Clarifying the Truth
Western Practitioners Who Appealed in Tiananmen Square
Media Reports
News from China
From Around the World
(Clearwisdom.net)
The Knesset
Member of the Knesset
Jerusalem, November 15, 2001
29 Heshvan,
Mr Jiang Zemin, President of China
Office of the President
C/O State Council Secretariat
Zhong Nan Hai, Beijing
The People's Republic of China
Dear Friends,
I write this letter to condemn the brutal persecution against your citizens that practice Falun Gong.
What your regime is doing is unacceptable because all human beings have the basic right to try to improve themselves according to whatever path they choose, there is simply no way to justify such a persecution. You have chosen to change, by brute force using the most cruel methods imaginable, the hearts and minds of millions of your own citizens - no decent human being can accept this. Even your worst claims against the people of Falun Gong can not possibly justify such a persecution.
We call on you and your government to stop this persecution immediately, stop the torture, release all those jailed, restrain your police to act with dignity, stop the physical and mental abuse, and restore the basic civil rights of all Falun Gong practitioners.
I also call on all governments and good people of this world to stand up against the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners and I praise those that have already stood up.
No human being should remain silent when persecution takes place.
Yours Sincerely,
(signature)
Yossi Sarid, MK
Chairman of the Opposition
(Clearwisdom.net) Recently, the news from China confirms that four additional Falun Gong practitioners were tortured to death.
Miao Qiong, a 28-year-old woman from Sichuan Province, Qu County Beimen was tortured to death in January 2000, after she made an appeal in Beijing.
Wang Yongru, male, about 60 years old, and a resident of Sichuan Province Qu County Chengnan Subdivision, was escorted back by the Qu County police after his appeal in Beijing in January 2000. On that same day, he was tortured to death.
Liu Xianju, male, about 60 years old, and a resident of Sichuan Province Qu County Shuangtu Subdivision, was escorted back by the Qu County police after his appeal in Beijing in January 2000. Later, he was tortured to death.
Tang Tierong of Liaoning Province Xinbin County was savagely beaten at Fushun City Wujia Baozi reformatory. He died after the police sent him home. The police authorities, strictly blocked any relevant details from being released.
To date, 317 death cases have been confirmed and reported. However, a conservative statistic from the Chinese government reveals that over 1,000 Falun Gong practitioners have lost their lives in the past two years and four months since the initial persecution.
Despite the severe condemnation and denunciation from various governments around the world, international organizations, and kind-hearted people, Jiang Zemin's criminal gang has not stopped their crimes. However, Jiang Zemin will lose his iron fisted control on the media because the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners is increasingly being exposed each day.
(Clearwisdom.net)
A Rare Opportunity
This fall, I had a chance to attend a large-scale international academic conference in Australia. Before I left, I had a very strong desire to spread the Fa at this conference. I knew that many of the scholars and professors would be from Mainland China, so this was a rare opportunity to spread the Fa to them.
When I registered the day before the conference, I began to see Chinese people. I knew that I was the only practitioner there, so I began to realize my true reason for attending the conference. All activities in society are created to spread the Fa--and they can also be used by the Fa. So being a Fa particle, I took it as my duty to clarify the truth by taking advantage of this opportunity.
Since this was the first international conference I had attended, I really didn't know where to begin. When I spread the Fa in the past, I was always with other practitioners and I had always depended on them somewhat. Now, there was no one else to help me or give me suggestions--I had to enlighten to everything on my own and I only depend upon myself to get it done. So before I went to the conference, I stayed in the hotel and sent forth righteous thoughts for a long time to deter interference. I was determined to use the wisdom given to me by the Fa to successfully carry out this task.
A Smooth Start
The next day, before I started out to clarify the truth, various kinds of human notions came out. I asked myself, "Is it appropriate [to clarify the truth in this environment]? Is this disturbing? Is it legal?" All of these notions tried to keep me from stepping forward. Finally, I thought it through: "All of these thoughts are human notions. I'm just being selfish and trying to protect myself." The righteous thoughts defeated my human notions.
During the morning break, I saw a few Chinese people sitting together and chatting with each other. I decided to join them. "Are you from Mainland China?" I asked. "Yes, we are," they replied. And with that, my four-day truth-clarifying journey had started.
At first, we talked about our research interests. Then, very naturally I changed the topic to Falun Gong; being a Falun Gong practitioner, I was naturally very concerned with what's going on in Mainland China. When an old professor said he was disgusted with the way Jiang Zemin had handled Falun Gong, I told them about the popularity of Falun Gong in other countries and about the brutal persecution of practitioners in China. The professor said he had already suspected that the self-immolation incident was staged. He also used his extensive life experience to explain the self-immolation scheme to another Chinese person who had questions about it. I took this smooth start as encouragement from Teacher!
Sharing Personal Experiences Is Straightforward and Effective
Later on, the process of spreading the Fa became even smoother. During the conference, I tried to clarify the truth to every person I met from Mainland China. Some were glad to know the truth. Some were indifferent. Some were scared upon hearing the words "Falun Gong." Still, I always tried my best to tell them about the suffering of practitioners in China and the current situation of Falun Gong in other countries. My words revealed all the viciousness and lies of Jiang Zemin's government. There were a few people who tried to talk me out of practicing Falun Gong using their scientific knowledge. But I told them my personal experience. I found that sharing personal experiences is both straightforward and effective.
All Obstacles Are Actually Human Notions
For several hours everyday, I was asked to work at a booth space that our school had booked at the local exhibition center. Because of the September 11th terrorist attacks, however, very few people came to the exhibition and I had plenty of time to clarify the truth to the Chinese people and to the people from Chinese companies. Actually, one booth near me was occupied by a Chinese chemical engineering company. The company's kind-looking executive manager and his two assistants were there. When I asked them about Falun Gong and when I told them I was a Falun Gong practitioner, they were shocked and couldn't understand why. They even suggested that I give up Falun Gong. I then told them the way other countries treat Falun Gong and how my friends in China were persecuted. I also analyzed several political movements in China. As a result, the executive manager stopped giving me "advice" and started really talking to me.
On the last day of the exhibition, when I was on my way back, the executive manager saw me and immediately came out to say goodbye. He even said, "I'm going to start practicing Falun Gong."
During the several days I was away, I felt like a happy bird. My body was so light and I "flew" everywhere. I even wore a large yellow Falun Gong pin on my bag. The pin was very noticeable. In four days, I spread the Fa to almost every Chinese person that I met. I also talked to some Chinese people that lived outside of China. Sometimes we talked for a few minutes, while other times, we talked for a few hours. Everything was arranged so well and went so smoothly. Occasionally, however, I didn't do so well since I was trying to defend myself. But when I got rid of the notion of "self," everything changed for the better. I realized that all the obstacles were actually my own human notions.
Constantly Deter Evil Interference
After the four-day conference, I felt both physically and mentally exhausted--I just wanted to rest. In actuality, it was the laziness in my heart and the degenerated notions that tried to make me take a break.
When I boarded the plane back home, I forgot to bring Falun Gong fliers with me. But I did introduce Falun Gong to a Caucasian woman sitting next to me; I was reading the English version of Zhuan Falun, so I lent it to her. I was very surprised to find that she finished over forty pages. In the end, I gave the book to her.
During the conference, the evil took advantage of a loophole of mine. The second day after I arrived at Australia, my lips became drier and drier. I thought that it might be because of the dry weather. Later, the situation became even worse. My lips cracked, bled and could hardly move; it was very painful to even speak. Still, I didn't think much about it and kept spreading the Fa. However, my lips got well as soon as I returned to Singapore. At the conference, I didn't realize that it was interference. It was only afterwards that I realized I used my mouth and lips so much during the conference. Wasn't it obvious that the evil feared me clarifying the truth? At that time, I followed everyday people's thinking, a human notion. The evil thus took advantage my situation.
When I met the professor again at the conference, I asked him about the Peaceful Journey booklet I gave to him. He said he did not dare to bring it back since he was afraid that Chinese customs officers might find it. When he said this, I realized that I had not done enough and that the compassion in my heart was not strong enough either. I only told him the facts, but I didn't help him to feel the great benevolence and the prestige of the Fa. I didn't help him awaken and support the Fa from his heart. So this way of spreading the Fa was not in-depth. We need to not only clarify the facts to people, but also help them understand the underlying reasons. From another angle, it is just because of the power of the great Fa and the benevolence of our great Teacher that so many practitioners have been determined to bravely step forward and peacefully face brutality and cruel tortures without showing any extremist acts or opinions. When people learn this, their support, respect, and admiration towards the Fa, toward Teacher, and towards the practitioners themselves will arise in their hearts. We didn't pay enough attention to this issue before.
I appreciate Teacher's arrangements and Teacher arduously saving us.
I am a Westerner who has been practicing Falun Dafa for three and a half years. For one and a half years I worked for one of the largest companies in Europe. I did different kinds of work in one of their factories, and as a practitioner, I always tried to do my best and to look inside when I encountered problems. At my worksite, most people, including my bosses, knew that I practiced Falun Gong. My husband, who is also a practitioner of Falun Gong, worked in the same department. We went out on our lunch breaks to practice the exercises, and among other things, we also put up flyers about the persecution in China on bulletin boards. Now and then we wanted to go to truth clarifying-activities in other towns and countries, and our bosses always happily gave us a few days off for that reason. I felt like they and our workmates supported our efforts to tell people the truth about Falun Gong and the persecution of practitioners in China.
As my family and I have now moved from our hometown, we do not work at that factory anymore, but they sent us very fine references. In my letter, they wrote:
Skill: excellent.
Conduct: honourable.
With this, I want the whole world to know that Falun Gong is good and that it creates good people for society. We always try to do our work well and to think of others first. So I ask all Chinese employers NOT to listen to the very evil orders coming from Jiang Zemin, when it comes to persecuting Falun Gong practitioners! Do not believe the vicious propaganda that appears every day in the media! Be noble and always act according to Truth, Compassion, Forbearance. That will eliminate the evil.
Falun Dafa is good.
I wish you all well.
(Clearwisdom.Net) Chinese people have been the biggest victims of the lies that the Chinese Government run media have used to persecute Falun Dafa. People living in Mainland China have had to pay a big price for speaking out about the truth of Falun Gong. China is now in the Dharma-Ending period, when morality has been distorted and people are doing bad deeds under the influence of different human notions. Teacher saves all beings, and cherishes every life, especially those who reincarnated to China to make predestined karmic relationships [refer to the 9th paragraph in Teacher's Lecture on the Fa at the Washington, D.C. International Conference]. But the old evil forces are holding those whom they still want to control and are trying to make them into funerary objects [an object or even a person still alive that was buried with the dead - a cruel tradition in some ancient asian countries including China]. Seeing this evil nature, we understand further the responsibilities of a Falun Dafa practitioner; the more difficult the environment, the more quickly one can improve his xinxing (moral character.) With an unprecedented compassionate and forbearing heart, we assist Teacher in his journey in this world.
1. Keep a mind full of compassion and kindness
At first we need to purify our heart in all conversations. No matter how vicious the words are from another party, we should always keep a peaceful, compassionate, and kind mind. As those who are safeguarding Falun Dafa in other dimensions, we must completely eliminate the evil with no forgiveness so people can find out about Falun Dafa through our serenity and kindness. When subjected to torture, we could be unwittingly developing an everyday mentality of resisting; many everyday people may have been turned off after seeing us become emotional or defensive when a negative comment about Falun Dafa is uttered, assuming we go to extremes. As Teacher has told us, we should keep our minds undisturbed and have a heart of compassion and forbearance, no matter what everyday people say to us, good or bad. Falun Dafa has no enemy in the world. Even a demon who has reincarnated, is supposed to be saved. Sending righteous thoughts is to eliminate the demons in other dimensions, but we need to offer the opportunity for the person in this dimension to realize his error. If he says bad words about Falun Dafa, it is due to the fact that he is a victim of demons. We need to be more compassionate toward him and give him a chance to understand his mistake. If we blame him, it might push him further away; if we are excited, we might give opportunities to demons to exploit the situation further and push him to say something worse and create more karma for himself.
2. Consider the other person's point of view and level of understanding
In a conversation we should carefully consider the other person's willingness and understanding of what we are saying. It is a manifestation of compassion to look at the situation from his point of view. If a person is drowning, we should place a buoy within his reach, otherwise it will not save his life. If we get involved in a debate with the other person, it would be denigrating Falun Dafa. The BUDDHA FA is not comparable to everyday principles. Using low-level principles to try to understand high-level principles can never work. In "Lunyu," Master Li says, "In order to explore this domain, humankind must fundamentally change its conventional thinking." So instead of debating with someone, we can have a discussion from the perspective of the Fa. Also we don't have to be anxious to change someone's mind after only one conversation. By speaking the truth, we will be providing him with an opportunity to recognize Truth, Compassion, and Forbearance and to realize the wrongfulness of the persecution of Falun Gong. As far as discussions about God or no God are concerned, that should depend on the other person's level of understanding.
3. Connect with others while strengthening your righteous mind and benevolence
A good conversation is based on a good connection between hearts. People have a side that's aware and most of them still have a mind to be benevolent. We can tell them Falun Dafa is beneficial, and if it makes sense given the particular situation, we can talk about how we have personally benefited from following Truth, Compassion, and Forbearance so as to arouse his recognition of the principles of Falun Dafa. At the same we should send righteous thoughts to eliminate the hidden evil forces in other dimensions. We need to keep uncovering other people's kind and righteous mind so that they can understand us when we speak about Falun Dafa and the persecution. It is pretty difficult to clarify the truth with wisdom; the knowledge we learned in human society is actually for spreading the Fa today.
We can also start a conversation by discussing the current condition in society, talking about the relationship between gain and loss, the price we pay when we harm others to satisfy self-interest, the universal principle that "Good is rewarded with good, evil meets evil," and that the requirement for a Falun Dafa practitioner is in being a good person in all circumstances. Is it right for a government to protect corrupted officials and at the same time arrest and persecute good people? China needs stability, but the stability should come from the healthiness and soundness of a state system. External forces could not shake its base if a ruling regime were not depraved. The dynastic changes in the history all occurred when the old system was on the decline.
The following analogy can best describe the relation of the Chinese authorities to Falun Gong. Jiang Zemin's regime is just like a sick man and Falun Gong is like a doctor. If the patient refused to see the doctor and receive the necessary treatments, and instead threw into jail the very people who were concerned about him and suggested that he have his illness be treated, would he then get over the sickness? The number of people is large, and fearing that they could one day be used by somebody to overthrow his dictatorship, Jiang's regime decided to throw these people into jail now. That's just like detaining a child because one fears that the child could commit a crime after he grows up. Is that the right thing to do? Since the constitution assures the freedom of belief, why doesn't the Chinese government follow the law? In addition, Falun Dafa practitioners have never gotten involved with politics, and what we have been doing at home and abroad is just to ask the Chinese government to stop persecuting Falun Gong, and ask it to see it clearly for the peaceful practice it is.
