CHENGYONG Chen believed in truth, compassion and tolerance.

And for that Jane Dai says her husband was kidnapped, brutally tortured and murdered.

Mrs Dai fled China in 2001 fearing for her life with her nine-month-old daughter after her husband was arrested and sent to a detention centre for practising the traditional Chinese spiritual discipline, Falun Gong.

Desperate to find her husband alive, a simple internet search from her new home in Australia confirmed Mrs Dai's worst fears her husband's partially decomposed body was found in an abandoned hut.

"I was completely speechless when I found out . . . I was in shock, my hair literally went white overnight," Mrs Dai said.

The 42-year-old is determined the rest of the world should know why her husband, 34, died. She has visited 41 countries since his death to spread the word.

"When I look at my daughter I see him, it makes me happy and sad at the same time," she said. "I got a chance to speak out because I am an Australian citizen but this has happened to thousands of families and they don't have a chance to speak."

Mrs Dai said her husband's persecution started in 1999 when the government-owned paper mill he worked at forced its employees to stop working and instead watch propaganda for the entire day.

She said the Communist Party had become suspicious of the challenge Falun Gong represented to the party and banned it.

"They were brainwashing them and if they didn't support the Communist Party they would lose their job," Mrs Dai said. "The Government also shut down all the media in China, we had only propaganda on the radio, television and the newspapers."

Tortured and brainwashed repeatedly, Mr Chen was arrested three times, never abandoning his belief. He was even homeless at one stage, too scared to go home for fear of being arrested again.

"In 2000 he was arrested and forced to watch propaganda for 24 hours a day, seven days a week and if he fell asleep they would beat him and pour water over him," Mrs Dai said.

Now living at Box Hill with her five-year-old daughter, Mrs Dai wants to continue travelling the world to spread the truth.

"It's the children who are the most vulnerable and innocent," she said.

Posting date: 11/Nov/2005
Original article date: 9/Nov/2005
Category: Media Report