Avon resident says she was kidnapped, family threatened
By
Tillie Fong, Rocky Mountain News
AVON Instead, she said, she was kidnapped by “It’s outrageous,” said Ivie, a naturalized American She said government The United But “The (Chinese) Ministry of Foreign Affairs China in 1999 outlawed the practice […](2) Although Ivie has been active “That’s why I’m so angry, so outraged But “I was just visiting my family,” she said. Ivie arrived But about 3 p.m. Jan. 24, her birthday, she “All of a sudden, three cars cornered us against a cement wall, and “They didn’t say The kidnappers whisked “They wanted to do a body search, do a search of my They also told her what they knew of her activities in the Ivie’s sister and brother-in-law were questioned at Ivie and her brother were A few days later Ivie called her fiance, investor “I was He then flew to “My concern was to make sure that Leejun was able to get out of the While visiting Norton on Jan. 28, Ivie received a call demanding “(The agent) said, ‘It’s “Then he turned around and Once at the hotel, the two were separated. “They Ivie said an agent also demanded that she sign a She refused. “They After two hours, she “I said I was “He She said the agent gave her three months to consider “If I decide not to, they will retaliate against me,” she said. Traumatized, “I have bad dreams about it,” Since her return, Ivie has sought help from elected officials. Lawrence “The embassy is going to deliver She said she was also promised help from U.S. Ivie met recently with state Rep. Frank Weddig, D-Aurora, “I was appalled that she ran into Earlier this month, Sen. Ron “China has become Source: http://rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_2845773,00.html
– Importer Leejun Ivie had looked forward to celebrating her 41st birthday with
her family in Beijing this year.
Chinese authorities and interrogated for 10 hours about her Falun Gong activities
in the United States.
citizen. “They started telling me what I do in America that not a lot of people
know. They had to have either read my mail or listened to my phone calls. That
concerns me because they spied on an American citizen.”
agents demanded two more meetings and in the end threatened to punish her family
if she refused to spy on other Falun Gong followers in the U.S. When she tried
to return to China this month, she and her fiance were deported.
States has formally protested Ivie’s treatment to the Chinese government,
said Stuart Patt, spokesman for the Bureau of Consular Affairs at the State Department.
the Chinese deny anything happened.
told us later that they have no record of this happening,” Patt said. “Whoever
they were, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs either didn’t know them or they
were operating outside their purview.”
of Falun Gong, which combines meditation, slow-moving exercises and a self-improvement
[teachings based on the principles of “Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance”](1).
Thousands of Chinese have been jailed for continuing to practice, and foreigners
have been arrested as well.
with Falun Gong groups in the United States, she said she has never been involved
with activities in China.
about this whole thing,” she said. “I have sent materials to friends (in China)
who wanted to know what Falun Gong was all about because they can’t get information
about Falun Gong from the Chinese. I think the Chinese people deserve to know.”
Falun Gong was the last thing on her mind when Ivie, who imports Asian furniture,
decided to visit China this year.
“I left China 14 years ago and I lost a lot of contacts there.”
in Beijing on Jan. 20 and celebrated the Chinese New Year on Jan. 22 at her parents’
home. Her mother practices Falun Gong and taught Ivie about it during a visit
to the U.S. seven years ago.
was riding in a car with family members when she noticed a black sedan was following
them.
the entire street flooded with unidentified people, and I see my sister and my
brother-in-law dragged out of the car,” she said.
a word. In a blink of an eye, my car was hijacked.”
her to Daxing Hotel, about 15 minutes away. There, security agents interrogated
her into the night about the purpose of her trip and her involvement with the
Falun Gong movement.
purse and threatened to ransack my parents’ house,” Ivie said. “They were
looking for anything related to Falun Gong so they can accuse me of violating
Chinese law.”
United States.
the hotel until 7:30 p.m., the same time other agents went to her parents’
home to pick up her brother to interrogate him.
released about 2 a.m.
Jim Taylor, 59. They spend winters in Avon and the warmer months in Saratoga,
N.Y. Taylor hired American attorney, Patrick Norton, in Beijing.
upset,” Taylor said. “I was not surprised that they had spies on Falun Gong followers
here. I was surprised at the extent of their knowledge.”
China.
country.”
she return to the hotel for more questioning. She brought Norton with her, even
though she was told it wouldn’t do any good.
no use to hire an American attorney because they don’t know Chinese law or
the Chinese situation,’ ” Ivie recalled.
said, ‘It’s no use to hire a Chinese attorney, because they are afraid
of me and afraid of my agency.’ “
tried to brainwash him that Falun Gong was not good for China,” she said. “During
the two hours of my interrogation, they were trying to convince me that I was
violating Chinese law.”
statement, promising that she would limit her Falun Gong activities in the U.S.
and report back every time she returned to China.
wanted to know about Falun Gong activities in America,” Ivie said. “They wanted
names, they wanted to know what they do. They also gave me names and asked about
them, but I told them I don’t know them.’ “
was released. But on Feb. 2, another meeting was ordered.
not going to the meeting because I have nothing to talk about,” Ivie said.
got very angry on the phone. He said, ‘Unless you spy on our behalf on other
Falun Gong practitioners in America, we’ll deny every visa to China for the
rest of your life.’ “
the offer.
“He said, ‘We will make your family (in China) suffer.’ “
Ivie left China three days early on Feb. 3.
Ivie said. She tried to return to China Saturday, but both she and her fiance
were turned away.
Pacheco, press secretary for U.S. Rep. Mark Udall, D-Boulder, said his office
has sent an inquiry to the U.S. ambassador.
a formal diplomatic note in the near future to protest her treatment,” Pacheco
said. “They have been in contact with her in the U.S. and are willing to assist
her in any way possible.”
Sen. Wayne Allard’s office, but representatives of the Colorado Republican
would not comment.
who sponsored a resolution last year condemning the Chinese government’s
treatment of Falun Gong practitioners.
these problems,” Weddig said. “It’s always beyond belief for that kind of
mistreatment to occur. It’s pure and outright intimidation. I think it’s
appropriate to speak up at the state level.”
Tupa, D-Boulder, introduced another resolution that condemns various forms of
Chinese oppression, including that of Falun Gong followers.
a major trading partner with the U.S., and we can use the leverage of our economic
relationship with China to bring about reform,” Tupa said.
inaccurate description of Falun Gong replaced
rumors spread by Jiang’s regime against Falun Gong
Posting
date: 2/May/2004
Original article date: 29/April/2004
Category: Media
Report
