Rachel Wong, an Epoch Times host in Hong Kong, was recently threatened by mainland China police to quit broadcasting future programs, or she could be arrested under the new national security law.
The host has stressed that any future threats she receives from the Chinese regime will be disclosed.
Four days later, a friend of her family was contacted by Chinese authorities.
The police tried to find Wong’s parents and threatened the friend to tell Wong “not to do [Epoch Times] programs anymore” under the current political climate.
They also said, "if the National Security Law is used against them [media staff] and targets them in the future, if her parents don't have a daughter, it would be very sad, right?"
Last year, after being pushed through by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the new national security law went into effect in Hong Kong on the eve of July 1. Offenses such as secession, subversion, and “collusion with foreign forces” can inflict a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
On the Frontline
Wong was a frontline reporter and livestreaming host at the time.
Epoch Times reporter Rachel Wong sobs before the camera after witnessing a protester shot by police in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong, on Aug. 31, 2019. Screenshot from YouTube
Wong was among the demonstrators and was sprayed with blue-dyed liquid from a water cannon.
This is the third time Wong has received a threatening message from Chinese public security officials. The last time was in 2017, after she was seen attending a Falun Gong parade by the police.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual practice with meditation exercises and teachings based on the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. According to official estimates in 1999, it had attracted 70-100 million adherents in China.
A Special Program
Wong suspects the recent harassment is the result of a program she hosted two weeks ago, disclosing the CCP’s crime of forced organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners.“It is the most in-depth episode exposing the CCP[’s crimes] since I have begun working in the media.”
During the program, Wong played two audio recordings, including a recording of testimony from a police officer who was on duty at the scene of an organ harvesting operation in Liaoning Province.
The other is of former Minister of Commerce Bo Xilai, admitting that former CCP leader Jiang Zemin had issued commands to kill Falun Gong adherents and sell their organs for profit.
The latter oral evidence was recorded from a phone call to Hotel Atlantic Kempinski Hamburg, where Bo stayed during a visit to Hamburg, Germany, accompanying then-Premier Wen Jiabao in September 2006.
“[The CCP] fears the most when it comes to its scandals, such as genocide, mass extermination, and live organ harvesting,” Wong said. “If you hide it away, or if you shut the voice down or take a step back, it's actually more dangerous. ”
Considering being silenced unacceptable, Wong stressed that she will not back down.
“I’m telling the CCP that, for any threat or any action they make to me in the future, I will make it public. I do live shows every day, and I can say it every day.”