Issued by Clearwisdom Net

In order to rescue the orphans who have been suffering severely due to the persecution of their parents, the World Committee to Rescue Persecuted Falun Gong Practitioners (WCRPFGP) successfully held two charity concerts with the theme, "Rescue Orphans," on May 14, 2005 at MacMillan Theatre at the University of Toronto. Artists from China, Canada, the U.S., Germany, the UK, Russia and other places presented a wonderful performance, bringing much enjoyment and a beautiful artistic experience to the audience. At the same time, through playing videos and through the performance itself, the concert helped the audience learn about the persecution that children in Mainland China have been suffering due to the Chinese Communist regime's persecution of Falun Gong. Many audience members were shocked at the brutality of the persecution, and showed sympathy for those orphans who are living in such great difficulty. They donated money to express their concern and to help the orphans.

According to WCRPFGP, the organizer of these concerts, the income of the performance will be completely used to rescue orphans, whose parent(s) have been persecuted to death by the Jiang regime and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). At the same time, a representative of WCRPFGP said that the main purpose of these concerts and other rescue activities is to let the Canadian public and government know the truth about Falun Gong and the persecution. All the efforts will be more meaningful if the public and government consequently develop the heart-felt wish to help to end this brutal persecution and rescue these traumatized orphans and other innocent children.

The following photos are highlights from the concert:

Susan and Jiang Fan, representatives of WCRPFGP, give opening remarks

Dance "Celestial Flower Maidens" from the Lotus Art Troupe

The Lotus Art Troupe performs the dance, "Elegant Sleeves in Gentle Breeze"

Alto Yang Jiansheng's vocal solo "Chant in Prison" and "Late Spring"

Soprano Bai Xue's vocal solo, "Thinking of My Homeland" and "To My Fellow Countrymen"

World renowned tenor, Guan Guimin and his wife

Septette, "Ode to Lotus," performed by Chen Rutang, Li Lisha, Lin Jiaqi and others

Orchestral music trio

Indian dance by Tishawna Persaud

Stories before the Concerts

The Concerts were organized by the World Committee to Rescue Persecuted Falun Gong Practitioners (WCRPFGP) and are part of the activities to rescue orphans of Falun Gong practitioners persecuted to death in China. Before the concerts, representatives of WCRPFGP testified at an immigration committee of the Canadian Parliament regarding rescuing orphans and persecuted relatives of Canadian residents.

To help raise awareness of this rescue effort and clarify the truth, Toronto practitioners went to many busy areas including YOKVILL Mall to hold large-scale truth-clarifying events, using cultural performances, anti-torture exhibitions, paper lotus flower and crane folding to raise awareness of the persecution and the rescue orphan project. Some practitioners also met with professors, VIPs, CEOs and renowned lawyers to tell them about the persecution and invite them to the concert.

The concerts successfully set up a stage to introduce the truth of the persecution to more people, especially many from the Canadian mainstream. In the past two months, Toronto practitioners distributed more than 70,000 copies of "Rescue the Orphans" fliers and the effect has been very positive.

The Concerts

The "Rescue the Orphans" Concerts on May 14 were very successful. The audience was enthralled by the spectacular performances by Oriental and Western artists. After having attended the first concert in the afternoon, some audience members bought second tickets to the concert held at the night.

In his opening remarks, the president of WCRPFGP told the audience that more than 10 million children have been harmed by the ongoing brutal persecution and many have become orphans. While some have been or are being detained with their parents, more are discriminated against, intimidated, unable to go to school, illegally detained, and beaten. They often end up becoming homeless, losing their parents, and some have even been tortured to death. The concerts are to help the public to understand the tragic situation of these children and raise the funds needed to rescue them.

The concerts started with a wonderful performance by The Lotus Art Troupe: More than 10 celestial flower maidens danced to a melody depicting the beautiful and pure state of human world brought by the fairies. Their elegant dance mesmerized the audience and attracted warm applause.

Alto Yang Jiansheng, Soprano Bai Xue and world-renowned tenor Guan Guimin, as well as renowned flute performer Chen Ningfang and her family, who have all been very active in North America in recent years also made an appearance on stage.

