Falun Gong Press Release 16/02/2002
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18-YEAR-OLD ENGLISH SCHOOLBOY DEPORTED FROM CHINA

Alex Rostron, a grammar schoolboy from Leeds, has finally reached home ending many hours of anxiety for family and friends after his disappearance in mainland China.

Early in the week, Alex a small group of Falun Gong human rights campaigners from Britain to participate in a peaceful appeal in Tiananmen Square Beijing asking the Chinese government to relent on its three year long campaign of torture and repression of Falun Gong practitioners in China.

In all, five British Falun Gong practitioners booked into a hostel in readiness for a reconnoitre with western practitioners from Germany, Switzerland and several other countries scheduled to be in the Square on Thursday to make their appeal. (Chinese practitioners are no longer able to make such appeals as they are rewarded with internment, torture and often death in custody)
However on Tuesday 50 Chinese police launched a pre-emptive raid upon the hostel where the British contingent was staying. Alex, who was staying in a room on his own, witnessed the brutal arrests of his four friends -- Rosemary, Lee, Robert and Earl -- but was overlooked himself. He quickly collected his belongings and, alone, made his way to another hostel.

Whilst friends in the UK made urgent enquiries regarding the four arrested Britons, no one was clear as to Alex's fate or whereabouts, but Alex was preparing for an adventure of his own.
On the day of the scheduled appeal, he made his own way to Tiananmen Square, carrying in a rucksack a small red banner with the three Falun Gong values emblazoned on it -- "Truth, Compassion, Forbearance".

Trying to gain access to Tiananmen Square entailed body searches every five yards of the way, yet miraculously the banner was not found.

Over one hundred uniformed police were stationed in the Square in anticipation of possible attempts by Falun Gong to make an appeal for the lifting of the Chinese persecutions. An unknown but substantial number of plain-clothes officers were also clearly mingling with tourists and vigilant for any activity embarrassing to the communist administration.

Alex was unable to catch sight of anyone he could identify as Falun Gong, he was not even sure that anyone had escaped the draconian police raids on western tourist hotels over the previous days. Alex set about taking pictures like any other tourist but soon found himself being tailed by plainclothes security personnel. At length Alex asked his pursuer who he was, a question which resulted in his being thrown off the square by several plain-clothes police.

Alex then resolved to proceed to the Forbidden City with the intention of single-handedly fulfilling his mission by unfurling his banner from a high place or roof. Attempting to climb some stairs his bag was searched yet again. This time, convinced the policeman would at last discover the banner, he decided to make a run for it; he unfurled the banner and ran through the square calling out "Falun Dafa Hao!", which is Chinese for "Falun Dafa is Good!" Six pursuing police managed to run him down and tried to cover his head with his jacket to prevent him calling out, but he slipped an arm out of his jacket pulling the red banner through his coat sleeve behind him. Once again he was able to make a short run with the Truth-Compassion-Forbearance banner calling "Falun Dafa is Good!".

At length he was tackled to the ground, beaten with fists, kicked in the stomach and his neck squeezed in order to choke-off his appeals to the Chinese citizens. He was then dragged to a detention room in the wall of the Forbidden City.
Incredibly, Chinese police failed to secure the door. A few minutes later he was able to flee from the cell back into the square and once again call out "Falun Dafa Hao!" to passers-by.
Again run down he was put back in the room with 4 officers in attendance -- a fact which did not prevent his calling out his appeal through the open doorway until in desperation the Chinese police parked a large van in front of it.

After a short period he was taken to Tiananmen Square police station -- a notorious building where Chinese practitioners have in the past been tortured and in once case, it is believed, murdered.
As police tried to take his photo, Alex offered passive resistance by remaining in a meditation posture, head bowed and arms locked together; even as his hair was repeatedly grabbed to yank his head up he continued to offer peaceful resistance to his manhandling. At length a large man was called who took him behind some lockers, manhandled him violently and forced his head up for a photo. His spectacles and shoes were also taken.

After sitting peacefully for some time, police kicked his legs apart and forced him to his feet. He was bundled into a coach containing six other European Falun Gong practitioners (believed Swiss) and taken to a hotel near Beijing airport where interrogations were taking place.

He was kept alone and forced to stand for a long period of time, whilst security agents repeatedly attempted to elicit from him the names of his friends and other Falun Gong practitioners in England. At this time he was aware of at least 20 other practitioners incarcerated in the hotel.

Alex was not allowed to contact anyone else throughout his ordeal. Finally he was informed he was to be taken to the airport and placed upon a plane for Paris.
On the same flight he met a Zimbabwean also being deported to Paris for simply speaking to a known Falun Gong practitioner in the airport lounge. The Zimbabwean had been refused access to his own money and despatched to Paris with just a tiny amount of non-negotiable Chinese currency: his fate is not known. As Chinese estimates of arrests were substantially more than estimates by Falun Gong it seems likely that many innocent tourists may have been the brunt of over-zealous police action over the last few days.
Alex flew into Manchester alone at 6pm on Friday night and was later met by an anxious brother at Leeds City train station, ending many hours of anxiety for friends and family, who with the help of his local MP Fabian Hamilton and other British government personnel had been scouring the world trying to find news of Alex's fate.

Alex's support for the persecuted practitioners in China is undiminished by his frightening experiences at the hands of the Chinese State.


Contact Details:
Mary Cann (Falun Gong UK) 07985 184539
 mary.cann@ntlworld.com
Alex Rostron (home): 0113 2656578