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On Tuesday February 14th, Epoch Times staff members in Chicago (in addition to several cities across the country) organized a press conference and hunger strike outside of Federal Plaza to peacefully protest the armed robbery and attack on Epoch Times chief technical officer Dr. Peter (Yuan) Li. Last week on February 8th, four Asian men forced entry into Dr. Li's Atlanta home, beating him and stealing two laptops. Curiously, the perpetrators left more valuable items such as his camcorder.
"You mean it took place in America?" asked John, a lawyer from Park Ridge, astounded by the Federal Plaza display depicting the battered face of Dr. Yuan Li.
John signed the petition letter, saying that the U.S. government needs to take immediate measures to stop the kind of harassment and battery the Chinese Communist regime has inflicted against an Epoch Times staff member.
The attack on Dr. Li breaks new ground in the Chinese Communist regime's campaign against The Epoch Times . Previously, the Communist regime has tried to intimidate The Epoch Times by arresting staff inside mainland China.
Outside mainland China, the anti- Epoch Times campaign has included tactics such as systematically stealing newspapers, attempting to intimidate advertisers, applying pressure to deny Epoch Times staff the opportunity to cover events at which Chinese government officials appear, and threatening the family members inside mainland China of Epoch Times staff living outside China.
At the beginning of the hunger strike on Tuesday, Epoch Times reporter Stacey Tang said that it was not easy to stay four hours out in such harsh weather without eating. "I felt like the chill went into my bones," she said. "But compared to what Dr. Li has been through, being beaten in his own home, this [hunger strike] is nothing. We wish our effort could alert the public of the brutality of Chinese Communist Regime."
Participants join the hunger strike by abstaining from food (water is permitted) starting at 6:30 a.m. until 6:30 a.m. the following day. They bring their message to the public as they stand in front of Federal Plaza from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. with large photos revealing the brutal beating of Dr. Li. Outside for hours, participants endure the bitter cold of a mid-winter Chicago. As the strike continues on Friday, temperatures are expected to drop below 27 degrees. Despite hunger and cold, spirits among the protestors remain buoyant.
"I feel it is important to join the relay hunger strike with the EET team across the country, exclaimed Sharon Kilarski, another Epoch Times staff member. "When a travesty of justice like the beating of Dr. Li happens here in the U.S., so close to home, by spies of a [Communist regime], it becomes all too easy to feel helpless, as though there isn't much we can do. But if those of us who do care take an action, fasting for 24 hours, signing a petition, talking to a friend about the senseless crime, then we are playing an active role in choosing good in our lives. What could be more important?
Collecting signatures, protestors are calling on the U.S. government to start an investigation into the Communist regime's U.S. spying campaign, as well as its attempt to control information and systematic intimidation tactics against people living in our country. However, the crimes that the Epoch Times has faced from the Chinese Communist regime extend past U.S. boarders.
Some hunger strike participants are extending their efforts in support of Chinese human rights lawyer, Gao Zhisheng. Attorney Gao has often defended vulnerable and abused Chinese, and for his activism, has not been allowed to practice law.
Vanessa Rios, another hunger strike participant and Epoch Times staff member, explained that she intended "to protest the blood-thirsty communist regime's human rights violations in China that go on every day unreported. So many non-Chinese are concerned about the Communist regime's human rights violations in China against the Chinese people. I hope the good people of China will soon know this."
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