  Some of the artists who contributed to the exhibition |
  Aldon James, director of the National Arts Club, speaking at the opening ceremony |
News and Activities from Around the World
Media Reports
Facts of the Persecution
Practitioners Exchange Insights and Experiences
News from China
(Clearwisdom.net) On October 28, 2004, the "Uncompromising Courage" Art Exhibition opened to public at the National Arts Club and will remain there until November 8.
Some of the artists who contributed to the exhibition |
Aldon James, director of the National Arts Club, speaking at the opening ceremony |
This art exhibition mainly presents western style paintings, yet it also includes some sculptures and traditional Chinese paintings. Through their works, the artists depict the great spirit of compassion and forbearance of practitioners during the brutal persecution of Falun Gong, document the history of this special period, and reproduce practitioners' "uncompromising courage" in upholding their fundamental human rights and dignity.
  Professor Zhang Kunlun and his work |
  The exhibition hall |
Wei Jane Chir, one of the participating artists, said that the subjects of all the works displayed in the exhibition come from real life--the ongoing persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China. Thus, the content and connotation of these art works is very profound and every piece of work is very powerful.
"Four of us. including professor Zhang Kunlun, were personally persecuted in China. Facing this unjust persecution, we artists use our personal experience to express the beauty of Falun Dafa and the brutality of the persecution. We hope that more people will come to help us end this persecution after they learn the truth from this exhibition, " she said.
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Selected art works displayed in the exhibition
There is a painting named "Why" which shows a small boy detained in a cage. With both eyes wide open and confusion on his face, he doesn't show any hatred, fear, or tears. His eyes are injured, his body is bloodstained, his mother lies on the cold floor with both feet shackled. Ms. Wang Weixing, the creator of this painting, said that it was about the son of her friend. The little boy was detained with his mother for quite a while. As he often saw how practitioners were tortured, as shown in the painting, he didn't have fear any more. However, he couldn't understand why people cultivating the principles of "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance" were tortured so severely.
More than 100 community leaders, artists and Falun Gong practitioners attended the opening ceremony on the evening of October 28. Mr. Aldon James, the director of the National Arts Club, said that someone called and threatened him not to provide a venue for practitioners' exhibition and to cancel the exhibition.
During the opening ceremony, Mr. James said: "We won't yield to any pressure. We always respect and support freedom of expression, and I support people's use of art, not violence, to express their opinions.
James believes that this exhibition is of high quality with a strong message, and thus would attract many people.
The National Arts Club has a history of 156 years. Four U.S presidents, including President Kennedy, were members of this club, and many art masters have exhibited their masterpieces at the club.
October 26, 2004
(Clearwisdom.net)
Procession in parade
The Navajo are a tribe of Native Americans that mainly live in the state of Arizona. From October 14 to October 17, there was a Navajo Fair in Tuba City, Arizona. Falun Gong practitioners were invited to set up a booth and participate in the parade. Practitioners worked together as one body and the result was greater than expected. The following is some sharing of experiences from several practitioners.
A. A Chinese Practitioner in Arizona: Clarifying the truth in Tuba City, Arizona
From October 14 to October 17, there was a Navajo fair in Tuba City, Arizona. Some Arizona Dafa practitioners had attended the Shiprock Navajo fair from September 30 to October 1, and found that the Navajo people were very positive toward Falun Dafa and gratefully accepted our flyers. They shared their experiences with our group, and most of us felt that the Navajo fair in Tuba City would be a good chance for us to introduce Falun Dafa and clarify the truth of the persecution in Northern Arizona. So we decided to go there to attend the parade on October 16, 2004. Some practitioners decided to go there to help local practitioners set up the booth on October 14, 2004.
On October 16, 2004, a group of practitioners from Phoenix, Arizona, drove to Tuba City and joined other practitioners from Los Angeles, Colorado, Utah, Sweden, and Arizona. We worked with other practitioners to prepare the float and the 10am parade. At 10am, the parade began. It was said that more than 100 floats were in the parade and tens of thousands of Navajo people watched it. Some of us held the Falun Dafa banner at the front of our contingent, and the others distributed flyers to the people. The parade took about 2 hours and we walked about 4 miles. We had drummers, fairy dancers, and a beautiful float on which some practitioners demonstrated the five sets of Falun Gong exercises in our troop. Our troop advanced slowly to the music "Falun Dafa is Good", and every rendition of the music "Falun Dafa is Good" and the drummers received loud applaud from the audience. People were very willing to accept our flyers, and even the leader of the Navajo was very happy to accept our flyers.
 Procession |
 Native American of Navajo warmly welcome Falun Gong practitioners' procession |
B. A Western Practitioner from Denver, Colorado: Bringing Dafa to the Navajo Western Fair in Tuba City, Arizona
On October 14-17, 2004, practitioners from five different states and one foreign country (California, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and Sweden) put their coordinated efforts together to bring Dafa to the 2004 Western Navajo Fair in Tuba City, Arizona.
The Navajo and the many other Native American tribes in attendance welcomed us so warmly on every account that we were completely moved by their kindness and hospitality. A local Navajo practitioner there put many of us up in his home and also provided tents in his back yard. We began our coordination of practitioners from five states and one foreign country to support this event. Since Tuba City was in a fairly remote place, this meant a lot of driving time for everyone involved. Those from Los Angeles made plans to drive 8 hours overnight both there and back to save time and money. They brought 30 people for a waist drum team, Chinese dancing ladies and walkers. They also brought 20,000 flyers for the event.
Arizona set up the booth for the event from Thursday to Saturday. Everyone put forth a good effort and made true sacrifices to attend this event. The parade was quite a spectacle to see. Many locals had parked their cars and trucks facing the parade route. Some would sit in the vehicles and some brought chairs to sit in front of the vehicles. Those handing out flyers were very thorough and would make sure to get brochures even to those sitting in the vehicles. By the end of the parade we'd handed out 10,000 flyers.
At the judges' booth, I was handed a microphone and given the opportunity to announce our float. Everyone clapped and welcomed us warmly.
One Navajo family had followed a Chinese practitioner just coming from the Mainland all the way to the end of the parade because they wanted to learn the exercises. After the parade, two practitioners taught them the exercises right on the spot. The Navajo family made many excited comments like, "I feel spinning in my palms! I feel energy! This is just what I was looking for!"
The Navajo welcome Falun Gong
Practitioners practiced the exercises while waiting for their van. From a short distance away an old Navajo man watched us from his trailer. He was elderly and sat in a chair on the porch. We noticed that he began to imitate the group of practitioners while sitting in his chair. A practitioner took him a brochure, although I'm not sure he could read or speak English.
Practitioners from several states set up a booth at the Fair for three days. They made sure to prominently display the Falun symbol, as the many Native American tribes are very familiar with the srivatsa symbol. After WWII, they no longer used it in their art, so its use has since disappeared. They also set the booth up to invite people to learn to make small, paper lotus flowers.
The Native Americans were very curious about the booth and would sometimes wait at a distance and "think it over" before approaching. The first day a whole flock of children came to make lotus flowers. This was a great opportunity to share Falun Dafa with them. The children there were always curious and receptive.
We had a very interesting moment occurring at the booth as well. A Swedish practitioner had the chance to give a flyer to the Navajo President, Joe Shirley. Mr. Shirley took the time to seek out our booth and welcome us to the fair.
Navajo President, Mr. Joe Shirley, appreciates practitioners and has a group photo with them
The Hopi Fair was organized just a couple of miles away from the Navajo Fair. The practitioners noticed that no one was giving any presentations on the stage, so they asked if they could give a dance and exercise demonstration. One Hopi found their president, David, and he said, "Sure!" Then, they asked if they could teach the exercises there as well? Again, they said, "Sure!" The practitioners were surprised to find that many of the Hopis could easily cross their legs in full lotus.
Spreading Dafa at the Hopi Fair. Many people can easily sit in double cross-leg position
We then participated in the Navajo Fair and Pow Wow. The Pow Wow is a great dancing event. All Native American tribes are invited to dress in their ceremonial best and present a traditional dance representing their own people. The dances are performed in a large circle.
Our group was invited to be a part of the great processional before the Pow Wow began, Our Chinese lady dancers came to the area and performed a traditional dance to show respect to the guests. I spoke on the microphone and told the audience how honored we felt to be a part of their Pow Wow event. After the Chinese ladies finished, the Native Americans gave several loud shouts and said, "Can you do another dance?"
Performing Chinese traditional dancing at the Navajo Fair
Next, all the practitioners stepped into the arena. We played the Falun Dafa exercise demonstration and I narrated. After the demonstration, we were presented with a shawl full of money. I was stunned. I didn't know what to do with the money. I asked, "What does this tradition mean, and what is the money for?"
The Master of Ceremonies said, "This is to thank you for coming and for your travel expenses. Now, help me count it!" Apparently, they like to count the money to show the generosity of the gift.
We knew we couldn't accept the money. But, how should we turn them down politely? I asked, "Perhaps you have a local charity that we can give this money to?" They were very pleased with our response and said that the Pow Wow was being sponsored by a local charity. Then, John, from Los Angeles took the microphone and walked into the arena. He thanked everyone for the money and said we were so pleased to be here and to share and exchange cultures. He clearly stated that our practice is free and that we cannot accept money. So, we would be giving the money to their charity. This worked out perfectly. Then all the practitioners handed out brochures to those watching the Pow Wow.
After this, some practitioners stayed to talk with Harry, the local Navajo practitioner. He explained many parallels between the ancient Navajo belief and Falun Dafa. We also found out that when the Navajo hear us say, "Falun Dafa" that what they hear in their own native language is, "Milky Way." He also told me that the traditional Navajo greeting, "Ya'at'eeh" was a greeting that honored your original father and mother who gave birth to you in the cosmos and honored the mother earth who sustains us. We quickly realized that the ancient Navajo language and culture contains many deep spiritual understandings.
We hope for many more historical events for sharing Falun Dafa with the Native Americans and are so grateful to Master for arranging this activity so carefully to reach these precious sentient beings.
(Clearwisdom.net) The ancient German city of Augsburg has 2000 years of cultural heritage and some amazing works of art. This college station is the third largest city in Bavaria, Germany.
On October the 16th 2004, Dafa practitioners held activities which included exercise demonstrations, leaflet distribution, an anti-torture exhibition and Chinese traditional dancing in the centre of Augsburg. The activities were held to enable local residents to get a better understanding of the facts of Falun Gong and to inform them about the brutal suppression of Dafa practitioners who are persecuted because they believe in "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance". Many practitioners from Munich, Heidelberg, Chamer, Ulm and other neighbouring cities came to support the activities.
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  People in succession came to learn about the persecution |
  The brutality revealed by the exhibition shocked the civilians |
  The Falun Gong exercise demonstration |
After watching the anti-torture exhibition, residents of Augsburg were shocked. They attentively viewed the exhibition of photos about the campaign of genocide that has been waged against Falun Gong by former Chinese leader Jiang Zemin and his followers since 1999. Many people took the initiative to sign a petition in support of the lawsuits against Jiang. Also many people asked how they could help. After watching the exercise demonstrations and the traditional Chinese dance performances, people accepted leaflets with delight.
One overseas Chinese person told the practitioners that he used to think that the persecution of Falun Gong in China had nothing to do with him. However, he later started to seriously ponder over the question of Falun Gong. He then started to have doubts about the information provided by China's state-run media and gradually came to understand that he had been fooled by Jiang's deceitful lies. Many Chinese people silently took the truth-clarifying materials offered by the practitioners. But there were still some Chinese who refused to take them. Practitioners said that they would work hard on truth clarification to help more people understand the truth.
Source http://www.clearharmony.net/articles/200410/22776.html
(Clearwisdom.net) On October the 23rd 2004, Grenoble Falun Gong practitioners and some practitioners from Lyon introduced Falun Gong and the persecution against the peaceful practice to citizens in the central square of Grenoble.
For the whole afternoon, practitioners distributed leaflets and collected petition signatures calling for an end to the persecution. Photos of the brutally tortured Falun Gong practitioners in China touched the hearts of many passers-by. Lots of people signed the petition immediately before having long conversations with practitioners. Some of them wanted to know more about Falun Gong while others expressed their regret over the French President's silence on Falun Gong issues during his visit to China.
Demonstrations of the five sets of Falun Gong exercises attracted the interest of many people. Though there is a practice site in Grenoble where people can learn Falun Gong for free, this was the first time that a lot of people had heard about Falun Gong and the persecution.
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Source http://www.clearharmony.net/articles/200410/22777.html
(Clearwisdom.net) On October the 23rd and 24th, a Health Expo was held in a conference center in Karlstad. Many enterprises and organizations from Sweden and its neighboring countries set up their stands at the exposition.
The organizers of the exposition already knew about Falun Gong. They invited Falun Gong practitioners to take part in the expo and introduce Falun Gong to the visitors.
On Sunday, the practitioners were invited to introduce Falun Gong and demonstrate the five sets of exercises on a stage on three different occasions. This attracted the attention of a lot of people. Among the practitioners who demonstrated the exercises were two little practitioners aged seven and three. Their innocent charm and well-practiced exercise movements earned them much admiration from the audience.
Meanwhile one of the practitioners standing on one side of the stage was introducing Falun Gong to the public. He talked about the practice's popularity in over sixty countries, the benefits it has brought to 100 million people's mental and physical well being, and the persecution against Falun Gong in China that has already claimed over 1,000 lives.
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Originally published in Swedish at http://se.clearharmony.net/articles/200410/12258.html
Source http://www.clearharmony.net/articles/200410/22778.html
(Clearwisdom.net) Passau is a sister city of Liuzhou City in China's
Guangxi Province. Since the beginning of the persecution against Falun Gong by
the Jiang faction in 1999, Liuzhou "610 Office," an organization that
was specially set up to persecute Falun Gong practitioners, and the public
security bureau have actively responded. Especially by the end of last year, a
large amount of materials revealing the truth about the persecution has appeared
in Liuzhou. The city's "610 Office" and police have begun arresting,
abducting and controlling Falun Gong practitioners in large numbers again. The
practitioners who are on the blacklist have been shadowed and supervised by
persons specially assigned to the task, and telephone tapping is common. A large
sum of money has been allocated to give awards to those "who have rendered
great service" in persecuting practitioners. The whereabouts of
practitioners Tang Yunsheng, Xue Dongling and some others are unknown.
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On October 9, 2004, local practitioners held an anti-torture exhibition in the center of Passau aiming to raise awareness about the persecution and a sense of justice and conscience from German citizens. Practitioners from Munich, Kam and Hunou came and supported the exhibition. Postcards were sent requesting the mayor to pay attention to the suffering of Falun Gong practitioners in Liuzhou.
The anti-torture exhibition drew the attention of many passers-by immediately when it began. People slowed down and gathered around to view the exhibits. They were shocked at the cruel torture. Many citizens signed their names on postcards addressed to the mayor and petitions to bring Jiang Zemin to justice for his crimes against Falun Gong.
On that day there were a lot of Chinese people passing by. Most of them were willing to accept a leaflet. After two Chinese girls were viewing the anti-torture exhibition for a while, one of them asked coldly whether the practitioner who was made up to be tortured was Chinese or not, and why he was causing the Chinese to lose face. Practitioners told them kindly that what was being displayed was all real and only the tip of the iceberg, which couldn't be compared with the cruel persecution really happening in China. Jiang's group employed the state-controlled media and spread lies slandering Falun Gong. By using a peaceful method, practitioners were telling the truth to the people of the world and calling on the whole world to end the persecution of Falun Gong.
With his personal story of being incarcerated in China, Mr. Chen Gang told the two girls how the Jiang group has persecuted his family members because he believes in Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance, and how the Chinese Embassy in Munich refuses to extend his passport, which has brought him great trouble in both his life and study. As Mr. Chen's mother refuses to sign her name on a guarantee to give up practicing Falun Gong, she has been followed and forced to stay away from home for two years, and she has to leave China and go abroad now. His sister has been arrested and forced to go to brainwashing classes twice. She was harassed constantly by the "610 Office" after she was released. After hearing the facts repeatedly, the two girls changed their hostile attitude and accepted the leaflet about Falun Gong.
Source: http://clearharmony.net/articles/200410/22740.html
(Clearwisdom.net) There are many teachers and students practicing Falun Dafa in Sishih Elementary School in Sishih Township, Tainan County. At the students' meeting on October 21 2004, principal Chung Qishan encouraged promoting Falun Gong in the school so as to improve the health of community residents, teachers, and students, both mentally and physically.
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Here are some experiences shared by the teachers and students:
Kindergarten teacher Lin Shuyuan said that after practicing Falun Gong for eighteen months, she has become more relaxed in interpersonal relationships, and has better immunity to diseases.