4. Explain the controversial topics one by one
We need to clarify the controversial topics one by one, especially the "self-immolation in Tiananmen Square," which should be explained using details. Many of those who originally felt sympathy for us have been deceived and now misunderstand us. Based on the lies that have been propagated, they have assumed we are being controlled by something and have lost our senses. If we over-react in a conversation, they will further presume we have gone astray. It is important to keep a heart and mind of compassion and benevolence; sometimes our mind speaks louder than our words.
We should let people know that we are innocent and that it is absolutely necessary for us to clarify the truth. If someone says we are making trouble for the Chinese government and the workplace, and bringing shame on the Chinese Government, we need to tell them the reasons for our actions. For example, before our appeal at Zhongnanhai, the Chinese government had, since 1997, banned Falun Gong's books under the guise of an effort to "wipe out pornography." After getting no local response through our appeals, we went to the state appellate office near Zhongnanhai to appeal. However, Luo Gan set a trap by blocking the major streets in the early morning, making it necessary for the police to guide the practitioners to Zhongnanhai to make the so-called "encirclement" [i.e., the 10,000 Falun Gong practitioners' surrounding the state council's complex]. Another fact is that our appeals in Beijing and demonstrations abroad are only to clarify the truth to the people, and for no other purpose. Our actions are directly directed at the wrongful deeds of the Chinese government. We should cultivate Truthfulness, Benevolence, and Forbearance; clarify the truth and consider others; we shouldn't leave the people in this world without the opportunity to learn about Dafa. Why else would we have suffered so many severe hardships in order to help Master in this world?
The above are my personal experiences and understanding, and please do let me know if you have any comments.
(Clearwisdom.net)
The following describes how I talk to taxi drivers about Falun Dafa. After a bit of chitchat, I ask the driver what he does to unwind. If he doesn't mention surfing the Internet, I tell him that I like surfing the Internet because I can learn about different opinions on issues. And then I casually mention that I once was able to view a Falun Gong website. They are usually surprised and ask me what the website contained. I then compare the death rate of people who have reportedly died while practicing Falun Gong (Note: as claimed by the Chinese government -- ) and the average death rate of people who don't practice Falun Gong (the average national death rate is much higher).
I point out the inconsistencies in the Tiananmen self-immolation incident, tell them what really happened on April 25, and the reason for the government's persecution. I found that casually talking like this works really well. People gradually get to know the truth. When I told one driver about the brutalities in Masanjia labor camp, he said right away that it was directed by Luo Gan. I really felt happy for his judgment.
I usually carry with me some of the VCDs that have Falun Dafa information on them. Before I get out of the taxi, I say that we met because of a predestined relationship and that I would like to give him a VCD that he will find interesting.
November 14, 2001
(Clearwisdom.net) One day, I gave Falun Gong truth clarification literature to a Ningxia Daily staff member whom I had become acquainted with through my work. After reading them, the staff member said: "This is the way it really is. I believe it." They then told me the inside story of how a series of articles slandering Falun Gong in the Ningxia newspaper had come about.
Since the persecution of Falun Gong in China began, the newspaper leader kept accepting so-called "political tasks" from the local "6-10 office"(an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems) as well as from the Propaganda Department of the Party Central Committee. The tasks were requests to the newspaper to write false articles that slandered Falun Gong.
On one side, in order to make the articles seem believable, the newspaper leader published them in the names of several of his own reporters and journalists. This made people think that the articles were written in a collaborative fashion, thus producing a false sense of authenticity. But the journalists openly acknowledged that they didn't know any of the reporters who signed the articles. Moreover, the newspaper leader requested that everyone sign onto the articles one by one (which shows even more clearly how malicious the evil is in attempting to destroy all sentient beings).
On the other side, the newspaper leader also assigned tasks to the journalists and asked them to find some cases in which people who practiced Falun Gong incorrectly got cultivation insanity. When the journalists couldn't find any such cases, the leader told them to fabricate them, saying that these were political tasks that should be carried out using all means. In these ways, a series of malicious and fabricated articles showed up in the Ningxia Daily newspaper.
An elderly female Dafa practitioner in Ningxia province was illegally put into jail for several months simply for saying "Falun Gong caused my illnesses to be cured and I didn't have to spend any money." She wanted to appeal after she was released, and also wanted to contact a journalist from the Ningxia Daily with the hope to redress the injustices they had committed. The journalist showed sympathy to her, and when the newspaper found out, they fired him. Several hundred Dafa practitioners in Yinchuan city got involved in this matter (due to their co-signing the appeal letter).
When this journalist was fired, some of the leaders at the newspaper felt sorry about it. But some others thought it was "a good thing," since it would be good for the stability of the work unit and for their future promotional opportunities. How pitiable these people are that they don't even know their fabrications and deceits have already created such huge and unpardonable sins!
To harm people is to harm oneself. It's the principle of Heaven that good is rewarded with good, and evil is rewarded with evil. Justice has a long arm. The guilty can never escape Heaven's justice.
I do not remember the day I made this decision; all I remember is knowing that I would be there. Within me, I know the benefits derived from practicing Falun Dafa, and consequently I cannot understand this senseless persecution. Day by day, I try to follow the teachings, although at times it is hard to change old habits and not fall short of the mark. Practicing Truth, Compassion and Forbearance is a challenge for any individual, but one tries, and with practice, one is bound to succeed. We all know that in many ways we are encouraged by society to deviate from these principles. The pursuit of absolute wealth and power are fast becoming the trademarks of this new century. I feel that in the 21st century, with all the scientific and technological advancements, there should be peace on this earth. Sadly, things are getting worse.
Due to the terrorist attack, America is on full alert and there are conflicts in most countries around the world. Worst of all is the situation in China, where thousands upon thousands of Falun Dafa practitioners are imprisoned without trial, and many others are persecuted in one way or another. The reality for female practitioners in forced labor camps is physical abuse--and in some instances, rape-- while some pregnant practitioners are faced with the horror of forced abortions. Many healthy, vibrant practitioners have lost their lives by way of torture. To Western societies, these people are only names and statistics. The human rights abuses that are taking place in China are beyond our understanding. We cannot comprehend how human beings in our day and age can carry out such inhuman acts that belong in the dark ages.
Falun Gong practitioners are being used as scapegoats in the struggle for power within the Chinese Government. Jiang Zemin has indicated Falun Gong is to be eliminated. Thus people who want to be good, and to be of value to society by following and practicing this cultivation system, are persecuted. Upholding the fundamental principles of Truth, Compassion and Forbearance is not a crime. If Jiang Zemin were to succeed in obliterating Falun Dafa, the universe and the world would indeed be very dark places. Some people say this has happened before in history, that this is nothing new or strange. Is this a good enough reason for us to be silent or inactive? As people of conscience, should we not raise our voices and tell everyone that these kinds of violations of human rights are no longer acceptable?
Why are children still being born into a world full of violence? My belief is that in some small way we can all contribute our good thoughts to make a difference. Some people have briefly looked through the pages of Zhuan Falun and adopted an uninformed opinion of its contents, without any in-depth understanding. Some have sensationalized what they thought to be controversial. It surprises me that the truth of what lies within the pages of Zhuan Falun--the goodness, compassion and benevolence of Master Li--have not become public knowledge. Falun Dafa is a beautiful experience, and it does make a difference in one's life. Like everything that is good for us, it is not easy; but neither is it too difficult. Everything hinges on one's heart and determination. In an effort to awaken the minds of the Chinese population that are being brainwashed by the vicious, poisonous propaganda campaign that was launched in 1999, I have made this decision. As a Falun Dafa practitioner, I feel it is my duty to travel to Beijing and join other Western practitioners in making it known that Falun Dafa is good, that it is practiced throughout the world, and that it belongs to everybody.
After World War II, many people asked: How could this happen? How could so many people die in the concentration camps? Reflection afterwards revealed the fact that too few good-hearted people reacted or tried to prevent the holocaust. Six million people died under horrific conditions!
Today, at this very moment, a horrifying catastrophe is occurring in China. At least 100 million people are suffering because of this dreadful persecution. They endure bestial tortures. In China, people are persecuted because they want to follow the principle of Truthfulness-Benevolence-Forbearance. By using terror for more than two years, the regime and the 610-office has been trying all possible means to eliminate this principle from the minds of the people. Why? Where on earth can it be illegal to be a good-hearted person? Within the human race it must be something of a high esteem, a kind of morality, and a way of life where people express compassion and unselfishness towards each other instead of struggling for power and wealth.
The population of China is almost a quarter of the world's total population! It means one out of four on earth! If the world around China just quietly watches, indirectly accepts it and approves that it is all right to murder, in the most horrific ways, people who live by the principle of Truthfulness-Benevolence-Forbearance -- CAN THIS BE THE INTENTION OF THE WORLD? What will be left of the world if the Chinese regime succeeds in eradicating this principle from the minds of the people? WAKE UP, WORLD! What makes you think that this course of action cannot spread outside China's borders? They are already in other countries to spread their fabricated propaganda. No one wants the holocaust to occur again on an even more extensive scale.
I do it for the sake of the Chinese practitioners, so that they shall not feel that they stand alone in this appalling situation, and so that they shall be encouraged to be able to face the evil for a little while more. I want to help them in this difficult situation and maybe give them a little extra strength. One can see it as the way a white blood cell goes to an infected area to defend the body.
By doing this I want the world around to direct their focus back on China and the extreme cruelty that is displayed there. The Chinese Falun Gong practitioners live under a gruesome torment. They cannot make their voices heard anywhere. The constitutional rights of ALL Chinese citizens, to be able to "Xingfang (appeal)" and say that something is wrong, is stripped from all Falun Gong practitioners. Many of them live like refugees in their own country. It concerns not only 100 million practitioners -- it concerns even their families, colleagues, and employers.
As a Falun Gong practitioner and world citizen I consider that it is extremely important to stand up for what Falun Dafa stands for, Zhen-Shan-Ren [Truthfulness-Benevolence-Forberance].
There is no reason, none whatsoever, to persecute Falun Gong practitioners. We try to live by the principle of Truthfulness-Benevolence-Forberance, which is obviously good for any country and all the people in world should be able to see this.
I shall, as a world citizen and particle in the Fa, help those practitioners who live under the oppression of the regime to expose the bestial evil in China so that the world around can react before it is too late. Practitioners in China need encouragement from practitioners outside China in order to make it through this evil persecution.
The fact that these atrocities are allowed to exist is the greatest crime in history, particularly because there is no reason for this persecution. To persecute and attempt to eradicate Truthfulness-Benevolence-Forbearance can only be simply evil.
Mother, Father and other family,
You're probably worried at the moment. It is a shame that I haven't taken the time to clarify everything to you all. But sometimes I feel that you just don't want to listen about the persecution of Falun Dafa practitioners in China. So, I don't impose anything on you.
Nonetheless, I trust you've guessed how important having the Falun Gong practitioners released is to me. Maybe you have seen little change in me over the last two years (surface changes excluded). But in reality, I've benefited greatly. Physical benefits apart, I am much clearer in mind. Although I am more relaxed, I think far quicker than I used to. Also, I have become a lot more selfless. This is something I always wanted, but could never achieve in practice.
I remember that Dad once said that I was too selfless (not exact quote). You also said that you were worried that because I was too selfless; I would be taken advantage of. But how can you equate selflessness with being naive? I simply try to practise compassion. Isn't it a higher principle of compassion to not allow others to take advantage of you? In fact, in just about everything I do, I think of others first -- this is why I continue to practise Falun Gong and the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance.
I've said enough about myself. So why have written this letter? Rather bluntly, I have gone to Tiananmen Square in Beijing to appeal directly to the Chinese government to stop persecuting Falun Gong practitioners.
Don't be alarmed. Firstly, I am not alone. There are 30 other Falun Gong practitioners here. I have met most of them before, and have a good relationship with them. Secondly, we have all planned this trip very well. Thirdly, in relation to safety: under the UN Charter, we are protected by law. So, nothing can happen to us.
Your first impression may be like, "He's gone really overboard." But I was very rational when I asked to participate. I was very rational when I organised it. And I will be very rational when I go to Tiananmen Square. Just to let you know what we intend to do is to sit peacefully on Tiananmen Square (in the full lotus) for 10-15 mins, then leave.
Your first reaction may be irrational. But when you calm down and think about this, I'm sure that you'll see that I have made a decision, followed it through and have done what I felt is correct.
I hope above all that after this, you will not be disappointed in me. Rather, you will be proud of your son. Just remember this, I stood up for my belief in Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. I am truly pleased to have the opportunity to do this.
We'll talk further in a few days when I get home.
á
Brian
The persecution of Falun Gong directly concerns each and every one of us. It is not only that millions of people are deprived of their most fundamental human rights. Nor is it merely the issue that the Jiang Zemin regime is trying to force every level of society to carry out its unconstitutional persecution. It is more. It is a direct assault on human morality. It is a direct assault on the principles of Truthfulness, Benevolence, and Forbearance.
A dramatic confrontation is taking place in China between two extreme opposites. On the one hand there is a group of people that promotes violent oppression. On the other hand there are those who tirelessly strive to become more peaceful and kind. On the one hand there is a government that uses every means at its disposal to lie and deceive its populace, as well as the global community. On the other hand there are those who refuse to lie, even if it would keep them from being tortured and sent to labor camps. At one end, there are perpetrators who beat, rape, torture, and murder innocent people. At the other end, there are those, who in enduring over two years of inhumane brutality, have not once retaliated with violence. Jiang Zemin, his policy and his followers have brought hatred, destruction and carnage to innumerable lives. They target their attack on a practice, a person, and practitioners who have brought better lives to people.
It is extremely rare to witness such a dramatic confrontation between good and evil. With this clash taking place, it is critical that the world's people choose a correct stance. One cannot expect to have a bright future if one does not stand up for what is right. Neutrality does not exist. If you are remaining silent, you are siding with the perpetrators.
I am here, with others, to say that Falun Gong is good. I am here not for political interest, but rather to say that the persecution is vile and unpardonable, and that it is an issue that involves everyone. I am here to say that morality will not be bullied into submission.
Leeshai Lemish
Tuesday, November 20, 2001
Dear Family and Friends,
As most of you know Falun Gong is a type of Qigong (a spiritual practise from China).
