WATERLOO - Jane Dai doesn't travel light. She's visited 45 countries in six years with Fadu, her seven-year-old daughter, and with papers documenting the struggle of Falun Gong practitioners in China.
She also carries the hope that her husband's killers will be brought to justice. With the Beijing Olympics just months away, Dai is intensifying her campaign to tell people all is not well in China.
"The world gave the Olympics to China in the hope that would help improve human rights, but nothing has changed" said Dai, 44, an Australian citizen of Chinese origin who is visiting Waterloo for a week.
"Not just my husband -- hundreds have been killed and thousands sent to labour camps because they practise Falun Dafa."
Falun Dafa, also known as Falun Gong, teaches compassion and truthfulness.
It involves meditation and exercises, and claims 100 million followers. Initially, the communist government supported Falun Gong, but it was banned in 1999 and its practitioners have since been persecuted.
Dai was born in China but went to Australia to study in 1987 and later became an Australian citizen. While visiting family in Guangzhou City, in 1993, she was introduced to Falun Gong.
She met Chengyong Chen, a young electrician and a Falun Gong practitioner, in 1997. They were soon married and lived in Guangzhou.
When Falun Gong was banned, Chen participated in several protests and was jailed repeatedly.
Dai had to return to Australia with Fadu, who was a few months old then, because China refused to extend her visa. Six months later, Chen's body was found in a hut.
"I'm determined that the world should know why my husband died."
raulakh@therecord.com
2 comments:
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fa zheng qian kun
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