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Taiwan legislator Tien Chiu-Chin hosted a press conference Nov. 4 to draw attention to the abduction by communist agents in Shanghai of the daughter and granddaughter of Taipei resident Li Shanzhen.
Li’s daughter, Li Yao-Hua, and granddaughter, Zhang Yi-Bo, both Falun Gong practitioners, were abducted from their home in Shanghai on June 4 and have now been detained for over five months.
At the press conference, Li tearfully told of his encounters with the Public Security Bureau in Shanghai which has not allowed him to visit his relatives. He said his daughter who was born with severe scoliosis has now become paralysed from the waist down due to tortures inflicted on her in prison.
According to Chinese law, Li Yao-Hua should be released on bail pending trial because of her severe illness. The local Public Security Bureau, however, has refused to respond to the bail request. Li pleaded desperately, “Please help save my daughter.”
Family’s Rescue Efforts Fail in China
Li and his grandson, Chang Yi-Yuan of Los Angeles, petitioned the Taiwanese for help after exhausting many other avenues. Chang initially approached 170 U.S. Congressional offices, some of which offered support. He also contacted major law firms in Shanghai; however, most lawyers were unwilling to defend Falun Gong practitioners for fear of losing their licenses. Finally, when Beijing human rights lawyers Han Zhiguang and Zhang Chuanli agreed to take the case, their proposal to meet with the defendants was rejected by the Xuhui Public Security Bureau.
Li Shanzhen and Chang Yi-Yuan then turned to Taiwan and sought help from the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), and the Ministry of Justice. Several legislators have also expressed their concern.
Legislator Calls on Parties to Unite in Speaking Out for Falun Gong
Legislator Pan Men-An consulted with the MAC and SEF on receiving the information about Mr. Li’s family. He said, “A person as weak and ill as Li Yao-Hua has been unjustly detained. We must also ask how many more Falun Gong practitioners in China have been subjected to such abuse.”
Pan approached Vice Chairman Zheng Lizhong of Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) who was visiting Taiwan at the time. Pan requested the immediate release of Li’s daughter and granddaughter.
Legislator Tien Chiu-Chin pointed out that the persecution of Falun Gong adherents in China has been outrageous and unbelievable. “No one in the world should be subject to arrest in the middle of the night, not knowing whether one will live or die or when one will be released—simply for the “crime” of distributing 30 pamphlets [about Falun Gong].”
Tien called on both the ruling party and opposition party to unite in demanding justice for Falun Gong practitioners in China. She noted that both parties spoke out together to safeguard people’s health when they suspected contamination of imported beef from the U.S. She said the parties should also unite to protest the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China.
Tien also promised she would continue to pay attention to the situation of Li Yao-Hua and her daughter in China. She also promised to propose that Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan prohibit perpetrators of the persecution of Falun Gong from visiting Taiwan.
Read the original Chinese article.
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