Falun Gong consists of 5 soft, gentle exercises, including meditation, and also emphasises the improvement of one''s Xinxing (heart and mind nature) according to the fundamental characteristic of the universe, Zhen-Shan-Ren (Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance).
Since I started to practice Falun Gong I found much greater harmony in my life. I am now healthier and happier, and I feel that I have benefited both physically and mentally from this practice.
After I had practised this harmonious practice for 2.5 years, the Chinese Government banned Falun Gong. I couldn''t believe it was true. Why would they want to ban something so peaceful and innocent, something that is nothing but positive and beneficial? At first I could not believe it, but gradually through TV, Newspapers and Internet I slowly realised not only that Falun Gong was banned, but also learned about the reckless brutality and inhumane treatment Falun Gong practitioners was now subject to. But to this day I still don''t understand "why".
Of course I have heard the explanations that the "China Experts" give such as:
What the China Experts say sounds reasonable, and is most probably correct. But I still don''t understand:
In it''s persecution of Falun Gong, the Chinese Government is not only breaking its own constitutional laws, but also severely violating the International Human Rights treaties that they themselves have signed.
Since the persecution started, more than 50,000 practitioners have been arbitrarily detained and more than 10,000 have been sent to labour camps without trial. In the labour camps rape and torture is rampantly used to try to force the practitioners to stop practising Falun Gong. As a result a lot of Falun Gong practitioners already died.
I cannot silently watch this gross injustice. I cannot remain silent when I read about the reckless brutality that innocent Falun Gong practitioners in China receive. If I would have been born in China, I might have been tortured, raped and even killed by now. If I were living there, wouldn''t I have hoped for the International Community to help me from these indecent abuses?
I feel a great compassion and concern for my fellow Falun Gong practitioners in China. They may have lost their every human right, including their right to speak, but I will speak for them. Only through raising the awareness of the atrocities can we stop them. As long as Falun Gong practitioners are being arbitrarily detained, tortured, and killed in China, I will raise this issue wherever I go, and this even includes China.
When I was in China last year, I saw how the police catch and severely beat many Falun Gong practitioners in Tiananmen Square. Most of the other tourists didn''t dare to watch, but I was frozen still. My eyes wide open, like two open water taps. Time stopped, my body was a big calm ocean. I watched those beasts beat the defenseless practitioners, while two wide rivers of tears quietly soaked my clothes. It was so unreal. I could not believe how cruel they were. None of the Falun Gong practitioners retaliated. On that day a female Falun Gong practitioner was beaten to death on the square.
Having witnessed such incredibly vicious scenes at one of Beijing's main tourists attractions, I cannot even imagine the cruelties the Falun Gong practitioners receive when they get to the police station, or even worse, the [forced] labour camps where they have even more refined torture. Zhao Ming, a Chinese PhD student from Trinity Collage in Dublin, was detained during his Christmas holiday. Last time I saw him was in Hyde Park in August 1999; only months later he went to see his parents in China. He never made it back. He was arrested and sent to labour camp, and to this day, he is still in the labour camp and under torture. I hope that we will get Zhao Ming back to his studies in Ireland as soon as possible.
There are many reports of gang rapes and torture in the jails and labour camps in China. This summer there were at least 2 mass murders in labour camps in China, in one of them 15 ladies were [reportedly]killed. In northern China, they tied two Falun Gong practitioners to motorbikes on a public square. They then rode the motorbikes circulating on the square with the bodies dragging behind until they died.
We cannot quietly watch these gross Human Rights violations. I hope that after you read this, you tell others about the Human Rights abuses against Falun Gong practitioners in China, trying to help spread the word and to raise the awareness so as to enable a quick end to this urgent human rights crises. If you want more info please go to: www.faluninfo.net.
Meanwhile, in the memory of all those innocent people who died due to the persecution for practising Falun Gong, I will go to China to, from the bottom of my heart, appeal for:
No one should have to pay with their lives for practising meditation and Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance. Even practitioners living in Europe and the US are being threatened through email and telephone and even through physical attacks. Innumerable times we have tried to get our message of appeal across, but the Chinese Embassies always refuse our letters. We should not have to feel threatened whether we live in China or abroad. The right to belief, speech, and assembly is a human being''s most fundamental right, and all we want to do is practise Falun Gong in peace. If I have to go to China to get the message across, then that is what I will do.
I hope you can all understand.
Lilian Staf
Gary Titley MEP
Labour Member for the North West Region of England
Brussels Office: ASP 13 G 309, European Parliament, Rue Wiertz, B-1047 Brussels
Tel: +32 2 284 5212 Fax: +32 2 284 9212 E-mail: gtitley@europarl.eu.int
Mr Mingjiang
Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to Belgium
Head of Chinese Mission to the European Communities
Av.de Tervuren 443-445
1150 Brussels
20 November 2001
Dear Mr Mingjiang,
I am writing to you concerning today's arrest of thirty three western Falun Gong practitioners at Tiananmen Square. It would seem from the reports that we have received in the European Parliament, that the demonstrators were peacefully stating that "Falun Dafa is good", when Chinese authorities swiftly transferred them to the local police station.
This situation is particularly worrying since to protest at Tiananmen Square is one of the sole and principal ways in which the voices Chinese practitioners of Falun Dafa can be heard. It is important that human rights - such as freedom of belief and freedom of speech - are upheld in China. It would also appear that the arrest of these peaceful demonstrators constitutes a violation of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, of which China is a signatory.
I hope that you will take some of these concerns into account and I look forward to hearing any comments that you might have.
Yours sincerely,
Gary Titley MEP
The Labour Team for the North West Arlene McCarthy MEP Tel: 0161 831 9848 Brian Simpson MEP
Tel: 01925 654074 Gary Titley MEP Tel: 0161 724 4008 Terry Wynn MEP Tel: 01744 451609
IGFM: China Intensifies Persecution of Falun Gong -
No Freedom of Belief, No Freedom of Expression
Beijing, China/Frankfurt am Main, Germany (November 20th, 2001)
Eight German citizens were arrested today at around 7:20 A.M. (4:20 P.M. Beijing time) on Tiananmen Square and taken away in a bus. They had participated in a peaceful demonstration for freedom of belief in the PRC, so relates the IGFM in Frankfurt. (Note: IGFM stands for Internationale Gesellschaft fuer Menschenrechte which means International Association for Human Rights ).
Participating in this demonstration were Falun Gong practitioners from Switzerland, France, Great Britain, Sweden, USA, Israel, Australia, Ireland, and Canada. One person was injured. Four of the arrested Germans came from the Frankfurt region. The German demonstrators are Peter Recknagel, Monika Weiss, Dominik Henselmann, Mathias Schmelz, Nina Gumpold, Wolfgang Gumpold, Marion Ogorek, and Vitali Uhl. Shortly before their flight they issued a statement, which told of their decision to take this step.
Foremost on their agenda, the practitioners wish to raise awareness of the more than two years of unrelenting persecution of Falun Gong in China, and to see the notorious "610 Office" dissolved (The 610 Office is an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems). The German government up to this point has kept silent about the subject of human rights in China and also about the "610 Office." This office is administered by a Party leader in Beijing by the name of Luo Gan, who also administers the Committee for Law and Politics of the Chinese XX Party. This "610 Office" has an independent network of district offices, reaching down to the local levels. Edicts of this bureau take priority over judiciary principles.
The IGFM demanded that Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer immediately intervene for the release of the detained demonstrators and for the release of all prisoners of conscience in China.
(Clearwisdom.net)
Press coverage in Israel on the group of Falun Gong practitioners arrested in Beijing included 5 printed newspapers and at least two electronic newspapers, 2 radio stations and 2 TV stations covered the event. This helped significantly in increasing the public's awareness of Falun Gong.
On the day of the event, the Israeli press interviewed Dafna Lemish, mother of the arrested Israeli citizen Leeshai Lemish. As a non-practitioner, Mrs. Lemish has shown great support of her son's actions. She took part in a demonstration held by local practitioners near a Tel Aviv train station on the same day.
Prior to the event on Tiananmen Square in Beijing, Israeli Knesset member Yossi Sarid, head of the opposition, wrote a letter to Chinese president Jiang Zemin condeming the brutal persecution of Falun Gong practitioners.
Reported by practitioners in Israel 21-11-2001
In the afternoon on November 21, 2001, dozens of French practitioners went to the Paris De Gaulle International Airport to welcome the French practitioners who had participated in the recent splendid action of clarifying the truth of Falun Gong and eliminating the evil in Tiananmen Square. The local practitioners unfurled Dafa banners and held flowers in the hallway. When the French practitioners participating in the Fa-rectification appeared in Customs, the local practitioners embraced them and congratulated them for the success of the splendid action. Some practitioners shed tears of joy. One practitioner read a declaration introducing Falun Gong and gave a briefing on the peaceful appeal in Tiananmen Square.
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| Local practitioners held Dafa banners and flowers to welcome the practitioners returning in triumph | The practitioners participating in the Tiananmen appeal held flowers in their hands | One practitioner read a declaration |
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| Group photo of some practitioners in the airport | Group photo at the practice site with two practitioners participating in the Tiananmen appeal |
Later, the practitioners gathered together at a practice site with another practitioner who had participated in the Tiananmen Fa-rectification. The two practitioners told others about the immense feeling of sending forth righteous thoughts in Tiananmen Square and the panic of the evil forces. The police van taking the practitioners from Tiananmen Square to the police station broke down ten times within a short distance! The police on the van were helpless. The evil is being eliminated.
In the evening, the practitioners gave a telephone interview with reporters with the Chinese Department of the French International Radio Broadcasting Station. One western practitioner answered the questions of the reporter in Chinese and exposed the beating that the western practitioners suffered in Beijing and the brutal treatment such as damaging personal belongings. The practitioner declared that Falun Gong practitioners are never against the government and the trip was not a provocation but was done, rather, because the good people following "Truthfulness, Benevolence, Forbearance" are being tortured in China and are deprived the opportunity to clarify the truth. The interview was broadcast in the news in Chinese that same night.
While waiting at the airport, the Chinese counselor of the Education Department of the Chinese Embassy in Paris arrived, looking for someone in Customs and saw the Dafa banner by chance. He was shocked and stunned. The practitioners stepped forwarded kindly to shake hands with him and explained why Falun Gong practitioners had appealed in Tiananmen Square. He left in embarrassment.
The practitioners also met many Chinese people from Mainland China in the airport and kindly spoke out the truth of Falun Gong to them. Many of them accepted Dafa literature.
The splendid action taken by 36 western practitioners in Tiananmen Square startled the whole world. In the bustling crowd, one Dafa practitioner took video footage of the splendid act using his wisdom. He is Joel Chipkar, a western practitioner from Canada.
When the Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that Joel was on a flight returning to Canada, the Canadian practitioners were happy.
At 10:00 p.m., the flight landed in the Toronto airport. Joel walked out with a small banner reading, "Falun Dafa is good."
Flowers were presented to him. More than 40 Dafa practitioners embraced Joel one after another. Dafa Practitioners' poem and music To the Tune 'Like A Dream' and Returning Journey were played in the hallway of the airport. The practitioners were moved and tears ran down their faces. Reporters took video footage of the precious moment. Police officers in the airport stepped forward, as the song, the pure-hearted speech, and the pure scene touched them. They applauded along with the practitioners.
Chinese police arrested and beat Canadian Western Dafa practitioner Zenon and others for their peaceful appeal in Tiananmen Square. In the afternoon of November 21, 2001, Toronto Dafa practitioners held a press conference in the Sheraton Hotel.
Zenon's mother, friends, and supporters participated in the press conference. Twelve Chinese and English media including Toronto Star, CBC, CTV/cfmt, World Journal, Mingbao and Modern TV station attended the conference.
In the press conference, video footage of Zenon before he left was played. His letter to the people in China, written before he left and telling why he wanted to go to Tiananmen, was also read out loud.
On 11:40 a.m. of November 21, 2001, Minneapolis Falun Gong practitioner John Nania arrived at the Minneapolis International Airport.
He was not tired from the long flight but appeared full of vigor. The major Minnesota media such as the Star Tribune, Minnesota Daily, ABC TV station,UPN TV station, and a Chinese TV station rushed to the airport to interview him.
In the press conference on the airport, he described the last two days' journey in China, including the process of appealing in Tiananmen Square and being arrested by Chinese police.
At 2:00 p.m. on November 20, 2001, he and 34 other Western practitioners sat cross-legged in Tiananmen Square and sent forth righteous thoughts. Within a minute, he heard police whistles. During the whole process, he kept sitting cross-legged peacefully with his eyes closed slightly and maintaining a righteous mind. Thus he did not see onlookers' reactions and how the police treated other practitioners. Three policemen worked together and dragged him to a police van.
The police took them to a police station near the Square. In the police van, Nania told the police in Chinese, "Good is rewarded with good and evil meets evil." The police seemed to nod to him helplessly.
About five hours later, police took them to a conference room in a hotel near the airport and continued interrogating them. The police brought some boxed meals and wanted to take video footage to show their "humanitarian treatment." The practitioners refused to eat the "relief food" to prevent the police from creating false propaganda.
During the detention, police did not allow them to contact the outside world or inform their respective embassies.
In the press conference, he appealed to Minnesota and to the people of the world to pay attention to the persecution against Falun Gong in China because it is not just a China issue but concerns all people worldwide so that they may believe in "Truthfulness, Benevolence, Forbearance".
November 21, 2001
By Mike Shahin
As Chinese police surrounded three dozen Falun Gong practitioners in Beijing's Tiananmen Square yesterday, a Canadian broke free of the group, grabbed a yellow banner carrying the words "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance" - and ran around in a last gesture of defiance. "America knows, China knows, the world knows! Falun Gong is good," Zenon Dolnyckyj yelled.
Mr. Dolnyckyj, a 23-year-old from Toronto, was promptly tackled by police officers, hit and carried away under arrest. In all, 35 foreigners from 10 countries were arrested and taken to jail for boldly defying the government's 2 1/2-year-old ban on Falun Gong.
The group of mainly western residents went to Beijing to publicly protest the government's violent treatment of Chinese Falun Gong followers and to send the message to Chinese citizens that "Falun Gong is good." It will depend on how the Chinese government deals with the prisoners, but yesterday's events have the potential to escalate into a major diplomatic incident.
If China chooses to hold and charge the foreigners, it will have to answer to the governments of Canada, the U.S., Britain and several other nations. Falun Gong supporters worldwide have said the government has tortured more than 300 Chinese citizens to death, and sent thousands to labour camps and psychiatric hospitals for practising what it calls an "[slanderous words omitted]."
A report on state-run radio late yesterday, however, suggested China would expel the protesters rather than risk holding them.
