LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Stop China's harassment of U.S. citizens

Since l999, a large number of U.S. citizens and residents who practice and support Falun Gong have been the targets of hate crimes.

As a proud American from Russia, I do not take for granted the precious freedoms that I enjoy in my everyday life. Having come from a communist country, I feel it is my duty to help safeguard the freedoms and liberties of all Americans. It's why I find it imperative to update the American people on methods China's communist regime uses to harass and persecute American citizens here in the United States.

China's leader, Jiang Zemin, is recognized as having the worst human rights record in the world, and refuses to observe his own country's constitution in upholding freedom of belief, speech and assembly. He wants us to believe that he is serious about working with our government against terrorism and supporting human rights, while his actions indicate otherwise. He tries to export its ideology to the rest of the world through defamation and blatant lies, attempting to cover up his own crimes against humanity, which are documented by well-known human rights groups. And if this isn't enough, this regime's state-run terrorism has further evolved from brutally suppressing many spiritual groups in its own country, to threatening Americans for their own beliefs.

For over the past three years, his No. 1 domestic concern is to "eradicate" the peaceful meditation practice of Falun Gong, a practice that this government once supported, until it quickly grew to outnumber Communist Party members. Since Falun Gong has grown in popularity here in the United States, this regime has extended its harassment on our soil, including systematic efforts to intimidate and silence U.S. elected officials in recognizing and supporting Falun Gong: facts brought to light in a briefing by the Congressional Human Rights Caucus in July of this year.

Since l999, a large number of U.S. citizens and residents who practice and support Falun Gong have been the targets of hate crimes, to the extent that they have filed a lawsuit in San Francisco, and a civil lawsuit in Washington, D.C. this year. We should applaud them for standing up to this regime's KGB-style intimidation tactics.

We must make it clear to this communist leader that we will not tolerate any form of terrorism to American citizens on American soil.

 

Marina Vassong
Holland

October 28, 2002