CNN has reported this as "Falun Gong members set selves on fire". I have filed an "error" report with CNN already, to note their slip.
The only identification of the burned people with Falun Gong was made directly and solely by Xinhua. That agency, as is well known through its past activity, is less than trustworthy in its journalism on matters considered "politically interesting" in China.
Your headline presumes that the people engulfed are indeed Falun Gong members. Your crew had no such evidence; the only connection comes from Xinhua, which is known for falsifications and inventions when it comes to Falun Gong and other "politically sensitive" topics.
Have you ever put out fires? I have. In a standard module in community emergency response training, I and dozens of others put out gasoline fires of human size. It takes two seconds. It doesn't take much longer (5-30 seconds) to extinguish a blaze on a person, from my experience with smaller emergencies.
In the past weeks, the police and irregular auxiliaries at Tiananmen have shown minute and sub-minute response in pulling down and beating actively evasive people.
If it takes many minutes to reach and put out fire on five immobile people, I can only come to the conclusion that the response was intentionally delayed. Given leaks from the Chinese Public Security Bureau and elsewhere in the past months, indicating active brainstorming on ways to frame up situations to make Falun Gong members appear insane, I strongly suspect that this was staged entirely for the tricking of CNN and outside media.
Falun Gong practitioners emphasize compassion. There is no compassion in suicide, since this does not allow for any possible correction by other parties. Suicide does not solve any situation; Falun Gong practitioners seek non-violent resolution of the current unconstitutional situation imposed on China by portions of the current Chinese administration.
Joe B.
Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2001
BEIJING (UPI) - Is that car following us? Excuse the paranoia, but in mainland China it is often justified. After one aborted meeting, a series of coded e-mails and several furtive phone calls, a simple tail will not foil my plans. I change taxis, one of thousands washed by Beijing's winter slush, and my tail, if such it was, passes into the night.
My heart is racing ahead of the secret rendezvous. To avoid my office wiretap, I call only from obscure phone boxes, or on handsets with freshly swapped SIM cards. It feels part 007, part "Mission Impossible." But this is no game. I am meeting some enemies of the state, and for them any slip could mean life or death.
They are prime targets in a very uncivil war the Chinese government is waging against its own citizens. The two-year engagement has claimed more than 100 victims and imprisoned thousands more. Their crime? Refusal to renounce Falun Dafa, also known as Falun Gong, the spiritual movement banned in China []
The rendezvous point is crowded with people, heavily bundled up against freezing temperatures. I am approached by a "bundle of clothes." We drop the right passwords into a brief exchange, and depart silently on foot for a nearby restaurant. Braving the elements and the security forces, seven followers of Falun Gong have gathered there to explain their beliefs, unshaken despite fearful intimidation.
In a private room, we unwrap our masks against the cold. Two members of the group reveal heavy bruising on their faces. All share the hunted look of people who have endured time in jail, and suffer many privations outside. Five are still on the run from the authorities. Sacked from their jobs, spurned by nervous friends and relatives, they survive on the spiritual sustenance of Falun Dafa and the physical charity of fellow believers.
At least they HAVE survived. A 46-year-old woman shows off her war wounds, thighs bruised black and blue, but she knows she was lucky.
"The policeman folded his belt in three, with the buckle on top, and hit my head and body," she says.
'We'll Make It Look Like a Suicide'
"He gripped my neck and kicked my shins. Then he shouted: 'I'm going to kill you, and throw your body away like a dead dog! We'll make it look like a suicide.'"
Detained and beaten on four occasions, she is a veteran of the grim struggle between China's Communist Party leaders and the [] they fear has infected millions of Chinese.
Her latest skirmish came in early January. After protesting peacefully against the government ban, she was dragged from Tiananmen Square to a detention center in Shijingshan, in southwestern Beijing.
"After police hit my head with a handgun, I went on hunger strike for seven days," she recalls. "They wouldn't let me sleep, and put me out in the yard, covered with snow. They threw water over me that turned to ice, but I refused to tell them my name."
She had learned better than to reveal her identity and home address in a southern Chinese province. The last time she did so, this woman was quickly returned to a hostile reception at her local police station - 45 days inside for "disturbing the social order."
Biggest Challenge to Communist Party
Defying almost two years of government suppression, the Falun Gong challenge remains the most sustained challenge to the Communist Party during its 51-year rule. Adherents stress apolitical motives, but their frequent forays into China's political heartland reinforce government paranoia that the movement is a "reactionary force" bent on sabotaging communist China.
Armed only with their faith, Falun Gong protesters have become a bizarre tourist attraction, playing almost daily on the vast plaza in central Beijing, with gala shows on public holidays or anniversaries of the official campaign against the movement. Evading police cordons that stretch back to their home provinces, disciples of Falun Gong founder Li Hongzhi flock to Beijing's Tiananmen Square by bus, train, bicycle or foot.
Their journeys may have taken days, but their protests will last only seconds. Once they assume the lotus position, or other poses from the group's pseudo-Buddhist exercise regimen, the waiting policemen pounce.
Some demonstrators pull out banners proclaiming cherished principles - truth, compassion, or forbearance - or scatter leaflets to the same effect, before police beat them and drag them off by their hair. Tourists who can't resist taking a picture will find their film quickly removed from their camera.
There is no shortage of willing martyrs for the cause, and they are learning from bitter experience. On one woman's first protest trip to Beijing in September 1999, it was almost laughably easy for security forces to target these new arrivals, with their unfashionable clothes and earnest belief the government would reconsider its opposition. Her mission was thwarted in a cheap hotel just 10 minutes from the square.
She said: "A policeman asked, 'Do you practice Falun Gong?' We disciples cannot lie, so I said, 'Yes,' and was detained for 'breaking social order.' But I didn't even get to Tiananmen."
Last week, she escaped her tormentors in Shijingshan, when police grew exasperated at her lack of cooperation. She was transferred to another district, where she says officers took pity and released her. Now, she sleeps with difficulty and moves between safe houses with help from a network of believers, communicating through pagers and public phones to avoid detection.
Like others seated around the table, her next protest could label her a "hard-core element," earning her time in a "reform through labor" camp. Police are entitled to send suspects to such camps for up to three years without trial. "Ringleaders" get 18 years.
Human rights organizations estimate that at least 10,000 Falun Gong members are still detained nationwide in labor camps, detention centers or other penal facilities. Reports suggest overcrowding in Beijing's holding cells, as police are unable to discover where to return their detainees.
