(Clearwisdom.net)
I am employed at the Keelung City Police Bureau. From March 14 to May 16, twelve thousand people from Mainland China toured Taiwan in nine separate groups. They went to Taipei in the morning and came back to Keelung in the evening to visit the night market. Keelung Falun Gong practitioners met up with the tourists at the harbor and at the market. Practitioners valued the opportunity to expose the persecution of Falun Gong in China. At the time, it was for me a choice between being alongside fellow practitioners or my colleagues. This helped me find my shortcomings, fear and attachments.
Keelung practitioners find themselves at great advantage in clarifying the facts about Falun Gong. The Chinese groups had to walk along a large stretch of sidewalk to get from the Harbor Bureau to the night market. This allowed practitioners to expose the persecution and promote Dafa, as it was difficult for them to ignore the banners, displays, exercise demonstrations and Dafa music.
The practitioners also faced a lot of interference. The Taiwanese police interfered because practitioners displayed banners along the tourist route. The police faced tremendous pressure because of the political tension between Taiwan and China. They feared that practitioners were irrational protesters and could hurt the tourists and worsen the tension. The police told practitioners that they had to apply for a license to gather and protest in public. The officers demanded that practitioners present approvals from the shops along the sidewalk, as they protested on their property. Officers refused to listen when practitioners explained patiently that the streets were public property and no approval from shop owners was required.
We were forbidden to display the banners. In the evening, two practitioners wore shirts that displayed the words "Falun Dafa is Good" while strolling in the night market and officers followed them. At night, we did the exercises with the banners open, and officers told us angrily, "You already displayed the banners in the morning, let's not do this at night."
We worried that all the interference would disrupt our opportunity to clarify the facts about Falun Gong. A practitioner who is a lawyer told us that a peaceful appeal with simple banners would not present any legal issue. It was also about improving our Xinxing.
I am a police officer, and I told my fellow officers the intention behind these activities. I felt that I carried great responsibility and had to do well. I wrote a letter explaining why practitioners wanted to display banners and tell the Chinese people the facts about the persecution. I sent it to over one hundred police units. Soon after that, the person who was in charge of the Chinese tourists visiting Taiwan told me that he understood that Falun Gong was peaceful and rational.
At the same time, television reporters were taping the arrival of the tourists. The camera avoided the banners saying "Welcome Chinese Tourists to Taiwan" and the newspaper reported that Falun Gong practitioners objected to these tourists coming to Taiwan. They also hinted that the practitioners' activities could be illegal. The minute I became aware of this, I sent an e-mail to the media representatives and expressed my concern. In the e-mail, I told the particular news media that practitioners truly welcome the Mainland Chinese people visiting Taiwan, and that they could learn the facts about the persecution of Falun Gong when they come to a free country. I suggested that they should correct their report. In addition, fellow practitioners also called the station and asked that they print a retraction of the misleading information. That afternoon they taped another activity and corrected their earlier reporting. Later, I was informed that my letter was sent to the responsible department. We didn't have any similar problems after that.
We used to think that we were helpless in the face of untruthful reporting about Falun Dafa, and negative reports by the media can mislead a large number of people within a short time. In my experience, we need to respond immediately when we see distortions about Falun Gong, because the longer we wait, the more people would be misguided.
The evening before the next group of tourists came, I went to the police station in charge of that particular local area. I explained to the director about Falun Dafa, the persecution, the torture practitioners suffered and more. I took along copies of the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party. The next day, the police officers' attitude toward practitioners was still rather unfriendly. When I tried to talk to the officers, a superior tried to stop me and warned me that I needed to be aware that I was also an officer. It seemed that they asked me to choose between fellow practitioners and colleagues. I knew that I had to clarify the facts about Falun Gong because I was a practitioner. However my attachments of fear, fame and personal gain stopped me from participating in the activities. I did something that did not require me to be on the street.
Practitioners went to the responsible police stations to clarify the truth. They also invited people from the Falun Dafa Association and practitioners with higher social status to visit police officials at higher levels. However, this process was too slow. We decided to write letters because that did not require making appointments. We did not have to deal with officials not wanting to see us or take our phone calls.
