Barred From Iceland

Barred From Iceland

Western Democracy Bends to Totalitarian Regime, Bans Ethnic Chinese during Dictator's Visit

LONDON, June 7, 2002 (European Falun Gong Information Centre) -- "This whole thing is very eerie... and sad." says Mr. Tao Wang after taking a call from the Danish Embassy in Washington DC telling him that his visa to travel to Iceland could not be granted because the head office of Iceland's Immigration Services just passed down an order barring all Chinese and Taiwanese passport holders from traveling to Iceland before June 18.

Jiang Zemin, the leader of the Chinese Communist Party, is scheduled to visit Iceland from June 12-16, the fourth stop on a five-nation tour through Eastern Europe and Iceland.

As of June 6, at least ten U.S. residents holding either Chinese or Taiwanese passports have been denied visas to Iceland. "I think it's nothing short of a democratic nation bowing to a Communist dictatorship," Mr. Wang added. "Pressure from Jiang has made them act like a totalitarian regime themselves...virtually banning an entire ethnic group of people from entering the country. Looking at the bigger picture we have to ask ourselves, 'what role should a western democracy play under these circumstances? How will history judge such behaviour and why is Jiang so afraid of his own people?'"

Mr. Wang had applied for an Icelandic visa in the early afternoon of June 6th. When he submitted his application form, the visa officer asked him if his going to Iceland had anything to do with Falun Gong, but then added that he could come back to pick up the visa on Friday. Five minutes later on his way home, Mr. Wang received a telephone call from the visa officer telling him that his Icelandic visa would not be processed before June 18th.

During the conversation, Mr. Wang says, the visa officer revealed that the refusal to process his visa was not directed at him alone, but was related to the visit by senior Communist Chinese officials to Iceland from June 12 to 16. Mr. Wang quotes this officer as saying: "All persons carrying Chinese and Taiwan passports shouldn't even think about getting a visa (for Iceland) before June 18th."

Mr. Wang says that in order to travel to Iceland, he already asked for vacation time at his company and had booked his airplane ticket because the Iceland visa agency required him to do so.

John Liu, a computer engineer in New York said on June 6th that he was notified to go to the Danish Consulate the previous day to pick up the passport and completed Icelandic visa for a friend of his who is a professor with the State University of New York in Buffalo. Upon arriving at the consulate, however, a visa officer told him that he temporarily could not return his friend's passport because they had just received written notice from the government of Iceland that entry visas for all persons carrying a Chinese or Taiwanese passports must directly contact the Icelandic immigration agency. The officer in charge of visas showed Mr. Liu the fax document of the notice. Mr. Liu's friend holds a Chinese passport.

The Icelandic Embassy to the U.S. in Washington, D.C. does not handle entry visas. These affairs have always been handed over to the diplomatic agencies of other nations in the U.S.

A secretary in the Iceland Embassy said on June 5th that with regard to the issue of entry visas, they are currently in contact with the Iceland immigration agency. However, any appointments with the Embassy can only be made starting next week.

Reports from St. Petersburg, Russia -- Jiang's first stop on this 5-nation tour -- say that Russian officials have contacted the local Falun Gong practitioners, warning them that they will be arrested if any attempt of public demonstration near Jiang is made.

Two ethnic Chinese who hold Canadian passports have been denied visas to Estonia, the second stop of Jiang's trip.

Sources familiar with Jiang's trip indicate that Chinese Communist officials are very nervous about Falun Gong practitioners and supporters making public, peaceful protests. In April of this year, while Jiang Zemin was visiting Germany, more than 400 Falun Gong practitioners conducted peaceful protests at numerous points during his trip. At the time, Chinese Communist officials threatened to terminate the visit if the legal, peaceful protests continued. Germany, a democratic nation that normally allows peaceful protests and demonstrations, was pressured to guard against all persons of Chinese ethnicity. German officials were also pressured to prohibit people in the areas where Jiang Zemin was visiting to wear clothes with either yellow or blue on them as these two colours are often used during Falun Gong demonstrations.

REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP) -- Iceland sent police officers to Boston and three European cities Thursday to help prevent Falun Gong members from flying here on its airline while China's president is visiting.

The Falun Gong movement is outlawed in China, and Iceland banned visits by the group's members from June 7 to June 18, in an effort to prevent what it said were fears of large demonstrations against Chinese President Jiang Zemin. Jiang arrived here Thursday.

On Wednesday, some media reported that the government had lifted the ban, but they had misinterpreted a statement saying that more than 65 suspected Falun Gong members who had been detained at Iceland's Keflavik airport were being released from police custody.

Those detained were aged between 25 and 60 and included Americans, Canadians, Chinese, Australians, Germans and Danes.

On Thursday, the government said it was sending three police officers to unidentified European cities and one to Boston in the United States to help Icelandair, Iceland's state-owned airline, prevent more Falun Gong members from slipping through the ban and boarding flights.

