanted to.

At the end of November 2001, Mr. Fava returned to China again, and stayed there for three weeks to take care of his company. He was under constant police surveillance during his trip.

Recently, Mr. Fava has (twice) applied to the Chinese consulate to renew his Visa. On both occasions he has been turned down. The Chinese general consul in Milan, Gao Shumao, has declared that he considers him a dangerous person, because of his Falun Gong activities during his stay in China. The events the general consul referred to however, occurred before July 1999 (before the ban of Falun Gong in China).

Gao Shumao, the consul general is well known for declaring in a Chinese newspaper: “...for some obstinate Falun Gong members, who continue to create disorder (in Milan), we must give them severe punishment.”