(Clearwisdom.net) By the evening of February 2, the 5000 tickets to the New Tang Dynasty TV (NTDTV) Chinese New Year Gala 2005 have been basically sold out, while there have been many inquiries to obtain tickets at the last minute. A business owner from Mainland China asked a NTDTV volunteer at 42nd street: "Which TV station do you work for? It's got such a strong promotional presence!" A volunteer said that the Chinese authorities wanted to organize a New Year program at the Lincoln Center to compete with NTDTV's Gala. Though they have invited some famous figures and an ethnic minority troupe from mainland China, that program did not get off the ground, as the performers couldn't obtain visas to the U.S. in time. Reportedly the CCP also tried similar tricks in San Francisco and Toronto. At the AP's Manhattan headquarters, there were practitioners from all over the world conducting appeals last weekend. A practitioner at the site said that the AP seemed to have a high level meeting last Sunday and we distributed "An Open Letter to the Associated Press" to them. The past weekend, some staff inside the headquarters came out to learn Falun Gong from us and asked where they could purchase Falun Gong books. From Monday to Wednesday of this week, almost every afternoon there were reporters from all kinds of media outlets at the AP headquarters. They took photos of the practitioners and banners, and they accepted truth-clarifying materials about the staged self-immolation. A reporter from a prominent TV station said that it was wrong for the AP to refuse to meet with the practitioners. A practitioner then told the reporter: "In the western world, in dealing with such a peaceful Falun Gong group, anyone who repeats the lies of the CCP should take a hard look at their position." Some reporters and staff of the AP told practitioners that their mission was to carry news and report neutrally, not to comment--and that this article indeed has violated the AP's mission. The practitioners who have volunteered to help the Gala called on the public to continue their support of NTDTV's Chinese New Year Gala 2005 in Manhattan. 
NTDTV New Year Gala Poster
NTDTV's Chinese New Year Gala 2005 to be held at The Theater at Madison Square Garden
Posting date: 2/5/2005
Original article date: 2/5/2005
Category: Falun Dafa Worldwide
Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2005/2/4/94807.html