(Minghui.org) On April 25, 1999, ten thousand Falun Gong practitioners traveled to the Chinese National Appeals Office in Beijing to peacefully petition the government. They asked that the wrongfully arrested practitioners held in Tianjin be released, that the government stop intervening in their practice and that the recent ban on publishing Falun Gong books be lifted. Even though the practitioners were completely peaceful, their quiet demonstration angered then head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Jiang Zemin. In retaliation, he launched a persecution against the peaceful and extremely popular cultivation practice, claiming that “the CCP would conquer Falun Gong in three months.” Looking back over the past sixteen years of brutal persecution and Falun Gong's journey of nonviolent resistance, the events of April 25 can be seen a prologue to the battle between righteous belief and evil.
Why did Jiang claim that the CCP would conquer Falun Gong? The CCP controls all of China, and Falun Gong is merely a group of unarmed people. Yet in the end, the persecution did not conquer Falun Gong. In this classic case of evil fearing what is good, the CCP's evil nature was exposed, and the righteous faith of those who pursue Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance shone forth.
A Policy of Genocide
Jiang's persecution policies against Falun Gong include the devastating directives: “Ruin their reputation. Bankrupt them financially. Destroy them physically.” “When Falun Gong practitioners are killed, it counts as suicide.” and “Don't identify the body, cremate it directly.” Countless innocent Falun Gong practitioners have been killed under this genocidal policy. However, Falun Gong's resistance to the persecution has remained nonviolent and peaceful throughout. With great compassion and tolerance, practitioners tell people Falun Gong's story in order to awaken the consciousness of people deceived by the CCP's lies.
Lies and Deceit Cannot Hold Up Forever
The CCP has utilized its entire state run media to create and spread propaganda, slandering Falun Gong around the world. Its lies about Falun Gong, including claims that “Zhongnanhai was besieged,” “1400 deaths” and the “self-immolation on Tiananmen Square” have been debunked one after another.
The CCP has manipulated the Chinese legal system to throw innocent Falun Gong practitioners into prisons, labor camps, detention centers, brainwashing centers and mental hospitals. Falun Gong practitioners have been brutally tortured with more than one hundred methods recorded. Under pressure from the international society, the CCP abolished its notorious re-education-through-labor system. But instead of forced labor camps, it now throws Falun Gong practitioners into brainwashing centers and hands out longer prisons terms.
The international community eventually saw through the lies, and the true nature of the CCP has been revealed. With practitioners' persistent truth clarification, more and more people have learned the facts about Falun Gong and the persecution, and the CCP's propaganda has completely lost its credibility. More and more courageous attorneys in China have begun defending Falun Gong practitioners' innocence, boldly condemning the CCP's trampling of the law.
The CCP's most appalling crime, harvesting organs from living Falun Gong practitioners, has been exposed and labeled as a new form of evil on this planet. It has challenged the bottom line of human morality. Many governments and organizations around the world have condemned this crime and called for an end to this illicit organ harvesting.
This modern day battle between righteous belief and evil has shaken people's hearts. Chinese people who learn the facts about Falun Gong and the persecution are offered the opportunity to free themselves from the fear and shackles of Communism. The “Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party” have triggered a massive tide of people quitting the CCP. By April of this year, more than two hundred million people have withdrawn from the Communist Party or its affiliated youth organizations. Every day, about one hundred thousand more people withdraw, as more and more people want to distance themselves from the CCP.
Sixteen Years of Nonviolent Resistance
Jiang so confidently set the goal of eliminating Falun Gong within three months, but Falun Gong has withstood sixteen years of continuous persecution. Instead of disappearing, it has spread to more than one hundred countries around the world. The CCP itself, however, is playing out its final days and is destined to collapse. History has once again demonstrated that all attempts to eliminate righteous faith will definitely fail. Righteousness always conquers evil.
The April 25 peaceful demonstration stands as a testament to Falun Gong practitioners' compassion, endurance and courage. The spirit of righteous faith shines through those events of April 25, as well as Falun Gong practitioners' ongoing, peaceful resistance to the persecution. Their sacrifices have made it possible for the deceived to awaken to the truth, and for compassion to dissolve hatred.
April 25 will be commemorated forever in history.
