Dalian Prepares for the World Economic Forum by Detaining Falun Gong
The Dailian authorities have arrested over a hundred Falun Gong practitioners in prepartion for the World Economic Forum. The World Economic Forum, also called the Davos Forum, will hold the Inaugural Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2007 in Dalian, China from September 6 to 8, 2007.
The Davos Forum in Dalian is considered the largest international conference ever held in China. 1,200 registered guests from 88 countries and about 600 members of the international press will be attending.
Accoriding to Minghui.org, a Falun Gong website, Dalian authorities have intensified their crackdown on Falun Gong.[1]
The Chinese government has dispatched over 7,000 police and state agents to Dalian to intensify its round up of Falun Gong practitioners. The authorities have resorted to high technology in wire tapping, Internet monitoring, following and positioning, under-cover operations, finger printing, taxi surveillance, mail censorship and other means.
Since June 2007, police stations at local communities have used various pretexts to dispatch police to households for verification of resident cards. The police have also visited those Falun Gong practitioners whose names are on record at the police stations.
Meanwhile, Dalian Internet police have installed Green Net, an Internet Network monitoring system in hotels, restaurants and office buildings to prevent Internet users from visiting "sensitive" overseas websites. Surveillance cameras have been installed on main streets to track Falun Gong practitioners who may be giving flyers to passers-by.
In the first half of 2007, the authorities arrested 84 Falun Gong practitioners. In the past month alone, over several dozen more were arrested. For example, on the afternoon of August 14, 2007, Ms. Wang Chunrong, head of Dalian Xinchen Accounting Firm, was arrested together with her younger sister for practicing Falun Gong. At the same time, the authorities shut down her accounting firm. Two other employees at the accounting firm were arrested separately for practicing Falun Gong.
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