A Homeless Bird

My name is Faye Zhen, I am a visiting fellow in the Engineering Department at a university in Australia. If it wasn’t for the persecution of Falun Gong in China, I would have married my fiancé now. I decided to write this story with the hope of helping people to learn how brutal this persecution of Falun Gong is by the former Chinese leader Jiang Zemin. After finishing my Ph.D in Singapore in 2003, I planned to go to Thailand to get married. My fiancé is a Thai citizen; we have known each other for over 3 years. We had planned to wait until I finished my studies before marrying. My fiancé is the eldest son in his family and takes care of his aging parents and their business there, so he cannot leave Thailand to live elsewhere. However, when I applied for a visa to go to Thailand, my application was rejected without any reason.

Several months later, my fiancé and I decided to try again by applying
for a landing visa once I arrived at Bangkok airport. When I got there and applied
for the landing visa I was rejected again. This time they gave me a reason though:
My name is on their security blacklist. The staff
at the airport spent nearly 3 hours trying to confirm that I am the one who
matches the name on their blacklist, because at first they thought there was
some mistake as they just couldn’t imagine a gentle girl would be on the blacklist,
which usually only relates to terrorists.

Later they confirmed and told me that this was because I am a Falun Gong practitioner.
One of the airport police officers told me, “China and us(Thai) have close
relationships, you cannot enter Thailand any more. Ask your fiancé to
come out (asking my fiancé to leave his country, Thailand to see me somewhere else) …”. I could not express my sorrow at that time. Just because
of the Chinese leader’s senseless crackdown, I was deprived of my right to get
married and set up our family.

My fiancé later found out from an official in the Thai government that
the Chinese embassy in Thailand had asked the Thai government to blacklist me,
and the Thai government followed their demand because of the two countries’
economic trading relationships.

Although the Thai government acted shamefully, the blame lies with the former
Chinese leader Jiang Zemin, who instigated the persecution campaign against
Falun Gong. Jiang made it his personal mission to wipe out Falun Gong to further
enforce his personal political power. He is fearful of too many people practicing
Falun Gong which guides people to be truthful, compassionate and tolerant. Jiang
once forced a brochure slandering Falun Gong on former US president Clinton
in an APEC conference in New Zealand, which became headline news back then.
He is so afraid of people believing in Truth, Compassion and Forbearance. It
is completely unbelievable.

I had another horrifying experience when I went back to China to visit my family
in 2000. I was arrested because the police obtained my name from my previous
college friends who were already in labour camps for practising Falun Gong.
Six policemen continuously interrogated me in turns for two days, without allowing
me to have any rest or sleep. They tried all they could to force me to give
up Falun Gong. They even called all my relatives to put more pressure on me,
threatening them that I would be sent to a labour camp just like my other friends
if I did not give up. My family members were so frightened. Every time when
I recall that horrifying experience it is heart-breaking for me. It made me
feel like the world was upside down, it was a crazy evil place where people’s
minds were completely distorted and controlled by lies.

I did not give up because I know in my heart that what Falun Gong teaches is
good, and I am following a righteous way. Believing in Truth, Compassion and
Forbearance cannot be wrong. In the end they sent me to a detention centre for
one month without any legal proceedings. Fortunately I was set free one week
later, because I was an international student and I really didn’t do anything
wrong. If I was detained for a longer time, it would have raised concerns from
my friends overseas and possibly even gained media attention which would cause
them tension. When I left China, one customs officer told me sympathetically,
“You should never come back any more”.

Now I am wandering like a homeless bird, I can not go back to my motherland,
and can not even get married as I deserve.

Compared to other Falun Gong practitioners who are suffering in jails in China,
my experience can actually be said to be nothing. They are totally deprived
of the freedom to speak and practice their beliefs, and even their lives are
at stake as they can be tortured to death at any moment. Thinking of this makes
my heart sink more.

I don’t know when my fiancé and I will see each other again and when
we can happily marry and stay together. Right now I have no other choice but
to look for jobs in countries other than China and Thailand, such as my visiting
position in the current university, which is my first stop.

Kind-hearted people, please show your support, do not keep silent and say NO
to against this insane persecution.

Posting date: 5/Mar/2004
Original article date: 3/Mar/2004
Category: Open Forum