She said that she used to become angry at small things, and she kept the anger in her heart. Year after year, her health got worse. But after practicing Falun Gong, she no longer takes annoying things seriously, and with a more peaceful mental state, her health improved. So she is now introducing Falun Gong to her colleagues and is teaching Falun Gong exercises two times daily. Community residents and students learn at 7:00 a.m. to 7:30 a.m., and community residents, teachers, and staff members learn at 4:15 p.m. to 4:45 p.m. Many people are taking the classes enthusiastically. There was a grandmother in the class who had hypertension, and after two months of exercises and study, she was re-checked at the hospital. The doctor asked what she did to reduce her blood pressure so dramatically. She said it was Falun Gong. She said that many residents near the school like Falun Gong very much, too.
 Teacher Lin Shuyuan |
 Teacher Chen Zhiqing |
Teacher Chen Zhiqing benefited from the practice and promoted it in the school.
Chen said he started teaching Falun Gong on campus when the Sports Committee initialized a "double the number of people doing exercises" project. He was previously severely injured in sports training, but Falun Gong restored his health, and he benefited from Falun Gong exercises both mentally and physically, Now he wants more people to benefit from this good exercise.
Several nearby schools began promoting Falun Gong first. After getting approval from the Sports Committee, several Falun Gong practitioners started to teach the exercises at Sishih Elementary School. After doing the exercises for some time, most of the teachers experienced their chronic diseases improving, and students behaved better in school.
As for himself, Mr. Chen Zhiqing said that he sometimes impatient when dealing with the naughty students, and some times scolded and spanked them. But after practicing Falun Gong, he realized these were not good methods so he changed his ways. Now when he sees a student make a bad decision, he first looks within himself to see if he did anything wrong. He also begins to see the students' merits instead of their shortcomings. As a result, the relationship between teachers and students has improved.
First grade teacher Ms. Guo Yajun started to practice Falun Gong because she respected the practitioner teachers:
She said she noticed that a group of teachers were practicing Falun Gong in the school, and that they were very responsible, and handled matters and student affairs well. She thought this was great, and believed that the exercises must be good. Later, her younger sister gave birth to a child and her health was not good. So she thought she could learn the Falun Gong exercises and then teach her sister. Beyond her expectations, after three months she found that some of her annoying gynecological diseases gradually disappeared, and she found her self more tolerant of students and school affairs. Some students also noticed the changes. They said the teacher didn't get angry at them any more and was as patient as an angel.
The students practiced Falun Gong, and the principles of "Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance," and had fewer conflicts with schoolmates and siblings.
 Student Xu Jiarong |
 Other students are interviewed |
Xu has practiced Falun Gong for one year. At first, his mother objected to his doing the exercises, but he continued to practice at school. Gradually his bad temper and bad behavior disappeared, and his health improved.
Li Qianyu said she used to visit the hospital at least once a week, and needed to take medicine each time. After practicing Falun Gong she is stronger and healthier, and no longer needs to see the doctor. Before, she sometimes yelled at classmates, but Falun Gong has changed her and she no longer yells at anyone.
Monday October 25, 2004
Former President Jiang Zemin of China should be prosecuted for crimes against humanity, the University of Dar es Salaam Human Rights Association has said.
In a press statement, the association has also condemned alleged Chinese government secret agents' June 28, 2004 attempted assassination of five Falun Gong practitioners in South Africa.
The attempt resulted in one of the practitioners becoming disabled, David Liang, who narrated his moving story on how he escaped death at the hands of the Chinese agents on Saturday during a public debate held at the campus' Nkrumah Hall in Dar es Salaam.
Liang said the agents trailed them at the Johannesburg International Airport with the explicit aim of killing them.
A two-page statement, signed by the association's president Bahati Tweve, expressed distaste for the persecution of Falun Gong by the Chinese government under the stewardship of Jiang.
The association expressed strong support for Falun Gong in all the legal procedures being undertaken to bring perpetrators to justice.
The statement said the Chinese government allegedly fears the practice of body and mind based on the universal principle of truthfulness, compassion and tolerance.
"The University of Dar es Salaam Human Rights University members support efforts to bring Jiang Zemin to Justice for his crimes against humanity," reads part of the statement.
The association has also written to Dr. Koffi Annan, the Secretary General of the United Nations, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the United Republic of Tanzania, the Chinese Ambassador of Tanzania and the United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva, Switzerland condemning China's crime against humanity.
The Epoch Times
Oct 29, 2004
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NEW YORK - At times, Ms. Wang Yuzhi struggled to read her opening speech. One of her eyes that had been blinded from torture in a Chinese labor camp gave her trouble, forcing her to use a lens to read her statement. At Earl Hall of Columbia University she talked about her new book, Crossing Over Death, - a chronicle of the persecution she faced in China.
Wang was persecuted in China for refusing to give up the meditation practice Falun Gong when it was banned in 1999. She said that she gained a lot from Falun Gong.
"The stock market had gone down, and all my life savings with it. This caused great difficulties for my elderly mother. When I was desperate and pained, someone introduced me to Falun Gong. Through practicing it, I overcame my fear and pain, and went back to work. Eventually, I was able to build a successful business." Falun Gong also helped her recover from her chronic ill health, she said in a statement.
In July of 1999, former Chinese leader, Jiang Zemin - upset at the widespread popularity of the practice - began a state-sponsored persecution of Falun Gong that utilized China's state-controlled media and all branches of China's communist government. Ms. Yuzhi, like millions of others who had benefited from the practice, went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong.
After that, she said, began a horrifying tale of how "people who believed in truthfulness, compassion and tolerance [Falun Gong's principles] were forced to shed blood, tears and their lives for their beliefs."
She was put in a labor camp where a husband was forced to watch his 6-month pregnant wife cuffed by her wrists and dangled in the air - a torture that eventually caused the woman to have a miscarriage. In the same labor camp, a few blocks away from her, a female practitioner was gang-raped by three male criminals.
In a mental hospital she was placed in just before her escape to Canada, she heard a husband sob and cry as he watched his wife being force-fed salt water by police. The wife had refused to give up Falun Gong.
Wang Yuzhi's story is touching and tragic at the same time. Mr. Feng Lin, a Chinese Communist Party history scholar and political commentator, said of the book, "It reminds us that persecution and darkness still exist in today's society, and that sometimes we take our blessings for granted... People say that things [in China] are better, but inside, there's still a lot of persecution, while on the outside, it's all milk and honey."
Among the other speakers, Mr. Zhiyuan Wang - an investigator for the World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong - talked about his organization's attempts to document the deaths of practitioners and how the Chinese Communist Party has expended 25 percent of its national GDP on persecuting Falun Gong--one-third of which, he said, is sustained by foreign investment.
Mr. Tianliang Zhang, China Affairs Columnist for The Epoch Times (Chinese
edition), said, "In Ms. Wang Yuzhi's book, you will read about persecution,
but nowhere do you see hatred against the persecutors. The compassion shown by
Falun Gong practitioners towards their persecutors is a first in history."
Ms. Wang Yuzhi's book Crossing Over Death is currently available only in
Chinese.
http://english.epochtimes.com/news/4-10-29/24026.html
(Clearwisdom.net) Falun Dafa practitioner Mr. Song Wenhua, 56, was a resident in Tonghua City, Jilin Province. Mr. Song Wenhua was an employee of the Tonghua City railroad transportation system. In October 2004, Song Wenhua was tortured to death at Chaoyanggou Forced Labor Camp in Changchun City, Jilin Province.
In 2003, when Song Wenhua was clarifying the truth about Falun Gong at Hulutao Town, Tonghua County (a suburb of Tonghua City), employees of the town government arrested him and he was sentenced to 2 years of forced labor. Mr. Song was sent to Chaoyanggou Forced Labor Camp. According to a reliable source, his health condition deteriorated starting in March of 2004. Three or four medical examinations revealed that Mr. Song had come down with tuberculosis and some other diseases. More seriously, it was also found that body fluid had accumulated, filling 80% of one side of his lungs.
This was a life-threatening condition: Mr. Song could die any minute. Li Fei, a medical doctor who works for the labor camp, said, "If Song dies, the labor camp will not assume responsibility." Therefore, Song Wenhua's family members asked the labor camp to release him for medical treatment. The labor camp refused, stating that they lacked authority to release him. The family members then petitioned those with the purported authority. They said it was the labor camp's problem. The authorities passed the buck back and forth.
Eventually, the forced labor camp authorities told the family members that visitations were not permitted. He was not even given nutritious food. Some official from the labor camp bellowed, "We don't take care of the old and sick. We also won't release him as long as he is still alive. If he is dying, we will carry him outside the labor camp's gate at the last minute so he can die outside. Then his death will not be counted as 'tortured to death by the labor camp.'" Although Son Wenhua suffered from life threatening diseases, resulting in an extremely weak body, he was denied medical care, medication and nutritious food. In addition, the depraved people forced him to do hard physical labor daily.
For more than 10 days, Song Wenhua was feverish, with a temperature above 39o C (102.2 o F). He was unable to take any sustenance for 4 or 5 days. His eyesight became blurred and his hearing deteriorated. The forced labor camp personnel did not report Mr. Song's situation to their supervisors. Therefore, he did not receive the necessary medical treatment on time.
By the time his family members were allowed to visit him, Mr. Song was unable to take care of himself, and he had become emaciated. On October 8, 2004, after about 18 months of torture, the labor camp released him. By that time, his condition was irreversible. No medical treatment could save his life. On the ninth day after Song Wenhua returned home (October 17, 2004), he left this world having suffered great injustice.
Chaoyanggou Forced Labor Camp is directly responsible for Song Wenhua's death for the following reasons:
10/25/2004
(Clearwisdom.net) In September 2001, Falun Dafa practitioner Ms. Su Baolan died from being persecuted. She was from Shirenpuo Village, Shidui Town, Anqiu City, Shandong Province. Her son, Han Zhihui, who is still in high school, survived her.
Information On the Child
Name: Han Zhihui
Age: 16
Home address: Shirenpuo Village, Shidui Town, Anqiu City, Shandong Province
School: Qinyun High School, Anqiu City
Han Zhihui is an 11th-grade student at Qinyun High School, Anqiu City. He was devastated when his mother died. In the fall of 2003, his father, Han Mengqing, remarried a woman with a 13-year-old daughter. Since then, Han Zhihui has been mistreated and abused by his stepmother. By this time his situation has become even more intolerable.
Han Zhihui has been denied adequate care and support, even though his father cares about him and has a secure source of income, as his family owns a chicken farm. However, his stepmother makes decisions on everything. During the spring semester of 2004, his stepmother only gave him 60 yuan for living expenses and refused to take care of any other expenses. The cost of school supply and other expenses are at least several thousand yuan a semester. Han Zhihui's grandmother gave him another 60 yuan. But his grandmother does not have any source of income herself. She is heartbroken and often cries, having to see the mistreatment of her grandson.
Information on the Death of Ms. Su Baolan
Han Zhihui's mother, Su Baolan, was from Shirenpuo Village, Shidui Town, Anqiu City. She was born in 1964, and died in September 2001 at the age of 37.
Ms. Su firmly believed in Falun Dafa and the principles Truthfulness, Compassion, and Tolerance. On October 11, 1999, she and five other family members (father, mother, two sisters, and a young nephew of a sister) went to Beijing to clarify the truth about Falun Gong. They were unlawfully detained at Anqiu City Detention Center for 45 days, during which time, they suffered all kinds of tortures, forced labor, and brainwashing.
Subsequently, Su was many times unlawfully arrested and detained at the Shidui Town, Anqiu City police station. Because she refused to renounce Falun Gong, she was sent to the brainwashing center established by the "610 Office" in Anqiu City. Even after 30 days of torture, she did not give in. She was then transferred to Anqiu Detention Center. At the detention center, Su and other Falun Dafa practitioners went on a hunger strike to protest the persecution. Several days later, she left Anqiu Detention Center with righteous thoughts.
In February 2001, given intolerable circumstances, Su became homeless. She wandered from place to place to avoid being further persecuted. In August 2001, after she had returned home to see her parents, husband and child, the police and "610 Office" of Anqiu City arrested her. She was sent again to the brainwashing center in Anqiu City and suffered further persecution. Ms. Su became more and more steadfast and mature, despite her continued persecution. Because she refused to renounce the practice, the police and officials at "610 Office" intensified the persecution. One month later, Su Baolan's body was found at Sanhe Village, Anqiu Town, Anqiu City.
For details of Su Baolan's death, please see http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2002/10/22/27847.html
(Clearwisdom.net) Ever since his arrest in March, practitioner Zhang Peiqi of Anntu County, Jilin City, has endured severe torture, which resulted in two broken legs. Lawless personnel in Anntu County still refuse to release him.
About 5 a.m. on March 20, 2004, the Anntu County "610 Office" in Jilin City arrested Mr. Zhang Peiqi and Kao Changsuo and detained them in the Anntu County Anti-Riot Patrol Division. Afterwards, personnel from the National Security Team of the Public Security Office of Anntu County, including Shen Jingzhu (head of the team), Jin Zhenshan, Yu Xue, Gao Bo and others, took Mr. Zhang to the Heigou Gold Factory/Mine (a hidden place that is not easily spotted) in the Liangjiang District of Anntu County to interrogate and cruelly torture him for seven days and nights. During that time, the perpetrators kept him tied to a Tiger Bench and used several-inch-wide hard rubber hoses and wooden sticks to brutally beat him. They stuck a burning cigarette up his nose. Zhang Peiqi passed out several times, and every time they poured cold water over him to revive him. Tan Guangming from the Haigou Gold Mine also participated in torturing Mr. Zhang.
Seven days later, after seeing that Mr. Zhang's body had been severely injured and afraid that he might die, the National Security Team stopped torturing him. Mr. Zhang was sent to Anntu County Detention Center. According to a reliable source, while four men carried Mr. Zhang into a prison cell, it was noticed that he had been so brutally tortured that there was no uninjured spot on his body, and both of his legs were completely swollen and bruised - it was a horrific sight. All twenty-plus inmates in the prison cell can testify to this fact.
Because of his injuries, Mr. Zhang could not walk normally. He was completely bedridden. He needed others' help when he washed his face or used the bathroom. The National Security Team interrogated him several times and every time someone had to carry him there and back.
After learning about all the terrible things that had happened to him, Mr. Zhang's family went to the Political Law Committee and Public Security Office to request Mr. Zhang's release. The perpetrators claimed that Mr. Zhang was in good shape, that nothing had happened to him, and that they would not release him. His children requested to see him, but the perpetrators used all sorts of excuses to deny their request. Mr. Zhang's family then asked the authorities to write a statement guaranteeing that Mr. Zhang was indeed unharmed, or else the authorities had to take responsibility for the consequences. The perpetrators then threw Mr. Zhang's family out of the office.
In July the court notified Mr. Zhang's family about his hearing. The litigant requested a defense lawyer pending the family members' decision. Mr. Zhang's family hired a lawyer who interviewed him. The lawyer told Mr. Zhang's family that both of Mr. Zhang's legs were indeed disabled. Mr. Zhang made a request to file a lawsuit against the National Security Team for interrogating him using severe torture methods that broke both of his legs. The lawyer said that the lawsuit should be submitted directly to the court, and he did not need to go through a lawyer, so the episode came to an end.
At the end of August, Mr. Zhang's family went to the Public Security Office and requested to see Mr. Zhang. Someone had to carry Mr. Zhang out. The perpetrators intimidated his family by saying that the court's decision had been handed out and the papers said the sentence was for five years. The family members heard that Mr. Zhang was first sent to Jilin City, where he was rejected. He was then detained in Yanji Forced Labor Camp. After that, he was sent back to Anntu.
Currently, Mr. Zhang is still being detained in the Anntu Detention Center.
(Clearwsidom.net) Officers from the Songjiang Police Department took taxies to practitioners' homes to ransack their homes and search for Falun Gong books. Once they found the books, they would arrest the practitioners. More than 40 practitioners were arrested and are now being detained in the Songjiang Police Department. Wang Jiang, the police department's political security section supervisor, is highly committed to the persecution. Since July 20, 1999 he has been following Jiang's regime to persecute Falun Gong practitioners relentlessly. Several articles on the Minghui website have exposed his crimes. His classmates, friends and colleagues have clarified the truth to him, yet he continues to commit crimes.
Chen Qiang from the Songjiang Police Department, Liu Jiemin from the 2nd Police Department and Sun Bingren and Feng Guozhu from the 1st Police Department are also involved in the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners.
