Issued by Clearwisdom Net

As President Bush's visit to China approached, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) and several members of Congress held a joint press conference on Capital Hill November 9, 2005and released Policy Focus on China. The Congressmen condemned China's current human rights status and called upon President Bush to boldly and openly address United States concern about the lack of freedom of religion and belief in China.

Press conference

Members of Congress acknowledged the USCIRF's effort. Although USCIRF delegation's trip to China in August 2005 was arranged and monitored by the Chinese communist government, members of the delegation were able to unearth China's real religious situation. Congressmen claimed that the Policy Focus on China was released at the right time and hoped that President Bush would be able to carefully read it before his visit to China, and that he would adopt the suggestions in the report.

Congressman Wolf from Virginia: tell the Chinese government how important these things are.

Congressman Wolf from Virginia said, "President Bush is going to visit China soon. This presents a great opportunity. I urge Mr. President to publicly, boldly and loudly, not privately, tell the Chinese government how important these things are and raise the Commission's findings to the highest level.

The Chinese government is guilty.

Congressman Smith from New Jersey said, "The Chinese government is guilty of systematically torturing believers in religion." He suggested President Bush tell the Chinese government that they need to improve human rights or else there will be sanctions. He said that without penalties, the Chinese government will continue to obstruct freedoms. And it'll be business as usual.

Several Congressmen raised the issue of the persecution of Falun Gong in their speeches.

Congressman Lantos from California: Falun Gong is a painful page of China's modern history.

Congressman Lantos from California said, "Falun Gong is a painful page of China's modern history. The peaceful practice of Falun Gong should be sanctioned without harassment, persecution and imprisonment."

A member of the USCIRF explained that during their delegation's two-week visit to China in August, they found Chinese officials are particularly sensitive to Falun Gong.

Member from the USCIRF: we don't buy their rules.

Mr. Land from USCIRF said, "Falun Gong is like a bur under their saddle. When we met the officials, as the meetings get tedious, as long as you mention 'Falun Gong', they'll jump like Skinner's Stimulus Response - 'evil cult'. Then they'll get into long practice of slide shows and testimonies of former Falun Gong practitioners, trying to convince us to believe it is an 'evil cult'. Of course you can tell we don't buy their rules.

Ms. Bansal, former president of USCIRF said, "When you ask them the definition of 'cult', you find it is very circular and only gives more room for the officials to maneuver -- an activity that is not normal is illegal and what is illegal is not normal. The discussion about rule of law, legalization of religions and etc. doesn't lead to the protection of individuals. It's not rule of law, but rule by law."

USCIRF members expressed that the commission will raise the Falun Gong issue and the imprisonment of lawyer Gao Zhisheng, who spoke out in defense of Falun Gong, in their letter to President Bush.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2005/11/13/114442.html

Since Chinese president Hu Jintao arrived in Berlin, practitioners have been holding a continuous appeal to call on Hu to end the persecution. German President Horst Koehler called on China to respect human rights.

At the press conference after the November 10^th meeting between Koehler and Hu, Koehler said that no country could discard people's creativity, that freedom and dignity are universal values and that this has been acknowledged by the United Nations. He said that people could freely develop only if the government promotes peace, freedom and democracy. During the summit, Koehler also told Hu that China's economy could continue to grow only if people's freedom improves.

Before Hu's arrival, Koehler met with practitioners and Amnesty international. Both were holding appeals in front of the meeting location. The president shook hands with several members of the groups and asked for their wishes and requests. He promised that he would bring up China's human rights issue during his meeting with Hu.

AFP reported on November 11 that practitioners had begun a 24-hour candlelight vigil after Hu arrived in Berlin on Thursday. The report went on to say that the practitioners planned to hold a continuous appeal until Hu's departure on Sunday.

According to a report by Radio Free Asia, when answering a question regarding human rights in China, German government Human Rights leader clearly stated that persecution against religious groups, dissidents and Falun Gong practitioners and control over internet, newspapers and expression had all intensified since Hu started his tenure as Chinese president. The Chinese people still live in a big prison.

Two days before Hu's visit, German TV stations highlighted protests by human rights groups and Falun Gong practitioners around the nation. Meanwhile, the media outlets also mentioned that there was a small "Welcome Hu" group sponsored by the Chinese Embassy.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2005/11/13/114424.html

Minghui.org Correspondent from New York

The annual Veterans Day Parade in New York City was held on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan on November 11, 2005.

