(Minghui.org) A group of practitioners have been protesting the persecution of Falun Gong in front of the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco daily over the past 15 years. They started this endeavor shortly after the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) started persecuting Falun Gong in China on July 20, 1999. All of these practitioners, some being in their 80s, are determined to persist until the persecution ends.
Display boards in view in front of the Chinese Consulate
Mr. Peng who is in charge of this initiative said, "Our group has been informing the public here with these display boards about the CCP's persecution of Falun Gong over the past 15 years, and we call for an end to the persecution."
Chinese Change from Cursing to Smiling at Practitioners
Mr. Peng has noticed Chinese people have become more receptive to their display boards then that of previous years. He said that the consulate initially dispatched some pro-communist Chinese groups to make trouble, verbally abusing practitioners.
"Years ago, those visiting the consulate were not only unwilling to accept our materials, but they even spoke quite rudely to us,” he recalled.
Through 15 years of persistent and painstaking efforts to raise awareness, Mr. Peng said many Chinese have understood the true situation, along with the fact that Falun Gong teaches people to conduct themselves according to Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. The situation has improved greatly.
"Many people accept our materials. And those that don't take our materials will still give us a smile. Nobody curses us anymore. Locals who pass by give us the thumbs-up and say, 'You've done great, keep it up.'
"As the Quit-the-CCP movement is quite prominent now, many Chinese are openly quitting the CCP right in front of the Chinese consulate, whereas before this was unheard of.”
Chinese Feel Relieved to Quit the CCP
Practitioners formed a Great Wall of Truth with their banners in front of the Chinese Consulate on October 17. A scene of numerous practitioners holding banners to urge Chinese to quit the CCP contributed to several of them from the mainland to quit it on the spot.
Great Wall of Truth held in front of Chinese Consulate in San Francisco on October 17, 2014
A woman from Qingdao City, China agreed to quit the Young Pioneers organization after talking to a practitioner. A man who was waiting for his visa came out and also agreed to quit the Youth League and Young Pioneer organizations, along with another woman who also quit the Young Pioneers.
Two more Chinese, who intended on studying at a prestigious university, came to apply for student visas. They said that someone had helped them quit the CCP that morning, and were even more pleased and relieved with their decision after learning just how diabolic the CCP really is.
"Will You Wait to Be Paid Before Rescuing Your Family Members?"
One misinformed person groundlessly claimed that the practitioners came daily because they were getting paid. Mr. Peng told this person that the practitioners volunteer from their hearts, and don't get paid at all, rather they use their own money to print out more truth clarification materials and to cover the costs of their own travel expenses.
He said, "We illustrated with an example. If your family members were persecuted and you sought justice for them, demanding they be released, would you first wait to be paid, and then rescue them? That's impossible, right?”
"Falun Gong practitioners in China and around the world are all one family. We are all peacefully practicing Falun Gong, yet the authorities in China arrest them and torture them. Why would we ask for money when demanding the release of our fellow practitioners? That's just not right, and is merely but a malicious rumor spread by the Chinese regime-controlled media. The CCP uses money to coerce people to do things, but conversely, we do things truly from our hearts."
Persisting to Raise Awareness Despite Challenges
Over the past 15 years, although these elderly practitioners have devoted a lot of time to raise awareness of the persecution in front of the Chinese consulate, they have also managed to maintain a healthy and balanced family life.
Mr. Peng travels to the Chinese Consulate early each morning, and studies Falun Gong's texts on his way. When he gets home he looks after his grandchildren.
Mr. Peng doesn't speak English, he said, "We communicate with Westerners with our simple English, and show them the display boards. They understand what we're about after reading the displayed information."
When asked if they feel tired from doing this, Mr. Peng shared his thoughts, "It is certainly tedious, but I don't feel tired at all. I have the heart to awaken people's conscience, I don't wish for anyone to dangerously side with the CCP. Being the type of murderous regime it is, anyone remaining affiliated with it will suffer retribution along with it.
Mr. Peng wants to get across the following message, "Over the past 10 or so years, the CCP's persecution of Falun Gong has been exposed on a global scale. The severity of this persecution cannot even be likened to the evils committed by the Nazis, as it is even crueler. I hope people will recognize practitioners for the kind-hearted people they are and assist them in their efforts to expose this unprecedented persecution.