Phone numbers:
Wang Jiang: 86-13514386566 (Cell), 86-438-6276782 (Office), 86-438-6224593
(Home)
Mayor of Songyuan City: 86-438-12345
Songyuan City Police Department: 86-438-2122393, 86-438-2124094, 86-438-2116878,
86-13604380668 (Cell)
Chief of Songyuan City Police Department: 86-438-2123183
Songyuan City 1st Police Station: 86-438-3123622
Chief of Songyuan City 1st Police Department: 86-438-6130800
Liu Dianbin, Deputy Chief of Ningjiang 1st Police Department:
86-438-3123701(Office), 86-438-3130000 (Home), 86-13904381438 (Cell)
Yang Ruiming, Chief of Ningjiang 1st Police Department: 86-438-3122274(Office),
86-438-3720589 (Home), 86-13804387475 (Cell)
Xin Xiangyang of Songyuan City Detention Center: 86-4383138069 (Home),
86-13019146718 (Cell)
Songyuan City Ningjiang 2nd Police Department: 86-438-2130998
Petroleum Chemical Co. Police Station: 86-438-2180808
October 3, 2004
(Clearwisdom.net) A recently released practitioner has revealed many facts about the torture of practitioners by the guards at the Tuanhe Forced Labor Camp in Beijing.
The Third Division of the Tuanhe Labor Camp used a technique called "sitting facing the wall" to physically and mentally torture practitioners. "Sitting facing the wall" requires practitioners to sit absolutely straight with their faces towards the wall, their knees against the wall, and their eyes only a few inches away from the wall. They must not move or close their eyes or glance sideways. Inmates monitor the practitioners.
Just because practitioner Gao Changze shouted, "Falun Dafa is good" when out for exercise in July 2004, the authorities extended his term by three months on September 8. He is now in the Fifth Class of the Third Division. He is forced to sit daily with his face to the wall, monitored by two inmates.
Practitioner Jia Shouxin was punished by being made to sit with his face to the wall because he refused to give up his belief. Two inmates monitored him.
Because practitioner Zhang Lixin refused to give up his belief, the camp authorities gave him a warning on September 8, 2004, telling him he had violated the regulations. They forced him to sit with his face to the wall in the hallway and cancelled his family's visits.
"Sitting facing the wall" is a physical punishment and mental torment for practitioners. It is a particularly insidious and mentally cruel torment. Any slight deviation from any of the stipulations could invoke sarcasm or abuse from inmates or collaborators (former practitioners who have gone astray due to brainwashing and torture). These practitioners might even get beaten up or kicked.
Practitioners who were frequently subjected to this kind of persecution between 2002 and 2003 include Liu Wei, Zhao Hui, Li Qiaosong, Qian Shiguan, Li Wei, Liu Quanwang, Sun Zhigang, Liu Jiankai, Wang Hongli and others.
Inmates Di Xinwen, Wei Hongtao, Yin Guozhe and others are the main forces behind this kind of gross abuse. The guards incited them to persecute the practitioners.
Information regarding the Concentrated Training Team
Before March 2, 2004, the practitioners were treated even more cruelly inside the labor camp. Each cell held only one practitioner. The doors and windows were covered with newspaper to isolate them from the outside world. Practitioners were tied onto a bed and monitored by inmates. No contact or talk was permitted between inmates in the same cell to avoid disclosure of who was held in which cell. Messages were strictly forbidden. Beatings, verbal abuse and electric shock happened every now and then. No drinking water was provided, and toilet times were limited. Only one piece of cornbread was allowed per meal. The bread was purposely put outdoors in the winter so it would freeze before being served for dinner. In other seasons, the cornbread was purposely put in the microwave until it turned hard and burned. No water was given at meals. Those practitioners on a hunger strike were force-fed through an inserted tube.
During the 2004 Spring Festival, guard Zhao Jiang and others killed practitioner Peng Guangjun. Many people in the labor camp knew about this incident. After March 2, 2004, there were many changes: the Concentrated Training Team was reorganized into an independent team. From team leader to inmates, most people were replaced; rules forbid the use of electric batons to punish the detainees; the newspaper was removed from the windows and doors; cornbread is no longer part of the meal. Everything was restored to "normal." By July 23, practitioners could even go downstairs, taking turns, to have some outdoor activities, and the director of the labor camp often led people to inspect the camp conditions.
On July 23, 2004, the Concentrated Training Team was disbanded and changed to the Eighth Division. Those practitioners who were supposed to be put in Concentrated Training were transferred to the Concentrated Training Team in the Dispatch Division for Forced Labor in Beijing. There, all the confinement cells are small. The persecution was even more brutal.
Practitioners in the Tuanhe Labor Camp who were continuously persecuted from March 2, 2004, to July 23, 2004, include Wen Jizhong, Zhang Jiuhai, Tian Enze, Li Hailin, Bai Shaohua and others.
Wen Jizhong, who has been imprisoned for a long time, suffered a lot.
Zhang Jiuhai and Tian Enze were put into the Concentrated Training Team for refusing to write the four statements guaranteeing to give up Falun Gong. The camp authorities said, "They are normal transfers."
Zhao Jiang and others guards didn't allow practitioner Li Hailing to sleep and kept him up until 2:00 a.m. for refusing to yield. When he refused to endure further persecution in the office, Zhao hit his face and knocked out two of his teeth. He was given a "warning punishment" after being brutally beaten. Later he was sent to the Concentrated Training Team for one month. When they sent him over, the labor camp head Li Jing, Ni Zhenxiong and others followed.
Bai Shaohua refused to yield. The guards then came up with a malicious idea: they told him to wait outside the main door. But if anyone passes through that main door, he is considered to be trying to escape. As soon as Bai Shaohua went through the door, a gang of guards jumped out, pushed him down, and beat him with their fists and kicked him. He was punished as an escapee, put into concentrated training for one month, and transferred to the Concentrated Training Team.
On July 23, 2004, Wen Jizhong and Bao Shaohua were transferred to the First Division. Tian Enze and Li Hailin were transferred back to the Third Division.
Li Hailin, Tian Enze and Zhang Jiuhai's terms were over, and they were allowed to return home. Wen Jizhong and Bai Shaohua are still suffering in the First Division. Bai's term is up in October.
Li Hailin has been beaten during his incarceration in the Concentrated Training Team. The guards have also ordered him to sit still and not close his eyes, limited his toilet visits, restricted his drinking water and baths, forbid phone calls to his family, and monitored him all the time.
In the Concentrated Training Team, the guards were very cruel. They controlled the use of the toilet and amounts of drinking water for inmates and former practitioners. They weren't allowed to talk to each other and were threatened with no reduction of their terms if they didn't "reform" Falun Gong practitioners. They were encouraged to vent their anger at "Falun Gong." In the summer, no fans are allowed in the rooms. Except for going to the toilet, eating, drinking and washing all take place in the same room. The inmates were encouraged to "surround Falun Gong like a wall." The authorities hoped that, by exerting covert pressure on the practitioners, they would achieve their goal of making them renounce their belief. They often used deception to dupe and swindle.
(Clearwisdom.net) On April 9, 2004, I was illegally arrested and sent to the Nanmusi Women's Forced Labor Camp for the third time. Six other Dafa practitioners were arrested at the same time. The two male practitioners were sent to the Xinhua Forced Labor Camp in Mianyang City, Sichuan Province. On the way to the forced labor camps, we shouted, "Falun Dafa is good" and "Falun Dafa is righteous."
I was sent to Division Seven in the camp. The division head, Zhang Xiaofang, immediately started hurling insults at me.
Since I refused to follow orders and didn't pay any attention to the verbal abuse, the guards subjected me to all kinds of physical and mental torture. During the day, I was forced to sit on the cement floor by the bed. I had to hold up my arms so they could be handcuffed to the bed frame. I was forced to sit with my legs together and stretched straight out in front of me. I was not allowed to move my body the slightest bit. Six people took turns monitoring me around the clock. If I moved or bent my legs even a little bit, the monitors would kick my legs or simply stomp on them. When I tried to clarify the truth to the guards, they stuffed dirty socks into my mouth. The torturers sat on the bed while I sat on the ground so they could kick my head and face or slap my face whenever they felt like it.
I was tortured in many different ways. I was forced to squat down with my arms handcuffed to the bed frame. Burning incense was placed under me so that if I moved at all, I was burned by the incense. One day, the incense burned a hole in my pants.
I wasn't allowed to brush my teeth or wash my face, let alone take a shower. They would only allow me to use the restroom once a day, and sometimes I wasn't even given toilet paper to use. After a while, I began to stink. For this, the guards laughed at me and humiliated me. Since they didn't allow me to go to the restroom, I had to urinate and have bowel movements in my room. Excrement was left on the bed and ground. They would beat me severely and then make me take off my clothes to use them to wipe up the excrement. My clothes were then thrown in the trash bin. I was left wearing only a tank top and underpants as all my other clothing was eventually thrown away.
After being handcuffed all day long, I wasn't even allowed to rest at night. I was forced to lie on my back, and was not allowed to turn over or move at all. I had to stretch my arms straight out behind me so I could be handcuffed to the bed frame. Six people monitored me in turn; they would severely beat me if I moved my body even a little bit.
During that time, as well as sending forth righteous thoughts and reciting Falun Dafa books to myself, I would clarify the true nature of Falun Dafa to the people monitoring me. The guards deliberately found reasons to beat me and curse at me while I was handcuffed to the bed. My belief in Dafa never wavered. After 14 days, I was made to pluck the bristly hair from pig skins. They told me that I had to pluck 3000 Jin (about 3300 pounds) of pig skins. If I didn't finish my quota in time, my sentence would be extended. I worked until two or three o'clock in the morning and still had to get up at six o'clock. Even with just a few hours of sleep, I was still forced to stretch my arms straight out to be handcuffed to the bed frame. While I was working, I was still not allowed to use the restroom, brush my teeth, wash my face, or take a shower.
When I was plucking the hair from the pigskins, the guards found other opportunities to beat me. When I completed a pig skin, they wouldn't allow me to hand it in myself. They took the piece I had just finished outside and brought back a partially plucked piece and then yelled, "You didn't do a good job. You have to do it again." Thus, they created a reason to punish me. They purposely cut my hair so it looked like a dog had bitten off chunks of my hair. The guards put some loose bristles on my head and told me not to move. If any of the bristles fell I was severely beaten.
One day I realized that I should not let the guards abuse me anymore and that I needed to negate the persecution. One night, when it was time to go to bed, I told them, "I don't want to sleep tonight. I'd like to continue working. You have to stay up too so you can monitor me." After that, they restrained themselves a bit.
Nanmusi Forced Labor Camp used brutal torture methods on practitioners who refused to give in to the cruelty. From the Division head to police guards and prisoners who monitored practitioners, they all acted like hatchet men. Division head Zhang Xiaofang started beating prisoners at 6:00 a.m.. When she became fatigued, she would have her staff or other prisoners continue the beatings. During my four-month stay there, I endured frequent beatings, scoldings from prisoners, being hit, kicked, and slapped on the face by Zhang Xiaofang, Supervisor Wang, police officer Gao, officer Lan, and officer Li. Zhang Xiaofang is especially vicious. Many prisoners in Division Seven would tremble with fear just hearing Zhang's voice.
There is a small room in Division Seven. I never saw the door open, but often heard people crying out in misery, thugs yelling, and the sound of bodies being beaten coming from that room.
Since my hands were hung up in handcuffs for such long periods of time, I lost all sensation and the ability to move them. Eventually, I couldn't eat any more, so the police guards started to force-feed me with heavily salted water. They poured in too much salty water and had to send me to the emergency room for treatment. During this treatment, I still wasn't allowed to use the restroom. I had to urinate in bed and was beaten even while in the hospital. After four months of torture, I lost the ability to move. Seeing that no torture method could sway me, the police were afraid that I might be seen as a role model by the 'transformed' practitioners and influence their behavior. They reluctantly released me for medical treatment, and on September 9, 2004, I returned home.
(Clearwisdom.net) I will never forget the year 1997, because that was the year I embarked on the path of cultivation and began to practice Falun Dafa. Similar to the experiences of other practitioners, I found the practice improved me greatly in every respect.
When I began to practice Falun Gong I was in the fourth grade. On the first test I took after learning Falun Dafa, instead of scoring near the bottom of the class as I usually did, my grade was in the top ten. To my parents, and especially my teachers, this was nothing short of a miracle, and of course I told them with pride and gratitude, "I practice Falun Gong!" All my classmates clapped their hands, hailing the miracle of Falun Gong. I knew clearly that without Falun Dafa, I would not have experienced such a miracle.
On July 20, 1999, the evil persecution started, and it was as if it eclipsed the sky and covered the earth. During this test of wills I came to understand that the evil would never triumph over the virtuous, so I vowed to persist in my belief, standing by Teacher's side and dwelling in Dafa (the Great Law). When the persecution began on July 20th, I was in the fifth grade. I was summoned to the principal's office. Several policemen were present in the office and they asked me many questions, including why I wanted to practice Falun Gong. I answered all their questions honestly.
Despite learning that Falun Gong is so wonderful, the policemen ordered me not to practice, and I told them sternly and righteously, "It's my right to practice Falun Dafa, and no one is in a position to prevent me from acting according to my beliefs."
I knew the value of Dafa and I knew that worldly people would not know that they should cherish Dafa. At his wits end, the principal said, "If Falun Gong is as miraculous as you have said, then show me by advancing into the top three in your class." I really didn't know if I was capable of achieving that goal, but I felt a power rushing through me and out of my mouth came the words: "Yes, I can!"
After the exams I was in fact listed in the top three, and all the teachers in my school had no choice but to acknowledge the miracle of Falun Dafa. I knew clearly that it was Teacher who helped me. This incident is proof of the greatness of Falun Dafa, and to this day, it is still a favorite topic among the teachers of my school.
Since I started practicing Falun Gong, I have never been ill, and people just can't believe how healthy I am.
After July 20th, 1999, I began to clarify the truth about Falun Gong to the public; in the evening I went out to distribute pamphlets. When I first started I was afraid of the dark and dared not walk alone. When I compared my troubles with the suffering of my fellow practitioners in jail, I knew that what I faced was really nothing. Isn't this fear an attachment? If it is, then shouldn't I let it go? I also realized that we practitioners are protected by Teacher's Fashen (Law Bodies). When I enlightened to this, my fear disappeared.
In school I gave truth-clarification materials and cards to my classmates. When they refused to take them, I knew it was because they were deceived by the lies spread on television and through other media, and I would calmly explain the truth to them. Before I learned Falun Gong I was very impatient. Through the process of clarifying the truth, I not only let people know about the wonderfulness of Falun Dafa, but I also gave up my bad habit of being impatient. I knew I was advancing in many ways.
Since learning Falun Gong, I have always held the principles of "Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance" as my standard of action; therefore, I get along very well with my classmates. Because they know me, they listen to me and believe me in any circumstance. So it's only natural for them to believe in Falun Dafa. Whenever they hear people saying bad things about Falun Dafa, they stand up and tell them that Falun Gong is not like what has been said on television. The things my classmates have done have actually reduced the obstacles for me in clarifying the truth to the people around me.
When I hear other people slander Falun Dafa I feel sadness and deep regret for them. Like other practitioners, I keep sending forth righteous thoughts to eliminate the evil things that influence these people. I know that the days of the evil are numbered.
More and more people have begun to believe in Falun Gong's goodness and many others have begun practicing. I will persevere in practicing Falun Dafa, and I will walk every step well, while closely following Teacher.
(Clearwisdom.net) I had the enormous good fortune to attend Teacher's Falun Dafa lectures and exercise classes starting July 16, 1993 held in the Electricity Union's Culture Museum in Qiqihar City, Heilongjiang Province. I also attended Teacher's lecture before the class and learned that the reason I had practiced other qigong for many years was to prepare my mind to be able to understand and accept Falun Dafa and then to start my cultivation practice in Falun Dafa.
At first, there were not many people attending the class, but the number of students increased each day. All of the additional students were drawn to the class by word of mouth. Even on the fifth day of the class, there were many new students. Teacher looked like a young man in his 20's at the time, yet appeared to be incredibly composed, kind, and respectable. Throughout the class I sat in the first row. I had a tough time learning the third exercise (Penetrating the Two Cosmic Extremes) because I had poor hand coordination. When Teacher noticed my problem, he stepped down from the podium and put his hands over mine to teach me the exercises. Teacher was such a kind man, I thought.
When the class was coming to an end, every student wrote an experience report. I knew I had benefited enormously from Teacher. For example, two days before the class began, I saw a Falun continuously rotating right in front of me at home. I didn't understand the meaning of it until the question and answer session following the class. Teacher explained that he had sent out many Falun on his way to Qiqihar to help people with predestined relationships to attend the Falun Dafa lectures. I had attended many types of qigong classes in the past for which I paid a lot of tuition, but I did not learn anything at all. In contrast, Falun Dafa's lectures and exercise classes were inexpensive and affordable, but offered many days of class. I felt from the bottom of my heart that Teacher really came to Qiqihar to teach us Falun Dafa and not to make a profit. After the class, I ran into Teacher in the corridor outside the auditorium, and I handed my experience report to Teacher respectfully with both hands.