Given the world's focus on terrorism, "I don't think the [Jiang Zemin] government wants to be in the limelight ... or create an international incident," Orysia McCabe, Mr. Dolnyckyj's mother, said in an interview from Toronto. "I look at what the [Jiang Zemin] government is doing as an act of terrorism on its own people."
A second Toronto man, real estate agent Joel Chipkar, was also with the group, videotaping the peaceful sit-in. He was not detained and managed to get on a plane that was due to arrive in Toronto late last night.
In a video made days before going to China and released yesterday by supporters in Ottawa, both of the Canadians said they thought their trip would send a powerful message about Falun Gong, also known, as Falun Dafa.
"When (Chinese citizens) see a western face holding up a banner in Tiananmen Square saying Falun Dafa is good," said Mr. Chipkar, "I think that alone will shock them to really think- What is going on here? What is [Jiang Zemin's] government holding from us?"'
Mr. Dolnyckyj, a Ryerson student, said he didn't think it was dangerous to go to Beijing. "I will not be breaking any laws, so I should have nothing to fear!" He said Falun Gong saved his life 3 1/2 years ago when it helped him turn away from an aimless life of drugs, alcohol and a sense of failure.
The demonstrators, who included Americans, Europeans and Australians, posed as tourists before raising a banner and sitting in meditation, eyes shut and hands together in prayer.
Given the history of torture and intimidation against Chinese members of Falun Gong, it was a brazen move: foreigners rarely attempt to hold protests in China, much less in Tiananmen, the political heart of the Chinese nation and the symbolic site of a brutal crackdown on anti-government protests more than 10 years ago.
Within seconds, police vans surrounded the group and uniformed and plain clothes police moved in. Dozens of officers struggled to carry away the passively resisting protesters, dragging some along the pavement. Three officers chased Mr. Dolnyckyj, who was wearing a T-shirt displaying a maple leaf, when he broke away; one of them brought him down with a flying kick to the stomach.
At least one police officer punched a protester repeatedly in his back as he forced him onto a van, and could be seen continuing to pummel and kick him before the van drove away. Mr. Dolnyckyj, in a brief phone call to a friend in Toronto, later said that he was punched by police.
But despite the show of force, most reports from the scene characterized the police response as careful - and much more restrained than their usual treatment of Chinese members of the movement.
[...] Some Chinese bystanders in Tiananmen yesterday [...] expressed bewilderment: "Foreigners believe in Falun Gong too?" one asked.
The Falun Gong practitioners came from Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Iserael, Sweden, Switzerland, Britain and the U.S., said Falun Gong supporters. Among them were college students, a doctor, a nuclear engineer and the chief executive officer of an unidentified company. Supporters describe Falun Gong as a self-improvement practice for the mind and body [...].
Thursday, November 22, 2001
BEIJING, Nov. 21 -- China swiftly expelled six Americans and more than two dozen other Westerners who protested in the heart of Beijing against the government's repression of the Falun Gong spiritual movement.
By this evening -- little more than 24 hours after they chanted, sat cross-legged and unveiled a banner on Tiananmen Square -- all 35 protesters had been forced to leave the country, [...].
[...]
The demonstrators called for an end to China's often brutal [persecution] on Falun Gong. Falun Gong says more than 300 practitioners have died from torture and abuse in custody since China's [party's name omitted] leaders outlawed the movement in July 1999. Thousands of followers have been imprisoned.
Chinese Falun Gong members are regularly detained and often beaten and kicked for demonstrating at Tiananmen Square, the nation's symbolic heart. But Tuesday's protest was the first to involve only Western supporters of the movement.
Falun Gong said demonstrators included Australians, Canadians, French, Germans, Irish, Israelis, Swedes, Swiss, Britons and Americans. The U.S. Embassy in Beijing said the six Americans detained had all been expelled by this evening. It did not give their names.
Seven demonstrators were Swedes, said the Swedish ambassador to China, Kjell Anneling. He said the protest would focus attention on allegations of official brutality against Falun Gong adherents.
Sweden, like many European countries, has told Chinese officials that their treatment of Falun Gong followers "is not acceptable," Anneling said.
Falun Gong identified one detainee as Zenon Dolnyckyj, of Toronto, a practitioner for three years. Falun Gong helped him "turn from a life of drugs and mischief," the group said in a statement.
Falun Gong attracted members in the late 1990s with a combination of slow-motion exercises and [...] the teachings of its founder, Li Hongzhi.
The group used to claim a following in the tens of millions, mostly but not exclusively in China, where Li had been a government clerk. He now lives in exile in the United States.
Falun Gong followers believe that Li's teachings and Falun Gong meditation promote health, good citizenship and even supernatural powers for accomplished practitioners.
[...]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1203-2001Nov22.html
Thursday November 22 2001
Lillian Staff, a follower of Falun Gong, arrived back at Heathrow last night after her arrest and expulsion from China. Ms Staff, 25, spent 21 hours in custody in Beijing after being arrested with 32 other Westerners in Tiananmen Square. Falun Gong is a worldwide group that practises meditation with a strong spiritual emphasis.
A Swede who lives in London, she said that she had been detained by [party's name omitted] officials after her group began meditating yesterday afternoon and told that she could not return to China for five years. "We were there to highlight the suppression of a peaceful movement by the state," she said.
Thousands of Chinese people who practise Falun Gong have been arrested and more than 300 killed in detention for their commitment to the practice.
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,3-2001542099,00.html
Thursday, November 22, 2001
BEIJING (AP) -- Sweden has protested China's handling of several Swedes who were among a group of 35 Westerners expelled for demonstrating against the government's [persecuting] of the Falun Gong spiritual movement.
The protest handed to China's Foreign Ministry complained that the detained Swedes were not permitted to meet quickly enough with Swedish diplomats according to international regulations, Rigmor Petterson, a consular official for the Swedish Embassy in Beijing, said Thursday.
She said the embassy also objected to what it called the harsh physical treatment of those detained, though police used far less violence in removing the foreign protesters than they typically use to arrest Chinese Falun Gong followers.
Petterson said eight Swedes were named on a list of those detained provided by China's Foreign Ministry.
Petterson said she spoke briefly with members of the group before they departed on a flight for Copenhagen on Wednesday. A woman protester had black bruises on her arms, Petterson said, and all demonstrators said they had been banned from re-entering China for five years.
Canadian and Australian protesters also complained they were kicked and punched by police during their arrests and subsequent interrogations. One Australian protester complained of being held in poorly ventilated underground cells and being unable to use the bathroom in private.
[...]
"Most of the diplomats said that they are satisfied with the handling of the case by the Chinese side," [a Chinese official] told reporters. "China is free from any accusations. We have strictly abided by the relevant regulations."
On Tuesday afternoon, the protesters sat cross-legged on Tiananmen Square in the heart of Beijing, chanted and unveiled a pro-Falun Gong banner before police took them away.
The official China Daily and other newspapers said all protesters left China by 7 p.m. Wednesday. It did not specify where they were sent.
[...] It was the first Falun Gong demonstration on Tiananmen Square to involve only Westerners. The square is China's symbolic heart and has been a frequent venue for protests by Chinese Falun Gong members since the group was banned in July 1999 as an "evil [Jiang Zemin regime's slanderous term omitted]." [...]
Falun Gong said demonstrators included Australians, Canadians, French, Germans, Irish, Israelis, Swedes, Swiss, Britons and Americans. The U.S. Embassy said six Americans were deported.
Demonstrators said they wanted to publicize the plight of Chinese Falun Gong followers.
Falun Gong says 300 followers have died from torture and mistreatment in custody. Thousands have been imprisoned. The group attracted millions of Chinese followers in the 1990s. Practitioners believe Falun Gong aids health and even gives accomplished followers supernatural powers.
[...] http://www.canoe.ca/CNEWSTopNews/china_nov22-ap.html
Wednesday November 21, 2001
Western supporters of the banned Falun Gong [group] took the Chinese police by surprise yesterday by staging a protest in Tiananmen Square where they held a sit-in and chanted [verses]. Many Chinese Falun Gong supporters have been arrested for demonstrating in the square in Beijing since the group was banned more than two years ago by the authorities, who see non-official groups as a threat. Some foreign supporters have picked up the baton. After yesterday's sit-in, 35 foreigners were ordered to leave the country, [...]. The westerners had arrived as tourists. Mostly in their 20s and 30s, they came from 10 countries including Britain, France, Sweden and the US.
They went to Tiananmen and sat down with their eyes closed and hands joined together in the [group's] meditative posture. One protester ran in circles near bemused Chinese onlookers, shouting "Falun Gong is good!" Their demonstration coincided - apparently by accident - with a Chinese propaganda coup: a jailed Chinese-American Falun Gong activist has recanted in the national media. Teng Chunyan told national TV and the official news agency that she now realises [Jiang Zemin regime's slanderous words omitted]. Earlier this year the US House of Representatives appealed for the release of Teng, a New York acupuncturist, from a three-year prison sentence for alleged "spying." A statement issued by the [group's] supporters in London yesterday said that the people arrested in Tiananmen Square were "standing up for the freedom of belief of Falun Gong practitioners in China". It alleges that more than 100,000 [group] followers have been arrested and tens of thousands thrown into labour camps. China acknowledges that several thousand have been committed to reform institutions, usually without trial.
21 November 2001
Chinese police detained 35 Western practitioners of Falun Gong who assembled on Tuesday in Tiananmen Square to protest against Beijing's brutal [persecution] on the [group].
[...] The protesters, mostly aged in their 20s and 30s, spent almost an hour in the square yesterday, talking among themselves and taking photographs of the symbolic heart of China, witnesses said. At 2pm they sat in the lotus position and unfurled a yellow banner bearing the Falun Gong [principle], "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance" in English and Chinese.
Compared with the vicious beatings that Chinese Falun Gong followers have endured in the square, the foreign activists were herded into police vans with an unusual degree of tolerance aside from some kicking, slapping and dragging and taken to a police station.
Soon after, a Falun Gong website issued a statement from the group, whose members were said to hail from 10 countries including Britain, America, Canada, Germany, Switzerland and Australia.
[...]
Practitioners insist Falun Gong is a breathing and spiritual exercise for the mind and body, but Beijing banned the movement in 1999, [...]. Falun Gong leaders say at least 311 believers have died from police torture.
Jess Jauhal, a spokeswoman for the Falun Gong UK Information Centre, said two of its members, Brendan Trought, a student from Cork, and Lilian Staf, a Swedish film maker based in London, had been involved in the protest. Ms Staf, who left a letter for family and friends in case she did not manage to return, called Ms Jauhal yesterday to say the group was being moved from police cells towards the direction of the airport.
http://www.independent.co.uk/story.jsp?story=105916
Thursday November 22, 2001
TORONTO (CP) - One of two Canadians who took part in protests in the heart of Beijing against China's repression of the Falun Gong spiritual movement arrived home to a cheering crowd of family and friends late Wednesday.
Detainee Zenon Dolnyckyj, 23, of Toronto, was one of almost three dozen Westerners expelled from China for protesting Tuesday in Tiananmen Square. More than 50 supporters carrying signs broke into cheers and songs when Dolnyckyj arrived at Pearson airport.
"I am still thinking of the people inside China. . . some of the people still deceived by the propaganda and still don't know how good Falun Gong is," an exhausted Dolnyckyj said.
During a brief stopover in Vancouver, Dolnyckyj said he was beaten and made to "write statements" during his detention.
"I was beaten in Tiananmen Square. My nose was bleeding and I was punched all over the body and in the head," he said. "I was dragged into a van. We were detained for over 24 hours.
"During that time, many people were also pushed, slapped and kicked and hit and they were trying to get us to write statements."
But Dolnyckyj told Toronto supporters that he felt bad for the Chinese officer who hit him.
"Even afterwards I was very concerned about him because I know that it was really bad for him to beat another person."
He said he wan't surprised by the arrests knowing how "vicious they are."
Dolnyckyj said he wasn't planning to go to back China anytime soon, saying it wasn't clear if he would be allowed back.
He hugged his mother and nearly broke down.
"As a parent the first thing I want to do is to take him to a doctor to make sure everything is where it is supposed to be," said Orysia McCabe.
"I am very relieved, actually quite elated, that he is coming home. I was concerned in the beginning not so much for his safety . . .but because the Chinese government was not responding, they made no official comment and would not tell anybody where they were."
Fellow Canadian protester Joel Chipkar, also of Toronto, arrived in Canada earlier.
[...]
The demonstrators called for an end to China's often brutal [persecution] on Falun Gong. The group says more than 300 practitioners have died from torture and abuse in custody since China's [party's name omitted] leaders outlawed the movement in July 1999. Thousands of followers have been imprisoned.
Chinese Falun Gong members are regularly detained and often beaten and kicked for demonstrating on Tiananmen Square, the country's symbolic heart. But Tuesday's protest was the first to involve only Western supporters of the movement.
Falun Gong said demonstrators also included Australians, French, Germans, Irish, Israelis, Swedes, Swiss, Britons and Americans. The U.S. Embassy in Beijing said six Americans detained had all been expelled by Wednesday evening.
Seven demonstrators were Swedes, said the Swedish ambassador to China, Kjell Anneling, noting that the protest would focus attention on allegations of official brutality against Falun Gong adherents.
Sweden, like many European countries, has told Chinese officials their treatment of Falun Gong followers "is not acceptable," Anneling said.
Falun Gong attracted members in the late 1990s with a combination of slow-motion exercises and [...] the teachings of its founder, Li Hongzhi.
Falun Gong followers believe Li's teachings and meditation promote health, good citizenship and even supernatural powers for accomplished practitioners.
[...]
http://www.southam.com/ottawacitizen/newsnow/cpfs/world/011122/w112201.html
RELIEVED: Orysia McCabe, mother of Falun Dafa follower Zenon Dolnyckyj, speaks to the media after her son was briefly detained. Tannis Toohey/TORONTO STAR
Nov. 22, 2001
Zenon Dolnyckyj, a Toronto Falun Dafa follower who was arrested in Tiananmen Square, was winging his way back home last night.
His mother Orysia McCabe said her 23-year-old son was released after being held in custody in Beijing overnight and put on a plane bound for Canada. McCabe said a Canadian consulate official in China saw Dolnyckyj before he left and said her son looked tired, but seemed fine.
Dolnyckyj was part of a group of three dozen western Falun Dafa (also known as Falun Gong) practitioners from 10 countries who were dragged off after they unfurled a banner in support of the movement.
The practice of Falun Dafa is banned in China and those who adhere to it are harshly punished.