Hosts Zenon and Grace Wei

Chorus, "Candlelight"

It was reported that more than half of the audience were non-Chinese, including lawyers, professors and community activists. After watching the performance, a Caucasian couple said that the performance was spectacular. Another said that he developed great interest in traditional Chinese dance during the show.

During the concerts, a short video clip was played to help the audience understand the suffering of Chinese children during the brutal persecution against Falun Gong in the past 6 years. Shocked by the brutality revealed by the video, and out of deep sympathy to the orphans, many people made generous donations directly or bought lotus flowers and "Rescue the Orphans" clothing. It was reported that the concert will be held at Montreal as well.

The WCRPFGP said that the success of this concert is just a start. More public activities will be held to carry on with the rescue efforts until the persecution is brought to an end.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2005/5/20/102286.html

On the afternoon of May 13, 2005, Ms. Gao Chengnu was released from the Jiamusi Forced Labor Camp. Ms. Gao is a Falun Gong practitioner and a Korean citizen. Her husband's name is Mr. Guo Binghao.

Ms. Gao Chengnu is a Chinese Korean. She married her husband in China on May 18, 2003. As Ms. Gao was preparing to immigrate to Korea, the Chinese Police Department refused to issue her a passport because she would not renounce the practice of Falun Gong. On May 7, 2004, she was abducted and detained in the Jiamusi Forced Labor Camp.

In August 2004, Korean Falun Gong practitioners established a "Ms. Gao Chengnu Rescue Committee" and appealed to all the citizens of Korea to join together in rescuing Ms. Gao. During that time, more than 230,000 kind-hearted Korean citizens signed a petition supporting this effort. Twenty-four congressional representatives drafted a letter to the Chinese government demanding the unconditional release of Ms. Gao and delivered it to Mr. Hu Jintao, the President of China. The Cheonan City Senate, the Chungcheongnam-do Legislative Assembly, and many other organizations, including 71 local parliaments and government groups, passed resolutions calling for the Chinese government to unconditionally release Ms. Gao.

The Jiamusi Forced Labor Camp, however, delayed her release for one more week with the excuse that she had said aloud, "Falun Gong is good" and that she was disobeying the prison rules.

The Korean Falun Gong Association expressed deep concern that the Communist government of China was disregarding the humanitarian efforts of the people of Korea and their demand for the release of Ms. Gao.

After Ms. Gao's release, the Korean Falun Gong Association published a statement thanking everyone who had participated in the rescue effort to urge the Chinese government to issue a passport for Ms. Gao and let her travel to Korea. The statement also advised the Chinese government to immediately stop its increasingly exasperating persecution of Falun Gong practitioners and its worldwide persecution efforts, which of late have been most visible in Indonesia and Singapore.

The statement also expressed the resolve of all the rescue groups to continue their efforts until Ms. Gao is allowed to return to her family in Korea.

After hearing over the phone the news that his wife had been released, Mr. Guo Binghao could not hide his happiness. He expressed his sincere thanks to those who had worked for the release of his wife. He said he would go to China to meet his wife on May 23 and bring her back with him to Korea.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2005/5/15/101881.html

On May 13th, to celebrate the 13th year since Falun Gong's public introduction, Austrian practitioners gathered on Saturday in Vienna's Stephansplatz.

It was a warm spring day and many people visited Vienna's city centre. For six hours, practitioners celebrated World Falun Dafa Day. Practitioners not only demonstrated their joy in having found such a great practice, but also exposed through an anti-torture exhibition the cruel persecution against Falun Gong practitioners in China, and let it be known that they are hoping for an end to the human rights atrocities in China.

The program included a live band and a theatre production telling the rapid increasing popularity of Falun Gong among all levels of society and the sudden, totally unwarranted persecution in China. Practitioners demonstrated the exercises in beautiful yellow suits, while one practitioner explained over a microphone the significance of the movements to the onlookers. At the same time, the speaker talked about the effects of the exercises, the persecution in China, and asked the onlookers to stop by at the information booth to sign the petition.

Practitioners demonstrated Falun Gong's exercises in beautiful yellow suits	An Anti-Torture Exhibition showed only a few of the brutal persecution methods perpetrated on Falun Gong practitioners in China	Information material in many languages and a signature drive list were available at the information booth