Keelung practitioners wrote to upper levels of the police system to clarifying the truth about Falun Gong. They also expressed their concern, as the police mobilized such a large contingent to abuse the Parade and Assembly Law.
The next day, the officers' attitude had taken a total turnaround and our relationship was cordial. They said that they would only send out officers to keep the traffic flowing. The environment for practitioners to validate the Fa had been created.
The Nine Commentaries is a great tool to help people see the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for what it really is. I often give this book to my colleagues and superiors. When the Chinese tourists came, practitioners also gave this book to officers on duty. Later, one of my superiors told me that he had read the book three times. A colleague told me that he carried the book with him and read it when he had a chance.
I had to work in the morning, so I joined the activities at night. On the way to the night market, we originally decided to give out fliers and brochures. They didn't accept them. Later, we learned that the CCP warned them not to take materials from Falun Gong practitioners or there would be consequences.
To ensure that we still got our message across, I made several displays. First, a practitioner objected and said the police would not allow it, but we did not let this deter us. The police didn't stop us, but instead smiled and nodded their heads at us. A colleague gave me a thumbs-up and told me, "I respect you very much."
We still faced more obstacles. We demonstrated the exercises at the square outside the Keelung City Cultural Affairs Bureau because we knew that the tourists would visit there. When the Chinese tourists passed us, some of them looked at us with their eyes wide open, some whispered and some took out their cameras and took pictures. Due to political pressure, the Bureau forbade us from doing the demonstration. We wrote letters to the Bureau and visited its officials, and the environment changed for the better. The Director of the Bureau came to the practitioners and told them that he would read the Nine Commentaries.
The attitudes of the police, the Cultural Affairs Bureau and the media changed dramatically within a short time after the tourists began to arrive. Clarifying the truth is a powerful tool. I understand that the format of truth clarification does not matter. We responded to the police, media and the Bureau the minute we were faced with interference. We talked to them and wrote letters, and the outcome was good. I believe it is a good thing that problems and conflicts rise. We not only can save more people through clarifying the truth, we can also improve ourselves in the process. We need to be grateful when problems occur and not complain.
Now, a little about my background as a police officer. When the Human Rights Torch arrived in Keelung, I was in charge of traffic flow. I was also in charge of the activity. In the process of getting the paper work done for the tourist visits, a superior told me that I could jeopardize my career. This time the Chinese tourists came to Taiwan, I clarified the truth while I was at work and joined Dafa activities after work. I discovered that my colleagues could not understand why I was so enthusiastic about something that could hurt my career.
After the last group of Chinese tourists returned to China, I was promoted to a supervisor position. My promotion shocked many who knew me. I know that what happens to a practitioner is not up to ordinary people.
Not long after I went to work in my new position, a reporter from a well-known radio station called and wanted to interview me. The topic was about the contrast between police officers in Taiwan and China. The reporter told me the broadcast could be heard in China. I was surprised how soon people wanted to know the truth about Falun Gong after I started my new position. She had read the article I wrote on-line comparing police officers in Taiwan and China. She wanted to interview me for a special broadcast on a policeman's day. During the interview, I stressed that police in China persecute Falun Gong practitioners and police in Taiwan practice Falun Gong. This incident helped me understand that there are no coincidences for a practitioner.
Policemen in China believed the CCP lies and persecute Falun Gong practitioner unknowingly. I pity them because some of them will never be saved. I am lucky enough to become a practitioner and walk on the divine path. What a contrast!
I want to encourage practitioners with Teacher's lecture:
"If I were to end this affair right now, too many future lives would be destroyed. Those people that came down to obtain the Fa, those people that came on account of obtaining the Fa, would have come in vain. Regardless of what those lives are now doing, they were, in the beginning, gods. They saw how terrifying it was here, yet they dared to jump headlong in--they dared to come. Why was that? Because they had hope in the Fa-rectification and Dafa, and they came out of a deep faith. No matter how they are behaving now, we need to look at how things were initially and look at their history--at how that life once was--and do our utmost to save them. " ("Fa Teaching at the 2009 Greater New York International Fa Conference")
Thank you Teacher. Thank you everyone.