Joel Chipkar, a 33-year-old Toronto follower, went to Beijing to secretly videotape the peaceful protest.
"The police were very fierce, very forceful," he said at a press conference yesterday after arriving back in Toronto.
Chipkar said the protesters realized they were risking arrest, but felt strongly about spreading the message to average Chinese citizens that Falun Dafa is not demonized outside China.
By last night, little more than 24 hours after they chanted, sat cross-legged and unveiled the banner in Tiananmen Square, all the protesters had been forced to leave the country,[...].
[...] The group says more than 300 practitioners have died from torture and abuse in custody since China's [party's name omitted] leaders outlawed the movement in July, 1999. Thousands of followers have been imprisoned.
Falun Dafa said the Tiananmen Square demonstrators also included Australians, French, Germans, Irish, Israelis, Swedes, Swiss, Britons and Americans.
Falun Dafa attracted members in the late 1990s with a combination of slow-motion exercises and [...] the teachings of its founder, Li Hongzhi.
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1006383740135&call_page=TS_GTA&call_pageid=968350130169&call_pagepath=GTA/News&col=969483202845
Nov 22, 2001
CHINA has expelled four Australians after their arrest in Beijing's Tiananmen Square for protesting against the country's crackdown on the banned Falun Gong [group].
Their expulsion came as some foreign protesters arrested yesterday claimed to have been assaulted by Beijing police.
The Department of Foreign Affairs said it had been advised the four Australians were being deported on the next available flight. Kate Douglas, 21, and Chris Cominos, both from Melbourne, and [M]yrna Mack and Kay Belonogoff, from Sydney, were arrested during the protest on Tuesday.
They were among 35 foreigners from countries including Germany, France, the US and Canada who staged a peaceful protest against China's human rights record.
The other protesters have also been deported.
The protest marked the first major demonstration by Falun Gong in months, all the more notable because all the participants were foreigners and none were ethnic Chinese.
One Swiss protester said police had punched and sexually assaulted at least five people. None reported serious injuries.
November 22, 2001
BEIJING -- (AP) -- China swiftly expelled six Americans and more than two dozen other Westerners who protested in the heart of Beijing against the government's repression of the Falun Gong spiritual movement.
By Wednesday evening -- little more than 24 hours after they chanted, sat cross-legged and unveiled a banner on Tiananmen Square -- all 35 protesters had been forced to leave the country [...]
The demonstrators called for an end to China's [persecution] on Falun Gong. Falun Gong says more than 300 practitioners have died from torture and abuse in custody since China's [party's name omitted] leaders outlawed the movement in July 1999. Thousands of followers have been imprisoned.
Chinese Falun Gong members are regularly detained and often beaten and kicked for demonstrating on Tiananmen Square, the nation's symbolic heart.
But the protest Tuesday was the first to involve only Western supporters of the movement.
Falun Gong said demonstrators included Australians, Canadians, French, Germans, Irish, Israelis, Swedes, Swiss, Britons and Americans.
The U.S. Embassy in Beijing said six Americans detained had all been expelled by Wednesday evening.
It did not give their names.
http://www.miami.com/herald/content/news/world/digdocs/003560.htm
November 16, 2001
(Clearwisdom.net)
1. [Liaoning Province] Inside information from the Police Department: Persecuting Falun Gong Practitioners is Currently Their Only Duty
Insiders from the Liaoning Province Police Department stated that persecuting Falun Gong practitioners is currently their main duty and police officers are forced to put aside all other matters. Many administrative officers are starting to realize that Falun Gong practitioners are good people, therefore much of the time they turn a blind eye toward Falun Gong practitioners' activities.
Due to orders issued from Jiang Zemin and Luo Gan and their criminal associates, those who let the truth-clarifying Falun Gong practitioners go free will be personally affected in their jobs and other benefits.
2. [Hebei Province] Cruel Torture of Falun Dafa Practitioners in the Female Middle Team at Taixing Prison
The Female Middle Team at Taixing Prison in Hebei Province, notorious for persecuting practitioners such as Ding Yan, has recently commenced a new type of persecution of the illegally detained Falun Gong practitioners in order to gain favor from the government. They learned the euphemistically called "advanced experience" of administering cruel physical and mental torture from Baoding Labor Camp. They called in a few secret agents from Baoding Labor Camp to divide the practitioners. While preventing the practitioners from sleeping, the agents took turns using fake Dafa articles, evil enlightenment theories, and electric batons to weaken the resolve of those determined practitioners.
The steely resolve and determination of practitioners such as Wang Liping towards Falun Dafa has terrified the evil forces.
3. [Dalian, Liaoning Province] Exposing Home Raids by Evil Police
Recently, a Dalian couple, both of whom are practitioners, were unlawfully arrested so, the grandmother came over to their home to look after their young child. One day, the grandmother went shopping for groceries. When she returned she discovered that all Dafa related books and the portrait of Teacher had been taken. However, the front door was locked and there were no traces of a break-in. According to information from insiders at the police department, police officers do have universal keys. She could not believe that police would actually break-in when there was no one home. Only Jiang's criminal government could do something as underhanded as stealing Dafa books and Teacher's portrait.
4. [Chongqing, Sichuan Province] Contact List for Those Responsible for the Death of Practitioner Mo Shuijin
Mo Shuijin from Chongqing Province had been vomiting blood for over seventy days while he was being illegally detained by police. The police refused to release him until he was dying. Unable to speak or open his eyes, he was diagnosed in the hospital with lung cancer. The police then immediately released him for fear that he would die in their custody. Two weeks later, Mo Shuijin died at home.
(Chongqing city area code: 23. From outside China, please dial 86- first.)
Chongqing Political and Legal Commission: 23-6384-1194
The Office of the Director of Chongqing Political and Legal Commission: 23-6375-8149
"610" Office at Chongqing City: 23-6375-8501
Chongqing Police Station: 23-6384-6756. Address: Chongqing City, Linjiang Road
Department responsible for dealing with Falun Gong issues: 23-6375-8400 (it may be the 610 Office)
Chongqing Police Complaining Hotline: 23-6871-1964
Criminal Squad: 23-6886-2951
Police Subdivision #1: 23-6886-7583
Chongqing Xishanping Labor Camps: 23-6827-2131, 23-6827-1290 (for operator assistance, press 0)
Chongqing Xishanping Labor Farm: 23-6827-1290 (2025)
Department of Operational Guidelines, Chongqing Management Bureau of Labour Camps, (24 hours), 23-6787-1831
Chongqing Management Bureau of Labor Camps, 23-6787-1831, 23-6775-3908
The People's Procuratorate of Chongqing City, 23-6774-5132
Address: Chongqing, Yubei District, Jiazhou Garden
Policeman responsible: Du Yi
Chongqing Xishanping Labor Farm: 23-6827-1290. Ask for Du Yi.
Chongqing mayor's email address: cqgove@cq.gov.cn
Information on Chongqing People's Congress Standing Members' Committee http://202.98.36.242/jgsz_contactlist.htm
Leave your comments at http://cq.gov.cn/text/lyb/guestbook.htm, information service managed by the Chongqing municipal government
Chongqing People's Congress Standing Members' Committee: 23-6385-2918
Chongqing Municipal Government: 23-6385-2701
Address: Chongqing City, Yuzhong District, Renmin Road, 4300013
The Communist Party Committee of Chongqing Municipal Government: 23-6385-4491 Address: Chongqing City, Yuzhong District, Zhongsi Road
The Justice Department of Chongqing Municipal Government: 23-6785-6982
Address: Chongqing City, Jiangbei District, Qiaobei Village
Control Department of Chongqing Municipal Government: 23-6385-2776
Address: Chongqing City, Yuzhong District, Zhongshansi Road
Higher People's Court of Chongqing City: 23-6774-9204, 6774-6039
Address: Chongqing City, Yubei District, Jiazhou Garden
The People's Procuratorate of Chongqing City: 23-6774-5132,
Address: Chongqing City, Yubei District, Jiazhou Garden
Chongqing City Xishanping Labour Camp: 23-6827-2131-2009
Address: Chongqing City, Beipei, postal code: 40070
Department of Legal Education (Registry for Tribunal)
Department Head: Zheng Jian
Phone Number: 23-67761152
Address: Jiangbei District, Huaxin Street, Qiaobei Village, No. 274
Department of Judicial Expert Testimony
Department Head: He Kaifu
Phone Number: 23-67761279
Address: Jiangbei District, Huaxin Street, Qiaobei Village, No. 274
Department of Legal Aid
Department Head: Wang Danli
Phone Number: 23-67761154
Address: Jiangbei District, Huaxin Street, Qiaobei Village, No. 274
Operational Guidelines, Management Bureau of Labour Camps
Address: Jiangbei District, Yangheyi Village, No. 72, 10th floor
Phone Number: 23-6787-1831 (24 hours)
Fax Number: 23-6774-4145
Postal Code: 400020
Drop-in Day to meet with Director of the Management Bureau of Labor Camp:
Last Thursday of the month
Phone Number: day: 23-6775-2378; night: 23-6787-1831
Office: 23-6775-3908
Department of Legal Systems: 23-6775-7050
Department of Supervision and Audit, in association with the Disciplinary Commission: 23-6775-2378
Communist Party Commission of the Management Bureau: 23-6774-2954
As practitioners in China face tremendous pressure to give up their beliefs under the Chinese regime's brutal persecution, there are those who have given in and signed documents renouncing Falun Dafa. However, many of these people deeply regret doing so after they are released from detention and labor camps. "Solemn declarations" are the public statements made by such practitioners, often at great risk to their personal safety, to declare to the world that the documents they signed under duress are null and void and that they will continue to practice Falun Dafa.
Here are some of the Solemn Declarations from the practitioners:
Please click here for more Solemn Declarations.
November 17, 2001
(Clearwisdom.net)
The extent of persecution in the Shayang Labor Camp in Hubei Province is beyond imagination. Everything is done against one's will. Wicked police officers threaten practitioners while conducting "brainwashing": "Don't want to give up cultivation? No way to change your mind? How about the road that leads to your tomb? You won't be released even after you have served your term." Falun Gong practitioners illegally held in custody are sent into three teams: Team 2 (female practitioners), Team 3 (male practitioners), and Team 9 (female practitioners). All practitioners are watched around the clock by inmates convicted on drug charges acting as hired thugs for the camp guards.
In January of 2001, four female practitioners, Liu Hengzhi, Liu Hongying, Zhou Ping, and Liu Xiuying, were severely beaten by drug addicts for practicing Falun Gong exercises. Later, these four practitioners were ordered by guards to stand outside, in the cold, as a "penalty." This "penalty" lasted for over half a month. In March, practitioners demanded their "release on the grounds of innocence" and demanded "a legal environment for cultivation practice." Since this was denied, the practitioners went on a group hunger strike. During the hunger strike, female practitioner Zhou Li was force-fed. Since she was not cooperating, all her teeth were loosened as guards pried her teeth apart with iron pliers.
Between March and April, almost all of the practitioners were beaten for practicing Falun Gong exercises. Among them, Chen Meifang (female) was beaten by drug addicts to the point where she threw up blood. He Zuojun (female) was also beaten by drug addicts and was bruised all over her body. Wang Fengling (female) was dragged out of the cell by drug addict Liu Aijun and was beaten for over half an hour. Other practitioners were locked in the cell and couldn't get out. Many practitioners were beaten and sustained injuries to their bodies. Team leaders (criminal inmates) Gong Shanxiu (female) and Ouyang Daixia (female) as well as guards with the last names of Zhang and Guo, not only did not intervene, they also rewarded these inmate thugs with eggs and other food [Note: a valuable commodity in the forced labor camp where the food often old, spoiled and of extremely poor quality and is made in unsanitary conditions.] On April 9th, Dafa practitioners decided to go to the officials of the labor camp to end this abuse. They pushed all three iron gates down to the ground, demanding that officials "take away drug convicts, unconditionally release Dafa practitioners, and punish the criminal guards." Due to the pressure, the guards handcuffed all of the drug convicts and took them, as well as those who were sent to brainwash practitioners, elsewhere. Since practitioners were not released, practitioners then shouted, "Law enforcement officers breaking the law is prohibited by the heavens," "Suffocate the evil," "Falun Dafa is good," and "We want to go home..."
After April 14th, the labor camp guards displayed their anger at being humiliated, hardened their attitudes, and started a new round of cruel persecution with comprehensive and thorough tortures. The guards brought back the drug convicts and even brought some additional ones. In the past they had ordered inmates to beat practitioners. Now they called in thugs from a special security team to torture practitioners. They tortured practitioners by making them "carry a sword" (bending one's arms in the back, one from above the shoulder and one from under). They also pressed practitioners down to the ground and forced them to kneel down for an extended period of time. At the same time, they used shocks from electric batons to shock the sensitive parts of practitioners' bodies. This included armpits, the bottom of the feet, hands, face, upper legs, and other exposed areas.
Prior to April 14th, practitioners had to do labor every afternoon. This included weeding, digging peanuts, and digging sand and pebbles out of a riverbed. After April 14th, there was no more forced labor. Instead, practitioners were forced to undergo brainwashing. Besides attacking and defaming Falun Dafa, authorities also tried to force practitioners to tarnish Dafa's name by "singing songs and shouting slogans." Many practitioners were able to "take the Fa as the Teacher" and firmly refused to comply. The guards would then drag practitioners out to be handcuffed and beaten with electric clubs. Practitioner Wang Zhixiu (female) was shocked with an electric baton in May for refusing to sing the songs. She had large blisters in her mouth, on her torso, and on her legs as a result of the electric shocks. A yellowish liquid was coming out of her mouth from the blisters. Her lower back and legs are still numb even to this day. It is now hard for her to walk.
In the labor camp, no matter how cold it was, practitioners had to take showers in cold water (no hot water was supplied). Only 10 minutes was allocated for showers, which ended before most practitioners could take their turn. During lunch break, practitioners were forced to recite 55 articles of labor camp regulations. Practitioners didn't take themselves as prisoners and refused to recite. The guards would then torture the practitioners by forcing them to squat down on a single leg without changing the legs. Each torture session would last for 2 hours. The average person has trouble bearing even 10 minutes. At night, practitioners were not allowed to sleep, and they had to continue to squat. Sometimes practitioners' legs would swell up as a result. Yet, the guards still would not stop.
