Practitioners in UK Are Raising Public Awareness of the Plight of Fellow Practitioners in China

On the 7th and 8th of July, practitioners in the UK continued to make the SOS Emergency Appeal to rescue practitioners in China.

In the evening of July 7 practitioners from London as well as cities around London, such as Oxford, Nottingham, Birmingham, gathered in front of the Chinese Embassy, with a wreath displayed and candles lit, to commemorate the practitioners who have been tortured to death, in particular those 15 female practitioners who died at Wanjia Labour Camp. UK practitioners also held SOS Appeal activities at China Town in London, distributing materials with the message of "SOS! Urgent: Rescue the Falun Gong Practitioners Persecuted in China!" in both English and Chinese to tell the public about the tragedy and truth of Falun Gong. Western and Chinese practitioners practised the exercises together.

Chinatown in London is the largest one in Europe. It also attracts many tourist groups from China. We came across such groups one by one during the SOS activities. People in the groups responded differently after being shown pictures of torture received by practitioners in China and other materials: some kept silent but accepted Dafa materials; some seemed to be on the alert and walked away. On July 8 there were 2 young women who came with a tourist group from China said loudly, after watching the pictures of torture, "Look, it is different from what they (the Chinese government) said." They then asked for copies of all available materials. There were also some Western young people sincerely signed their names on the petition form to express their support.

Recently, there have been several internationally powerful media agents, such as the Guardian, Times, Financial Times and BBC TV, all reported on Wanjia Tragedy. For example, there was a big coverage in the Guardian reporting the news that 15 Falun Gong practitioners have been tortured to death in China. Its reporters also interviewed staff at the International Secretariat Head Office of Amnesty International located in London. AI expressed their concern on the large scale of torture applied to Falun Gong practitioners by the Chinese government. In about 2 years time, there have been more than 200 Falun Gong practitioners tortured to death. AI have sent many letters to urge the Chinese government to give explanations and called on the Chinese government to allow independent authorities to investigate these deaths. However, the Chinese government has never given an explanation to such incidents.

A press release to announce an SOS Long Distance Walk (Birmingham - London) by some UK practitioners was also made. There will be another Walk Team set off from Scotland soon. Practitioners in the UK hope that all these SOS activities will raise public concerns and help from British people with various backgrounds.