This year also marked the 60^th anniversary of the end of the World War II. The parade had an even larger scale than previous ones. Hundreds of processions and floats from veterans and serviceman and women presently serving in militaries as well as all kinds of military bands and honor guards participated in the parade. Among the numerous groups, the elegant and peaceful Falun Gong procession moved and amazed people. Spectators clapped to welcome them and to express their support.

This is the second time that Falun Gong practitioners took part in the Veterans Day Parade. The organizers welcomed practitioners' participation. New Yorkers were also curious whether Falun Gong would join this parade. A man kindly asked some practitioners at an anti-torture exhibit site, "Did you apply for participation in the Veterans Day Parade? I saw your group last year and it was great."

Falun Gong practitioners' float was a boat. The sail of the boat read, "Falun Dafa". On the boat, practitioners from different nationalities serenely demonstrated the Falun Gong exercises. Yong practitioners who sat in the lotus flowers also looked detached. The beautiful boat sailed on the Fifth Avenue, looking very mighty. A procession followed the boat demonstrating the smooth and elegant Falun Gong exercises. A waist drum troupe was at the end. The sound of drums to the music, "Falun Dafa is good" resounded along the route and the heroic bearing thrived.

In the Falun Gong procession, in addition to the magnificent and beautiful banners that read, "Falun Dafa" and "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance", there were three big banners that read,

"Falun Gong, peaceful cultivation practice; Falun Gong, teaches Truthfulness- Compassion-Tolerance; Falun Gong is practiced in more than 60 countries around the world."

"Help Stop the Chinese Communist Party's Persecution of Falun Gong";

"Falun Gong, a peaceful cultivation practice, is persecuted in China".

The Falun Gong parade entry was warmly received along the route. The podium also greeted us, saying: "This is the Falun Gong group participating in our Veterans Day Parade. We welcome all Falun Gong practitioners."

Practitioners also waved to greet spectators and handed out introductory materials. A senior citizen named Molly told this reporter that she was very happy to see Falun Gong practitioners in the parade because they let people feel peaceful and serene.

"The more chaos caused by the war in the world, the easier for people to realize the value of 'Truthfulness, Compassion, and Tolerance'". Ms. Lin, a practitioner who participated in the parade said, "The world needs 'Truthfulness, Compassion, and Tolerance'. We'd like to take this opportunity of the grand parade to bring this message to more people."

Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Ge expressed, through attending this parade, we would like to share with more people the beauty of Falun Gong and at the same time, we would like to call on more kind-hearted people to pay attention to the brutal persecution that has lasted for more than six years in China. We'd like to call on more people to bravely step forward to help stop this persecution and help bring the genuine peace and beauty to the human world.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2005/11/13/114481.html

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) opened its 2005 summit on November 12 in Busan, Korea. Falun Gong practitioners set up anti-torture exhibits in the Haeundae area of Busan to expose the Chinese communist regime's ruthless persecution of Falun Gong and collected petition signatures to call for an end to the persecution.

Anti-torture exhibit to expose the persecution

The purity and beauty of Falun Gong and the brutal torture suffered by practitioners form a striking contrast.

Practitioners who participated in the activity said, "The APEC meeting provides a good opportunity for us to expose the persecution of Falun Gong to leaders from different countries. We demand that the chief perpetrators in the persecution of Falun Gong including Jiang Zemin, Luo Gan, Liu Jing and Zhou Yongkang be brought to justice. We urge an immediate end to the persecution."

Busan citizens were shocked upon seeing the anti-torture exhibits. A passerby said, "I would not imagine that such an inhuman thing is still happening on the earth. Aren't they afraid they'll meet with retribution?"

Practitioners expressed that during the APEC meeting, they would continue to clarify the truth in Busan and call to stop the CCP persecution of Falun Gong.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2005/11/13/114474.html

On the afternoon of Saturday, October 29, 2005, on Union Square in Manhattan, with display boards spread around and many people walking by, Falun Gong practitioners from the greater New York area rallied to thank the US government for helping Chinese Falun Gong practitioner Li Weixun, who did not have any relatives in the US, to stay in the US as a United Nations refugee.

In the rally, Li Weixun, who arrived in the US in September from a country outside China, expressed her appreciation to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), US government officials, and some NGOs. With tears, she also described her painful experience of the brutal persecution, which brought her to the verge of death, by the evil Chinese Communist Party, for her practice of Falun Gong and belief in "Truthfulness, Compression, Forbearance." Her happy family now has to be separated to different sides of the world. Her innocent family members also are suffering from imprisonment and torture.