No Action Is Excessive
There is good reason to fear deportation. If their treatment in Beijing is horrific, away from the capital anything goes. The central government has told local officials that no action is excessive if it stops them from coming to Beijing. Local officials can lose their jobs or promotions if too many people from their area come to the capital.
Human rights organizations have documented more than 100 deaths in custody of Falun Gong believers in recent years. The United Nations has criticized China for specific cases of torture, like the beating to death of Chen Zixiu, a 58-year-old grandmother, in Weifang in east China. Beijing rejects these "false accusations" and maintains all deaths in custody have been either natural or suicides.
Instead, the Chinese regime points to more than 1,500 deaths it blames on Li Hongzhi's mystical concepts such as advocating meditation over medicine.
Li's "books do not prohibit taking medicine," says a member of tonight's group, a former policeman from southwest China. "But, we simply don't need it! We cultivate ourselves, do good deeds for other people, and we don't get sick. We save China so much money on medical bills."
The slow-motion moves and breathing exercises of Qigong have been a Chinese staple for centuries. The perceived health benefits of Falun Gong, an eclectic blend of Qigong, Buddhism and Taoism, partly explain the group's popular surge in the mid-1990s, particularly among elderly supporters.
The Communist Party denounces the [group]'s claims as "anti-science," the same kind of feudalistic thinking the 1949 revolution was designed to eradicate. For 30 years, the party inspired an often blind faith in Maoism, but the last two decades of cutthroat capitalist reforms have left gaping ideological holes.
China is changing so quickly, explains another follower, formerly a student at elite Qinghua University in Beijing. He said: "People used to help each other, but now they compete all the time. They do everything for themselves and harm others. I lost hope in society."
A friend lent him one of Li Hongzhi's tracts in 1997. Within two days, he was hooked. "Every morning, 300 to 400 students and professors practiced Falun Going at nine separate sites on campus. Nobody bothered us," he said.
Until some 10,000 Falun Gong protestors surrounded the Chinese leadership's compound in April 1999. Angered at critical magazine articles, members of Falun Gong were lobbying for retractions and for legal recognition of their movement. The peaceful protest showed breathtaking audacity and organization. It was the largest demonstration since the Beijing Spring a decade earlier.
And it would provoke a similar response. For seven years the government had preferred to ignore the rise of Falun Gong. But it could not condone such insolence at the gates of power. The result was a crackdown that continues to this day.
President Jiang Zemin is well aware of the disruptive role popular movements, and their charismatic leaders, have played throughout Chinese history. Last week, the government stepped up its purge of die-hard elements with a mass campaign to collect 1 million signatures denouncing the group.
The petition drive began in universities like Qinghua, alma mater to two of the followers before me. One of them, a 24-year-old graduate whose beliefs condemn him to piecemeal employment, still cannot comprehend the government's reaction. Falun Gong teaches you to eliminate bad thoughts and think only of others, he says.
The government disagrees, especially on the latter claim. Official pressure to renounce [] has forced many followers to make painful decisions. One 36-year-old woman tells of her regret she has not seen her 10-year-old daughter for 18 months, since her husband asked her to choose between Falun Gong and a "normal" family life. He quickly won a divorce.
None of the believers I interviewed would reveal whether protests are planned to disrupt the International Olympic Committee inspection starting Feb. 20. Beijing's brutal response to the civil disobedience of the Falun Gong might jeopardize its dreams of hosting the 2008 Olympics.
Written by UPI's Calum MacLeod.
Copyright 2001 by United Press International.
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2001/1/22/161057.shtml
My name is Zhang Kunlun, and I obtained Dafa in February 1996. I have been firmly cultivating Dafa ever since. I was arrested, detained, and sent to a labor camp three times, during the six months, between July 2000 and January 10, 2001, only because I clarified the truth of Falun Dafa to the people of the world. I was mentally manipulated and forcibly brainwashed by the vicious people in the labor camp. Because I was temporarily not in my right mind, and thus could not distinguish the true from the false, I said what the vicious people asked me to say, and was videotaped. All these things are actually against my true will. Whenever I think about it, I am overcome with grief. Therefore, I'll take this opportunity to solemnly state that all these things become invalid.
I am a genuine Dafa practitioner, and nobody is able to break me away from Dafa.
Zhang Kunlun
January 20, 2001
[A reprint from The Overseas Chinese Time 1/21/2001]
The news of Professor Zhang Kunlun's return to Canada has spread quickly. The people who were deeply concerned about his situation now smile again and they all wish him a happy reunion with his two lovely daughters. From now on, Prof. Zhang can practice Falun Gong with his fellow practitioners in this free and democratic Canada. Falun Gong has made both his body and mind healthy.
Before Prof. Zhang's release, some people doubted whether the rescue effort from the Canadian government and its people could really accomplish anything. Now the release of Prof. Zhang has given us more confidence. Everything in this world develops according to the law of history. The power of justice and peace will defeat evil and bring victory in the end.
Some leaders from the Chinese government have gone astray and have used extremely ruthless violence to suppress Falun Gong, a cultivation practice which follows the highest principles: Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance. It has been more than 18 months now since they attempted to force millions of practitioners to change their belief. This kind of evil behavior is utterly unconscionable and is detested by more and more kind-hearted people. Leaders of various levels from the central government to local governments and many policemen have become more aware of the terrible consequences of this reckless crackdown against its honest and kindhearted citizens and the shame and suffering it has brought to the government and millions of its people.
In the past 18 months, the Canadian government and its people have further learnt about Falun Gong practitioners and the high price they have paid for their right of freedom of belief ?more than 120 practitioners have been tortured to death while in police custody, millions of practitioners are still being detained and have lost their jobs and freedom. For example, the husband of Canadian Chinese and Montreal resident Li Jingyu has been detained in a labor camp by the Chinese government for more than a year now and his whereabouts still remains unknown.
January 18, 2001
The security spokesman for Beijing's Olympic bid described the banned Falun Gong as "peaceful" yesterday, dismissing worries of domestic security threats in an apparent bid to prove the city can guarantee a safe 2008 Olympic Games.
Falun Gong's followers only do "peaceful demonstrations," Wang Shengan said, adding that for 2008 "I don't think there is a big danger."
Officials at the Chinese Embassy would not comment on Mr. Shengan's remarks last night, but his words seem to contradict statements made by the Chinese government which has described Falun Gong as an [slanderous word].
January 17, 2001
It was his first full day of freedom in nearly six months, and a weary KunLun Zhang - it is less than a week since his release from a notorious Chinese labour camp - passed the time chatting with his hosts in a cosy Kanata home, napping away his jet lag and quietly pondering the horrific ordeal he's finally managed to put behind him.
