A group of Falun Gong members in the Washington, D.C. area gathered in front of the Burmese Embassy to protest the seven-year jail sentence to Mr. Chan, a Falun Gong member in Burma.
Burmese authorities arrested 71-year-old Mr. Chan because he was holding a banner during Chinese President Jiang Zemin's recent visit to Burma.
VOA Burmese Service interviewed Tao Wang, an engineer and a spokesman of the group.
He said, "I guess when he unfurled the banner, Jiang Zemin was not there yet. The banner reads Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance. And these words should be legal anywhere around the world. You say I want to be a good person. What's wrong with that?"
Tao Wang continues, "I guess, his release will benefit for everybody. It will benefit Mr. Chan and his family because his family members have been worrying about him for more than a year. Also it will benefit Burmese people. In this way, more people will be willing to travel to Burma."
"Now if I think about travel to Burma, I may think again. I may get arrested. To release him will also be beneficial to the Burmese Government. In this way, people will say, hey they really want to have a new image if they release Mr. Chan," he said.