In Boston, Jose Juves, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Port Authority, which runs Logan Airport, said there are no Icelandic law enforcement officials at the airport.

In Baltimore, 19-year-old Evan Mantyk, a Falun Gong follower, was prevented on Tuesday from getting on a flight to Iceland at Baltimore-Washington International Airport.

The University of Michigan student from Lathrup Village, Mich., said Icelandair officials checked a list and told him he couldn't board.

“I never heard any explanation whatsoever,” said Mantyk. “Just that we were on a list and they had orders to not let anyone on who was on the list.” Icelandair employees refused to allow eight [practitioners] onto the Icelandair flight Tuesday and six people on Wednesday at the Baltimore-Washington airport, the airline said.

In London and Washington, D.C., officials at Icelandic embassies said that the ban remained in effect and would be enforced.

Chinese officials have long been sensitive to Falun Gong protests in other countries.

Falun Gong [practitioners] say it is a peaceful meditation movement that builds health. They say hundreds of [practitioners] have died as a result of police abuse and torture during the Chinese [suppression].

The New York Times

Iceland Bars American Falun Gong [Practitioners]

WASHINGTON, June 14 -- They had valid American passports. They had paid for their tickets. So the State Department wants to know why dozens of Americans were turned away at airports around the United States this week when they tried to fly to Iceland.

The department said today that it was asking Iceland's government for an explanation of why it had ordered the state airline, Icelandair, to refuse passage to American citizens who appeared on a list of [practitioners] of the Falun Gong spiritual movement.

The government of Iceland has an explanation, though it seems a little embarrassed to offer it.

Although Iceland takes pride in free-speech traditions that date from 930, the government does not want protests to interfere with the visit this week of the Chinese president, Jiang Zemin, Iceland's ambassador to Washington said. [...] Mr. Jiang is scheduled to remain in Iceland through Sunday.

The ambassador, Jon Baldvin Hannibalsson, said in a telephone interview that his government worried that the nation's police force, which is unarmed and totals only a few hundred people, "might easily be outnumbered" by Falun Gong protesters. Iceland has no military. [...]

As a result, Icelandair has provided a list of reputed Falun Gong [practitioners] to its check-in desks at airports in the four American cities it serves. Mr. Hannibalsson said the list had been obtained through other European police agencies, not through the Chinese government.

A spokesman for the movement in Washington, Joe Yin, said that nearly 100 Falun Gong [practitioners] had been turned away by Icelandair, which provides the only flights between this country and Iceland.

Mr. Yin said: "I don't have any negative feelings for Iceland. I just feel sad that they bend to the pressure from the Chinese government."

REYKJAVIK, Iceland, June 13 -- Iceland sent police officers to Boston and three European cities today to try to prevent Falun Gong members from flying here on Icelandair while China's president is visiting.

Iceland banned visits by Falun Gong members June 7-18 in an effort to prevent large demonstrations against Jiang Zemin, who arrived here today.

News media reported Wednesday that the ban had been lifted. But the government said they had misinterpreted a statement about the release from police custody of more than 65 suspected Falun Gong members detained at Iceland's Keflavik Airport.

China banned Falun Gong in 1999, calling it a threat to communist rule and a cult that has caused 1,700 deaths. Falun Gong followers say it is a peaceful meditation movement that builds health.

Danish Newspaper - B.T.

Falun Gong [practitioners] denied entry to Iceland because of presidential visit

Jacob Andersen, 6-13-2002

That is the way it was stated to 6 Chinese, Canadian residents, who were stopped at the Copenhagen Airport prior to their departure for Iceland.

In connection with the visit of Chinese president Jiang to Reykjavik, the government of Iceland, to the astonishment of the whole world, has denied entry for [practitioners] of Falun Gong.

The Falun Gong movement, counting over 100 million active practitioners, has been outlawed in China since 1999, and according to the practitioners ten thousands have been sent to prison or labor camps.

It is normal practice that hundreds of Falun Gong [practitioners] from around the world are following the Chinese president when he is visiting western countries officially.

But, as the first western country ever, Iceland has chosen to bow to the Chinese government's demand to deny entry to Falun Gong [practitioners].

"It is absolutely unbelievable that a democratic country like Iceland would bow to the government of China. We are deeply shocked that we as peaceful Canadian citizens are being treated like criminals by Iceland," spokesman Xun for the 6 Chinese who have now chosen Copenhagen Airport as their base of protest.

"We will remain sitting here in Copenhagen and protest as long as the president of the brutal Chinese regime visits Iceland." Xun says.

National Review

Outrages of the Week: 6-19-02

Mr. Derbyshire From New York, Iceland, and the U.K.

Sometimes the outrages come so thick and fast a poor commentator can't keep up. People sometimes ask me: "How on earth do you find a topic to be scathing about twice a week?" Are they kidding? Other columnists may speak for themselves; my problem is never that I can't find a windmill to tilt at, my problem is selecting one from the half dozen that every day's news presents me with. Once in a while I shall yield to the temptation to package up a handful of them in a single piece. Here goes with three outrages from the past week.