The 60-year-old professor of sculpture, now the world's best known victim of China's brutal crackdown against the meditation movement Falun Gong, visited with his daughter LingDi and a few other Ottawa-area practitioners. But he spent most of the day resting after he arrived at the Ottawa airport shortly after midnight to a crowd of cheering supporters.
"He is very tried now," said LingDi Zhang, the University of Ottawa student whose emotional appeal to the Canadian government last November launched the global pressure campaign that eventually resulted in Mr. Zhang's release this week.
Another of his liberators, Falun Gong's Ottawa co-ordinator Lucy Zhou, said Mr. Zhang is "really grateful" to be free but hasn't yet absorbed the fact that his imprisonment sparked an international outcry.
"He doesn't realize that it became such a big thing," said Ms. Zhou, who rallied media and politicians to Mr. Zhang's plight.
She added that his thoughts are still largely occupied by his wife, ShuMei, and her ailing mother, who remain in China.
Grace Wollensak, who also practices Falun Gong in Ottawa and had a brief conversation with Mr. Zhang yesterday, said he has finally figured out why the abusive treatment he endured for months after his arrest last July suddenly stopped in November.
"He mentioned that at the beginning he was beaten and tortured with electric shocks, even two batons at one time," said Ms. Wollensak. "Then everything changed and they didn't hit him. And he understood later it was because of the media attention over here."
Instead of physical abuse, said Ms. Wollensak, he was subjected to continuous - sometimes around-the-clock - "persuasion" sessions. Prison guards and even, on one occasion, a high-ranking government official from Beijing tried to convince him to renounce Falun Gong.
Ms. Wollensak said Mr. Zhang described horrid conditions at the Wangcun labour camp, nicknamed "hell on earth" by human rights organizations because of routine reports of torture death.
She said Mr. Zhang was held in a single room housing 18 prisoners, all of whom ate, slept and used the toilet within plain view of each other.
"He said there was this great pressure on him to change his mind," she said.
[]
January 18, 2001
Prime Minister Jean Chretien should use his upcoming Team Canada trade mission to Beijing to demand that China "stop the persecution of Falun Gong and release all imprisoned practitioners," freed Canadian citizen KunLun Zhang urged yesterday.
Less than a week after his surprise release from a Chinese labour camp and prompt return to Canada. Mr. Zhang spoke yesterday of the electroshock torture he endured after being arrested last July in China for practising the banned exercises of Falun Gong in a public park.
And he vowed - despite a Chinese government claim that Mr. Zhang was released only after promising to "distance himself" from Falun Gong - that "nothing can shake" his passion for the meditation practice outlawed by China in 1999.
Mr. Zhang said Chinese officials finally "tried to find a way to release me" when his case became an international incident and a growing source of friction between Canada and China prior to the February trade trip.
"I'm very grateful to all the Canadian people," he said, referring to the campaign for his release mounted by Ottawa-area Falun Gong practitioners, including his daughter LingDi of Ottawa, and backed by several MPs and media outlets.
At the home in Kanata where Mr. Zhang is staying, the 60-year-old sculptor spoke Mandarin while answering questions via his host and translator Xun Li, a national co-ordinator for Falun Gong.
A prominent sculptor and art professor in his native country, Mr. Zhang said he came to Canada in 1989 "to study western arts" in Montreal. An exhibition of his work was held at a gallery there and he recalls completing a sculpture of an "Eastern God" for a Vietnamese temple.
But in 1996, he says, the death of his ailing mother-in-law's caregiver forced his hasty return to the Chinese city of Jinan. With no time to apply for a visa, he used his Chinese passport to travel to his homeland. It was a decision that later allowed Chinese officials to disregard Mr. Zhang's Canadian citizenship when he ran afoul of the country's ban against Falun Gong.
Mr. Zhang says he is concerned about the safety of his wife and mother-in-law, who remain in China, but adds that he is determined to use his freedom to support other victims of persecution. "I want to reveal the truth (about the Falun Gong crackdown) to the public. In China, it is very hard to get the message out."
Mr. Zhang says tens of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners continue to face imprisonment and torture. After his own arrest, he said, Chinese police "used electric batons to torture me around my body." Later, apparently as a result of Canadian media coverage of his plight, the effort to "re-educate" him turned to "mental torture."
"They isolate you and you have no contract with people outside," he said. "I never knew there were people appealing for me back in Canada."
Inside the prison, he said, teams of guards worked in round-the-clock shifts to "continue the brainwashing."
January 19, 2001
Liberal MP Irwin Cotler has again put his own government colleagues on the spot by urging that Prime Minister Jean Chretien and Foreign Affairs Minister John Manley recast their upcoming Team Canada business trip to China as a "trade and human rights mission."
The comments came during a raucous news conference yesterday at which KunLun Zhang, the Canadian citizen freed last week from a Chinese labour camp, was accused of lying about the spiritual movement Falun Gong by an Ottawa-based reporter for the state-controlled People's Daily of China.
"It's a lie," said journalist Dehao Zou of Mr. Zhang's claim of persecution against Falun Gong practitioners in China. In an accusatory tone that drew return shouts from Mr. Zhang and his daughter LingDi, a University of Ottawa student, Mr. Zou suggested the Falun Gong practised in Canada is much different from the version performed in China, and that practitioners there pose a genuine threat to public order.
"I believe my government," said Mr. Zhang. But Mr. Zhang's graphic description of the horrors he endured during months of detention prompted Mr. Cotler to call the case "a stunning indictment" of China's human rights record.
And declaring Mr. Zhang's refusal to renounce Falun Gong as a "profile in courage," Mr. Cotler added that "his release should not obscure the fact that thousands upon thousands of Falun Gong practitioners remain imprisoned" for performing "harmless" meditation exercises and making "peaceful, non-violent" objections to the Chinese government's decision to outlaw their movement.
Then, referring to the Team Canada mission to Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong - which is scheduled for Feb. 9-18 and is expected to include Mr. Chretien, nine provincial premiers and dozens of Canadian business leaders - Mr. Cotler said the federal government's concerns about China's brutal crackdown against Falun Gong "has to find expression as a matter of policy" and that trade talks "cannot become a cover for the suppression of human rights."
Mr. Cotler, an international human rights lawyer, took on Mr. Zhang's case in December and at that time pressured his own government to toughen its stance toward China on the Falun Gong issue.
Yesterday, while insisting that he supports a trade relationship with China "as a means of constructive engagement" of Beijing on human rights issues, Mr.Cotler emphatically stated that "this trade mission simply cannot be business as usual. It has to be a trade and human rights mission."
