Falun Gong Practitioner Attempts to Send Letter to His Wife in a Chinese Labour Camp with the Help of Georgia Senator and US Embassy in Beijing

Letter from US Embassy in China to US Senator Zell Miller's Office.
(received on January 13, 2003)

BEIJING
DECEMBER 23, 2002

Thank you for Senator Miller's letter of December 4, 2002, asking us to forward a letter from Sam Lu to his wife who is currently being held in a Chinese labour camp for her membership in Falun Gong. I am the Human Rights Officer here at the Embassy and have been asked to respond directly to your inquiry.

Both at the Embassy here in Beijing and Washington, we have followed the plight of Falun Gong adherents closely for over three years. I met today with officials at the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and asked them to forward Mr. Lu's letter to his wife. The Chinese officials indicated they would do what they could. We will follow up in the future to attempt to determine whether Ms. Zhou received her husband's letter. Our Embassy has also received a number of letters on this matter from students at Emory University. I intend to forward those letters to Chinese officials to demonstrate that members of our Senate and the American public care about prisoners of conscience here in China.

I can assure you that we are fully engaged in promoting human rights in China. During the visits of members of Congress and senior members of the Executive Branch as well as during our day-to-day meetings with Chinese counterparts, we will continue to press Chinese authorities to allow their citizens to enjoy their fundamental human rights. Thank you for writing and please feel free to share this correspondence with Mr. Lu.

Sincerely

Mark Lambert
Human Rights Officer

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Letter from US practitioner Sam Lu to wife Xuefei Zhou

November 26, 2002

Dear Xuefei,

I have been increasingly missing you since I haven't received any news about you lately from my phone conversation with your mother. Your mother was in such poor health that she was unable to travel the long distance to visit you in the last few weeks.

Time flies and it has been two years since we last saw each other. The days when we were together seem so near that it is like yesterday. I remember our last trip to Gansu. We stopped over in the city of Baoji and stayed for a couple of days. We were strangers to the city and it seemed a world for just two of us. We went to a park and rented a small pedal boat. We enjoyed the beautiful lake, the escape and the serenity.

I just spoke to a person who was recently released from your labour camp. I was deeply agonised by what she told me about your experiences: after long hours of needlework, your eyes became so red and swollen; you were under 24-hour surveillance by another cellmate day and night; you were being followed, monitored closely even when you went to sleep, take a shower or use the bathroom. It is the so-called "Assistance Education Program." As a result of your refusing to be "reformed," you were completely stripped of [your clothing] and made to sit on the cement floor in wintertime, and you were exposed to the hot sun for long hours in summer. It was said that labor camp staff member Wang Peahen (from the 2nd section, class 308) ordered you not to speak to anybody!

Those who came out of the Sansui Labour Camp told me, "Those who refuse to renounce their belief in Falun Gong will be driven insane if he/she is strong willed.

According to your mom, your eyesight has deteriorated so much that it is almost completely lost in such an inhuman environment.

Xuefei, we are not alone. There are hundreds of overseas Chinese people who have loved ones incarcerated in China for their practice of Falun Gong. I joined the International Family Rescue Campaign. The local Atlanta newspapers and TV have covered our story, which has touched the hearts of many kind people that you have never met. Words that people most often say to me are, "Please let us know how we can be of any help," "Wish you good luck," "Hope that your wife will be soon free and join you in the US."

Once I went to a nearby copy shop to have a poster with your photo laminated which read, "Please help rescue my wife." Upon seeing your photo, a store associate asked about you. When I told him that you are being persecuted for your belief and as a result of torture your eyesight is almost completely gone, this young American man's eyes became wet.

The famous Emory University Student Government Association has championed an inter-collegiate effort to support the rescue effort for the family rescue campaign. They have unanimously passed a resolution to appeal to the US government to rescue you from the labor camp.

Amnesty International will file your case.

Many members of the US Congress and Senate have written to the State Department and President Bush concerning your case.

The Georgia State House of Representatives will pass a resolution to condemn the persecution of Falun Gong and support the family rescue efforts. The Resolution will be copied to the administration of President Bush, US Congress, State Department, and the China Embassy in Washington DC.

Recently the Canadian government has successfully helped several detained Canadian Falun Gong family members gain early release from prison and join loved ones in Canada.

I am confident that with the righteous support of the international community and US government, you will be freed and join me in the United States.

I am doing well here. The work has kept me quite busy. During my spare time, I teach free Falun Gong classes in the nearby Smyrna Community Centre. Many American people come to learn the exercises and find Falun Gong helpful for stress relief and healing. Many told me they have experienced improved health and positive life changes through the practice of Falun Gong and the principle of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance.

The persecution seems formidable but it is indeed so weak that it can't withstand any light of truth. When appealing to the Guangdong Labour Camp Office for your release, I told them a true story: Guangzhoug TV station's "City Topic" program reported a story about Zou Ling, a nurse at Guangzhou Tumor Hospital (Laser department), who committed suicide in May 1999. The Deputy Party Secretary of the hospital told the TV reporter that it was Falun Gong that caused Zou Ling to committed suicide. However, her parents and husband who is a doctor at this hospital acknowledged that she was not a practitioner of Falun Gong at all.

I said to them, "You don't have to believe what I say. I just hope you can make an investigation just to find out the truth by yourself." In order to justify the persecution, the state-run media has been used to deceive the public with blatant lies and fabricated stories. The persecution cannot be maintained any longer when truth is clarified to all people. Ex-President of the United States of America Lincoln said something like, you can fool some people all of the time, and you can also fool all people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people at all times. His words are very true.

You are a precious girl of your parents. The news of your being imprisoned was devastating to them. I deeply shared their pain and emotional agony. I invited them to come visit the US. They said to me they would come with you. I don't think that day is far away from now.

Your mom empathised with me being lonely and sad all by myself overseas. She once said to me, "If you see any other girl you like, you may want to go ahead marry her." I told her, "Xuefei is my one and only. I will wait for her for the rest of my life."

Love,
Zhouhui
From Atlanta, GA, USA