The weather in northeastern China at the end of July was very dry and warm. Teacher did not ask for anything to drink. Every day Teacher brought his own water to class, and he brought only one cup of water. My honorable and respectable Teacher!
The last class ended around 8:30 p.m. The students did not want to leave. They followed Teacher closely, all the way to the door, asking him for his autograph. It was raining outside. Teacher had to stand at the door and give autographs under the dim streetlight. Because there were so many students asking for Teacher's signature, the Falun Gong practitioners accompanying Teacher called out loudly, "Teacher has to catch a ride to hurry to another place. Please make way for Teacher." None of us knew at the time that a van was waiting for Teacher to drive him to Beijing for the next Falun Dafa lecture class starting on July 25 at the Public Security Auditorium with more than 2,000 students. Each time I remember this moment, I cannot help crying. I am immensely touched and thankful to Teacher for the difficulties he endured and overcame in order to teach us Falun Dafa.
(Clearwisdom.net) My name is Liao Shuhui and I am a Falun Dafa practitioner from Taiwan. Ten years ago, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. My condition stabilized after surgery and painful chemotherapy. After ten years, I thought it was gone for good. Unfortunately, the cancer moved to my bones, and my spine suffered serious damage. It was so painful, I could neither stand nor sit. Even lying down for a long time was painful.
It might have been because one year ago, things that happened in my family that depressed me tremendously. I tried to seek comfort in religions. However, deep in my heart, I could not let go. It was at this time that the illnesses sneaked up on me. It reminded me of the Chinese saying that misfortunes never come alone.
Then it was more tests, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy, which alleviated my pain to some extent, but I was so weak that I could only lie in bed all day. Due to nerve problems in my fingers, I could not even hold chopsticks, and I needed to be fed. Life seemed so meaningless. I was a terminal patient and it was so hopeless. At that time, I would rather die earlier so I wouldn't have to suffer.
My family is small and my parents live far away in the south. During the day while my husband went to work and my children went to school, I felt so lonely, as if I were on an isolated island, waiting for them to come home in the evening and help me put on my back support and get me on my wheel chair to go to the park.
It was like this day in and day out. One morning, I said to myself, "I cannot go on like this." So I picked myself up, and walked with a cane, slowly to a park. It took me ten minutes to get to the park, which normally took 3 minutes. I found a place to sit down and heard some beautiful music. Following the music, I saw a group of people practicing, looking very peaceful with light movements. I was so excited. At this time, Ms. Jiang came over and asked if I would like to join them. I told her that I have serious illnesses and I was afraid that I would not be able to do it. She said kindly, "Don't worry." I have always been interested in Buddha teachings and Qigong, and this practice has both of them and it was free. I gave it a try.
The five exercises were very easy to learn. What was more important was to cultivate one's heart, measuring oneself by the universal characteristic of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance. We needed to get rid of our attachments to self, jealousy and when conflicts happen, look inward. If we could do that, we would achieve a peaceful mind and good health. Our Teacher specifically taught us not to be involved in politics, and not to treat patients. Through our own cultivation, we would achieve good health.
Since then, I got up early every day to go to the park to practice with others. Once in a while, I skipped a day due to my laziness. It was an open door. No one was keeping an eye on you. Other practitioners only encouraged you to do better. Cultivation is really from your heart. No one can force you to do so. After I practiced for 10 days, I was able to walk to Ms. Lu's home to watch the nine-day lectures. All practitioners there clapped for me. I went to the hospital for a checkup once a month. The doctor said that I looked really well. I told him that I was practicing Falun Gong. He asked, "Could you teach me?" My cancer index has been reduced from 517 to 17 (the normal range is below 30). I was able to hold chopsticks again and now I can do housework and even write.
After I learned Falun Dafa, and following the guidance of the Teacher to improve my moral character at all times, I have become happier. I do not blame other people and do not get upset or depressed when things do not happen the way I want. Witnessing my improvement physically and mentally, my husband's bad temper also improved. We are a very happy family now.
I don't understand why such a great practice is being persecuted in China by the authorities. Had it not been for my illness, I may not have had the opportunity to learn this great practice and get to know the true purpose of life. How could I ever imagine that my misfortune could lead to something so great?
(Clearwisdom.net) People in China think differently from those in other countries. Concepts generally accepted in western societies such as human rights, freedom, and democracy are often considered less important in China. Prolonged living under the oppressive dictatorship's regime causes people's standards of what is right and wrong to warp. This, plus mentalities of always protecting oneself, creates in people's minds a great deal of difficulty in accepting the truth about Falun Gong. I hope that the Clearwisdom.net can have a question and answer section that allows practitioners to post questions and provide solutions to the problems we encounter when clarifying the facts.
Following are a few questions that I have encountered:
1. Falun Gong is good, but it involves politics.
2. Falun Gong disturbs the order of the society.
3. Let us leave it to history to decide whether it is right or wrong.
4. All exercises are good for the health. Falun Gong is not unique in this.
5. What benefit would Falun Gong bring to me?
6. Some practitioners were detained for a long period of time. Some people felt that although the detainment is illegal, maybe there were some special circumstances that may warrant it.
7. Since the government prohibits it, why not just stop the practice? Why insist on appealing to the government?
8. People have weak judicial concepts. They think as long as the government said so or if it is shown on TV, then it is the law and is the intention of the government. If it says on TV that one should not practice, then one should stop the practice accordingly.
I feel that there are no standard answers to these questions. Everyone may think differently. Just because one person agrees with you does not mean others will too.
The following are some of the questions I have personally encountered and the answers I provided for them.
1) Is the fact that many diseases are cured a placebo effect?
On TV, they tried very hard to deny the effect of the Falun Gong exercises: "When a person strongly believes in the exercise, a situation called the placebo effect may take place which makes the patient think that his illness is cured. In reality it was not cured." It sounds reasonable. But if one thinks about it a bit more carefully, one would find this is not so. When a person is sick, the first thing he does is to see a doctor. If the doctor cannot cure it, or if doctors do not have good ways to cure it, such as with hypertension or diabetes, then he would try a qigong practice such as Falun Gong. This is almost always the case. In the beginning, everyone is just giving it a try. When their illnesses are cured through practicing, then they will believe it. There is no such thing as believing it strongly before one even begins to practice. As a matter of fact, in the process of practicing, the illness gradually disappears and many practitioners who were still attending the doctor regularly found that their blood pressure gradually lowered; thus, there it is not at all like the placebo effect. On the contrary, the hospitals are more likely to have a placebo effect since normally illnesses are cured in a hospital rather than through Qigong practice. The medical procedures in a clinic are much more likely to create a placebo effect. Even then the power of the placebo is limited. The hospitals still rely primarily on drugs.
2) Is the effect of practicing Falun Gong truly that miraculous? Many drug advertisements are false.
Many people do not believe the healing power of Falun Gong. Some say: "Look at the drug advertisements. Don't some of them have claims that are just as miraculous?" Indeed, many advertisements exaggerate a great deal, which causes people to become more and more skeptical. In reality the healing process through practicing Falun Gong and the healing process by taking drugs are totally different. Healing by practicing Falun Gong comes through true improvement in a person's mind and body, while taking drugs only focuses on the surface level of the human body to remove the symptoms. The two are quite different. Furthermore, the purpose for an advertisement is to sell more drugs and is profit-oriented. Some people in today's society will do anything for a profit. Some even make fake drugs. It is easy to understand why people make false advertisements. But Falun Gong is teaching people to follow the principle of "Truthfulness, Compassion, and Tolerance." It will by no means tell people to do things that will harm others. Anyone can learn it free of charge. No one is going to gain any profit from it. Practitioners spread the message that Falun Gong is great out of their kindness. They will not make a penny by doing this.
The above is my own understanding. Your comments will be appreciated.
(Clearwisdom.net) During the past several years, many Falun Dafa practitioners in mainland China have been severely persecuted, and many have experienced enormous losses. Some lost money through extortion, some were deprived of work, some were forced to leave home, and some were discriminated against at their workplace and were unable to receive the benefits that they deserved. For these things, some practitioners passively forbear, and some think practitioners should not be attached to money and property, thus letting it be. We should look at this issue from the perspective of Fa-rectification. This is part of the persecution arranged by the old forces. Dafa disciples should oppose it, and maintain a basic human living environment.
In "Fa-Rectification and Cultivation" (Essentials for Further Advancement II), Teacher said,
"During the Fa-rectification, Dafa disciples have a different situation from when personal cultivation was done in the past. In the face of the groundless harming, in the face of the persecution of Dafa, and in the face of the injustice forced upon us, we cannot handle things or categorically accept things as before in personal cultivation, because Dafa disciples are now in the Fa-rectification period. If a problem isn't caused by our own attachments or mistakes, then it must be that the evil is interfering or doing bad things."
Having a normal job and life in the everyday society while cultivating, is a way left by Teacher for cultivators. Practitioners should follow this path. After the persecution started, many practitioners' regular work and life were affected, and some even lost their jobs. For a practitioner as an individual, this is interference to personal cultivation and validation of the Fa. If many practitioners have this problem, it is an attack targeting Falun Dafa as a whole and the Fa-rectification. If a practitioner is unable to have a normal job or life, or experiences enormous financial loss, it can be hard for an everyday person to understand it, which might lead to family conflicts. This is an issue of failing to harmonize well in the level of everyday society. Moreover, the Fa-rectification period is different from ordinary cultivation. If more practitioners were unable to have a normal work or life, not only are they unable to harmonize at the level of ordinary society, but it also affects their validating the Fa and saving sentient beings. If we are unable to meet basic life requirements and have to exhaust ourselves every day to make a living, how could we have more energy and more time to validate the Fa? Right now, preparing truth-clarification materials and saving sentient beings requires some financial input. If all practitioners were forced into financial difficulty, or deprived of their basic human living environment, they would have no spare money to do things to validate the Fa. The fact that Jiang's regime has a policy of "bankrupting [practitioners] financially" indicates this. Furthermore, the persecution is sustained monetarily. After extorting money from practitioners, the police use it as bonus money for their persecution work, or to further the persecution. Zhangshi Labor Camp in Shenyang City, Liaoning Province extorted money from practitioners in the name of "tuition" for the Zhangshi Brainwashing Center. Part of the money was used to purchase high-voltage electric batons to torture practitioners with. Therefore, sometimes when we do not safeguard our basic human living conditions, we may actually help those responsible for the persecution, and foster their bad deeds.
When practitioners' human living conditions are damaged, it also presents a negative image to everyday people. Thus it could negatively affect truth-clarification and saving sentient beings. Most people nowadays are pursuing material interests, and many do not know the true wonderfulness of Falun Dafa and the benefits it offers in body and mind. Instead, they only see that practicing Falun Dafa results in persecution, suppression, being arrested and detained, financial loss, or deprivation of job. In this way, even if they could come to know that the persecution is wrong, they could still have a negative impression of Falun Dafa or stay away--since they believe that practicing Falun Dafa often leads to "trouble."
Teacher has said that cultivation directly targets the human heart; we do not lose anything materially. Teacher also repeatedly told us to maximally conform to the everyday society. Of course, under the current situation, it is not unusual for some practitioners to experience certain financial losses or lose their jobs. When this occurs to more practitioners, however, it means there is something wrong with us. Practicing Falun Dafa will bring wonderfulness; how come there is loss? Why are we experiencing unfair treatment? Could it be that we condone evil and agree with the persecution? Therefore, Dafa practitioners need to safeguard the human living condition, and completely oppose the old forces' persecution.
The old forces' persecution of Dafa practitioners can be explicitly seen in terms of work. Many practitioners are unable to have a regular life, or have been removed from their original posts. This is especially the case for some practitioners who have been to Beijing, detained and sent to labor camps, and who are discriminated against in terms of their salary. Practitioners should request a reasonable job and salary. This also creates opportunities to clarify the truth to more government officers.
Practitioners should maintain their legitimate financial rights. However, we cannot be attached to material gain or money, nor could we strongly pursue the result. A practitioner may also have financial debts, and some things that were lost may not have belonged to us in the first place. In fact, after experiencing such an enormous tribulation, we should not be too attached to money. There is no difference between financial gain and loss, since everything was given by the Fa. The maintaining of legitimate rights is not to satisfy our personal desire, but to oppose the persecution and validate the Fa. While part of the Dafa disciples' income should be used to meet daily needs, more of it should be used to validate the Fa.
October 25, 2004
(Clearwisdom.net) A retired engineer in our factory named Gao, around 60 years old, used to have a spinal disease, which made him hunchbacked. In 1998, he practiced Falun Gong and gradually recovered his health. His back was straightened out in the process. This is an event that his family and many employees in the factory had witnessed.
One day at the end of July 1999, the CCTV noon news program broadcast that Gao accepted the station's interview. According to the report, Gao stated that he had never had a hunchback, and that his illnesses being healed through practicing Falun Gong had never happened. At the time, my colleagues and I were quite puzzled.
Later, I contacted many people privately. It turned out that to film the interview, the CCTV personnel collaborated with the directors in my factory. Prior to the interview, they had called Gao to the factory's workers union office and gave him "ideological education." They told him to cooperate, repeat what they had presented to the TV audience, and assist them to "expose and criticize" Falun Gong. Gao didn't want to lie to the TV audience and refused to do that. Seeing that they couldn't get what they wanted, they locked him up in a small room in the workers union office for a whole day. Then they pressured and threatened him, and didn't allow him to go home unless he cooperated. Faced with such pressure, Gao relented.
The people from CCTV scripted out everything: how and what to say and how to act. Then he sat in front of the video camera. An interviewer asked, "It is said that you had a spinal problem and had a hunchback. You were healed through practicing Falun Gong. Is it true?" When he heard this, he immediately showed anger, leaped up, bent his body 90 degrees, showed his straight back to the camera and shouted, "Do I look like I ever had a hunchback?" With this footage, they concluded, "Stories of Falun Gong healing illnesses cannot pass verification and are all fake." The interview was set up like this and deceived many people in the TV audience who didn't know the truth.
A few years have since passed. Very few people know the truth behind this. CCTV currently has a program entitled "News Investigation" with the by-line, "What you see is what you cannot imagine." I think this sentence is very fitting for what they have done in fabricating stories to discredit and demonize Falun Gong.
(Clearwisdom.net)
Chief and Assistant Chief of Shiting Township Police Station in Laishui County of Hebei Province Receive Due Retribution
Liu Xinghua, Chief of Shiting Township Police Station in Laishui County of Hebei Province, followed Jiang Zemin's regime in persecuting Falun Dafa and its practitioners since 1999. He was dismissed by the Public Security Bureau (PSB) in 2003 after it was discovered he'd had an illicit sexual relationship with a colleague, and illegally appropriated government funds. He currently suffers at home with many illnesses.
The Assistant Chief, Zhang Puhui, was a local ruffian utilized by the PSB. He has been involved in persecuting Falun Gong practitioners in Shiting Township ever since 1999. In 2002, he asked a Falun Gong practitioner why he had yet not received retribution for what he had done. In the winter of that year, both his legs were broken in a car accident, but he continued to participate in the persecution. In September 2004, Zhang and another criminal committed armed robbery, with their faces covered by hoods. They were arrested by PSB when they tried to get cash from a bank. Zhang Puhui may be sentenced to receive the death penalty.
Deputy Secretary of Wugang City Chinese Communist Party Committee in Pingdingshan of Henan Province Dies
Wang Guoliang, Deputy Secretary of the Wugang City Chinese Communist Party Committee in Pingdingshan, Henan Province, died of cancer in May. He had participated in persecuting Falun Dafa practitioners according to Jiang's regime.
Each time we publish news of this nature, we do so with heavy hearts. These people started off as public servants, but under the intense pressure applied by the Jiang regime, they were pushed into persecuting Dafa disciples. In the process of destroying the lives of kind, law-abiding citizens, they have sealed their own fates and inevitably faced karmic retribution as punishment. If it weren't for Jiang's wicked orders, perhaps their fates would've been different.
(Clearwisdom.net)
1. [Hebei Province] Falun Dafa Practitioners Who Broadcast a Program About the Facts of Falun Dafa on Cable TV Have Been Sentenced
Falun Dafa practitioners who broadcast a truth-clarification program on cable TV in Western Shahe, Xingtai City during the 2004 Chinese Spring Festival have been sentenced by the Qiaoxi Court, Xingtai City. Among them, Wang Yan and Tang Hui were sentenced to 10 years each, and Li Yueran 5 years.
Qiaoxi Court, Xingtai City phone: 86-319-2285767
2. [Daqing City, Heilongjiang Province] Mr. Jia Xuequn, a Teacher at Daqing High School Is Arrested
Mr. Jia Xuequn, 43, is a teacher at Daqing No. 34 High School. During a lunch break he was watching the video program "Self Immolation at Tiananmen Square" in a classroom. At the time, some students were still in the classroom. The students' parents reported Mr. Jia to the mayor's hotline. On the afternoon of September 29, 2004, Mr. Jia Xuequn was detained by the National Security Division of the Ranghu Road Police Department, and now is being held at the Sa'ertu District, Daqing City.