He added that Canada, following the lead of Britain and the U.S., should re-examine the bilateral dialogue it has been conducting with China over the past few years on human rights issues to assess whether the approach has led to genuine reforms. Mr. Cotler added that Canada should also consider cosponsoring a United Nations resolution at a meeting in March to formally condemn China's human rights record.
While Canadian officials have said that human rights issues are routinely discussed with foreign governments during trade missions, Mr. Chretien's comments about the China trip have been almost exclusively focused on talk of exploiting the economic opportunities available to Canadian companies.
Sophie Galarneau, a spokeswoman for Mr. Chretien, said yesterday that "Team Canada trips are trade missions, but they're also an opportunity for dialogue with the host country."
She pointed to a speech Mr. Chretien gave in November 1998, during the last Team Canada trip to China, in which he made general reference to limitations on the freedoms of Chinese citizens.
"I would be less than frank if I did not say directly to you that many Canadian are disturbed when we hear reports from your country of restrictions on the right to free expression of different political views," Mr. Chretien said in a speech otherwise devoted to optimistic appraisals of China's development and its relationship with Canada.
Mr. Manley, who has said very little publicly about the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners but has been praised by Mr. Cotler for playing a "quiet but effective" role in freeing Mr. Zhang, has stated that Falun Gong is "a spiritual brand of exercise that is not politically motivated, not a threat to Chinese stability. But (Chinese government officials) very much believe that Falun Gong is the Chinese equivalent of the [Chinese governments slanderous words]. You might say we see it a little differently."
Any efforts by the Canadian delegation in China to shine a spotlight on the Falun Gong crackdown are likely to raise the ire of Chinese government officials.
What follows is a story told by Maomao, an 11-year-old Dafa practitioner. On the first day of the new century, he traveled with his mother a long way from the south of China to Beijing. They went to Tiananmen Square to validate Dafa. For Maomao, this was his second time, while for his mom, this was her fifth trip to Beijing to validate Dafa. Here is Maomao's story:
At 7:30 AM on New Year's Day, we went to Tiananmen Square to validate Dafa. We saw a banner on the ground left by other practitioners, so we went to pick it up. A policeman saw us, and he asked my mom: "Are you also practitioners?" Mom spoke out loudly: "Falun Dafa is good! Falun Dafa is an orthodox Fa! Restore the clean reputation of our Teacher! Restore the clean reputation of Falun Dafa!" I spoke out with her, too: "Falun Dafa is good! Falun Dafa is an orthodox Fa!"
Many policemen rushed over and began to beat us. They used iron batons to beat us. I was kicked several times, but we continued to shout out loud. Finally they grabbed us by the neck, covered our mouths and then forced us into a police van. Mom did not obey and struggled all the time during the arrest, and she was beat very badly. Inside the van, they pushed her down on the floor, stepped on her head and breasts, pressed an iron baton against her nose, and beat her. I spoke out nearby: "Don't beat my mom, she is a good person!" I rushed to protect her, but a policeman came and stopped me with his baton. He pushed me to the floor and sat on me. I couldn't move. At this time my mom was shouting too: "Why are you beating up a child and his mother?"
The police van pulled into Tiananmen Square Police Station, where we saw more practitioners. First we were taken into an alley. On the wall around us, practitioners had hung up many banners and Falun emblems of various sizes. We all spoke out very loudly: "Suffocate the evil! Dafa rectifies the universe! Restore our teacher's clean reputation! Restore the clean reputation of Falun Dafa! Let us go!" Our voices were very loud and ordered, making the policemen afraid to get close. We kept crying out and reciting Teacher's "Hong Yin" and scriptures; many of us were moved to tears.
Later on we were put on buses and taken away. There were about 5 buses, all filled with practitioners. Mom, Aunt Hui and I were taken along with 4 others to Beiyuan Police Station in Tongzhou City. In the police station, I was separated from the other practitioners and taken to a cell with more than 10 policemen. They asked me my name and address, but I did not tell them. A policeman held my head and grabbed my hand, trying to shock me with his electric baton. I said to him, "How could you even dare to shock me!" I told them loudly, "You cannot beat me, since I am a just a child. I didn't do anything wrong. You have knowingly violated the law, so I will press charges against you. I will also put your stories on the Internet, so that everyone will know your bad deeds. I have memorized the name of your police station." They were shocked by my words, and never beat me again after that. They told me, "Your mother should not have brought you here, you should be home studying." I said, "Mom did not force me to come here. I wanted to come myself. Since practicing Falun Gong, I no longer get ill. My performance at school is better too. People around me all said that I became more sensible. I want to tell everyone that Falun Dafa is good." Since they could not get any information from me, they punished me by forcing me to stand for 5 hours. I was not tired at all when standing there, instead I felt very comfortable as if I was lying on a bed.
While standing there, I became very worried about mom. I asked use the restroom, hoping that it would give me an opportunity to see her. However, I was followed all the time. On the way back, I heard my mom's voice. She was crying out, "Bring my son back to me! I want my son back! He is just a child! You can't treat him like this!" So I cried out too, "I want my mom!" They still would not allow us to stay together, and took me to another room. I asked them how was my mom doing. One of them told me that my mom was the hardest to deal with in the group, that my mom was worthy of being a Dafa practitioner.
Later on I heard that my mom never cooperated with them. She did not tell them her name and address. She would not let them take her picture or her fingerprints. Seven or eight policeman surrounded, beat and kicked her, trying to force her to tell her name. She said, "You can beat me or kill me, you can use your guns and you knives; I can give my head to you, but I will give my heart to my Teacher." Surprisingly, they stopped beating and forcing her after she said these words. Finally they drove us to a desolate place in the wilderness and threw us out.
Now we have returned home safely. However, my mom's body is covered with bruises, and there is a pain in her chest, which comes in waves. She has trouble moving around, and her temperature is really high.
This was how it was when we went to Beijing to protect Dafa. I wrote it all down to disclose the evil deeds of those policemen who knowingly violated the law.
01/03/2001
My mind was tranquil as still water. With the firm belief that Dafa (the great law) was capable of changing one's fundamental nature, destroying evil, rectifying chaos, and enabling one to reach perfect harmony. I went to validate Dafa in Beijing again with a sincere heart. I wanted to take the more righteous path and help the Teacher's Fa rectification process in tune with a higher level standard.