From the age of nine, Li Weixun had several diseases, including rheumatism, tracheitis, heart disease, and insufficient blood supply to her brain. After she was married and had children, her diseases became more serious. In the spring of 1996, she started to practice Falun Gong. After studying the principles of Falun Gong and practicing the exercises, the diseases she had suffered from for more than thirty years totally disappeared. After the Chinese Communist Party started to persecute Falun Gong on July 20, 1999, Li Weixun appealed for Falun Gong three times and was arrested by the police four times. After she was arrested the fourth time she was tortured until she was incapable of moving or eating. Only after the hospital issued a notice of her being critically ill was she allowed to be bailed out. Later, with the assistance of her relatives, she was able to escape from the police monitoring, transfer to a country outside China, and obtain refugee status from the UNHCR.

Li Weixun's older brother was sentenced to eight years in prison for helping her and other Falun Gong practitioners. Simultaneously, nine members of Li Weixun's family were either arrested or fled from the family. Her second youngest sister was sentenced for three years in Longsan Forced Labor Camp. Li Weixun was sentenced to sixteen years in prison in her absence. Her older brother was sentenced to eight years in prison. Her sister-in-law fled from China. Her first youngest sister, the sister and brother-in-law of her first sister-in-law were all arrested.

Li Weixun said, "I am just a ordinary Chinese person, I am not famous, just a Falun Gong practitioner. What I have seen and my personal experiences are just a small portion of the persecution that Falun Gong practitioners have suffered from. Within this persecution, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) twists the facts and tries to force people to give up their belief and betray their conscience and principles by deceiving them with lies, brainwashing them with warped 'logic,' and taking advantage of their love for their families. The feeling of mental devastation is bone-piercing. I remember after my third arrest I was taken to the basement at the Liaoning Province Liaison Office in Beijing. After dinner, the police officers there had 'fun' by torturing us in all kinds of ways, including hanging us by our handcuffs, forcing us to squat with our arms stretched out level with our shoulders. They were particularly brutal with the male practitioners. One newly married couple were both practitioners. The police tortured the husband in front of his wife so she was compelled to watch him suffer and hear him scream. They even asked her, 'So, how do you feel?'"

"Hundreds of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners have suffered worse abuse than I, and my family is not the only one to be broken up by the persecution. During this unprecedented catastrophe, some practitioners were disabled, some suffered mental collapses, and some even lost their lives. The pressure and persecution their families are forced to endure also exceeds the scope of one's imagination. Hundreds of thousands of families were forcibly separated and destroyed."

During the rally, Li Weixun thanked the US government, Congress and NGOs who helped to rescue her. She thanked them for accepting her and other Falun Gong practitioners before her. She mentioned that at the same time, hundreds of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners were still being cruelly tortured in China. There are also many practitioners like her who have escaped to countries bordering China and are waiting to be accepted by a third country. Their lives are very difficult.

She is convinced that after Falun Gong practitioners clarify the truth on a deeper level, more and more Chinese people like her brother will step forward and resist this persecution. On the other hand, she also wishes that the US government, US residents, and the international society could uphold their conscience and kindness, further understand the truth of Falun Gong, and further realize their support for Falun Gong in order to stop this brutal persecution. She called for more countries and more people to oppose the persecution.

Another practitioner mentioned that Ms. Li's experience of the persecution is typical of practitioners in China. Practitioners regained physical and mental health through the practice, and elevated their moral standards. However, because of their firm belief in "Truth, Compassion, Forbearance," the CCP government brutally persecuted them.

This six-year long severe human rights abuse against the believers of "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance" over the entire country of China, is fundamentally a persecution on all of mankind. Ms. Li Weixun does not have any relatives in the US. She has been accepted by the US government with the status of United Nations refugee. The supporters of the UNHCR and the US government demonstrated their affirmation of morality and spiritual beliefs, as well as resistance against a tyranny which harms the innocent.

Practitioners have persisted in their noble faith despite this most vicious persecution by a powerful dictatorship, and thereby have protected the morality and dignity of the entire human race. They are heroes of our era. I wish that the international society could offer them support and assistance while they are suffering. This is also an act to maintain the morality and justice of mankind.

Some passersby expressed their congratulations to Li Weixun and their support of freedom of belief. Many people received the truth-clarifying materials. More and more New Yorkers now know the story about Li Weixun and the truth of Falun Gong.

I truly wish that the United States, a nation created by people looking for freedom of belief, could strive to support the voice of justice, for it is essential to the continuation of mankind, "Let More People Like Li Weixun Live in Freedom."

October 31, 2005