Now my worst suspicions about Iceland have been confirmed. Jiang, the president of China, visited Iceland June 12 to 16. (Why? A five-day trip to Iceland? By the president of China? If anyone has an explanation for this, please let me know.*) Preparatory to Jiang's visit, the Icelandic government banned all [practitioners] of the Falun Gong [group] from the country. "To prevent large demonstrations our puny police forces can't control," was the official explanation. This is hard to swallow. Whatever you think of the Falun Gong people (for the record, I think they are harmless [people]) they have no record of violent demonstrations. At any rate, the Icelanders spared no effort to keep the [people] out, sending police to U.S. cities to screen customers at offices of Icelandair, the state airline. Some [practitioners] who turned up in Iceland anyway -- including five U.S. citizens -- were arrested.

After a lot of negative publicity, Iceland released those they had arrested. A hundred or so more had got in anyway, somehow, and a demonstration took place. It was peaceful.

The ChiCom bosses are frightfully sensitive to criticism. When Jiang visited Switzerland in March 1999, he was shocked that Tibetan protesters were allowed to demonstrate within earshot of him. "Don't you have the ability to run this country?" he snarled to the Swiss justice minister, apparently unable to understand why the demonstrators had not been flattened by tanks, as they would have been in China. Later, in a speech to the Swiss parliament, he told them: "You have lost a good friend. ... I have been president of the People's Republic of China for 10 years and have visited many countries in this capacity. Everywhere else I have been received warmly."

It is not an easy thing to pinpoint what is most loathsome about these thuggish apparatchiks, but surely near the top of the list is the way they think they can browbeat and insult the citizens of free nations in the same way they do their own long-suffering people. If I were running a country that was to be graced by a visit from Jiang, and the Chinese ambassador showed up in my office during the preparations with a demand that no demonstrations mar the occasion, I know what I should say. Minus a few colorful intensifiers, it would be along the lines of: "If your President-Elected-by-Nobody doesn't like the way free peoples conduct their affairs, tell him to stay in his own country." [...]

UNDER [party name omitted] Party rule, the Chinese people have made friends all over the world, or so the relentlessly employed party slogan goes. The people of China, indeed, have many true friends -- certainly more than their government, which is all too happy to rely on foreigners kowtowing before its considerable weight.

The world recently got a look at how that can play out shamefully in -- of all places -- Iceland, where Chinese leader Jiang visited last weekend.

Tiny Iceland, a wealthy, tranquil place, boasts an admirable history of democracy and free speech, dating back to the founding of the world's oldest parliament in 930. But these traditions were put on hold in the days leading to Mr. Jiang's visit.

Fearful that [...] demonstrations by supporters of the Falun Gong [...] would upset the formal state visit, authorities temporarily detained some of the group's [practitioners] and turned back others from boarding Icelandair flights in U.S. and European cities. Icelandic police even manned the gates at some foreign airports, screening out potential protesters.

Falun Gong -- whose [practitioners] practice meditation and exercise according to [...] beliefs as prescribed by their leader, Li Hongzhi -- was banned by China in 1999; the Chinese government [...] persecutes its [practitioners]. The group has no history of violence.

But with no military and only a small police force, [...]. Iceland eased up by the time the Chinese leader arrived, allowing about 500 Falun Gong supporters to hold the nation's largest protest in recent memory. Though not originally planned that way, the peaceful demonstration was aimed at human rights abuses in both China and Iceland.

This wasn't the only protest that Mr. Jiang encountered in his swing through Iceland and three Baltic states. Lithuania tried to have it both ways -- with its police aggressively curtailing some demonstrators for Tibet's freedom, while its president and other political leaders swiftly apologized to the protesters and cast the incident as a black mark on their country.

Unresolved is how Icelandic authorities knew to bar certain potential protesters who claim there is no public record of their Falun Gong ties. Icelandic officials insist they acted independently, with no pressure or guidance from China.

Nonetheless, this is a sad tale of how easy it is to succumb to Chinese pressure, however indirect, particularly when your nation has fewer than 300,000 residents and a growing trade with the world's most populous nation.

Iceland's Reaction
European FDI: Western Democracy Bends to Totalitarian Regime	6-07-2002
The New York Times: Iceland Enforces Falun Gong Ban	6-13-2002
The New York Times: Iceland Bars American Falun Gong [Practitioners]	6-14-2002
Washington Post: Iceland Sends Police Abroad in Effort To Stop Falun Gong	6-14-2002
Danish Newspaper - B.T.: Falun Gong [practitioners] denied entry to Iceland	6-13-2002
National Review: Outrages of the Week	6-19-2002
Baltimore Sun: Reykjavik kowtow	6-23-2002