On the morning of Dec. 21, I unfurled three banners and called out "Falun Dafa is good!" to validate Dafa to the world and to expose the oppressors. I was arrested and taken to the Beijing office of Jilin province located in Daxing county for interrogation. They tried to force me to disclose my name and address threatening to beat me if I did not comply. I felt they were well beyond salvageable for me to try reasoning with them, so I did not bother. I wasn't sure if it would do any good had I said, "Those who do evil will get what they deserve." I kept quiet using silence to protest my confinement.
They soon abandoned their sympathetic pretension revealing their true mean selves. The more I refused to cooperate with them, the more frustrated and flustered they became. It may be because "the righteous overcomes all evil." They handcuffed me behind my back, pushed me to the floor and then hit me. I used all I had to resist. I was able to pull apart the steel handcuff, not once but twice! Such was the power of Dafa, they were stunned. They then used their heel to stamp my entire body, shocked me with electric stun batons, and used steel needles to stick into the center of the soles of my feet. I thought about the Teacher and Dafa. I felt I should raise my standard to prevent them from stepping up their torture. I put my fear behind me. These tortures no longer had any effect on me. As the teacher said, it is one's heart rather than one's physical body that is subject to coercion. After a full day of relentless torturing, the oppressor retired empty-handed.
How to eliminate this tribulation? "Zhuan Falun" said: "...In order to cure illness or eliminate tribulations and karma, these people must practice cultivation and return to their original, true selves. This is how all the different cultivation schools view it." We must continuously try to meet the criteria at different levels throughout our cultivation, expand our horizon, reduce the degree of the tribulation, and eventually eliminate it all together.
Under the circumstance I realize: to think that one can eliminate one's karma by passively tolerating the persecution is wrong; however to step forward to clarify the truths to the deceived public, validate Dafa and offer salvation to all sentient beings is the right way to go. We should not be limited by our ignorance, we should eliminate all misconceptions; isn't it a distorted concept that a god has to tolerate persecution? Aren't such obsolete elements unduly disruptive to Teacher's Fa rectifying process? We must not allow the wicked to get their way. We must be righteous in order to help the Teacher to rectify the Fa. We must give up all our attachments to escape their control.
I then seized an opportunity and ran away from the detention center. But, I was found, re-captured, and put under tighter surveillance. When I thought of those uninformed people, I felt I should cherish every moment granted by Dafa. But how could I get out of this situation?
Later, I was transferred to the Beijing office of XX province. The police there made numerous phone calls trying to locate my local police to have me sent back. I asked myself why didn't the enlightened side of me do something to rectify the Fa. I have a premonition that the phone calls could not go through. As it turned out, the calls did not go through. Next day, they tried all day to phone and again failed. I then realized that the Teacher was providing me a chance to escape, "At high levels there are high level manifestations." I should let go of the doubt about Dafa and the demon within that wants to test Dafa; I should dedicate my heart, strengthen my faith in Dafa, and validate the mighty power of Dafa in the world.
Therefore I fled while the police were fast asleep. However, several policemen on patrol caught me and placed me in the detention center across from the Beijing office. I was quite upset that I failed to escape again. But soon I realized that I was thinking of this from the perspective of an ordinary person and all these were tests for me. I knew I could pass these tests if I forsook my human mentality.
The police decided to release me at around 8 or 9 o'clock in the morning. I thought to myself, "Wouldn't it be better to be released after dark so I would not be found as easily?" I casually asked the police direction to the Tiananmen Square. They thought that I would go to appeal there, so they put me in detention again. When it turned dark, however, they released me even before I told them that I would stage a hunger strike to protest the illegal detention.
In the past, I have done things that were not righteous and negatively impacted the Teacher's Fa-rectification process. In this extended period granted through the enormous efforts and sufferings of our benevolent Teacher, I will try my best to catch up with the process of Fa-rectification and assist Teacher in his journey in the human world.
The above is my personal understanding, and comments are welcome and greatly appreciated.
January 2, 2001
Since the end of 1998, Falun Gong practitioners in Germany have been gathering together for 4 or 7 days during the Christmas and Easter holiday breaks for group Fa studies and practice. To date, we have met five times. The gathering location was Erbach, one of the quiet and beautiful towns in the famous forest regions in the middle of Germany. We held another gathering there from the last week in December 2000 to New Year 2001.
What made this time unique was the increase in the number of people that participated. About 60 practitioners attended our first gathering, and this time over 160 people attended. The number of western practitioners and new practitioners had increased significantly. The most outstanding characteristic of this gathering was that we tried doing new activities that were easier for the public to see. In the past, we just stayed in the hotel studying Fa, practicing, and exchanging experiences for several days. Our activities were confined to this small circle. The focus at that time was individual cultivation. Now, we decided we would step out to face society and the masses for the sake of Fa-rectification and promoting Fa.
Stepping out of Erbach
In addition to everyone to reading the books, doing the practice, and watching the Teacher's videos, we also organized a two-day outdoor activity for promoting Fa using everyone's suggestions. We went to Frankfurt, about 125 miles (200km) away, and Stuttgart to hold Dafa introduction activities. Germany's weather in December is extremely cold. It was raining and snowing that day. Over 60 practitioners left Erbach early in the morning. We drove 13 cars to the famous old Opera Square in Frankfurt. The practitioners promoted Fa there, collected signatures, and distributed Dafa materials. More than 600 people gave their signatures. A female journalist happened to pass by and was attracted by our activities. She came over and talked with us. When she was told that some other practitioners were in Erbach, she immediately decided to go there the next day. In Erbach she interviewed some practitioners, and took pictures of them exercising together in a snow-covered stadium.
The next day, over 40 practitioners went to the downtown area in Stuttgart. Our peaceful movements attracted crowds of people. Every time we did the exercises, a lot of people would come to watch, take materials, and sign the petition. In the end, we obtained 999 signatures. Encouraged by the good results, some practitioners suggested that we could come to this city and the nearby places to promote Fa during our next gathering.
Stepping out and promoting Dafa on the street
On the last day of the year 2000, some practitioners thought that there must be a lot of people who would be out shopping that day. We had been to this city several times, and there could be some people with pre-destined relationships. Thus, that morning, some practitioners took the petition forms to downtown Erbach. They collected many signatures, and just before they planned to leave, even more people came to sign the petition. During lunch time, some practitioners suggested that we should go out to collect signatures and promote Fa during the two-hour lunch break.