In June, wicked guards stepped up their pressure on practitioners by forcing them to write "statements of guarantee." Those who refused to do so would be struck with electric clubs, handcuffed, or otherwise tortured. Many practitioners held up their righteous belief in Dafa and refused to cooperate with the evil demands. With no exception, they were all brutally persecuted. Among them, Zhou Li (female) was hit on her arms by guards with electric clubs. Her arms were full of blisters, with yellow liquid oozing out. In July, practitioner Li Yingxin (female) took the lead in tearing down paintings in an exhibition that defamed Dafa. A dozen or so practitioners joined her in tearing all the paintings down in the exhibition. Vicious guards dragged all of them out for a brutal beating. Practitioner Li Yingxin was then required to do a one-hour military drill every evening for over half a month. Practitioner Liu Fengying (female) was hit with electric batons the same time that she was forced to be hancuffed in the "carry a sword" position. Her two arms were too painful raise up, yet the guards still ordered her to do morning exercises.
On August 1, the guards forced practitioners to "sing the songs". Those who refused were dragged out for electric shock. Some practitioners were so bruised on their faces that the others couldn't even recognize them. On August 2nd, the guards viciously forced practitioners to shout slogans that defamed Dafa. Practitioners Wan Lihua (female), Zhang Huiyun (female), Liu Guangfeng (female) and most of the other practitioners were determined not to comply. The guards then handcuffed them, brutally beat them, and applied electric shocks to them. Many practitioners were injured all over their bodies. The marks left from the handcuffs stayed on some practitioner's wrists for a long time before disappearing.
On August 3rd, the labor camp guards conspired to punish practitioners who refused to shout slogans. However, practitioner Zeng Xiane (female) in Team 9 Sub-team 1 unexpectedly died in this round of brutal persecution on the morning of August 3rd. (See http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2001/8/8/12789.html). To prevent protests from the families of the practitioners, the guards had to give up this round of persecution. A few days later, the police substation sent in a police officer named Zhang to be the director. Zhang stepped up the already tight control over the practitioners. Although the frequency of beatings had decreased, the number of other physical punishments increased. Everyday, practitioners were inundated with talk attacking Dafa. During their lunch break, practitioners were forced to recite the 55-article labor camp regulations. Whoever refused was deprived of a nap, and punished by being forced to squat down. Then, they wouldn't be allowed to sleep in order to continue the punishment. The forced squatting would last half a day, a day, or at a minimum of 2 hours. Some practitioners have been tortured this way since mid-August. Their legs have been injured. They limp while walking, and they cannot run. While running, some practitioners were slow, and couldn't keep up with the others. The guards would then use this as an excuse for more squatting torture.
Practitioner Liu Guangfeng (female) in Team 9 Sub-team 2 refused to recite the 55-article labor camp regulations. Guards then beat her with two electric clubs simultaneously. The five or six blisters on her arms and legs were the size of eggs. Practitioner Liu Guangfeng didn't comply. The guards then punished her with the squatting torture everyday. Due to continuous sun exposure, her injuries became infected. Out of fear that the infection could be life threatening, Liu was forcibly sent to the hospital for "treatment." Practitioner Li Mingzhen, 62 years old, demanded to clarify the truth in a classroom. She was dragged out for a brutal beating. The areas around her eyes turned purplish black. She was then forced to stand all day and night until 2:00am, every day.
Above are just some of the examples. In the labor camp, there is no guarantee of practitioners' safety or life. There is not a single free moment for practitioners. The guards are doing everything they can to control the practitioners thoughts and personal freedoms. They don't allow practitioners time to think, let alone time to recite the Fa or do Falun Gong exercises. The goal is to destroy practitioners' righteous belief in Dafa. But most practitioners have long ago put aside their own life and death. To awaken the righteous minds and conscience of people, they are pouring out their blood and their lives. In so doing, they bear no grudges or hatred. Everyday, they are waiting for people to be awakened. Kindhearted people, have you seen this?! People that uphold justice, please extend your hands of assistance, and stop this wild persecution and inhumane killing.
(Clearwisdom.Net)
1. Illegal Detention
More than 50 practitioners have been illegally detained. Up to now we have collected the following names as a partial list of those detained practitioners. They are Meng Lingjiu, Zhang Sixiang (female), Liu Xicheng, Jiang Fengfang (female), Zhou Shumei (female), Li Jingdong, Yu Yunjiu, Shang Guimin, Chang Yongfu, Zhang Yanzhong, Sun Shengpu, Ma Zhanyou, Cao Fenglan (female), Yang Yuqin (female), Zhang Jinglan (female), Li Weichun, Meng Xianyu, Li Weijun, Mei Guangqin (female), and Sun Lizi (female) etc.
2. Physical Punishments
During detention, practitioners were forced into heavy labor, such as; carrying heavy gunnysacks on their shoulders; unloading coal from trucks; digging troughs; etc. They also tortured practitioners with brutal beatings, force-feedings and long-term standing. They withheld all of the articles for everyday use sent by practitioners' relatives so that many female practitioners had to tear off pieces of cloth from their quilts to substitute for sanitary napkins during their menstruation.
3. Financial Extortion
They never gave any receipts after they collected money from practitioners. They even searched for money in practitioners' pockets. Sun Shengpu was arrested in Beijing because of his appealing for Falun Gong. Local police were required to go to Beijing to bring him back. They wanted to take an airplane instead of a train and using this excuse, they requested that Sun's family members give them 10,000 Yuan (Chinese currency, the monthly salary for an average Chinese urban laborer is about 500 Yuan) as travel expenses. Since Sun's relatives had only 6,000 Yuan at their home, the police confiscated all of this money and took it away with them.
They also extorted 5,000 to 100,000 Yuan from each person who had practiced Falun Gong even if he/she had already given up his/her cultivation practice later on. Zhang Yanzhong's financial situation became very difficult after his working place stopped paying his salary because of his firm belief in Falun Dafa. Without any consideration for his tough economic conditions, they still forced him to submit 3,000 Yuan to them with no receipt in return.
4. Searching and Seizing Personal Property and Assets
Without showing any legal documents, the police from the Jixing Police Station searched practitioner Zhang Zuoming's home when his 11-year-old kid was home alone. They rummaged through all the chests and boxes and searched everywhere in his home. They took away all the money and valuables they found. They even got into another practitioner, Shang Guimin's, home by lifting the roof of his house, and robbed money and other personal property for themselves.
5. Depriving Practitioners' of their Human Rights
Practitioners were forbidden to talk with each other when they met outside otherwise they would be arrested. Those practitioners who had been at the homes of practitioner Sun Lizi, Chang Yongfu, Liu Jihong and Li Jingdong, all were taken into detention or were sentenced to forced labor camps.
Practitioners in Mulan County hereby appeal that all kind-hearted people show concern for the brutal persecution of Falun Gong practitioners and condemn the Mulan County government's vicious actions.
Related telephone numbers:
The chief of Public Security Bureau of Mulan County: 86-451-7082258
Jixing Police Station of Mulan County: 86-451-7028025
The Second Police Station of Mulan County: 86-451-7082253, 7088770
The Security Section of Mulan County Government: 86-451-7086169
(Clearwisdom.net)
I was illegally sentenced to one year Forced Labor Education because I insisted on practicing Falun Dafa. I was detained in the Maojiashan Women's Labor Camp in the Jiangbei District of Chongqing City. I am telling you about what I had experienced during my 15 months in the labor camp in order to expose the brutal persecution against Dafa practitioners and to help people distinguish good from the evil.
On December 2000, the women's labor camp in Chongqing, started using the "Baojia" against the illegally detained Falun Gong practitioners, and since then the persecution had been increasing in severity. What is the "Baojia"? It is when the police use very malicious inmates to monitor the practitioners, 24 hours a day and to completely deprive practitioners their freedom. Actually, the "Baojias" are basically thugs for hire.
Ms Yan Liping, a female police officer, often encouraged the "Baojias" by saying to them, "Your problems are all small problems. Their problems are big, they are anti-revolutionary..." So those "Baojias" cursed us viciously, they called us anti-revolutionary and that we should all be killed, etc. Once we practiced the exercises, they would madly beat us up. From January 9 to January 11, under the order of the vicious police, the Baojias beat fifty practitioners very badly. There were two practitioners named Zhang Meimei and Wang Jingxiu, both were almost sixty years old. Seven thugs dragged those two practitioners down to the floor, they would hit and kicked them while dragging them out of the cell. They also cursed them by saying, "What can you do about it! I will continue to beat you!" Those two elderly women had wounds and bruises all over their bodies and their clothes were all shredded. The rest of us shouted out for justice, " No more beating! No more persecution against Dafa practitioners!" Then our mouths were stuffed with dirty socks and rags. We were also slapped across our faces. During those three days, about 15 practitioners were handcuffed and beaten and their cuffs were not taken off until the Chinese New Year.
At the beginning of March, the 3rd team of the labor camp had a column on the blackboard for slandering Falun Dafa and the Teacher. Sixteen practitioners immediately erased the articles that were written. On March 7, there were more slandering materials written on the blackboard. Fifteen practitioners went up and erased them again. The next day, the vicious people forcibly dragged out those practitioners who had cleansed the blackboard and forced them to watch a video that slandered Dafa. The police threatened all of us with handcuffs, ropes and sealing tapes. Since, the police and Baojias outnumbered the practitioners, we all shouted together, "Falun Dafa is the righteous way! We don't want to watch the video, "To live with no pursuits, To die with no regrets." (Non-existence, Hong Yin). A policeman named Chen Hao, was about to handcuff us but we protected each other in order to resist the evil from succeeding. A policewoman surnamed Ms Yang, started slapping practitioner Gao Jie, on her face. Upon seeing that the police were beating practitioners, the Baojias, all joined in to beat us. The beatings lasted for about one and a half-hours. A Baojia, named Yan Jiahua, pulled out some practitioners' hair and said viciously, "I am working for the XX party and I have nothing to worry even if I beat you to death ......"
Teacher had said, "A Dafa disciple completely opposes everything arranged by the evil old forces." (Dafa Is Indestructible) In the labor camp, the police often forced us to be re-educated [brainwashed] through forced labor. On August 20, at a so-called "Life Meeting," the police asked us to introduce ourselves, all practitioners stood up and said, "I am Dafa practitioner XX, I am innocent and did nothing wrong and I request to be released unconditionally." As a result, we were tortured. We were forced to stand still until 11:30pm. Some of us were forced to stand still for 3 days. Then on August 27, at another "Life Meeting," we solemnly told the police again, "We are Dafa practitioners and we are requesting to be released." This time, the following vicious police named, Fan Peipei, Huang XX, Xiao XX and Zhou XX, became very angry and gave us a more severe physical punishment. Fifty Dafa practitioners were forced to squat down for a whole day, including people of almost 69 years of age. Once those older practitioners stood up to flex their legs, a policewoman named, Fan Peipei, would say maliciously, "Next week, if you still say you are Dafa practitioners, you'll receive double the punishment. I don't believe that I can't make you give in." On that same day, fifty practitioners started a hunger strike and the number of practitioners who participated increased to 60 to70 on the next day.
On the forth day, the police started force-feeding the Dafa practitioners through tube insertion. Some practitioners were bleeding through the tubes right on the spot.
Some could not breathe properly and vomited. Those ferocious police even said that this was for our own good. Some practitioners resisted and tried to prevent them from inserting the tubes. The hunger strike lasted 16 days. The indestructible righteous thoughts of Dafa practitioners; "frighten all evil" (Also in a Few Words). Practitioners validated the Fa with their lives and "has had the effect of eliminating and frightening the evil persons." (The Effect of Righteous Thoughts)
Right now, there are still over one hundred practitioners detained in that labor camp and they are enduring inhuman tortures. From October 8 to the present, there have been practitioners protesting every day against the persecution by saying: "No more beating, no more beating Dafa practitioners!"
All the kind-hearted people, in order to pursue the truth and awaken people's consciousness, Dafa practitioners had endured all the tortures silently. Please extend your help and rescue those illegally detained Dafa practitioners!
(Clearwisdom.net) On April 28, 2001, at about 9:00 a.m., Chaoyanggou Labor Camp ordered all the detainees in the camp into the meeting room. There were over 180 Dafa Disciples illegally detained there, and every one of them had suffered a lot from the persecution. Director Wang of the Camp was giving a talk about how the forced Labor Camp had made Falun Gong practitioners give up their practice, i.e., as a matter of fact, how he had persecuted Dafa disciples.
The true facts of these evil-doings, one by one, will be revealed and fully exposed to all people very soon. This would be the very last show of the evil forces.
During the meeting, when vile persons slandered Dafa, four practitioners Jiang Quande, Liu Haibo, Li Min, and Lian Hong stepped forward to ask them to stop their slandering. Vicious policemen immediately beat these disciples by using electric batons to hit their hands and heads. Jiang Quande and Li Min were beaten to such an extent that their appearances were no longer recognizable. Their noses were black and blue, and their bodies were very seriously injured. After that, four Dafa disciples were humiliated by being made to parade through the public streets. Director Wang said, "You made me lose my face; so I make you suffer a lot."
Every day, villains forced Lian Hong to run several laps around the big exercise yard and to also perform heavy labor in the camp. As a result, Lian Hong's leg became injured and he could not walk in a normal way. His body was wrecked terribly. Even so, those villains didn't let him off.
Jiang Quande had been illegally detained for an additional five months after his sentence expired, and has not yet been released. Evil forces in the Judicial Bureau were violating the law while in the position of enforcing the law. They ignored the legal procedures and overrode the national law at will. For instance, vicious Director Wang could extend any Dafa disciple's sentence at his own command. Liu Haibo's sentence had been extended for another four months. Jiang Quande was locked up in a small cell for one month, and his body was covered with black and purple bruises. Every day the evil forces would beat Dafa disciples by various means, and miserable cries could often be heard.
Jin Junjie had been illegally detained for an additional five months after his sentence expired, and has not yet been released. His weight has been reduced to a mere 88 lbs due to the cruel torture. On May 18, vicious policemen in the No. 2 Brigade instigated a regular criminal, Li Fuchen, to torture him. Since then, every morning at about 7:00 a.m., criminal Li Fuchen would beat him with several blows of a piece of rattan cane [Note: rattan cane can inflict serious damage to the body.] His hands and feet became extremely swollen and deformed, and he was forced not to tell anybody in his class. The class monitor Sun Jiming, also a regular criminal, continued to verbally abuse and torture him. Finally, Jin Junjie was injured to the extent that he could not go to the dining room to eat and he could not get down from his bed at night-time. Vicious policemen in the No. 2 Brigade thought he was dying and sent him to the hospital. The doctor said his life was in danger and he needed round-the-clock care. This was reported to the Labor Camp. The Labor Camp didn't want to be responsible for his death and reported it to the Judicial Bureau. A department leader saw the seriousness of this issue and granted his release from the Labor Camp. Then the vicious policemen told people that Jin Junjie was receiving treatment in a hospital. However, as a matter of fact, they had asked his family members to come and take him home. In this way, they shirked their responsibilities.
