(Clearwisdom.net) November 20, 2001

German Falun Gong Practitioners arrested at Tiananmen Square

On November 20, 2001, shortly after 2:00 p.m. Beijing time, a peaceful appeal took place on Tiananmen Square. Participating Falun Gong-practitioners came from many nations, including Germany, France, Great Britain, Sweden, the United States and Canada. Approximately five minutes later, all were arrested. At least one person was hurt. The police disrupted telephone contact to us.

Falun Gong Information Center received a statement from the German group, which was handed to another practitioner shortly before his airplane's departure.

The statement reads: "It was our free will to go to Beijing. We want to support Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance in China and further publicize, with emphasis, that the persecution against Falun Gong, which goes against all morality and has already lasted for over two years, must be stopped immediately."

The statement further reads: "We appeal to the Chinese government to dissolve the "610 Office" (an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the ruling party and all other political and judiciary systems) and all other entities which were especially created for the systematic persecution of Falun Gong. We demand the [...] condemnation of Luo Gan, who is responsible for many crimes committed against Falun Gong practitioners."

Other demands the group made are that: "The Chinese government must immediately and unconditionally release all incarcerated Falun Gong practitioners, be they in labor camps, prisons, mental health facilities or any other places of detention. In addition, we demand that their freedom of practicing their belief system and their freedom of expression be recognized, as well as their desire to practice Falun Gong, so that they can once more practice in peace. Further, the Chinese government must stop its amoral hate campaign against Falun Gong."

The participants in this [demonstration] want to support the efforts of local Falun Gong practitioners, because in spite of the "extreme persecution, Falun Gong practitioners remain always peaceful and are attempting to clarify the truth to the government and the general population and to expose the lies." They sent a signal to the general Chinese citizenry, the Chinese government and the rest of the world, which underscores the desire of all Falun Gong practitioners to make it possible, as it is in 40 countries around the world, to freely practice Falun Gong once again in China.

Falun Gong is a peaceful, traditional cultivation practice, in which practitioners follow the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance. People who live by these values are of benefit to any society.

"We are not against the government now, nor will we be in the future. Others may treat us badly, but we must not treat them badly. We must not look upon people as enemies. We appeal to all governments, all international organizations and all kind -hearted people, to support us and help us to bring the Chinese crisis to a conclusion." (Excerpt from Master Li Hongzhi's "A Brief Statement of Mine," July 22, 1999)