A 71-year-old German practitioner who had obtained the Fa several months ago carried a large stack of newspapers and drove to the downtown area. Upon arriving there he saw our practitioners everywhere. Then he drove to a city near Erbach with some practitioners. Practitioners divided into groups that went to different shopping centers to distribute newspapers and collect signatures. A young couple from this city came to know Falun Gong by signing the petition. They specifically brought their children to our gathering place the next day and talked with us for a long time. They said they would go to the practice site to learn Falun Gong later.
Advertising the lecture
Before this gathering, some practitioners thought of holding a lecture session for local residents. After contacting a local newspaper, they advertised information about the gathering. Before New Year's Eve, we set up the information boards in the activity room, decorated the lecture hall, and prepared coffee and cookies. Even though we did not know whether anyone would show up, we still made good preparations. Later, three local residents came, and some of the practitioners watched the lecture with them. Practitioners did an introduction to Falun Gong and explained about the situation in China. Then, they had a free question & answer period. The lecture was very successful. Two of the guests didn't want to leave after the lecture. They stayed there to exchange views and had dinner together with everyone.
Inviting journalists to attend
In order to break away from the isolated and closed meeting formats we had previously used, one practitioner invited two journalists that were interested in Falun Gong to join us. Practitioners held an informal discussion with them. We asked them to talk about their experiences as journalists and how we could clarify the truth to other journalists and people from all walks of life. They gave us some very good suggestions. In addition, they also attended our experience sharing and asked many questions, which helped them to understand Falun Gong objectively.
We gained much information and experiences through our contact with the journalists. Some practitioners said that in order to be responsible for Dafa we should pay attention to the effectiveness of clarifying the truth. For example, we should be very careful of the formality, try to avoid any misunderstandings by ordinary people, etc.
Holding a Dafa conference
This was our first time to organize a conference during such a gathering. The conference hall was decorated to be solemn and yet had a Christmas holiday atmosphere. More than ten practitioners shared their cultivation experiences, which were closely related to the Fa promotion. Every report was moving and inspiring. The conference was very successful and achieved the goals of helping practitioners identify any gaps in their cultivations and stepping forward in the process of promoting Fa. A western practitioner, who obtained the Fa a few months ago, said he previously could not understand why practitioners went out on the street to promote Fa, and he thought that they were being involved in politics. Then he wanted to take a look what they were really doing. And he found that they were merely trying to let people know the truth with their kind hearts. He attended every Fa-promoting activity after that. He felt that he still had a lot to do after listening to others' speeches. A German college student, who just obtained the Fa a month ago, said he was deeply moved by the conference speeches. Although he was approaching graduation, he wanted to try his best to promote the Fa in his spare time.
The gathering in Erbach is over, and just as a practitioner said, it was a new milestone in the course of our cultivation.
Provided by practitioners in Germany.
To: nightly@nbc.com, today@nbc.com, dateline@nbc.com, world@msnbc.com
NBC TV:
The Chinese government is currently mounting a ruthless and brutal crackdown on Falun Gong, arresting and beating those who appeal (including old ladies) in Tiananmen Sq. A few video clips of this would put a quick end to this example of the last remaining horrors of the 20th cent. (labor camps and torture).
To learn more go to:
www.faluninfo.net
Thanks for all your great programs!
XXX
An American in Melbourne, Florida
On Thursday, January 18th, 2001, a luncheon with the Chinese Ambassador to the United States took place in San Jose. The luncheon and seminar that followed were held to provide more information to companies interested in doing business with China. The ambassador, Li Zhaoxing had an approximately 20 minute speech after which he took questions.
As practitioners in the Bay Area knew about this event, it was decided to purchase 5 tickets to have practitioners there in order to ask question regarding the persecution of Falun Gong in China, if given the opportunity. A permit was also obtained for the area across the hotel where the luncheon was held, and many practitioners (30-40) peacefully practiced the exercises and held banners asking China to stop the brutal persecution.
As I was told about this event, I thought it would be very good if I can participate, since as a westerner I may have the opportunity to ask a question, and therefore I can face the evil directly and reveal the truth. However, that day I had planned 3 different meetings at my company, including one at noon (exactly when the ambassador's speech was about to start), which seemed tough to cancel.
So, in my mind, I was not planning to attend this event. However, around 11:00 am, due to the power crisis in California, and the "rolling blackouts" the power was turned off in my building. We were told that the power is usually off for 2 hours in such a situation. There couldn't have been a clearer message that I should go to the luncheon.
I took off right away, and found the place pretty easily. The practitioners were doing the exercises outside in yellow T-shirts to the beautiful Dafa music. After I parked my car, I walked over and the sitting meditation was just starting. As I haven't been able to go to practice that morning I thought it would be good to do the exercises and peacefully demonstrate at the same time. As I was about to sit down, I became a bit restless as the thought occurred to me: "What if I could be of more help inside?" Of course, that would mean I may get to ask a question of the ambassador, and may get nervous, or not say the right thing. I decided I should ask if there are enough practitioners to use all 5 tickets.
As I walked into the lobby a few practitioners encouraged me to go in by giving their ticket to me, since if a westerner is to validate Dafa, it may have a bigger impact on the Chinese officials. I was quite touched by this, also by watching the other practitioners outside holding the banners, how every one of them is a part of Dafa, and doing something for Dafa, no matter what it is. I realized the great honor I have to be able to validate the Fa in such an environment, directly to a high Chinese official, and that this was to be my role for that afternoon.
We all walked in with a bit of socializing and lunch. There were about 100 people in the room and only 5 practitioners -- what would be the chance that our hand would be picked for the few questions for the ambassador? After lunch there was a person who officially introduced the ambassador. Among other things he said he knows that his mother who died a few years ago is watching him from above and will not let him mess up this occasion. This comment seemed a bit odd at the time, but as we will see later, it was shown that indeed she didn't.
The ambassador talked for about 20 minutes about China-US relations, as well as other things. He mentioned also the Taiwan issue and Falun Gong, not in a positive light of course. He was then ready for questions. The person who introduced him chose the first hand (we all raised our hands) ?and he picked a practitioner! The Chinese practitioner mentioned the human rights violations and Falun Gong persecution in China, and asked what the ambassador is doing to stop this. The ambassador had a long answer, slandering Falun Gong, and finally asking the person who asked the question if he is a practitioner. As he answered yes, he began to almost attack him directly verbally and at times, at a ridiculous extent, that even the audience started laughing. Among the things he said were "some of those stories are unreliable" ?in regards to the a couple of front page Wall Street Journal articles that mention Falun Gong practitioners being tortured to death in Weifang, China. He also mentioned that 15,000 practitioners died in China because of Falun Gong (he just arbitrarily increased the originally fabricated number which is 1,500).