Zhuang Xiankun has been detained for an additional five months after his sentence expired. His body was bleeding after the villains Li Fuchen and Sun Jiming beat him up with a piece of rattan cane for more than 30 strikes within two days. These villains used the most vicious methods to torture Dafa disciples. Zhuang Xiankun's wife was also illegally arrested by the local police station and her whereabouts was unknown. Their child, under one year old, was left to his younger brother to take care of. There are many broken families like this in Changchun City. Rampantly persecuting people, the No. 2 Brigade of the Labor Camp forced Zhuang Xiankun and many others to do backbreaking hard labor such as loading and unloading tens of thousands of pieces of brick in a single day.
On the morning of August 3 at about 5:00 a.m., all Dafa disciples were taken into the corridor and body-searched. After one of the Teacher's articles was found on Sui Wenling, he was taken to the "Discipline Room." Vicious policemen shocked him with electric batons and beat him up with rattan cane for more than 30 minutes. His body was bleeding everywhere. His legs and feet were too swollen to stand on. Even so, vicious policemen still forced him to do heavy labor, loading and unloading a large amount of brick everyday. Even during the hard labor time, the villains still verbally abused him. The food for his lunch was very limited and he could not have enough to be full. So, he picked up what was left by others to eat. Due to the poor living conditions, his body was covered with scabies, making him feel extremely painful. There are many examples like this in the forced labor camp.
Liu Jin in the No. 2 Brigade is thin and small. It is very difficult for him to do the extreme forced labor. Everyday after he suffered the hard labor, the malicious class monitor Sun Jiming (directed by vicious policemen) would verbally abuse him, beat him and extort money from him.
Above are some facts about how the vicious policemen in the Chaoyanggou Labor Camp have cruelly persecuted Dafa disciples.
(Clearwisdom.net)
(Continued)
17. Practitioner Fu Ge, female, 52, lived in the Electronic Factory Residential Area in A'Cheng City, Helongjiang Province. On February 3, 2000, an officer at her local police station asked her to come to the station and for no apparent reason, illegally detained her for a long time. Because she continued to practice Falun Gong exercises while in detention, she was beaten and hung up by her handcuffed hands, then forced to sit on an iron chair while cold water was poured over her body. Then an officer opened all the windows in order to freeze her and the other Falun Dafa practitioners that were in the same room. Police officer Zhang Zhongfan, from the A'Cheng Police Department, extorted 3,000 Yuan from her in April and again in September 2000.
In June, Fu went to a detention center and asked for the release of all Falun Gong practitioners who were being illegally detained and had been on a hunger strike for five days. For this she was illegally detained again. In order to obtain an unconditional release, she went on a hunger strike. They beat her and force-fed her many times using feeding tubes in her nostrils. She was finally released after 45 days.
Jin Zhongxue, from the Security Department of A'Cheng Electronic Factory, extorted 4,000 Yuan from Fu in September 2000. On January 19, 2001, she was called to the security department in her factory. She refused to write a letter of intent to quit practicing Falun Gong and was illegally detained then sent to Wanjia Labor Camp in Harbin City. There she received inhuman treatment lost all basic human rights and freedoms. Punching and kicking is very common treatment for Falun Gong practitioners. Fu was locked into a small cell several times; she was tied up with ropes, handcuffed, and suspended by the cuffs. They did not allow her to sleep and punished her by making her stand for long periods of time with bare-feet on a cement floor in the winter. They also dragged her outside to stand under the hot sun in the summer. Currently, the labor camp locks all Falun Dafa practitioners in damp cells without sunshine or fresh air. The practitioners have scabies all over them. Fu is still detained there.
18. Practitioner Qiu Shuxia, female, 49, lived in Hanan Xiao Qu, No.1 building. On July 20, 1999, she went to the city government to appeal peacefully and to tell the truth about the brutal persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. She was punched and kicked by the police. They sent her and other Falun Dafa practitioners to separate places to be monitored until 2 a.m. the next morning until she signed her name. She was brought back to her hometown by the local authorities and often harassed by local officers of the police station and resident's committee. On Chinese New Year's day, they illegally detained her for 24 hours in a local residential business office.
19. Practitioner Li Aiqin, female, 47, lived in Taixiang, No.12 building. Li Bo from the 610 Office extorted 2000 Yuan from her on December 4, 2000. From November 1999 to July 2000, police officers Wang Dongyun, Zhang Endong, Xi Baiyu, Fu Dezhi, and Xing Quiqin harassed her many times and confiscated her ID card. On November 25, 2000, she went to Beijing to rectify the Fa and was illegally held there for 10 days. Upon being sent back to A'Cheng, she was illegally detained for 15 days. She went on a hunger strike and was force-fed. The head of the police station Guo physically abused her. The county and local authorities call her home and work unit every Chinese New Year just to harass her.
20. Practitioner Zhang Chunyu, female, 48, is a native of A'Cheng. On February 2, 2000, the local police station asked her whether she was still practicing Falun Gong. When she answered "yes," they illegally detained her until she paid 5,000 Yuan. On June 19, 2000, the police forced her from her home and sent her to a detention center. She was illegally kept there for over 4 months and released only because her life was in danger from carrying out a long-term hunger strike protest. She was forced out of her home in December 2000 and became homeless. Staff of the 610 Office, police station, credit union, business bureau, and her work unit conspired to cheat her by saying that they would not arrest her if she did not go to Beijing. They also gave her the deposit back. Ten days after she took the deposit, she was called to the work unit to write a "guarantee" statement. When she refused to do it, they sent her to a brainwashing class. Not being able to brainwash her, they sent her to the detention center and later sentenced her to one year in a labor camp. In the labor camp, she is enduring inhuman tortures, such as, being locked inside a small cell, tied up, hung up by the handcuffs, cuffing, sleep deprivation, standing for a long time, starvation, and exposure to extreme cold.
21. Practitioner Ge Zhenhua, male, 45, lived in Shengli St., A'Cheng. On July 22, 1999, he went to the provincial government to appeal peacefully and was illegally detained for 17 hours. The next year, Liu Jun, the leader from his work unit, along with the Party secretary Xu and Director of his local residence office Lin, local police officer Yu Qingguo, and others often came to his house to harass him. During one visit, they confiscated his ID card. On February 16, 2001, Liu Jun, Cui Yong, and Huang Jiang from his work unit, along with police officer Yu Qingguo forced him to attend an 80-day brainwashing class and illegally detained him for another 16 days. During this time, he lost his personal freedom and suffered physical punishments, beatings, and verbal abuse. Yan Junzhang, the A'Cheng City Financial Commissar, extorted 1,600 Yuan from Mr. Ge.
22. Practitioner Li Xiuying, female, 50, lived in Dongfanghong St., Wuchang City. When she went to Beijing to rectify the Fa, she was sent to the Wuchang Office in Beijing where her ID card and more than 100 Yuan were confiscated. She was illegally detained for 9 days. She went on a hunger strike for 6 days and was released only after her family paid a 500 Yuan fine. After she returned home, she was sent to Wuchang Detention Center, fined 2,000 Yuan, and released after 2 days.
23. Practitioner Xiao Renping, female, 36, is a native of Pingshan, A'Cheng City. When she went to Beijing to rectify the Fa on April 11, 2000, she was sent to the Heilongjiang Province Office in Beijing and then taken to the A'Cheng Detention Center. She was illegally detained for 15 days. On December 7, 2000, the police illegally searched her home and took more than 10 Falun Dafa books. They sent her to the detention center again and held her there for 24 days. Every time she was released, her family had to pay fines to the police station and to the 610 Office. Wang Haitao from the police station also extorted money from her. She paid a total of 10,000 Yuan in illegal fines.
24. Practitioner Liu Wei, male, 37, is a native of Pingshan, A'Cheng City. He and other practitioners went to Beijing to rectify the Fa on December 23, 2000. They were arrested and sent to Renhe Police Station in Beijing. Because he refused to answer questions, the police stripped him of his clothes leaving him in his underwear, handcuffed him, and left him outside for more than two hours. The temperature was - 10o C. Then they brought him inside and shocked him from his head to his feet. After torturing him for an hour without any results, they left him outdoors again. In the evening, they brought him inside and continuously shocked him all over his body. Again, he was taken outdoors and left for a long time. When they brought him inside, they handcuffed him to a table. One police officer started to burn the book Zhuan Falun. He asked him not to do it. The policeman would not listen. Liu jumped up and tried to grab the book. The policemen shocked, punched, and kicked him. They shocked his penis, poured cold water on his body, and stabbed him with needles. They forced him to lie face-down on the ground, handcuffed his hands behind his back, put a chair on his back, and beat his palms and soles of his feet with a belt. When all these were ineffective, they tried other measures, such as sleep deprivation, and finally handcuffed him to heating pipe.
25. Practitioner Zhang Shuzhen, female, a 52-year-old worker from the Heilongjiang Province A'Cheng City Relay Factory was unlawfully detained and endured insults and torture at a detention centre from February 4 to March 2, 2000. Altogether she was detained for 70 days during which she was insulted and beaten by cruel officials such as Yang Qi and Zhang Wenli. From June 9 until August 31, 2000 practitioner Zhang was illegally detained for 45 days. On January 2, 2001, she was arrested at her home and six months later she was sentenced to two years in a labor camp. During this time, she was often beaten and kicked. As a result she often had a black eye and sustained injury to many parts of her body. She was also jailed for 21 days in the male labor camp team. For nine days Practitioner Zhang endured torture such as being hung, being cuffed to the bedposts, being lifted up until only her toes touched the ground and also until her feet were above the ground. Later she was forced to sit on the torture chair for 12 days and was only allowed to sleep for a little while on the concrete ground at midnight. Between January and August 2000 all together 11,500 Yuan (Approximately one year's salary of an average urban worker in China) was extorted out of her by the police department within the Relay Factory, Heping Police Station, Shuangcheng City Police Department, Xinfuxiang Police Station and A'Cheng City Police Department. The main conspirators are Du Faming and Zhang Wenxuan.
26. Practitioner, Liu Hongyun, male, worker at Heilongjiang Province A'Cheng City Liuzhong Market was tortured and cursed at the A'Cheng City Detention Centre for 55 days between January 7 and April 2, 2000 (according to the lunar calendar). In November 2000, the Changchun City Rail Works detained him for two days and nights and when he returned to Shengli Police Station Zhou Xiaozhang beat him until his face swelled up. Once, he endured four months of torture at the A'Cheng City Detention Centre and was later detained at Harbin City Changlinzi Labor Camp for six months. While at the labor camp, he went on hunger strike 12 times which all together lasted 23 days during which he was force-fed by tube everyday. He was hung, beaten using electric batons with extra high voltage and was forbidden to rest and forced to sit on cold bench. He contracted scabies all over his body. Between January 1999 and May 2001 (according to the lunar calendar) 2600 Yuan (Approximately five months salary of an average urban worker in China)was extorted out of him by the council, Shengli Police Station, Achen City Police Department and Changlinzi Labor Camp. The main conspirators are Zhou Xiaozhang, Ma Yunfeng, Wang Fengchun, Lin Peng, Wu Da, Gao Meixue, Ma Xue, Li Zhimin.
27. Practitioner, Zhu Yumei, female, a 39-year-old resident of Shengli Street, A'Cheng City, had almost 10,000 Yuan worth of salary extorted out of her ever since December 2000. The main conspirators are A'Cheng City Education Committee and Wang Xue and Yan Jiuyi from Liuzhong Junior High School. 4,000 Yuan was also extorted out of her because she went to Beijing to clarify the truth to the government. She was detained illegally for three days by Shengli Police Station and 200 Yuan was extorted out of her for simply peacefully appealing at the Provincial Head Office. From then on Shengli Police Station and the Provincial Education Committee viewed her as a major "activist" and has put her under unlawful surveillance. She was harassed by phone calls and ordered to go to the police station no matter what time of the day. This caused severe stress upon her work, studies and family. Harassment was mainly made by Wang Xue, the Party Secretary Lei, Yang Jibin, Yan Jiuyi, Tian Fang, Xu Hua, Fu Hongwei. On December 21, 2000, she went to Beijing to clarify the truth about Falun Dafa but was detained at Beijing for six days before she was deported back to the local detention centre and detained for three months. She was then detained without trial at Harbin City's Wanjia Labor Camp. During her time at the labor camp, she went through forced brainwashing classes, which resulted in severe mental devastation. She was refused her rights to appeal. Simply because of her firm belief in Falun Dafa, she was confined to a gloomy and damp room for one month where eating, drinking and the toilet were all in the same room. Due the damp conditions, she contracted scabies and her skin festered.
(Clearwisdom.net)
"She was doing it for my sake, how could I do that to her?"
One day, a driver working for an office belonging to the Provincial Government of Hebei showed his colleagues some printed material containing the truth about Dafa. One of them asked: "Why don't you hand it in to the authorities? Where did it come from?" The driver said: "a 'Falun Gong' gave it to me while I was washing the car." That colleague said: "why didn't you turn her in? You could have been rewarded with money for that." The driver said: "I have never seen her before and have no grudge against her. She said to me: 'Sir, here is some information for you, reading it is for your own benefit; if you could let more people read it, it's even better.' She was doing it for my sake, how could I turn her in? Besides, what the flier says sounds really reasonable. There, all of you can have a read!"
The only thing was, this kind-hearted driver could not dare to believe that Jiang Zemin and his followers could possibly be so ferocious yet be blatantly lying! He went to ask a Dafa practitioner in his work unit whether what the flyer said was the truth. The practitioner described to him his own personal experience and maltreatment that he'd received, as well as the encounters experienced by other practitioners in the neighbourhood. He said to him that he could take a look at those around him who practice Falun Gong, and then take a look at the government officers that he knows, then he will be able to see the truth clearly. The driver nodded his head in deep thought, knowing who is lying.
(Clearwisdom.net)
Planned Brainwashing Classes Aborted Due to Righteous Resistance from Families of Dafa Practitioners
The Town Government and the Police Station sent policemen to a village to take Dafa practitioners to brainwashing classes. When a group of policemen came to a practitioner's home, her husband said, "She's become healthy after she started to practice. She's become a better person as well. I'd let her continue practicing even if Jiang Zemin came here himself. I dare you to capture her!"
With this set back, they went to another practitioner's place. The non-practitioner husband said, "I am drunk. You will be responsible for whatever happens today."