Daqing City No. 34 High School
Principal Gao Xiaofeng: 86-459-5059134 (Office), 86-459-5192152 (Home)
Party Secretary Xie Jun: 86-459-5059802 (Office), 86-459-5398780 (Home)
3. [Pengzhou City, Sichuan Province] Falun Dafa Practitioner Mr. Xiang Qinggui from Sanjie Township, Pengzhou City Is Arrested Again
At twelve o'clock midnight on September 26, 2004, Mr. Xiang Qinggui, who is in his 50s, from No. 7 Team, No. 18 Brigade of Sanjie Township in Pengzhou City, Sichuan Province was reported to police while handing out truth-clarification materials. Policemen Wang Yong, Wang Tianzhao, and Ouyang Jiong arrested Mr. Xiang and tortured him at the police station. When Mr. Xiong's family came to the police station they were not allowed to enter the gate. Previously, Mr. Xiang Qinggui had been sent to Xinhua Forced Labor Camp in Mianyang City by the Pengzhou police and detained there for two years.
4. [Pingcheng Town, Henan Province] Three Falun Dafa Practitioners Are Arrested in Qixian County on the Evening of the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival
On the evening of the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival, Falun Dafa practitioners Ms. Liu Mei, Ms. Han Fangzhen, and Ms. Li Hua were arrested by police from the Pingcheng Township Police Station while handing out truth-clarification materials in Linxiang. Early the following morning, police from the Pingcheng Township collaborated with police from Gegang Township and searched the homes of every Falun Dafa practitioner in Caozhai Village according to a blacklist. The three practitioners are now being held at the Qixian County Administrative Detention Center. The families of the practitioners have been extorted 200 Yuan each.
5. [Wuchang City, Hebei Province] Falun Dafa Practitioner Mr. Wang Zhengshun Is Arrested
At about nine o'clock one morning in early September, Falun Dafa practitioner Mr. Wang Zhengshun from the Wofoyan Neighborhood Committee, Ziyang Street in Wuchang City was forcibly abducted from his home by five policemen, including house registration policeman Chen from the Ziyang Street Police Station. Mr. Wang was sent to the Yangyuan Brainwashing Center in Wuchang City.
6. [Shulan City, Jilin Province] Falun Dafa Practitioner Ms. Wang Yuqin Is Arrested and Detained at Shulan City Detention Center
On the afternoon of September 21, 2004, Ms. Wang Yuqing, a 50-year-old retired worker from the Sandstone Factory of Shangying Township, Shulan City, Jilin Province, was arrested by the Head of the Shangying Township Police Station and taken to the Shulan City Detention Center without being given any explanation.
Shangying Police Station: 86-432-8782220
7. [Zhuozhou City, Hebei Province] Falun Dafa Practitioner Ms. Jing Shumei Is Arrested
Ms. Jing Shumei, who is in her 50s, is from Dongfang Geophysical Exploration Company in Zhuozhou City, Hebei Province. She was followed and reported when she was handing out truth-clarification materials on September 27 and 28. Policemen from the Zhuozhou City Police Department arrived in three cars and arrested Ms. Jing Shumei. Her whereabouts are unknown.
Before the persecution of Falun Dafa began on July 20, 1999, Jing Shumei was the Assistant Head of the Zhuozhou City Falun Dafa Assistance Center and was detained by the Zhuozhou City Police Department after that date.
8. [Hebei Province] Policemen from Xuanhua County, Zhangjiakou City Arrest Falun Dafa Practitioner Mr. Chen Guangming
On September 29, 2004, the head of the Jiajiaying Township Police Station, in Xuanhua County, Zhangjiakou City of Hebei Province, and three other policemen broke into Mr. Chen Guangming's house at Yaojiaying and forcibly arrested him. The following day, Mr. Chen was sent to Xuanhua Detention Center to be further tortured. The reason given for his arrest was that someone had reported him to the police, saying that Mr. Chen was handing out truth-clarification materials. Actually, the police had no evidence whatsoever.
Telephone Numbers of related people:
Country Code: 86, area code: 313
Jiajiaying Township Police Station: 86-313-5092007
National Security Division, Xuanhua County Police Department: 86-313-3053191
Xuanhua County Police Department Switchboard: 86-313-3014113
Xuanhua County Detention Center: 86-313-3053077
9. [Shandong Province] Falun Dafa Practitioner Yuan Ping of Rizhao City Is Arrested
Since August 1, 2004, the Rizhao City police have arrested teacher Qin Yujie from Shijiu Junior High School, another female practitioner from the Wood Pulp Factory, and a third female practitioner from a rail transport company. The three of them were detained for nearly one month before they were sentenced to forced labor camps around August 29.
On September 1, police arrested Dafa practitioner Ms. Yuan Ping from the Wood Pulp Factory, and at about 4:00 p.m. they seized her husband's mini-van for "speeding." Now Ms. Yuan Ping is being held at the Railway Guesthouse and undergoing brainwashing.
10. [Zhongshan City, Guangdong Province] Zhongshan City Falun Dafa Practitioner Chen Ru Is Arrested
Falun Dafa practitioner Chen Ru from Zhongshan City, Guangdong Province was arrested at three o'clock in the morning on September 23.
11. [Guangdong Province] Falun Dafa Practitioner Ms. Dai Miaochan from Chaozhou City Arrested While Practicing the Exercises at Home, and is Now on a Hunger Strike
On September 25, 2004, practitioner Ms. Dai Miaochan from Chaozhou City, Guangdong Province, who is in her 50s, was practicing the exercises at home when she was arrested by police from the Qiaodong Police Station, Chaozhou City. She was taken to Sanshui Brainwashing Center in Guangdong Province to be persecuted. Practitioners who returned from the brainwashing center said that Ms. Dai Miaochan has been on a hunger strike ever since she arrived there.
12. [Jieyang City, Guangdong Province] Falun Dafa Practitioner Ms. Huang Peiluan Is Repeatedly Harassed and Her Husband Fell Ill as a Result of Shock
Ms. Huang Peiluan from Jieyang City, Guangdong Province is in her 60s. She began to practice Falun Dafa in March 1999. She had previously suffered from very serious migraine headaches and beriberi for many years. She felt miserable at that time and consulted many doctors in Jieyang City without any effect. However, after she practiced Falun Dafa all her illnesses disappeared.
Since July 20, 1999, when the persecution began, the local police did not even spare this over 60-year-old grandmother. They repeatedly locked her up in the detention center, extorted fines, and sent her to a brainwashing center. Because she could not bear the endless harassments, threats, and intimidation she wrote the so-called "Three Statements" (1) before she was released. In 2003, the police ransacked her home again and took her to the detention center. In the detention center the police repeatedly tortured her, and forcibly took her fingerprints. Ms. Huang resolutely refused, saying that she had not committed any crime, did not the break the law, and that it was not wrong for her to follow the principles of "Truthfulness, Compassion, and Tolerance" in order to be a good person. Therefore, the police sent her to Sanshui Women's Forced Labor Camp in Guangdong Province.
As a result of the repeated persecution by the police for all those years, Huang Peiluan's husband was under great stress, and finally he became ill and is now bedridden.
Note:
(1) "Three Statements" - Practitioners are coerced under brainwashing and torture to write these as proof that they have given up their belief. Created by the "610 Office," the three statements consist of a letter of repentance, a guarantee to never again practice Falun Gong, and a list of names and addresses of all family members, friends and acquaintances who are practitioners.
(Clearwisdom.net) A "solemn declaration" is a person's public statement declaring to the world that whatever he or she has done or said under duress or deception that was against Falun Dafa is null and void. Most of these statements have come from Falun Dafa practitioners in China who wished to express regret that, in the face of physical torture and brainwashing, they had signed documents renouncing Dafa and guaranteeing not to practice again. Also, as more and more people in China learn the truth about how they have been deceived and lied to by the Jiang regime, many non-practitioners are also submitting "solemn declarations."
Here are some examples of the Solemn Declarations:
Please click here for more Solemn Declarations.
(Clearwisdom.net)
Facts of the Persecution
Ms. Ye Xiaojie
Falun Dafa practitioner Ms. Ye Xiaojie from Shanwei City, Guangdong Province is over 40 years old. In March, 2004, the "610 Office" and other personnel illegally ransacked her home and abducted her. In July, Ms. Ye was illegally sentenced to 8 years in prison and is now detained at the Haifeng County Detention Center.
Mr. Sun Kaiqing
Falun Dafa practitioner Mr. Sun Kaiqing, over 50 years old, is from Nangang District of Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province and is an employee of the Department of Education at Harbin Normal University. Mr. Sun went to Beijing in October 2000 to validate Falun Dafa and was arrested and detained. His tormentors used boiling water to burn him over a large area of his body. Mr. Sun was detained for about 2 months when he returned to Harbin City. In November 2001, he was detained in Changlinzi Forced Labor Camp for 2 years, because of handing out truth clarification materials. He endured brutal tortures at the camp, but he never yielded to the vicious acts of the perpetrators. In November 2003, Mr. Sun walked out of Changlinzi Forced Labor Camp with dignity. On September 19, 2004, Sun Kaiqing was arrested and taken to the Qingbin Police Station in Nangang District when he was clarifying the truth about Falun Dafa at Qingbin Park on Xuefu Road in the Nangang District of Harbin City. He is now being detained illegally at the Nangang District Police Station Detention Center.
Ms. Liang Jinhua
Falun Dafa practitioner Ms. Liang Jinhua, 58 years old, lived at No. 15 Chenjiachang on Xinbei Street in the North District of Baoding City, Hebei Province. In 2002, policemen from the North District Police Station lied to Ms. Liang, asking her to come to the police station under false pretenses. When she went to the police station, they detained her illegally for two nights and one day. Ms. Liang was beaten and slapped by the policemen. On the evening of September 19, 2004, Ms. Liang was handing out truth-clarification flyers and was illegally abducted by officers from the Wusi Road Police Station. On September 20, she was illegally detained in the Baoding City Detention Center. On September 27, Ms. Liang was illegally sent to Baoding Forced Labor Camp. Her family never received any warrant for her arrest or notice for labor "education." They only found out what happened to Ms. Liang after asking around.
Six Young Practitioners Pressured by the Authorities, Their Mothers are Detained
The daughters of six Falun Dafa practitioners, from the Yinhe Textile Company in the Mouping District of Yantai City, Shandong Province, all attended middle school in Dayao Town. They all practice Falun Dafa. The parents rented a house near the school to provide a convenient environment for the girls to study the Fa (1) and practice the exercises. Some vicious people informed the police about them. About 8:00 p.m. on September 1, the police broke in and arrested Ms. Jiao Cuiguo, a mother who was accompanying the children. The policemen went to the house to harass the children when they came back at 9:00 p.m. from school. The second day, the police and schoolteachers pressured those students to write pledges that they would give up practicing Falun Gong. That afternoon, the police abducted the other mothers. These were Ms. Liu Renling, Ms. Jiao Lixiang and Ms. Sun Houyun. The four mothers went on a hunger strike for 15 days at the detention center. Ms. Liu Renling and Ms. Jiao Cuiguo vomited after being force-fed and they were released. Currently the other two mothers are still enduring torture in detention. The unscrupulous personnel at Dayang Middle School are still pressuring those six children.
Mr. Wang Jiping and Ms. Zhao Wenlin
Mr. Wang Jiping and Ms. Zhao Wenlin, husband and wife, are doctors from the anesthetic department of No. 225 Hospital in Jiamusi City, Heilongjiang Province. They went to Wutonghe Farm in Baoquanling to clarify the truth to people on September 30, 2004. Some vicious people turned them in to the police. Now Mr. Wang is being illegally detained at No. 224 Hospital and Ms. Zhao Wenlin is being illegally detained at the Baoquanling Farm Detention Center. The No. 224 Hospital is under the administration of the Logistics Department of the Shenyang Military Forces.
Mr. Luo Guangzhong
On July 15, 2003, Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Luo Guangzhong, a villager in Qingshui Village of Qidong County, Hunan Province, wrote a letter about the benefits he experienced after practicing Falun Gong, explaining how he improved his character by helping others and doing good deeds. In his letter, Mr. Luo requested that the government stop this persecution against Falun Gong. Mr. Luo was arrested on July 21 by policemen from Qidong County. Several days later, he received a warrant for detention without any time limit. Mr. Luo's son paid almost 3,000 yuan in fines before corrupt officials released him.
Luo Shurong and Zhang Yushu
On September 24, 2004, Dafa practitioners Luo Shurong and Zhang Yushu went to Tong County of Beijing City to clarify the truth about Falun Dafa and the persecution. They were arrested by policemen from the No. 13 Section of the Beijing Police Department and detained in Qiaozhuang Forced Labor Camp in Tongzhou District. They were charged with "Disrupting the Social Order and Security." Currently those two practitioners, both over 60 years old, are enduring torture in prison. The prison authority refused to allow their family members to visit or send clothes to them.
Notes
News and Events from Around the World
Falun Gong Practitioners' Righteous Action in China
The People Awaken to the Truth
Falun Gong Practitioners' Personal Experiences
News and Events from Around the World
Dressed in Yellow in Manhattan's Union Square
Since August 2004, on almost every weekend, people have seen a cheerful, middle-aged woman dressed in a yellow T-shirt distributing flyers and introducing Falun Gong to passers-by in Union Square, in New York City's Manhattan. Sometimes she carries a display board showing pictures of how Falun Gong practitioners are being persecuted in China. The woman is Ms. Li, a pharmaceutical technician from central Ohio. Like the one hundred-plus other Falun Gong practitioners from America's Midwest, she has spent most of her weekends on the streets of Manhattan. Most often she can be found at the busy gathering place, Union Square.
Situated in the center of Manhattan, at the intersection of 14th Street and Broadway, Union Square Park area is one of the places most-loved by the people of Manhattan. At this location you will find gourmet restaurants, antique shops, bookstores, shops selling all kinds of electronics items, and theaters offering a variety of films and plays. Also, there are first-class medical centers, universities, and design schools. This area is known as the "Creative Corridor" of New York, with more than a thousand photographers, architects, publishers, graphic arts designers, countless Internet companies, government offices, and advertising companies. Union Square possesses the historical significance of being the location where many non-mainstream organizations go to advocate for their causes.
Compared with some of the other groups on the square who are deliberately provocative and loudly proclaim their agenda, Falun Gong practitioners have established themselves as peaceful and well-behaved people. Practitioners quietly distribute flyers that introduce the practice of Falun Gong to passers-by, and patiently clarify the facts about the persecution of practitioners in China to those who want to know more about the situation.
Last Saturday, Ms. Li met a Native American who was living in New York. She told this person about the Falun Gong practitioners in China being beaten and sent to forced labor camps by the Chinese police. This daughter of a former Native American Tribal leader immediately took a stack of flyers from Ms. Li and said, "Let me assist you in distributing these!"
Rose, a high school teacher from Ohio, was teaching a group of tourists the five sets of Falun Gong exercises. Among them was a woman from Peru who excitedly said, "I have found it! I have found it!" She then told Rose about a dream she had. One night, about two weeks ago, she dreamt that her niece told her she was ill and needed to practice the "five sets of exercises." The woman thought for some time but could not understand what the five sets of exercises were. The next day, she phoned her niece to discover that her niece was seriously ill. She asked her niece what "five sets of exercises" meant but her niece did not know either. A few days after she arrived in New York, as she was walking along 42nd Street, a Falun Gong practitioner handed her a Falun Gong newspaper and said to her in limited English, "five sets of exercises." The lady was amazed and delighted; amazed that such a miracle had happened, and delighted because she had finally found the five sets of exercises that she had heard about in her dream.
Some Westerners were surprised to see fellow westerners wearing yellow T-shirts handing out flyers alongside the Chinese practitioners. Professor Lucia of Ohio State University has met people who have asked her in astonishment, "Why are there Caucasian Falun Gong practitioners?" Lucia was very happy to have the opportunity to tell people about how practicing Falun Gong had healed the back pain that had plagued her for many years, and how Falun Gong has fundamentally changed her. Not only has the practice spread all over the world and people outside of China been practicing Falun Gong for some time, but the persecution of Falun Gong by the Jiang administration has also been revealed to the rest of the world, including how it affects every nation worldwide.
Practitioners have experienced the intense heat of summer and the pleasant coolness of the autumn in Union Square. The people in Manhattan have become used to seeing Falun Gong practitioners in their yellow T-shirts, clarifying the truth. After seeing practitioners many times, receiving flyers, and having many conversations with them, the beauty of Falun Gong and the horrible persecution of practitioners in China have been conveyed to the people of Manhattan. They in turn are passing this information on to the rest of the world.
