Canadian University Student Missing in China
- From: Falun Dafa Canada InfoCentre <info-centre@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: dafa-news-ottawa@xxxxxxxxxxxxx,
- Date: Thu, 28 Mar 2002 23:07:15 +0000
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - 3/28/2002
Canadian University Student Missing in China
TORONTO, March 28, 2002 -- 22-year-old Christine Loftus, a student at Brock
University in St. Catharines, Ontario and a native of Barrie, Ontario, has
disappeared while traveling in China with her boyfriend Jason Pomerleau, 24, of
Boston.
The two, who met at a Falun Gong experience sharing conference in 1999, were
traveling in China to inform the Chinese citizens about the ongoing persecution
campaign against Falun Gong and the true beneficial nature of the
practice?facts that are completely shrouded in an intense government propaganda
campaign against Falun Gong. It is suspected the two were detained while
distributing materials on their fourth day in China after both failed to call
friends back home at agreed-upon times.
Both Christine and her boyfriend Jason had called friends the day before and
mentioned that their trip was going well. They each set times the next day to
call again but were not heard from after that.
Foreign Affairs of Canada was notified of Christine's disappearance at noon
today.
Raised in Barrie, Ontario, Christine is currently in her second year as a Child
and Youth Studies major at Brock University. She has been very active in
raising awareness of the persecution of Falun Gong in China in the university
community. In November, she completed a five-day walk from St. Catharines to
Toronto visiting four universities and gaining much support from student
governments to call for an end to the persecution.
Christine started practicing Falun Gong 3.5 years ago after she and her twin
brother Jason Loftus came across the practice at a Barrie health show.
Jason Loftus, an engineering student at the University of Toronto, went to
China himself in February and held a press conference in Beijing to disclose
that the "self-immolation" tragedy on Tiananmen Square was a setup by the
Chinese government intending to demonize Falun Gong and justify the persecution
campaign. Jason was detained for 27 hours by Beijing police and abused before
being deported and sent home to Canada.
Christine's trip to China comes at a time of extreme escalated persecution
against Falun Gong in Changchun, China. Amnesty International issued an Urgent
Action Notice on the situation in Changchun on March 15 noting ¡°Dozens of
suspected members of the Falun Gong spiritual movement have reportedly been
detained during a security crackdown in Changchun City, Jilin Province, and
that Amnesty International believes they are at serious risk of torture or
ill-treatment. Since this time, reports of at least 5000 Falun Gong
practitioners abducted over a two week time and, more alarmingly, at least 100
deaths in police custody, have been received. Orders have been handed down to
cremate bodies without identification or notice so it is impossible to
ascertain the true death toll.
Jason Loftus had just this morning completed his 24-hour segment of the
rotating hunger strike outside Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham's
constituency office in Toronto, calling for Canada's voice to condemn the
ongoing slaughter in Changchun. Falun Gong practitioners in Ottawa, Quebec
City and Vancouver are also doing hunger strikes calling for Canada's aid to
rescue practitioners facing the crisis in Changchun, China. Jason Loftus said,
"Given the recent developments in Changchun, I am very concerned for my
sister's safety. I am asking that the Canadian government call for her
immediate release as she has been detained unjustly. I also ask that they
condemn the ongoing massacre in Changchun, China. China needs to know that
slaughtering innocent people is unacceptable to the world community. This is
one thing that Canadians going to China have strived to accomplish.
International support can help to stop this evil persecution once and for all."
Contact:
Jason Loftus 416-977-4281 (home), 416-246-4071 (pager) Cindy Gu
416-419-9981 (cell) Joel Chipkar 416-709-8678 (cell)
Background on Falun Gong:
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a powerful self-improvement practice
based on the universal principle of "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance" and
consists of gentle exercises and meditation. It was made public in 1992 by Mr.
Li Hongzhi and quickly spread by word of mouth throughout China. Falun Gong is
now practiced in over 50 countries.
With government estimates of as many as 100 million practicing Falun Gong,
China's President Jiang Zemin outlawed the peaceful practice in July 1999.
Unable to crush the spirit of millions who had experienced improved health and
positive life changes from Falun Gong, Jiang's regime has intensified its
propaganda campaign to turn public opinion against the practice while quietly
imprisoning, torturing and even murdering those who practice it.
The Falun Dafa Information Center has verified details of over 380 deaths since
the persecution of Falun Gong in China began in 1999. Government officials
inside China, however, report that the actual death toll is well over 1,600.
Over 100,000 have been detained, with more than 20,000 being sentenced to
forced labor camps without trial.
___________________________________________________________________________
For background on the spiritual practice and the crisis in China, please visit
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delivery mode, please visit http://mulist.cjb.net
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