Persevering Through 15 Years of Persecution: A Matter of Faith and Choice

(Minghui.org) The Chinese Communist Party launched the persecution of Falun Gong in 1999 to crush what it feared the most, a source of faith and inspiration for the Chinese people. It was something that the Party had never faced before.

Despite the overwhelming force that the CCP mustered, 15 years later Falun Gong practitioners remain steadfast in facing that persecution, because when given the choice of whether to uphold their faith in Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance or to cave to the relentless persecution, there is no contest.

A city-level Radio and Television Bureau Chief in Shandong Province was demoted to a district-level agriculture committee on July 12, 1999, a week before the persecution of Falun Gong officially began in China.

After several brainwashing sessions that lasted over a month, Mr. Yang Pinggang and his wife, Ms. Chang Lijun, were given an “ultimatum” at the beginning of January 2000: Choose between their belief in Falun Gong or their CCP membership. The couple wrote statements to quit the CCP, knowing full well the implications of their decision.

Years of incarceration followed for Mr. Yang and Ms. Chang, but they never wavered in their choice.

Perhaps the diary of this young artist in Guangdong Province tells us more clearly what such a choice entails:

“A bright light hit the wall in front of me. Counting the days since I have been here [the detention center], I feel as if I have shed many layers of skin already.... Before I came here, I was in my warm, comfortable bed and had everything everyone envies: a happy marriage, an ideal job, and a bright future, and I was expressing myself with my paint brush until everything changed overnight, and I began to reflect on myself, my belief, my life...

“I am willing to give up fame and fortune for conscience and justice. A window has separated two worlds; a tall wall has obscured people's morality and judgment. But indestructible righteous thoughts will see me through any perilous situation,” affirmed Ms. He Wenting about her choice.

This mother had the choice to leave China, but not before years of ordeals: arrests, brainwashing, detentions, all the way until the last moment of dealing with anxiety and the uncertainty of family separation:

“I recall secretly wiping away my tears so that my mom wouldn't see the depth of my sadness. I told my one-month-old daughter, who was fast asleep, 'I promise you a bright future, but for now, mommy has to leave you here in China.'”

Six months after leaving China in 2004 to attend postdoctoral training at the National Institutes of Health, Ms. Zhang Yuwei was able to reunite with her husband and daughter in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area. She and her daughter now join the group exercises in front of the National Air and Space Museum almost every weekend.

Meanwhile, despite the brutal environment in China, the steady flow of new Falun Gong practitioners has continued.

A businessman who started practicing Falun Gong in May 2010 shared his choice on the Minghui website: “I threw away all the packages of counterfeit products with genuine logos and labeled all the products with their own appropriate trademarks. Although the price was lowered by half, I was not touched, because I cultivate Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.”

He has also started informing others about the persecution, something the CCP has been covering up since it began.

Are such choices driven by courage to defy an authoritarian regime? Sure, it helps, but that alone cannot sustain so many people for so long, when they are faced with torture, imprisonment, and dire implications for their loved ones.

The choice that many Falun Gong practitioners have made is a matter of faith and unwavering belief, undeterred by fear.

A quote from Viktor Emil Frankl, an Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist as well as a Holocaust survivor, describes it well: “Just as a small fire is extinguished by the storm whereas a large fire is enhanced by it – likewise a weak faith is weakened by predicament and catastrophes whereas a strong faith is strengthened by them.”

July 20, 2014, marks the 15^th anniversary of the persecution of Falun Gong in China.

Falun Gong practitioners, families, friends and supporters will hold a rally, parade, and candlelight vigil in Washington D.C. on July 17 (today). Similar events will be taking place around the world in the next few days, reflecting the choices made by practitioners and supporters in their standing up for Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. They would welcome you to come find out more about their efforts, and perhaps make your own choice.