One of the many goals President Robert Birgeneau has on his agenda is to give U of T international recognition along side high-ranking universities such as the University of Michigan and the University of California at Berkeley.
The goal to gain international recognition, however, may have been achieved already, as sources say U of T has been gaining attention from one of the least expected places-the Chinese Consulate.
The story began two years ago when SAC passed a resolution to support the Falun Gong student club here at U of T. Lucy Zhao, a PhD student in management and a Falun Gong practitioner recalled the details. “SAC has been quite supportive in the past years. Two years ago, it passed a resolution to support the Falun Gong and to stop the persecution of Falun Gong. Afterwards, they received some hate literatures from the Chinese consulate in Toronto…[materials] like they shouldn’t support Falun Gong.”
SAC’s Vice President Student Life, Dylan Rae, who was newly elected to the position last year, does not recall the event. Rae adds that from the time he was elected till now he personally has not received any threats or complaint letters from either the Chinese government or the Chinese consulate regarding SAC’s involvement with the Falun Gong student club. However, he does not deny that SAC’s support for Falun Gong “is certainly upsetting” to the Chinese government.
Rae notes that SAC must give support to all peaceful associations on campus, even ones that are as controversial as Falun Gong. He says, “Falun Gong represents a peaceful movement that is non-violent and benevolent in nature. SAC supports all peaceful movements which many U of T students are part of.”
Adhering to that principle, SAC decided to bring a motion to reaffirm its support for Falun Gong at the November board meeting of last year. According to Rae, there was opposition from members who were concerned with what they saw and read about Falun Gong but ultimately, the resolution was passed with a majority.
Recently, on Dec. 6, 2003, SAC helped the Falun Gong student club to set up information booths at the Robarts library and provided them assistance with the funding of the affair.
While SAC’s involvement with Falun Gong here on campus occurs in peace, others tell a different story and some even involve cases of physical assault and harassment of Falun Gong supporters. According to Zhao and other practitioners Quincy Yu, Dave Meek and Pixing Zhang, hate literature is constantly being delivered to governmental agencies and to all levels of government such as city councillors, MPs and mayors who show support to Falun Gong. A December 2003 report produced by the World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong (WOIPFG) identified numerous reports of such kind.
In February 2000, one Member of Parliament was “physically and verbally harassed inside the Parliament building.” Rob Anders, MP for Calgary West, wore a Falun Gong T-shirt while attending a Chinese New Year’s celebration hosted by the Chinese Embassy in Ottawa and found himself surrounded by a group of men who started to harass him.
In a letter he wrote to John Manley, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Chretien government, Mr. Anders expressed his concerns. “There have been serious breaches in diplomatic protocol…staff members of the People’s Republic physically assaulted me in the House of Commons for wearing [the shirt]. They also tried to steal a camera away from a Canadian photo-journalist taking pictures of the event.” He continued, “Visitors to our country must obey the rules of this country; they cannot be allowed to flaunt our laws.”
WOIPFG also cited that this past summer, the Chinese consulate located at 240 St. George St., Toronto was displaying propaganda posters. It reported that anti-Falun Gong posters were put up on the walls of the corridors where visitors would line up and inevitably read. The so-called “wall of defamation” contained messages such as “FALUN GONG IS A SCOURGE” and “Combat Cults and Protect Human Rights.”
Despite these cases of assaults and harassment, many people, including many high-level government officials in Canada, remain firm in their support for Falun Gong. A booklet compiled in 2000 by practitioners of Falun Gong in celebration of Falun Dafa Week is evidence of such support. In it are more than a dozen congratulatory letters and proclamations from Canadian dignitaries and honoured officials including Governor General Adrienne Clarkson, then deputy prime minister Herb Gray, then minister of justice and attorney-general of Canada A. Anne McLellan and various premiers and members of parliament.
Meanwhile, a plan to pass a resolution to reaffirm SAC’s support for Falun Gong was cancelled at SAC’s board meeting last night. The motion was postponed because it failed to make it onto the meeting’s agenda, which unfortunately was not available until only half an hour before the scheduled meeting. As a result, the vote on the issue has now been pushed back until the next board meeting next month.
Dylan Rae, who wanted to get the motion passed in last night’s board meeting was frustrated with the outcome. “The agenda wasn’t even ready until half an hour before the meeting, so there was no way to get anything on it. It was just a small technicality.”
But the motion of support for Falun Gong, as Rae noted, will be passed one way or another. “I’ll make sure it gets passed in the clubs commission meeting next Tuesday. These people [Falun Gong student group] have done so much [in asking for our support], they really deserve it,” said Rae.