Failing to catch anyone, they arrived at yet another practitioner's home. Surprisingly, the practitioner's husband said, "If she were stealing, or breaking the law, do whatever you should do. However, she was merely practising qigong. Why do you want to catch her?" Without a single success, how could they report back to the boss? One young policeman lost his temper and tried to grab this practitioner, and promptly received a punch from the fist of the non-practitioner husband. After running around for a whole day, they failed to catch even a single practitioner. The evil plan for brainwashing classes had to be aborted.
Jiang Zemin's Gang of State Terrorism Is Losing Support
1. Security Section Policeman Qian, Bureau of Public Security in X city, used to be in charge of the persecution of Falun Gong. After the 6-10 office (an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems.) was created, the Security Section was no longer involved with Falun Gong. One day Qian met a friend and said, "Finally, I've now left that land of trouble."
2. A practitioner from X village clarified the truth about Falun Gong very well, and many people in the village understood the truth of Dafa. No one took down Dafa banners hanging in the village. One day, people sent to the village from the main town tried to take down the banners. They said, "The higher authorities are conducting an inspection for a couple of days. We shall take them down for the time being, and hang them up again after the inspection."
(Clearwisdom.net) Suppose when a person walks one more step he will fall into a bottomless abyss, if someone warns him on time: "Stop! Otherwise you will fall into the ten-thousand-foot deep abyss and smash into pieces!" Isn't this completely for his well being? When someone slanders the Buddha Fa ignorantly and is doomed to be eliminated, "Immediate retribution in this lifetime" is out of God's mercy and kind guidance, with the intent of saving him. If he cannot enlighten to it, more serious consequences will follow; if he continues on the same course for long, God will not advise him and give lessons to him anymore.
The existence and operation of the heavenly principle of "goodness is rewarded with goodness and evil with miseries" absolutely will not change a little according to preferences of human beings. It will be too late for them to wake up when they begin to repay the terrible karma through endless suffering in hell.
Some policemen asked a retired old man to peel off Falun Dafa truth-clarifying posters and promised to pay him 50 cents for peeling one piece. The old man peeled off dozens of posters and wanted to go to get the "bonus," unexpectedly, he stumbled on the ground and lost consciousness. His son sent him home and advised him repeatedly, "Do not do such bad things anymore."
(Refer to http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2001/11/13/15708.html)
There was a stubborn old man in XX city of China. One day, he stood underneath a telephone pole, pointed at the Falun Gong flyers on the pole, and said to the people around, "This says whoever peels it off will receive retribution. That's just trying to scare people. I peeled off several of them and I've never had any problems. Watch, I'll show you." With that, he stretched out his arm and tried to peel it off. Suddenly, however, he felt a strong headache come on. He held his head with his hands and shouted loudly, "I'm convinced, I'm convinced, I'll never peel one off again." From that point on, nobody peeled the flyers from that area.
(Refer to http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2001/11/13/15708.html)
A young women who is the director of an office in Deyang City, Sichuan Province was giving a speech about the "achievement" of persecuting Falun Gong and about her resolution to do it, suddenly her face became pale and her breath became difficult, her eyes began watering and her nose running profusely and she fell down instantly, with her four limbs twitching. The people at the site were all terrified; the doctor said she might be comatose.
Hu Xianlong, the chief of Wuzhan Township Police Station in Zhaodong City, Heilongjiang Province beat and extorted money from Dafa practitioners even kicking a pregnant women. Now he has received severe retribution--he has contracted lung cancer and his pitiful life is in danger. His daughter-in-law was pregnant, however she miscarried even after she took many effective medicines.
(Refer to http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2001/11/15/15809.html)
Liu Jiantiao, an evil thug of "610 office" of Bin County, Harbin City, is 26 years old. He has been known to be extremely hostile to Dafa and Dafa practitioners. In late August, he was in a traffic accident; the surgery cost him about RMB 100,000 Yuan [an average worker in China earns RMB 500 a month], however he died on September 5.
Yang Jingcheng, the Party secretary of Law and Politics Committee in Yi County, Jinzhou City, Liaoning Province persecuted Dafa practitioners relentlessly and recently died suddenly from a cerebral hemorrhage.
Yang Yuxiang, the director of Political Security Section in Yi County, Jinzhou City, Liaoning Province played an active role as the henchmen of Jiang Zemin and has incurred severe retribution; he is suffering from a cerebral thrombus [bloodclot on the brain] now and lying on his deathbed.
(Refer to http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2001/11/11/15653.html)
Lawless officials in Henan Province involved in plotting the false case of the "Tiananmen Self-Immolation" and tortured Falun Gong practitioners cruelly; their retribution has begun: On the afternoon of November 1st, eleven tons of the extremely toxic substance sodium cyanide leaked and flowed into Luo River in Henan Province and severely threatening the lives of millions of people along the river bank.
These malicious cases always happened to the people and areas that are related to the persecution Dafa, do you think they are accidental phenomenon? Those people who hold evil thoughts toward Dafa without even knowing the truth about the Great Law of the Universe, you are in grave danger!
(Clearwisdom.net)
Breaking the Media Blockade, Clarifying the Truth
Yesterday, the Central News Agency (a Taiwan based wire service) reported that the Chinese government banned the fictional novel Yellow Peril because it featured an episode similar to the "self-immolation incident that occurred on Tiananmen Square." When the China Central TV station rebroadcast the "Self-Immolation Incident," it conspicuously removed some footage. Some media groups have cited this missing footage as evidence that Liu Chunling was knocked down by a heavy object. One insider said those so-called self-immolators were hired by offering them 30,000 Yuan (about USD3,500) each. All upper-level police officials know this fact.
At some famous Australian tourist sites, practitioners tell the truth about Dafa to visitors from China. The tourists then take the information back to China. They meet all kinds of people, experience various xinxing (moral character) tests, and have many moving stories.
Clarifying the Truth and Lessening the Pressure on Practitioners in China
Zhang Cuiying is an Australian painter and a Falun Gong practitioner. She currently has an art exhibition in Moscow. Zhang visited the Sakharov International League of Human Rights on November 15th. She expressed her thanks to Mr. Yuri Samadurov. . He is a famous human rights defender who recently wrote a letter to the Russian and American Presidents about the brutal persecution against Falun Gong in China. Zhang Cuiying is a witness to the inhumane tortures carried out against Falun Gong practitioners by the Chinese authorities.
Latest News From China - 11/21/01
84 people solemnly announced that all they wrote, said, and did against Dafa under high pressure and persecution are completely void. They have made up their mind to determinedly cultivate Dafa and double their efforts in making up the losses they caused to Dafa, resist the evil, and clarify the truth to people.
A practitioner suffered all kinds of torture at the police station but was still unyielding. Later, because of an attachment to sentiment, he wrote the "guarantee letter" [to give up the practice of Dafa, never again to associate with other practitioners and never go to Beijing to appeal] against his will in a brainwashing class and left a permanent shame and learned a heavy lesson. He (or she) has decided to double his (or her) efforts in making up the loss caused to Dafa, strengthen righteous thoughts, and firmly cultivate Dafa.
Looking back at history, whenever a country's leader and government officials committed brutalities and went against the principles of heaven, natural disasters would necessarily occur and people's lives would be at stake. Government officials of Jiangxi Province crazily tortured Falun Gong practitioners and were punished by heaven: Jiangxi Province lost a total of 30,000 sq. kilometers [about 11,700 sq. miles] of soil that was washed away by floods. In the morning of the 18th, a fire took place in Guangfeng County, Jiangxi Province that burned down nearly 30 shops along a street.
Fish farmers in Rudong City, Jiangsu Province suffered a phenomenon of abnormally high flood tides, which arrived at extremely high speed and drowned ten people. Heaven is warning people with these unusual phenomena that the brutalities against Falun Gong practitioners by lawless officials of Jiangsu Province are bringing disasters to the people.
Jiang Zemin and Luo Gan's group have committed extreme brutalities against Falun Gong in Shandong Province and brought calamities to Shandong. Nineteen counties and cities near the bay area were inundated by seawater, covering over 1,000 sq. kilometers [about 390 sq. miles]. In Weihai City and Yantai City, monthly water rationing of 1 m3 [about 35 cubic feet] of water per person is in effect, and a fine is charged for over-use.
Stories in Cultivation Practice
Experience from practitioners in Australia: Every practitioner should clarify the truth of Falun Dafa, expose the evil conduct of the persecution, safeguard Dafa, and offer people salvation by any possible means and be a practitioner up to the requirement of Dafa. Every piece of work in the Fa-rectification has its particular role in the overall situation.
When I began practicing Falun Gong in May 1997, I was deeply impressed when I saw the body of a practitioner in other dimensions was the image of a Buddha and was changing in a magnificent way. On July 20, 1999, I went to the government office in the province to appeal for Falun Gong. After that, I was confused for some time, waiting and watching others. Later, I decided to join in the Fa-rectification. One day after distributing the truth-clarifying literature with my husband, I saw many Falun (law wheels) rotating in the sky with brilliant colors.
A doctor of internal medicine experienced the miraculous healing effect of Falun Gong. He began practicing in 1996. When he had a cough and took some medicine, the cough became worse. So he stopped taking medicine and kept on practicing Falun Gong exercises. He recovered within a week. His wife and many other practitioners have also gotten rid of their illnesses through cultivation practice.
In Sichuan Province, a female Falun Dafa practitioner's 65 year-old mother and 8 year-old son also practice Dafa. Ever since the three generations started the practice of Dafa, their illnesses have totally disappeared. However, just for speaking about the benefits she received from cultivating Dafa, she was illegally detained 13 times and held in the labor camp for 1 year and 3 months. During the detention, she was subjected to inhumane torture. Her elderly mother and young son were also intimidated and detained.
Mo Shuijin, a 65 year-old woman, was the former office director of the Chongqing automobile factory in Sichuan Province. She started to practice Dafa in 1994. She was always willing to bear the burden of hard work and was a good person both at work and at home. However, such a nice woman was arrested while taking a walk in the park. Later, she was sent to the 4th team of Maojiashan Women's Labor Camp in Chongqing City. She refused to yield to the evil and was finally tortured to death.
Overseas News
Dafa practitioners at Taiwan University introduced Dafa and clarified the truth to students and teachers at a 2001 University Anniversary Party.
Dafa practitioners in Southern California introduced Dafa and clarified the truth to Chinese people at a Chinese school party.
The Chinese government is brainwashing overseas Chinese systematically by spreading lies and rumors on People's Daily newspaper and CCTV4, and by imposing its warped notions of communism and nationalism in the texts used by overseas Chinese schools.
Around 120 Falun Gong practitioners from the San Francisco Bay Area gathered in front of the Chinese Consulate at 1:00 p.m. on November 20, 2001 to protest the Jiang Zemin regime's arresting of Western practitioners. They sent forth righteous thoughts and read a declaration of the arrested Western practitioners in both Chinese and English. They requested the immediate release and safe return of the practitioners. Among the arrested Western practitioners, at least two were from California.
The major Chinese and English media in San Francisco paid full attention to this matter.
Hearing that three dozen Western practitioners were arrested in China on November 20, 2001, Los Angeles Dafa practitioners held an urgent press conference in front of the Los Angeles Consulate General at 2:00 p.m. on the afternoon of November 20, 2001. They exposed the matter to Chinese and English media and read out a declaration from a local American and Irish practitioner (dual nationality) who is a freshman in a California University and went to Tiananmen to appeal. They also demanded that China immediately release the Western practitioners.
Many Chinese and English media including ABC, CBS, South California University TV station and other TV stations, Chinese Daily, Taiwanese Daily, and Vietnam Chinese Daily attended the conference and conducted interviews on the spot.
At 5:00 p.m. on November 20, 2001, over 100 Falun Gong practitioners from New York gathered in front of Chinese Consulate to appeal and express support for the Western practitioners arrested in Tiananmen Square.
The practitioners held banners reading, "Falun Dafa", "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance", "SOS! Urgent Rescue the Falun Gong practitioners persecuted in China" and "Good is rewarded with good and evil meets evil" in both Chinese and English. They practiced the Falun Gong exercises, sent forth righteous thoughts and distributed Dafa literature in the cold wind for three full hours. It was during the rush hour after work and slow-moving traffic passed the site. Drivers rolled down their windows to request Dafa literature and some stepped forward to ask for Dafa information.
The appeal ended at 8:00 p.m. after they sent forth righteous thoughts one more time.
On the evening of November 20, 2001, the 1998 Nobel Peace Prize Winner John Hume was interviewed at the California Institute of Technology. We thought it was a good chance to ask his help to rescue Zhao Ming. Several of us went to the Institute.
Group photo of Mr. John Hume and a Dafa practitioner
After Mr. Hume finished the interview, we stepped forward to shake his hand and give him some Dafa literature. Hearing our purpose of the visit, Mr. Hume inquired about Zhao Ming and his current situation and said that he would read the materials carefully and think about how to help us.
(Clearwisdom.net) Falun Dafa practitioners in Japan are very happy to learn of the establishment of Falun Dafa Associations in Belgium, Austria, and Israel. We extend our sincere congratulations. At this great historic moment of Fa-rectification, Falun Dafa is gaining increasing understanding and support from various governments and peoples around the world. We firmly believe the establishment of Falun Dafa Associations in Belgium, Austria, and Israel will play a significant role in expanding Dafa in Europe and the Middle East.
(Clearwisdom.net) The Falun Dafa practitioners in Hebei Province are very happy to learn that practitioners' continued efforts have led to the establishment of Falun Dafa Associations in Belgium, Austria, and Israel. We are glad to see that many more people may be saved. We hope that practitioners in Mainland China and overseas will join our efforts to do a much better job in Fa-rectification and in offering salvation to sentient beings.
(Clearwisdom.net) Falun Dafa practitioners in Liaoning Province celebrate the establishment of Falun Dafa Associations in Belgium, Austria, and Israel. We believe the establishment of these Associations will play a significant role in the Fa-rectification in Europe and the Middle East.
Let the light of the universal law illuminate the entire cosmos. "Clarify the truth thoroughly, eliminate the evil with righteous thoughts, save all beings, and safeguard the Fa with determination" ("Dafa is Indestructible"). Let's break through the arrangements made by the old evil forces and create a new era of Fa-rectification in Europe and the Middle East.
On the morning of November 17, 2001, over 60 practitioners from New Jersey, DC, Delaware, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia participated in the state's biggest parade in Harrisburg, capital of the state of Pennsylvania. The theme of the parade was "Children Seeing the World." The weather was very good and many young practitioners came to participate in the parade. To the accompaniment of Dafa music Pudu and Jishi, the practitioners demonstrated the exercises and distributed Dafa literature.
Among hundreds of groups participating in the parade, the Dafa float was especially spectacular. Many people in the audience accepted the truth-clarifying materials and waved their hands, greeting the practitioners.