Auckland, New Zealand: Falun Gong Practitioners Jointly File a Lawsuit against Jiang Zemin
New Zealand Falun Gong practitioners report: On October 26, 2004, New Zealand Human Rights barrister Chris Lawrence, representing 11 Falun Gong practitioners, filed a civil lawsuit in the Auckland High Court in New Zealand, to accuse chief culprits in the persecution of Falun Gong, Jiang Zemin and his accomplices, of arresting and physically abusing the plaintiffs when they went to China to visit relatives or paid visits for other purposes. The charges include genocide, torture, illegal arrest and others.
After delivering the lawsuit, the plaintiffs held a press conference outside the court. Barrister Mr. Chris Lawrence arrived in the rain to speak to reporters and supporters, and answered many questions raised by the media. New Zealand national TV1 and TV3 conducted special interviews, and aired them on the prime time news that night.
While being interviewed, Mr. Lawrence expressed that he accepted this lawsuit because it is his responsibility as a barrister, and also because he hates torture. His long-term experience as a Human Rights barrister made him realize the importance of this case in terms of safeguarding human rights. Regarding the persecution Falun Gong practitioners have suffered in China, he believes it "has violated the basic laws of the civilized society, and is an offense to the International Law." He believed the lawsuit would play a partial role in urging the international community to establish responsibility for such events.
Falun Gong practitioners from Australia, New Zealand and Taiwan lined up solemnly and in good order despite a heavy rain outside the Auckland High Court, building a human "Great Wall of Courage," to support this just action with their strong righteous thoughts.
Letter from WOIPFG to All Levels of Chinese Officials Regarding Jiang's Stepping Down
Regarding Jiang Zemin's stepping down, the World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong (WOIPFG) wrote an open letter to Chinese officials at all levels calling for an end to the persecution and punishment for the murderers. The letter follows:
End the Persecution, Punish the Murderers
In China, the persecution of 100 million innocent Falun Gong practitioners has lasted for more than 5 years. Now that Jiang has stepped down, this national catastrophe should be immediately stopped. The persecution of Falun Gong has caused the deaths of more than 1000 innocent people from beatings and torture, has utilized vast resources and affected almost all of the people in China. All the murderers who initiated and participated in the persecution should also be punished.
This cruel and irrational persecution was entirely based on the personal will of Jiang Zemin. It is illegal and unrighteous, and it was never the will of the people.
Jiang Zemin disregarded the opposition of several fellow Politburo members and went ahead with the persecution of Falun Gong on his personal whim in July 1999. He went on to establish the "610 Office," an extra-judicial organization charged with carrying out and directing the illegal persecution of Falun Gong.
As the persecution unfolded in subsequent years, Jiang continued to abuse his authority and ordered escalations of the persecution many times. Jiang took advantage of his dictatorial authority, wielded his despotic power, misappropriated the country's resources and forced the entire nation to be involved in his genocidal campaign against 100 million of their countrymen. And it continues even to this day. (For more details, see the "Special Report on Jiang Zemin's Crime of Genocide in the Persecution of Falun Gong" at: http://www.zhuichaguoji.org/en/ )
Now that Jiang has retired from the highest positions of authority in China, he is no longer able to manipulate the entire state apparatus to his personal will. With Chinese and international awareness of the facts behind the persecution of Falun Gong steadily increasing, Jiang will not be able to sustain the persecution much longer, but for the time being, he still uses his personal chain of command to maintain the persecution.
According to the WOIPFG investigative report, Jiang directly commands and controls the people that he personally appointed, and just about every government department employs some of his appointees. He controls them, and they use their authority to further deceive the nation and the people, mistakenly creating the impression that the persecution is carried out in the name of the country, when in fact it is carried out as Jiang's personal will. Cases of practitioners being tortured to death are still appearing everywhere. WOIPFG has registered the names of those who, by following Jiang Zemin's orders to continue the persecution, are responsible for the killings. WOIPFG collects information from investigators in China and reliable sources at all levels of the Chinese government.
The Stories of Practitioners Clarifying the Truth in Manhattan
"Millions of Good People Have Lost Their Human Rights, We Should Help Them"
One morning, when we were setting up the anti-torture exhibition at Liberty Plaza on Broadway, a young man hurriedly came up to me and said, "I'm working at a supermarket. I've seen your anti-torture exhibition and read the literature. You are very good people. Unfortunately, millions of good people in China have lost their happiness and lots of people have experienced the cruel torture. It is terrible. I told my friends that we should help them. But some of them thought that this was other people's business." The young man continued, "People can't just live for money. We should also help other good people who have lost their human rights. Could I take more materials? I have many customers and friends. I can put those materials at my work place so that they can read them." We immediately gave him a stack of folded newsletters and leaflets. He put them into his bag. In the end, he shed tears and said, "Take care of yourselves!"
"I Will Bring this Wonderful Practice to Palestine"
One Sunday morning, we went to Central Park and held a group practice. A woman and her lovely young daughter came by. She said that she wanted to learn the exercises. She told me that she first learned about Falun Gong a few years ago. She is going to Palestine in two months and she wanted to learn all five sets of exercises so that she can teach people in Palestine. She said the people in Palestine endure a great amount of hardship.
I taught her exercises One through Four, and she learned them very carefully. I told her that she could come to our anti-torture exhibition sites to continue to learn the exercises. Yesterday, she came again and learned the fifth set of exercises.
A Person Who Lost Both His Hands Asked a Practitioner to Sign the Petition for Him
Last Saturday, several practitioners formed a team: One held the informational poster, one distributed flyers and another one collected petition signatures. We went to a busy street and handed out the flyers on the pavement. In our righteous and peaceful field, many people not only accepted the materials but also signed the petition in support of Falun Gong. At that point, a disabled person came over to us in a wheelchair. I handed the truth-clarification material to him. He was very happy to accept it. Then I asked him whether he would like to sign the petition calling for an end of the persecution. He smiled and said, "See, I don't have hands." Then he said, "You could sign it for me." He told me his name and I wrote his it down on the petition. I expressed my sincere gratitude to him. He kept saying, "Persecution is wrong!"
A Chinese Woman: "We All Know About This. We All Talk About this Issue."
I met a Chinese woman. She carefully watched the live torture reenactment. I walked over to her and handed her a flyer. She immediately said, "We all know about this and we all talk about this issue." I then informed her how Jiang initiated the suppression of Falun Gong and how he is currently being sued in more than 10 countries in the world. I also introduced the wide spread of Falun Dafa. She listened attentively and kept nodding her head. In the end, I asked her if she wanted to sign the petition to support us. She hesitated for a while and then signed her name. I thanked her for her support and expressed my wish that she would talk more about Falun Gong with her Chinese friends. She said that she would.
New York State Assembly Member: "I Write to Condemn the Vicious Acts of Violence Perpetrated Against the Practitioners of Falun Gong."
On September 15, 2004, New York State Assembly Member N. Nick Perry wrote to the Falun Dafa Buddha Association in Easter USA to condemn the vicious acts of violence perpetrated against the practitioners of Falun Gong in China. The following is the text of the letter from Assembly Member N. Nick Perry.
The Assembly
State of New York
Albany
Falun Dafa Buddha Association in Easter USA
Brooklyn, NY
September 15, 2004
I write to condemn the vicious acts of violence perpetrated against the practitioners of Falun Gong. The rights of people to practice their beliefs, within the confines of the law, must be respected worldwide, and such acts of intimidation by others who refuse to respect the human rights to freedom of expression must be strongly repudiated.
The dignity of mankind can be maintained, despite our varying opinion and beliefs, when we learn to tolerate and appreciate different views.
I extend my sincerest sympathy to the victims of this crime and to their families as they try to come to groups with these senseless acts of aggression against freedom.
Sincerely,
N. Nick Perry
Member of Assembly
US Congressman Condemns the Hate Crime Committed Against the Australian Falun Gong Practitioners Visiting South Africa
On September 6, 2004, US Congressman Anthony D. Weiner wrote to Falun Gong practitioner to condemn the acts of violence perpetrated against Falun Gong practitioners. The following is the text of the letter from Congressman Weiner.
Congress of the Untied States
House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515-3209
September 6, 2004
Thank you for contacting me regarding the tragedy which befell the Australian Falun Gong practitioners visiting South Africa. I share your sense of horror.
You are right to condemn acts of violence perpetrated against individuals for their religious beliefs. I have consistently supported efforts in Congress to make those who commit "hate crimes" eligible for more severe punishment. And I have repeatedly demanded that the Chinese government relent in their persecution of those who practice Falun Gong. You can be sure I will continue to work hard on these issues in the future.
Again, thank you for contacting me. Please do not hesitate to be in touch in the future on this or any other issue of concern.
Sincerely,
Anthony D. Weiner
Member of Congress
U.S. Congressman Frank Pallone: "I Remain Committed to the Task of Making Falun Gong Safe to Practice in Any Country in the World."
CONGRESSMAN FRANK PALLONE, JR.
EXTENSION OF REMARKS
H. CON. RES 304
OCTOBER 4, 2004
I would like to express my support for H.Con.Res 304, a resolution honoring the tradition and practice of Falun Gong. As a cosponsor of this resolution, I urge my colleagues to vote yes on this important piece of legislation.
H.Con.Res 304 calls on the Chinese Government to stop interfering with the religious and political rights of individuals in the United States to practice Falun Gong. The Chinese Government has gone so far as to spread falsehoods about Falun Gong and to harass, detain, abuse and imprison Falun Gong practitioners. The practitioners are simply exercising their legitimate rights to freedom of religion and expression, and the actions of the Chinese Government conflict with international standards of freedom and human rights and must end immediately.
I have an admiration for the practitioners and adherents of Falun Gong and I am invested in the movement both in the United States and abroad. I remain committed to the task of making Falun Gong safe to practice in any country in the world. The members of Falun Gong are opposed by a Chinese government that unjustly views them as dissenters. This view is entirely without merit. In reality, Falun Gong is an inherently peaceful, apolitical movement that stresses nonviolence and meditation. Since Falun Gong was outlawed in 1999, hundreds of nonviolent practitioners have been arrested, tortured, libeled, and detained without charge or proof of any wrongdoing.
Sadly, the unwarranted and unprovoked aggression against Falun Gong has not ceased, nor is it limited to China. There have been unprovoked attacks in the United States and Falun Gong members have been subjected to a humiliating and denigrating blacklist.
One incident that I found particularly offensive took place in June 2003. Falun Gong members were attacked and beaten while holding a nonviolent protest in New York City. In an effort to end the discrimination that confronts Falun Gong practitioners, I wrote a letter to the Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau requesting an investigation of this case. I hope that justice prevails in this case.
With passage of H.Con.Res.304, we can send a strong signal condemning China's human rights abuses and we can take one step closer to ensuring Falun Gong members the freedom of religion and assembly guaranteed to them by law.
Tanzania Human Rights Organization Passes a Resolution of Support for Bringing Jiang Zemin to Justice
A renowned human rights organization in Tanzania passed a resolution condemning Chinese ex-president Jiang Zemin's human rights violations against Falun Gong practitioners, and supporting bringing Jiang to justice.
The Resolution of The University of Dar es Salaam Human Rights Association
UDSM-Human Rights, Making Human Rights Reality
The resolution of the University of Dar es Salaam Human Rights Association (UDSM-Human Rights) against the persecution of Falun Gong (Falun Dafa) practitioners in China:
Whereas, Falun Gong (also known as Falun Dafa) is a traditional practice of body and mind based on the universal principle of "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance," and is commended for its devotion to public service , and commitment to improving health in mind, body and spirit;
Whereas, the rights to life, liberty and security of person is enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) as per Article 3;
Whereas, it is provided under Article 5 of the UDHR that no one shall be subjected to torture, or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment;
Knowing, that everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion as per article 18(1) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) of 1966;
Noting, that Article 18(1) of the hereinabove referred instrument stipulates that no one shall be subject to coercion which would impair his freedom to have or adopt a religion or belief of his choice;
Recognizing, that each state has the obligation under Article 4 of the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (1984) to ensure all acts are offences under its criminal law;
Whereas, the long time persecution of Falun Dafa in China violates severely the international human rights law;
BE IT RESOLVED that the University of Dar es Salaam Human Rights (herein referred to as UDSM-HUMAN RIGHTS) and the University members (the Undersigned) support efforts to bring JIANG ZEMIN to the court of justice (for his crimes of torture and crime against humanity);
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution be forwarded to Dr.Kofi Annan-Secretary General of the United Nations; the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (the United Republic of Tanzania); The Chinese Ambassador to Tanzania; and the United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva-Switzerland.
THE PEOPLE WHOSE SIGNATURES APPEAR BELOW CONDEMN IN THE STRONGEST TERMS THE PERSECUTION OF THE FALUN DAFA AND EXPRESS THEIR STRONG SUPPORT TO ALL THE LEGAL PROCEDURES TAKEN TO BRING THE PERPETRATORS TO JUSTICE.
Twenty-Six Additional Cases of Falun Gong Practitioners Who Died as a Result of Torture in China Are Verified in September
In September, 26 cases of Falun Gong practitioners tortured to death were verified through civilian channels, of those 12 were killed in 2004, including one practitioner who was killed in September, 2004.
The twenty-six deaths occurred in thirteen provinces and municipalities directly under the control of the Central Government. There were six in Hebei Province, six in Liaoning Province, two in Hubei Province, two in Shanxi Province, two in Shandong Province, and one in each of the following places: Beijing, Anhui Province, Jilin Province, Sichuan Province, Guangdong Province, Heilongjiang Province, Jiangsu Province, and Jiangxi Province. Among the practitioners who died as a result of torture were factory workers, housewives, government employees, and retired workers, owners of private companies, farmers, taxi drivers, and others.
The oldest practitioner was 78-year-old Wang Qirong from Jilin City, Jilin Province, while the youngest was a woman Falun Gong practitioner from Sichuan Province, who was about 30 years old, and whose name is still unknown. Fifteen deaths were of senior citizen Falun Gong practitioners whose ages were over 50, which accounts for 57% of the total deaths reported in September. Eleven women practitioners were killed, which accounts for 44% of the death toll.
The practitioners whose deaths were reported in September had experienced both severe physical torture and mental torment. Their homes were ransacked, and many of them were abducted and subjected to extortion. They were subjected to all kinds of brutal beating and torture, as well as coercive brainwashing, being sent to forced labor camps, detention centers, and brainwashing centers, and otherwise abused and grossly mistreated at the hands of the local police and persons from the "610 Office" who tried to force them to give up their Falun Dafa faith in Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance.
Latest Death by Torture Case: Mr. Guan Xuehe from Panzhihua City, Sichuan Province, China
Mr. Guan Xuehe was a 50 year old ironsmith from Group Seven, Zhongxin Village, Bude Town, Renhe District, Panzhihua City, Sichuan Province. In November 2000, he was sentenced to one and half years of forced labor and "re-education" by Renhe District Police Department.
On February 15, 2003, Guan Xuehe was again arrested for distributing Dafa truth-clarification materials and sent to Tongde Police Station where he was beaten badly. The people involved in his arrest included: Zhang Youfu from Tongde Police Station, Chen Hu (a security guard from Bude Town), Yang Kai, Cui Fuli, Zhang Hongtai, Zhou Lurong and Song Qi'an (all of whom are from Renhe District Police Department).
On February 16, 2003, Guan Xuehe was sent to a detention center. That same night, he was transferred to another detention center. At the end of March 2003, he was sentenced to three years of forced labor. Before he was taken to the labor camp, he was brutally beaten by police at the detention center. The beating was so brutal that he could not even stand up.
While being detained in the Forth Brigade of Xinhua Labor Camp in Mianyang City, Sichuan Province, Guan Xuehe was often brutally beaten. Under the tremendous physical and mental persecution, he developed lung cancer around July 2004. The labor camp drew blood from him every other day in the name of "doing some tests on him." About half a month later, the camp authorities sent him home, fearing that he might die in the camp. After he returned home, at 8:00 on the morning of October 4, 2004, Guan Xuehe died in Chengdu City Hospital.
China: Ms. Li Xuewei Is Sentenced to Seven Years in Prison after Four Years of Persecution
Ms. Li Xuewei lived in Japan for seven years. In February 2000, when she went to visit her relatives in China, she was arrested for having a Falun Dafa in Japan newspaper with her. The Chinese authorities illegally detained and threatened her. They revoked her passport, thus preventing her from returning to Japan with her husband. After suffering four years of persecution, she was illegally sentenced to seven years in prison on September 21, 2004.
During this period, Ms. Li's relatives and friends were suffering severe stress because of her situation. Her husband, who was heavily in debt, overcame many difficulties to travel to China to help his wife. However, there are no laws and no justice system to protect Falun Gong or its practitioners in China. No attorneys have the courage to represent her case. Jiang's state terrorism overrules the country's constitution and has become the "law" in persecuting Falun Gong.
