Local Falun Gong members yesterday said they will join a global hunger strike to support Li Yuan (李淵), senior member of the Falun Gong-backed Epoch Times, who they claim may have been attacked by secret agents from China in the US on Wednesday.
"We will join the campaign to reprimand the Chinese authorities for its violence," Tsao Huei-ling (
Li is a US-based director-general of the Epoch Times, an international newspaper written in five languages and published in 28 countries for the purpose of disclosing the abuses of the Chinese Communist Party.
Tsao said that Li had been attacked by three unidentified gunmen in his home in Atlanta, Georgia.
"Li told us that they covered his head with a blanket, almost suffocating him, hit him against the head and tied him up," Tsao said.
"Li said that he heard the gunmen speaking Chinese while they were looting his home, although he later discovered that they hadn't stolen anything valuable, except for his two computers," she said.
Tsao said that Li's computers contained highly-encrypted files which Beijing authorities would not be able to access.
"As the Epoch Times has been reporting the kind of stories the Chinese authorities have been trying to cover up and encouraging people to leave the Chinese Communist Party, we strongly suspect that he was attacked by China's secret agents," Tsao said.
"We all know that Li is an outstanding scientist in the US ... Li's contribution to running the Epoch Times made him an eyesore for China," she said.
But Li has said that he would not be intimidated by the attack, and that he was determined to keep exposing the Chinese government's evils to the world, Tsao added.
The hunger strike was initiated yesterday by Falun Gong members based in Washington. The group's branches in more than 30 countries and territories worldwide are expected to take part in the strike.
"The campaign in Taiwan is scheduled to start at 2pm tomorrow [today] and last for about two months," Tsao said.
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