For the 2nd question, the introducer, a bit shaken by his first choice, looked around to pick someone else, and he pointed at myself! As I got up and introduced myself, I mentioned that I am also a Falun Gong practitioner and would like to understand the ambassador's position on how is it evil to practice meditation and follow the principles of "Truthfulness, Benevolence, Forbearance." First, he seemed extremely surprised that I am a practitioner, asked me where I live and where I went to school. It seemed that he is not quite sure what to say. Finally he said something like "Stanford students won 16 medals at the Olympic Games and none of them was a Falun Gong practitioner." This was the extent of the ridiculousness of his answers.
As the third question came up, the organizer was visibly shaken, he mentioned that the ambassador will only take one more question, and to his relief, it was not related to Falun Gong. If I remember correctly there were only 4 questions asked total, out of which 2 were asked by practitioners. His mother if she watched can be proud -- he did make the right decision (to pick the first two questions from practitioners)! He may not realize it now, but he will in the future.
As I was walking out, two other practitioners were going to present the ambassador with a letter and pictures of the persecution. After I got out of the hotel and again saw the practitioners outside validating Dafa, and thinking about the practitioners in mainland China who are validating Dafa with their lives, I felt extremely touched as I am so lucky I can contribute to this Fa rectification. The practitioners in mainland China are sacrificing their lives to validate Dafa in front of a few policemen and tourists, while I was able to do it in front of such a high official with minimum risk. At the thought that we are all part of the same body, the feeling is hard to describe, but I am sure that practitioners know what I am talking about.
As I was about to find out later, more happened inside the conference hall after I left. As the luncheon was over, the ambassador was talking to a few people before leaving. Another western practitioner together with a Chinese practitioner waited for their turn to talk to the ambassador. The western practitioner said: My name is... I have a PhD from Stanford and have my own company here in Silicon Valley, and I am also a Falun Gong practitioner. I think Falun Gong is very good." The ambassador was shocked, he did not have many words to counter with anymore. He was presented with a letter (which he took with much hesitation) and with pictures of the persecution. His own staff pulled him out of the room later on.
The entire event went very smooth, as it always does when we do things for Dafa. Even though we did not plan things almost at all, it was so well organized, better probably than if we would have planned it for months. Even the order of events, which practitioner spoke first and so on, where perfectly arranged.
[Clearwisdom.net] Due to business reasons, I met with some US government officials lately and I found out by chance that Li Zhaoxing is playing cultural-revolution-style "defaming and slandering" tricks in the US before he steps down as an outgoing Ambassador of Jiang Zemin's government.
The Chinese diplomats have been very busy in the US recently. They passed out a lot of slanderous material about Falun Gong and its founder, Mr. Li Hongzhi, to senators, congressmen and local government officials by writing letters, making phone calls, interviews, and dinner invitations. Many US government officials and people know from the media that the Chinese government ordered the police to beat unarmed Falun Dafa practitioners in Tiananmen Square. This campaign by Chinese diplomats can't stop the support of Falun Dafa by the US government officials. Instead, it is resulting in more and more people wanting to know what Falun Dafa really is.
Many senators, congressmen and local officials told Falun Dafa practitioners, "It's very easy to see those slandering letters and materials sent to us are not true. So we just trash them." "The Chinese government and its diplomats are really shameful. They act as though they are in China." "The Chinese government is interfering in our internal affairs." "Whatever the Chinese government says, it must be lying."
Some officers simply gave those letters and materials to Falun Gong practitioners. Some senior officers even gave suggestions, while more officers are now asking about Dafa. Even those who were reluctant to know about Dafa now accept Dafa books and read attentively. After reading the letters from the Chinese embassy, some mayors told the practitioners, "Tell me how I can help."
A senator also received a letter from the Chinese embassy just a few days after he was elected and assumed his office. He thus met some practitioners and said, "I am really feeling bad about the Chinese government. They have a very low credibility. Don't they know they are already internationally notorious? You came from China, and I am sure you have the same feeling. My predecessor supported you, so do I. Tell me, what I can do to help you?" A senior officer in his office also showed interest in learning Falun Dafa.
From these facts, we can see that no matter how many attempts they make or how much of the taxpayers' money they spend, Jiang's government can only defame itself even more. They don't even know that, every time they put out propaganda attacking us, it will actually help the spread of Dafa.
One thing to point out is that Jiang and his followers always claimed that Falun Gong had been utilized by overseas political forces. In fact, it is they themselves who were trying to plot with overseas governments. For example, in his letter to senators and congressmen, Li Zhaoxing wrote, "Let's work together to stop the spreading of XX." When will Jiang's government and diplomats understand the word "Shameful"?
January 17, 2001
[Shandong Province ]
Liu Guangming, male; Deng Ping, female; Chief Zhang, male; and Secretary Gao, male, all work at the Chengguan Street office in Weifang city. These are the criminals who are responsible for the death of practitioner Chen Zixiu. Gao incited hired thugs to beat Chen Zixiu to death.
Shao Mingyi is the director of the police station at Taerbu village in Changyi city of Shandong province; Secretary Yu works at the political and law office; the village head is Zhang Daixue; the security guards are Zhang Zaicheng, Han Yuncheng and Yue Puchang: All people mentioned above are involved in torturing and beating practitioners. One practitioner Cao Zhenqi (male, 36 years old), from Dongmawan village, was beaten by the guards until he passed out. He remained unconscious until the next day.
Staff members in Beijing Office of Weifang city, Shandong province are also perpetrators of Dafa practitioners.
[Gansu Province ]
The Public security bureau in Yongjing county, Gansu province abused their power and violated the law by brutally torturing practitioners. On January 6, 2000, 10 practitioners from Yanguoxia and Shanyuan were thrown into jail for no reason. They were detained for over 110 days.
At the detention center, some practitioners were handcuffed and shackled. Their hands and feet were injured to the point of bleeding. In addition, the guards beat them. The director of the detention center, Wu XX is especially vicious. He beats practitioners when he is drunk and says: "It's ok even if I beat some of them to death!" One practitioner had a hunger strike to protest this mistreatment. Wu pried open the practitioner's mouth with an iron shovel and forcefully fed him. The practitioner's face was bleeding and deformed.
[Hebei Province]
On August 10, 2000, more than 60 practitioners (90% of them were women) from Laishui county, Hebei province went to appeal in Beijing. They were sent back to the county government and detained at the Communist Party School in Laishui. Practitioners were beaten with various instruments including wooden bars, police clubs, heavy sticks and iron cables. Lu Yufang from Dongguan village (female, 43 years old) and others were bruised all over their bodies. Practitioner Liu Quanying (female, 37 years old, vice president of the appeal office) and Zhang E (female, 50 years old, decoration clothing factory worker) were sent to the detention center. Their families were not allowed to visit them. They were brutally tortured and the persecution still continues.