Ms. Li's daughter turns six years old this year. Longing for her mother's return, she often cries quietly because she doesn't want others to hear her. She keeps saying, "When my mom is back, we'll go to Japan with my dad. We'll never be apart again."
Ms. Li is thirty-five, and worked as a kindergarten teacher. Her husband found a job in Japan in 1990, so Ms. Li joined him there in 1993. In 1996, Ms. Li suddenly contracted a serious case of pulmonary tuberculosis and was coughing up blood. The medical examination indicated that her lung was perforated; therefore she went to China for medical treatment. Although she tried hard to find an effective treatment, the disease was not cured. However, she miraculously recovered after practicing Falun Gong, and returned to Japan.
In February 2000, Ms. Li went to China to participate in the Spring Festival
with her relatives. Policeman Liu Jie took her to the Huancui District Police
Department in Weihai City because she had a Falun Dafa in Japan newspaper
in her possession. The police
then confiscated her passport. She returned the next day to get her passport,
when the police arrested her and illegally jailed her for 15 days. Afterward, a
stranger and Long Lin, an agent from the Weihai City National Security Bureau,
came to her home and threatened her. They said that only under one condition
would they let her return to Japan: "You must work for the Chinese
Intelligence Agency as a spy."
Ms. Li righteously rejected their demand, "Falun Dafa has no secrets. It is impossible for me to work for you. I would rather remain here than work for you as a spy."
Ms. Li tried to get her passport back, but the authorities refused. Ms. Li moved to Changchun City and later returned by train to Weihai City to try again to retrieve her passport. The police then claimed they had transferred the case to the Jilin Provincial Police Department. When Ms. Li went there, she was told that they had revoked her passport, thus preventing Ms. Li from returning to Japan. In addition, her two-year-old daughter's passport was automatically revoked because she couldn't apply for a visa to Japan. As a result, the family has been torn apart.
Upon hearing the bad news, Li Xuewei's husband was worried sick about his wife and daughter. He became exhausted and bitter from the pressure and his business went bankrupt. He had to resort to physical labor to repay a debt, which is equivalent to hundreds of thousands of yuan. The family were to have become permanent Japanese residents soon, but they have been torn apart by the Chinese authorities.
With no judicial authorities to hear her appeal, on August 1, 2001, Li Xuewei went to the Tiananmen Square Appeals Office to personally appeal her situation. She was detained, but was finally released because of the efforts of many friends.
Li Xuewei was again arrested at 6 p.m. on November 17, 2003, as she was taking several Falun Dafa books and some blank CDs to fellow practitioner Huang Yuxing, a pharmacist at the Second Institute of Jilin University. Five police officers were lying in wait from the National Security Detachment of the Changchun City Police Department, the Nanguan District Police Department and the Quan'an Police Station. They took Ms. Li to the basement of a building in Jingyuantan, a secret place far from downtown, used for torturing Falun Gong practitioners.
The perpetrators lit only a candle to create an atmosphere of fear. It was very cold, so the police wore overcoats, but Ms. Li had on only light autumn clothing. They tortured Ms. Li in two-hour shifts. They beat, kicked and hung her up by her handcuffed hands. They then attempted to suffocate her with smoke and a plastic bag. To intensify the torture, the police punched her stomach while holding a plastic bag over her head. In addition, the police forced her to do "flying airplane" (a particularly painful position) and to stay that way for hours on end. The major abusers were from the National Security detachment of the city police department. Policeman Ma from the Nanguan District Department was also very vicious. He inserted bottles under her handcuffs to further tighten them around her wrists.
On August 20, 2004, after being illegally detained for nine months, Li Xuewei was sentenced in court, but the case was returned to the prosecutor's office for an unknown reason. However, on September 21, the court sentenced her to seven years in prison. Insisting on her innocence, Ms. Li filed an appeal.
Facing his wife's desperate situation and worried about his daughter, Li Xuewei's husband had to return to Japan alone. The three members of the family must now live in three different places.
China: Eyewitness Account of Torture at the Masanjia Forced Labor Camp
I am an eyewitness to the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners carried out by the guards and collaborators (1) at Masanjia Forced Labor Camp. Qi Fuying, the guard in the third team of the second division, organized several collaborators to act as hatchet men to persecute steadfast Falun Gong practitioners. They often tied the practitioners up to torture them. Jiang Chunxiang from Dandong City, Li Qiuling, Zhu Yanling from Jinzhou City, Mao Hongxia from Benxi City, Zhao Lerong from Dalian City, Wang Deping from Anshan City and Wang Shuyun, the guard from Jinzhou City Forced Labor Camp, were all collaborators influenced by Jiang's lies.
Li Qiuling tried to "brainwash" an older practitioner and did not allow her to go to the toilet. As a result, she urinated on the floor and was forced to clean it up using her underwear. Li Qiuling tried to brainwash practitioner Bei Ying. Li smashed Bei Ying's head into a metal heater, causing it to bleed.
Guard Qi Fuying told the collaborators to tie up practitioners Zheng Juxiang and Mi Yanli. They were tied up for about 15 to 16 hours, with urine and feces in their underwear. This led to their legs festering. In addition, collaborator Jiang Chunxiang applied iodine to Zheng Juxaing's legs.
Because Wang Ling from Tieling firmly believed in Falun Gong, guard Qi Fuying moved Wang Ling to a small cell at the number four building for 10 days. In the cell, her hands were locked onto the "Tiger Bench." Because she was stretched to the limit, she felt great pain in her stomach. It was very cold between November and December, and the windows in front and back were left open. The cold metal of the Tiger Bench permeated Wang Ling's entire body, making her extremely cold. When Wang Ling was released from the small cell ten days later, she was on the verge of death. (After seven days in that cell, one's skin would usually start peeling off the whole body.) Wang Ling was placed in a warm room to recover. Three days later, her face, hands and feet all swelled up. Wang Ling was later transferred to another forced labor camp, as the authorities were afraid of this brutal persecution being exposed.
In the second division of the camp, there are several buildings close to the east gate. South of the gate, there were more than a dozen rooms. The first floor is where practitioners are tortured. The floor was labeled, "SARS Isolation Section." The north side of the building is a reception area. Therefore, the building was also called the sham building.
The labor camp conducted the most evil persecution against practitioners between November and December of 2003. Every day a busload of policemen from elsewhere arrived at the camp to help with the persecution. They took practitioners into the sham building and tortured them using various torture methods. Some practitioners were tied up, some were hung up and some were beaten until they became unconscious.
One day in October 2003, the camp forced the practitioners to harvest corn in a field. Zheng Juxiang suffered from a prolapsed rectum, which bled whenever her pants brushed her anus. Qi Fuying told collaborator Jiang Chunxiang to drag Zheng Juxiang from the third floor to the field. Zheng Juxiang was in such pain that she gave a blood-curdling scream. The sound upset Zhang Shohue, a practitioner from Qiyuan Dohutuen. She grabbed Zheng Juxiang and pulled her away from Jiang Chunxiang, which saved Zheng Juxiang from having to do labor. During the whole incident, Qi Fuying remained behind the scene.
This is what I have witnessed of the persecution in the Masanjia Forced Labor Camp. More cases of persecution were carried out, but they have been hidden from practitioners.
Violent Acts at Gaoyang Forced Labor Camp: Using Poisonous Snakes, Lizards and Five-Clawed Electric Batons
Ms. Wang Chunmei, about 50, is a resident of Hezhuangzhi Village of Zunhua in Tangshan City, Hebei Province. Because Wang Chunmei persisted in practicing Falun Gong, being shocked with an electric baton in Gaoyang Forced Labor Camp became a regular treatment for her. Everyday she had to face this cruel torture. The guards rolled copper wires around her wrists, enabling the electric current to pass through her whole body. On one occasion, she lost consciousness during one of these torture sessions. When she regained consciousness she found blood around the edges of her fingers and experienced a heart-piercing pain in her hands. She discovered that the guards had used needles to jab the undersides of her fingers. She lost consciousness again while the guards were torturing her session. After they revived her, she felt a hot and tingling sensation on her face and mouth. She realized that they had sprayed spicy ground pepper on her.
In the Gaoyang Forced Labor Camp, the guards did many horrible things. They placed a thick wooden stick on top of both of her thighs. Then the guard Zang Haili stood on the stick and rolled it around on her thighs. Her thighs turned black and blue and swelled so badly that she had difficulty standing up. The guards also handcuffed her out in a remote area and three times twisted a poisonous snake around her neck. Each time she grabbed it and threw it down. They also placed a lizard on her. Then they used the electric baton to shock the lizard and chase it over her body until the lizard was dead. Then they shamelessly said, "We're shocking the lizard not you."
Wang Chunmei went on a hunger strike to protest this persecution. She requested that the persecution cease. Instead, the police used five-clawed electric batons to shock her one after the other and then force-fed her. If she refused to eat, they kept shocking her with the electric baton.
Time Out New York Reports on How Falun Gong Wins Local Hearts
Time out New York is a magazine about life and leisure in New York. In its issue published on October 7, 2004, an article entitled, "What's up with that?" written by Katerine Pushkar introduced a new scene appeared in recent months on the streets in New York City.
As millions of New Yorkers, she also noticed that Falun Gong practitioners seemed to be everywhere. What's up with that?
Katerine wrote, "If it seems like you're practically tripping over peaceful, yellow-shirted demonstrators, that's because Falun Gong (or Falun Dafa) practitioners have descended on New York en masse in the past month. They're here for the same reason anyone else is here -- for the bright (Klieg) lights of the big city." "New York is the media capital of the world," volunteer spokesperson Gail Rachlin explains. "We felt that coming here would have a big impact."
Katerine noticed that Falun Gong, a traditional Chinese meditation and exercise practice based on truth, compassion and tolerance, has been banned as a threat by China's Communist government since 1999, its followers reportedly tortured. She said in her article, "The recent Republican convention -- and its international news lens -- offered an easy spotlight. Falun Gong disciples demonstrated during the RNC."
Rachlin told her, "It had such a positive impact, people said, 'Why don't we stay?'" The awareness campaign has drawn supporters from all over the world to city sidewalks and parks, where they meditate and display gruesome posters documenting abuse by Chinese authorities.
Lifelong New Yorker Rachlin remains hopeful of their success. "If you can win the hearts of New Yorkers," she says, "you can win the hearts of anyone."
Vancouver Sun: Activists Caught in
China's Web
Wang Yuzhi's hands tightened into fists, her gentle facial features hardened, and tears welled in her eyes as she described nine months of detention and torture in China.
The Falun Gong practitioner, now living in Vancouver, clearly understands the terrible price of lost privacy when Chinese government authorities monitor Internet and private e-mail communications.
She had become one of the cyber dissidents imprisoned in China, the country Reporters Without Borders described this year as "the world's biggest prison for cyber dissidents."
China not only boasts almost 80 million Internet users, it is also responsible for jailing more cyber dissidents than all other countries combined.
It has jailed 60 of the 68 cyber dissidents worldwide for what it considers improper Internet communications.
Wang, 49, was jailed in June 2001 when Chinese officials arrested her for the third time after a reward had been posted for her arrest when she continued pro-Falun Gong activities.
Wang said she was arrested attempting to withdraw money from the bank after authorities narrowed down her location through monitoring Internet communications.
In jail she was subjected to brutal force feeding, with tubes being forced through her nose and her mouth. Coarse cornmeal in cold water was pushed into her body.
Her face became a bloody, infected mess of wounds. She thought she might go blind.
"I did not know whether I would be alive or dead, but I really have a strong will to live,"
Wang said through an interpreter who translated her Mandarin into English in an interview.
"The pain was even worse than giving birth," Wang said of the forced feeding that brutalized her body, bashed out her teeth and, on some occasions, almost suffocated her.
Reporters Without Borders' Canadian president Tanya Churchmuch said the Chinese have a system of monitoring and censoring news which is much more subtle than a country such as Cuba, where only a select core of the population are permitted Internet access.
"They do things which are a lot less obvious. They have hundreds of thousands of sites which are blocked, different subject matter, like the Falun Gong.
"Say somebody tries to log on (to a banned site), all it will do is redirect you saying something like: 'Server down. Website not found.'
"It seems much more innocuous. It does not actually say: 'You are not allowed to see this site.'"
Many of those caught in China's cyber monitoring do not consider themselves dissidents.
"Much of it is young people or even students asking questions about Tiananmen Square or talking about anything to do with any kind of liberties, religious freedoms or anything like that who get traced back and they are ultimately arrested."
The Paris-based international reporters' organization's hopes that the Internet would aid pro-democracy, human-rights and religious groups in China have been damaged.
"Initial hopes that the Internet would develop into an unfettered media and help liberalize China have been dashed," an online report stated.
"Many Chinese Internet users are very inventive and have the technical know-how to evade Beijing's censorship. But the reinforcement of filtering measures since the start of 2004 has made it much harder to access independent information.
"At the same time, exiled dissidents are becoming more active and effective."
[...]
Jack He, a Vancouver software programmer, is one of those quietly involved in the cyber battle.
"I understand the situation in China. I know how they block the Internet. I know how people are trying to help people in China to break the blockage," he said before acknowledging he was active in aiding the flow of information.
"I know how they use the Internet to persecute Falun Gong practitioners," he said.
He was wary about saying anything too specific out of fear he would jeopardize efforts to assist the flow of information in and out of China, or bring more unwanted attention from the Chinese government down on Falun Gong [practitioners], of which he is one.
He said he did not want to reveal details of how he and people like him are aiding dissidents in penetrating the so-called golden shield that China has been constructing since 1998.
The golden shield has become more sophisticated as cyber dissidents search for ways to beat the system, according to a paper entitled Breaking Through the Golden Shield, written by He.
Censorship began by merely blocking Internet protocol addresses, preventing web surfers from accessing pages the Chinese government decided should be off limits.
But when dissidents began using overseas Internet protocol addresses to access banned pages they found a way around the censors for a time.
Media websites such as CNN, the BBC, Voice of America, and Falun Gong are among the hundreds of thousands of blocked pages.
Chinese censors responded with detection systems that could detect such proxy pages by recognizing offensive content within the pages.
The same principle was applied to e-mail, He wrote in his report.
Keyword filtering of e-mail servers was required by the state. Similarly, discussion forums were ordered to install filter systems to block key words relating to pornography, religion, politics and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).
Internet cafes in China are also required to examine government identification cards before someone is permitted to access the Internet.
Surveillance software approved by police is installed and sometimes computer screens are monitored, according to He's article.
University of Toronto associate professor Ron Deibert is director of the Citizen Lab at the University's Munk Centre for International Studies, which, along with the Berkman Centre for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School, has researched the extent of China's censorship and how it can be defeated.
Deibert and his colleagues ran tests that demonstrated the popular Google search engine had been manipulated by the Chinese so that searches done within China do not find pages offensive to the Chinese censors.
"We can tell a lot about what they do not want people to know," Deibert said of the testing.
The Citizen Lab also played a part in assisting human-rights organizations in establishing proxy computers to defeat the blocking by the Chinese.
Deibert says that someone doing work in China as he does in Toronto would be jailed.
He said the abilities of the Chinese authorities to detect attempts to circumvent their blocking and monitoring have become much more sophisticated.
"China stands alone among countries worldwide with the money that is put into this and the matrix which is in place," he said.
"There are people that I work with that have been in grave danger doing this stuff, so we have to take very seriously their security."
He said they have seen their research result in positive outcomes for the organizations with which Citizen Lab works, but said it would be dangerous to reveal the details.
"I just cannot get into the specifics of it, because it would disclose the methods which we are using," he said.
Another organization assisting Chinese cyber dissidents is Dynamic Internet Technology Inc., a U.S. company headed by Bill Xia, a former Chinese national.
Xia also established a proxy network so people accessing the Internet in China could visit banned websites.
"We deliver software to users in China. With this client software they are going to find our network, connect to our network so that people can visit any website which they want," he said in a telephone interview.
(Xia was so concerned about his personal security that he insisted his location be described only as the east coast of the U.S.)
He said the software they have made available to hundreds of thousands of Chinese Internet users is so easy to operate it can be installed by double clicking.
He said encryption systems in the software would allow a person in China to evade censors and access a Falun Gong web- site.
Xia, who also practises Falun Gong, said he travelled to the U.S. to complete his education and was amazed when he learned of all the information which had been denied to people within China about their own country.
Now, Chinese people use his technology to learn about subjects forbidden by the Chinese government.
"There are many stories which China tried to keep under control," he said. He said the government kept a tight lid on how bad the SARS epidemic was in China and how dangerous it was to its citizens.
"At the beginning the government was saying it was not dangerous at all and almost nobody died [saying] 'It's fine you do not have to take any precautions.'."
