For two and a half years in China, state-run terrorism has raged against its most innocent and upstanding citizens. Despite censure from other countries the persecution has kept escalating. It targets practitioners whose only crime is to endeavour to live up to the principals of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. Jiang Zemin has broken not only his own constitution, in this persecution, but all the international human rights treaties he has ever signed. In order to hide his crimes, Jiang has spent billions of dollars on hate propaganda that has not only infected his own country but also those of the global community. The Chinese Falun Gong practitioners live under a gruesome torment. They cannot make their voices heard anywhere. The constitutional rights of ALL Chinese citizens, to be able to appeal and say that something is wrong, is stripped from all Falun Gong practitioners. Many of them live like refugees in their own country. They have lost their jobs and their families. If they return home they are likely to be arrested and taken to torture camps. The persecution effects not only 100 million practitioners but also their families, colleagues, and employers.

Under the most vicious torture and harassment, there has never been a single case of a practitioner who has fought back. Not only do they practice non-violence but they put others first -- caring more for the souls of the people torturing them, than they do about their own physical pain. Their selfless courage demonstrates the purity and power of Falun Dafa. They have reached a state where, no matter how severe the torture, their true and ultimate freedom cannot be touched. Our teacher, Li Hongzhi, has done something unprecedented in the history of the world. In ten short years, he has taught and inspired over 100 million people, in over 50 countries to be the best they can be, without seeking money, fame or power. He is teaching us how to be truly free.

Jiang Zemin has vowed to exterminate Falun Gong much like Hitler did the Jews. Genocide is happening again in China. At the end of WWII we were horrified to discover the truth about the persecution of the Jews. And we vowed "Never Again..." Unfortunately we, as a people, tend to learn best with hindsight. It is happening again, this time in China. Wouldn't it have been wonderful if a group of non-Jewish people appealed to Hitler in Berlin for the rights of the Jewish people? Could that have changed history?

Jiang Zemin has poisoned the minds of his own people who have no access to other information because they only hear state-run media. They believe his lies and are encouraged to join in the persecution. I am here today to let them know that there is another side to this story. I am here to tell the truth about Falun Gong.

As a world citizen, I represent practitioners in over 50 countries outside of China, whose governments unanimously welcome Falun Dafa and who also condemn this most vicious persecution. By doing so, I want the global community to direct their focus back on China and the extreme cruelty that is displayed there. The persecution of Falun Gong directly concerns each and every one of us. It is not only that millions of people are deprived of their most fundamental human rights. Nor is it merely the issue that the Jiang Zemin regime is trying to force every level of society to carry out its unconstitutional persecution. It is more. It is a direct assault on human morality. It is a direct assault on the principles of Truthfulness, Benevolence, and Forbearance. It is extremely rare to witness such a dramatic confrontation between good and evil. With this clash taking place, it is critical that the world's people choose a correct stance. Neutrality does not exist.

Since ancient times there has always been a price to pay for the truth. Our action today is global civil disobedience of the highest order (of Jiang Zemin's regime). As practitioners of Falun Dafa we come from all over the world to support our Chinese brothers and sisters, not only in demanding the return of their human rights but to also help them uphold and protect the well being of a Higher Universal Principal -- Zhen-Shan-Ren (Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance)