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Family of Falun Gong
practitioner seek official help
WITS END: The family held a second press
conference to plead for the help of the government in seeking the release of
Chung Ting-pang, who is being held in China
By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)
Legislator Hsu Hsin-ying, second right, holds a press conference in Taipei with
the family of Chung Ting-pang, a 53-year-old Falun Gong practitioner recently
detained in China, calling on the government to secure his safe return to
Taiwan.
Photo: Wang Min-wei, Taipei Times
The family of Chung Ting-pang (Á鹩¨¹)
pleaded with the government for the second time in 10 days to do something about
his detention in China.
Chung, a 53-year-old Falun Gong practitioner, was arrested in Ganzhou, Jiangxi
Province, on June 18 as he was about to return to Taiwan and accused of
¡§sabotaging national and public security.¡¨
¡§We do not want to wait for another minute or another second because his life is
at stake,¡¨ Chung Ai (Áé·R), Chung Ting-pang¡¦s daughter, told a press conference in
Taipei organized by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hsu Hsin-ying
(®}ªY¼ü).
This was the second press conference the family has called after making the same
appeal with Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers on June 22.
The family has had no contact with Chung Ting-pang since his arrest or been
provided with any further details about the case since the first press
conference in which they urged the government to help, Chung Ai said.
Hsu made three demands: the immediate return of Chung Ting-pang to Taiwan, the
assistance of the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) in hiring a lawyer to defend
Chung Ting-pang, the arrangement of a family visit and a discussion on how to
protect Taiwanese from harassment in China in upcoming cross-strait
negotiations.
¡§We have to make sure that Taiwanese are legally protected before engaging in
broader cross-strait exchanges,¡¨ the lawmaker said.
Chung Ting-pang¡¦s wife, surname Lee (§õ), was in tears at the conference, saying
the government was the only channel available to the family to seek the return
of her husband.
Officials from the SEF, the Mainland Affairs Council and the Ministry of Justice
attended the press conference, said they had been in contact with their Chinese
counterpart since the arrest and were assured that Chung Ting-pang was safe.
Yu Shiu-duan («\¨qºİ), deputy director-general of the ministry¡¦s department of
International and Cross-Strait Legal Affairs, said officials in the Chinese
Ministry of Public Safety had given assurances that Chung Ting-pang was safe and
well, but provided no further details as to his arrest.
A report last Tuesday from China¡¦s Xinhua news agency said that Chung Ting-pang
had secretly collected documents and incited Chinese citizen¡¦s to destroy
broadcasting equipment ¡X crimes which endangered national and public safety.
Chung Ting-pang¡¦s background as a practitioner of Falun Gong, which is banned in
China, was not mentioned at the press conference.
According to Chung Ai, her family has been struggling with whether to draw
attention to Chung Ting-pang¡¦s Falun Gong practice, which government officials
suggested would only ¡§complicate the case.¡¨
In contrast, Falun Gong Human Rights Lawyers Working Group spokesperson attorney
Teresa Chu (¦¶°ûµX) advised Chung Ting-pang¡¦s family that his Falun Gong background
could be used to pressure Beijing.
Between 1998 and 2009, 13 Taiwanese Falun Gong practitioners have been detained,
imprisoned or tortured in China, Chu said, though they had all been released.
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