Dynamic Internet Technology has provided assistance to Voice of America, Radio Free Asia and Human Rights in China, Xia said.
New York-based Human Rights in China executive director Sharon Hom said assistance from organizations such as Dynamic Internet Technology has been vital for her organization.
As well as lobbying for more than 2,000 individual dissidents within China, Human Rights in China has documented examples of prisoner mistreatment, and brought it to the attention of the UN and other international bodies.
They are also using technology supplied by organizations such as DIT to provide access to information for pro-democracy and human-rights advocates in China.
People who have assisted the organization from within China have often paid a high personal price.
"They are in prison. They are suffering repression. They are under heavy surveillance or they are losing jobs," she said.
"On the other hand, despite very high costs, people are trying."
While academics, human-rights advocates, and some corporations attempt to assist the flow of information to and from China, Wang Yuzhi recounts her tale of torture as many times as it is necessary.
"Every time she recalls this experience it's very painful, but she is still willing because here in this society people do not really realize what is going on over there," the interpreter explained for Wang.
[...]
Radio Free Asia: Rights Group Says Falun Gong Mother and Baby Died in Labor Camp
2004.10.15
HONG KONG--A follower of the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement and her eight-month-old son have died in a Chinese labor camp after traveling to Beijing to petition the central government about their plight, a U.S.-based rights group has reported.
"Persecuting children on the basis of their or their parents' beliefs is a fundamental violation of the rights of the child."
Liu Qing, Human Rights in China
Wang Lixuan and her son, Meng Hao, from the eastern province of Shandong, were detained Oct. 22, 2000, while traveling to Beijing, the New York-based Human Rights in China (HRIC) said in a statement.
"The mother and baby both died at the Tuanhe Forced Labor Dispatch Division in Beijing on Nov. 7, 2000. The coroner's exam determined that Wang Lixuan's neck and fingers were broken, her skull was fractured, and she had a needle stuck in her lower back," the statement said.
Five documented deaths
"Her baby, Meng Hao, was found to have deep bruises on his ankles and head and blood in his nose. It is believed that little Meng Hao had been hung upside down by his ankles," the group said.
It said at least five children of Falun Gong followers had died as a result of official persecution of their parents, while many more had been left in straitened circumstances after parents were detained or sentenced for their beliefs.
It quoted the Global Mission to Rescue Persecuted Falun Gong Practitioners as saying that some under-age Falun Gong practitioners had been sentenced to re-education through labor and been forced to submit to brainwashing.
Others had become orphans or have lost the care of their parents, and also lost their rights to education and other social services and basic human rights, it said.
Nationwide crackdown
"Persecuting children on the basis of their or their parents' beliefs is a fundamental violation of the rights of the child under international law," HRIC president Liu Qing said in the statement.
"The Chinese government should [ensure] that no child is subjected to torture, detention, or loss of basic human rights because of the religious beliefs of themselves or their parents," Liu said.
Human rights groups estimate that hundreds of Falun Gong followers have been jailed and tens of thousands sent to labor camps without trial since then.
China banned Falun Gong in July 1999, after the group staged a massive silent protest outside the main leadership compound in Beijing.
The official Chinese media have consistently [slandered and demonized Falun Gong to justify the inhumane persecution]
Followers describe Falun Gong as a set of mostly age-old practices aimed at self-improvement through physical exercises and spiritual beliefs. The movement claims tens of millions of followers in China, and millions more in other countries.
Campbelltown Macarthur Advertiser (Sydney, Australia): Residents sign petition opposing persecution
October 13, 2004
An international fight against persecution has gained support from the people
of Macarthur.
A petition calling for the Federal Government to protect the safety and basic
rights of Australian Falun Dafa practitioners has been signed by 2000 residents.
Falun Dafa -- also known as Falun Gong -- is a Chinese practice of self-improvement and exercise with the guiding principles of truthfulness, compassion and forbearance.
The practice was banned in China in 1999 by the former president Jiang Zemin, and practitioners say there has been a campaign of persecution and torture ever since.
The petition was started after Sydney man David Liang, 42, was shot in both
feet after he and eight other Australians arrived in South Africa to file a law
suit against visiting Chinese officials.
The petition calls for the Federal Government to realize that there is
increasing violence against Australian citizens and to understand that these
attacks are acts of terrorism.
Stacey Wang of Ingleburn said many Macarthur people supported the Falun Dafa cause.
"Australians, Chinese and Vietnamese all practice in the local area," Ms Wang said.
"Most of them practiced before the persecution and know that Falun Dafa is very good and very helpful." Ms Wang said Chinese practitioners living in Macarthur had been black-listed by the Chinese government and had had trouble getting visas and renewing passports.
Zoran Bulic of Ingleburn, a practitioner for two years, said Falun Dafa offered health and psychological benefits.
"It's a very simple practice but a very powerful one," Mr. Bulic said, "it teaches people how to be good."
Ms Wang said the petition was a way of bringing David Liang's plight to the
Macarthur region.
"We would like to let everyone know about the terrorism and the evil nature of the persecution," she said.
"Even outside China, we deeply feel the persecution and we want to stand up and say no to the evil."
Ms Wang said Macarthur residents were quick to show concern about the issue.
"The people agree that the Government should do something about
it," she said.
The petition will be sent to Federal Opposition Leader and Werriwa MP Mark
Latham and to Macarthur MP Pat Farmer.
Falun Gong Practitioners' Righteous Action in China
Hundreds of Thousands Truth-Clarifying Stickers Publicly Posted in Liaoning Province during the National Day Holidays
By a Falun Gong practitioner in Liaoning Province, China
For the October 1st National Day holidays, we designed a letter-sized flyer with an adhesive backing listing the evildoers' names and their crimes as publicized by the World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong.
We distributed or posted several hundred thousand of these flyers in cities and different areas in Liaoning Province, which greatly shocked and exposed the evildoers. Before that, we had made and posted a large number of similar stickers. This exposure revealed the criminals and their crimes to their relatives, neighbors, colleagues, family members and people around them. They were very scared and dared not raise their heads among their local relatives and acquaintances.
Some were transferred to other jobs because of the exposure. Some could not be promoted. Some of the culprits went to see Falun Gong practitioners, saying that they would never persecute Falun Gong again.
On the whole, these flyers greatly shocked the evildoers, who came to realize the consequences of persecuting Falun Gong practitioners. Since then, they haven't dared to persecute Falun Gong practitioners arbitrarily. A great change has occurred in the situation in those areas.
Righteous Thoughts and Actions Stop the Police from Extorting Money from a Practitioner's Family
I am a 47-year-old woman from Funing County of Qinhuangdao. I used to be sick all the time, suffering from neurasthenia, nephritis and other illnesses. I took medicine 365 days a year.
On February 26, 1999, I started to practice Falun Gong. Since then, I have been practicing the exercises and strictly following the universal principles of "Truth-Compassion-Tolerance." Not long after beginning the practice, all my physical suffering was gone. I used to be very weak and only weighed 99 pounds. Now I have completely changed: my weight has increased to 162 pounds, and I can do all kinds of work. I've been very healthy during the five years that I have I practiced Falun Gong. From the bottom of my heart, I feel so grateful to Teacher and Falun Gong for giving me health and a happy family.
On January 13, 2002, because I was distributing flyers clarifying the truth about Falun Gong and the persecution in a market, I was illegally taken to a police substation. The director and six policemen from the substation were involved in the arrest. They went to search my home as well, but did not find anything. At around 9:00 p.m., police officer Yang handcuffed me and forced me to sit on a stool until 8:00 a.m. the next morning. When they removed the handcuffs, my hands had two deep bruised lines on them. Later, I was sent to Funing Detention Center, where I was detained for fifteen days.
My husband is an honest and kind man. During my detention, aside from expenses regarding accommodation and photos, the police substation extorted money from him three times: 2,000 yuan the first time, 1,000 yuan the second time and 1,000 yuan the third time. The money was given to Officer Yang every time, without witnesses or any legal procedures. Each time, he asked my husband to go to the police substation in the evening.
At 3:00 p.m. the day after my release, Yang again broke into my home, this time alone. He threatened and swore at my husband, asking for some sauces (worth over 30 yuan). Then he demanded 500 yuan. At the time, I thought of Teacher's words, "suffocate the evil." So I ran out and phoned the director of the police substation. I also shouted loudly in front of my house, "Come and see! This policeman broke into someone's home without justification and extorted money from honest people. Tell me which item in the law allows you to do so? Who asked you to do so?" A lot of people gathered around. Soon, Pan Weixing, Assistant Director of the police substation came to my home with five policemen. They persuaded me to let them enter the house and they took Yang away. They looked very panicked and frightened. After that, I exposed the wicked behavior of the police substation to the people living in the vicinity of the substation. The director of the police substation declared that he would get his revenge on me.
I told them that I did not have any hatred for them, and that I only hoped that they would not aid the persecutors and maltreat good people.
After that, the leaders of the police substation and Officer Yang came to my home, apologizing for what they did. They also returned 3,500 yuan. But they still kept 100 yuan as a "deposit."
The People Awaken to the Truth
Middle School Classmates Work Together to Clarify the Truth about Falun Gong
In Northern China, one middle school student and all three of his family members practice Falun Gong. He always explains the truth about Falun Dafa and introduces the teachings to his classmates. He encourages his mother, saying, "Don't be afraid, just try your best and Teacher will help you!" He also informed his mother, "If we keep a righteous mind, all of my classmates will help me."
One day, their teacher in class asked who was practicing Falun Gong. He raised his hand bravely and slowly, one by one, his fellow students also raised their hands. Once, when he obtained some printed materials explaining the truth about Falun Gong, his classmates had a friendly competition with each other to distribute the materials. While hanging Falun Dafa banners, they also competed with each other to see who had hung the banner highest in a tree and who had hung it in the most aesthetically pleasing way.
Some students also tried to follow the example of grownups who had gone to unfurl Falun Gong banners on Tiananmen Square. They unfurled banners in the hallways of the school and shouted, "Falun Dafa is good!"
Falun Gong Practitioners' Personal Experiences
A Doctor in Taiwan: Falun Gong Cured My Eye Disease
My name is Lai Jiandeng and I am 53 years old. I am a medical doctor, an ear-nose-throat specialist, and I started practicing Falun Gong in March 1997. I have suffered from illnesses throughout my whole life. I fought other people for self-interests, and my health declined by the year. In the past decade I hit rock bottom and almost lost the desire to live. That was the time I found Falun Dafa. From then on, my life changed completely.
I study Western medicine and have a certain understanding of the treatment and recuperation process of certain diseases. When I was young, I suffered from various conditions. In the years right before I practiced Falun Gong, I was afflicted with a stomach ulcer, stomach bleeding, a stiff back, inflammation of the eye, dizziness and sciatic nerve pain. These problems took turns attacking me. Treatments could only suppress them temporarily and could not prevent them from recurring.
It was the day before Tomb Sweep Day and the beginning of a long holiday when the eye inflammation first came on. My eyes were red for two days, and all of a sudden my eyeballs suppurated from inside. They swelled up and were extremely painful. I could barely open my eyes and when I did, I couldn't see anything. Pus had filled my eyes and it was as if someone had plastered my eyes over. I cannot describe the intense fear I had of losing my sight, because the next thing that would usually happen was my eyeballs would fester and I would lose my sight. I immediately went to an eye doctor, who injected medication directly into my eyelids. The injections are usually administered into the muscle, under the skin or into blood vessels, but I was injected directly in my eyelids and in the tissue around the eyeballs. Sometimes I had shots twice a day. The condition subsided after about two weeks.
That was only the beginning of a nightmare. The disease came back every spring. The injections only suppressed the surface symptoms and could not treat the underlying causes. Each relapse would last a month or so and I had to get injections around my eyes, otherwise it would be difficult to control the symptoms. I received prednisolone in large doses [a derivative of prednisone, a steroid treatment].
After more than a decade, I was extremely afraid of this disease, because over time I could develop kidney problems even if I didn't lose my sight, and I could end up living on dialysis. This disease was also accompanied by ankylosing spondylitis [chronic inflammation of the spine], and my spine started to hurt more than 20 years ago. After I had a car accident over ten years ago, my back hurt terribly on top of other complications that already existed. In the winter my spine hurt when I moved, when I lay still, when I rolled over and when I got out of bed. When I sat in a car, I could not tolerate the slightest jarring. I had to push myself up with my hands to alleviate the pain, and it also hurt when the car accelerated. My spine would hurt so much that I would well up in tears when the car would go over a pothole or came to a sudden stop. I was scared to death of going out in a car. Even when I walked at home, I could not walk steadily due to my back pain, and the pain was there no matter what position I was in.
My mother was on her deathbed when I first saw Falun Dafa books, so I didn't have the desire to read them then. Since I never obtained a good cultivation method in any of the different religions, I assumed Falun Dafa was the same as the others, so I didn't pay much attention. After my mother's funeral I picked up the book Falun Gong, I suddenly realized that this was different from all the religious books I had read, so I read it until 3:00 a.m.
The next day, I continued to read Zhuan Falun and other Falun Dafa books. It's hard to describe my feelings, but it was far deeper than anything I had experienced before. When I read religious books, I felt that I had just crawled out of the soil and saw the sun for the first time, and I felt the world was wonderfully huge; with further understanding, I felt I had climbed up on a building and when I look down, I felt my former understandings were trivial. But when I read Falun Dafa books, all those feelings and knowledge became insignificant in comparison, and I felt like I was looking down from the universe. The difference was tremendous and I was truly happy. I realized that Falun Dafa was what I had always sought after, even though I had no idea that I was after it.
The next summer, my stomach ulcer pain began to subside and then disappeared. The unbearable pain in my spine was also reduced a year later. The inflammation of my eyes came back several times. I did the meditation exercise since I could not do the other exercises involving movement. Eventually the dizziness went away.
The majority of my illnesses are history. I am now healthier than I have ever been. I have truly experienced something profound and supernatural. I devoted myself to religion for decades but was never free from illnesses. As a doctor I know about illnesses and it's easy for me to obtain medication. I took pills in great quantities, but the pain was still there. Now I understand that only cultivation can help a person become truly and completely healthy.
Falun Dafa has given me guidance in life. It helped me to reduce hatred, conflicts, and other bad feelings. I am able to see my shortcomings, and through cherishing the chance to practice Falun Dafa, I will diligently improve myself.
Because I Practice Falun Gong, I No Longer Use Large Quantities of Medication
My name is Tian Meiyun and I live in Taipei.
In late November 1997, I received a phone call from a friend who told me about Falun Dafa. When I read the book Zhuan Falun the words, "A person should return to his original, true self--that's actually the true purpose of being human," moved me. Falun Dafa is different from anything I had studied before. When I realized that the purpose of being human is to return to one's original, true self, my mind cleared up and I cried with joy for having found the truth. I immediately registered for a nine-day Falun Gong class held in Huangpu-xincun.
I had been sickly since childhood. My husband said to me, "You are taking medication 300 days out of the year." I suffered from migraines, a syndrome where I kept seeing flying objects, arrhythmia, nervous imbalance, twisting of the vertebrae, chronicle pelvic infection, a uterine tumor, hydrocele and kidney disease. Neither Eastern nor Western medicine could help me, and I lost confidence in both. I also practiced many types of qigong but my condition didn't improve. I felt hopeless and helpless, and that life was meaningless. In the first month after I started practicing Falun Gong, I read only a few pages of Zhuan Falun every day because my eyes were still sore. However, my body started to change. I had previously suffered from frequent migraines. Now my head had a worse reaction and I even vomited. But, after vomiting, my head no longer hurt! I also experienced great changes in my urinary system. I knew Master was purifying my body for me and I should persist in studying Falun Gong, no matter how uncomfortable I felt. I read the Falun Gong books attentively and did the exercises. On the fifth day I felt as if I was reborn. When I opened my eyes in the morning, I felt that the world was beautiful and my body was very light. I straightened my back and was very happy. I also discarded several drawers full of medication because I no longer needed them.
My relationship with my husband changed from being antagonistic to one that was harmonious and caring. Three years ago my husband had taken on a project, and unexpectedly we went bankrupt overnight. I felt as if my world suddenly came apart. I was angry and bitter that my husband took on a project in a field in which he was not an expert. We stopped talking to each other and lived like strangers. After studying Falun Gong, I tried to walk a mile in my husband's shoes and realized that he was trying his best to provide for his family.
If I didn't have this experience, I may not have truly understood the joy and changes after studying Falun Gong. It enabled me to face sharp criticism in a tolerant manner and to face difficult situations with broad-mindedness and forgiveness. I discovered that I was often stubbornly blaming other people in the past. I used to be aggressive and overbearing, but because of Falun Gong practice, I changed my attitude and have become warm and considerate. As a result, I am now a better wife and mother. My anger and bitterness also disappeared.