Phone number of detention center at Laishui county: 86-312-4523534
Director of Public Security Bureau: Tan Shuping. 86-312-4523689 (office)
Secretary of rule inspection office: Liu Yuehua, 86-312-4522219 (office)
On July 19, 2000, practitioner Liu Quanying was deceived to go to the security bureau office by security guards. She was then arrested and released 17 days later. Around July 21, 10 practitioners were arrested. (five of them due to their appeal and the other five simple because they were suspected of appealing)
Administration security office: Liu Haichun, 86-312-4527868 (office)
On July 2, 2000, practitioner Zhang Jixian (female, 50 years old) was suspected of appealing in Beijing. She was detained for no reason at the Chengguan government. Around July 21, Cao Xiaoling (female, 50 years old) and another seven practitioners were detained at the town government and they have still not been released. They were all brutally beaten because they refused to give up their belief in Falun Dafa.
Party Committee secretary of Chengguan town: Hu Yuxiang, 86-312-4523966 (office)
The detention center in Chengguan town: 86-312-4522225
In October 1999, Wei Fenglan from Longan town in Songgezhuang village (female, 42 years old) and many other practitioners were tortured at the county shooting range for one month. They were fined 5,000 Yuan ($600). In April 2000, the town government detained several practitioners (Zhao Liangui and others from an adjacent village). Wei Fenglan protested to the town government. She was detained again and beaten for 10 days, and fined 3,000 Yuan ($360). In July, the town government detained her and another practitioner to prevent their appeal. On July 19, they could not endure the torture and dug a hole under the iron gate and escaped. They went again to appeal in Tiananmen Square. Later they were detained at the county detention center. Wei Fenglan was fined more than a total of 10,000 Yuan ($1,200) and owed a lot of debts.
Party committee secretary in Songgezhuang village: Ji Jianzhong, 86-312-4679619 (office)
Police station in Songgezhuang village: 86-312-4679641
On January 11, 2000 (on Chinese lunar calendar), Cao Zhenqi went to Beijing to appeal. He was brought back by village security on January 14. The president of the village security, Shao Mingyi himself beat him on the face and ribs with shoes and rubber batons. He was handcuffed outdoors in the cold weather. Secretary Yu and village head Zhang Daixue beat him again. Cao Zhenqi was sent to Changyi and was detained for one month and was detained for another 22 days after that. When he finally came home and stayed for 10 days, he was detained again for another two days because the sensitive date "April 25" [anniversary of the date 10,000 practitioners went to Beijing to appeal] was approaching.
Cao was taken away by the town government while he was working in the fields. Security guards Zhang Zaicheng, Han Yunchang and Yue Puchang beat him until he was unconscious. Seeing that he was dying, they brought Cao's family to the security office and left. Cao's family sent him to the Zhangling hospital on July 31. Cao remained unconscious from 2:00 PM until the next morning. He was sent to Changyi hospital again on August 1.
Shigangdajie police station (located at Bailinbei District in Shijiazhuang City): 86-311-7752119
[Shandong Province]
Shandong provincial mental hospital: 86-531-8932675
Hepinglu police station in Lixia district of Jinan city: 86-531-8932197 (this station forced Cheng Weijong, a female practitioner, into the mental hospital)
Luokou police station in Jinan city: 86-531-5704903
[Beijing]
Xitiangezhuang police station in Miyun city: 86-10-61000549
Henanzhai village police station in Miyuan city: 86-10-61086582
January 18, 2001
My name is Liang Xin (alias); I am a 32-year-old practitioner of Falun Dafa. Ever since July 22, 1999, I have been kept under surveillance by men from the village police substation. I was unable to move about freely. These men were assigned by my by Substation Chief Gao You.
On August 15, Gao You summoned me to the branch office in Chaoyang Gou under false pretenses and ordered me to write a letter renouncing Falun Dafa. I refused, thus inciting a torrent of blows from the brutal police chief Liu Piren. He violently kicked my chest and chin with his hard leather shoes, and threatened to hang me. After the fierce beatings, he sent me to the Zhaozhou county (Zhejiang province) Detainment Center where I was detained for 15 days.
In November 1999, I went to Beijing to protest against the ban on Falun Dafa, and was arrested by the Zhaozhou county police. The Government Security Chief from the police department, Dong Zhiping, told the Deputy Police Custodian Wang Zhong to beat me. I was beaten until blood poured from my mouth and my lips were a mouthful of bloody flesh. After the beatings, I was locked into the most dark and terrifying prison cell where four criminals were told to continue to beat me. This went on for a month until I was released, at which time I had to pay a fine of 1000 yuan (Chinese dollars, about two month salary of an averaged worker in cities of China).
On June 21, 2000, I went with some others to the police department of the Zhejiang Province to complain; we were all were brought back by Gao You. Among those brought back were seven practitioners from the Chaoyang village's Zhenxin hamlet. Inside the Chaoyang Gou police station, Police Chief Gao was cursing and swearing, while beating us. Chaoyang village's Yongqiang hamlet General Secretary, Liu Pihua, was madly slapping my face, ordering me to denounce Master Li, saying he would not stop until I did so. Later I was sent to the Zhaozhou County Police Detainment Center while the rest of the practitioners were detained at the Zhaozhou County Detention Center for about 50 days. I was also locked up for 50 days before being relocated to the Daqing City labor camp for a year.
Even though I have gone through innumerable hardships and tribulations, I still firmly believe that one day justice will finally triumph and the rule of law will be restored.
I found Allison Hanes' article (Freed Falun Gong Member Visits, Jan.20 2001) to be objective and well-written. Mr. Zhang's release is a positive step, and one that many people had initially thought to be impossible; nonetheless, due to actions by many groups and individuals, including at the grassroots level here in Montreal with the public's response - the "10,000 signature petition", it was rapidly effected.
The persecution against Falun Gong is itself unjust, and the growing outcry around the world against the brutal crackdown is indeed well-represented here in Canada.
To my fellow Canadians and fellow Montrealers, I say 'thank you', and it is clear that all your efforts have not been in vain; also, on behalf of the thousands of my fellow Falun Gong practitioners still in Chinese labor camps, I assure everyone that if we keep it up, the only thing that will remain of this tragedy to humanity will be a serious historical lesson.