News and Activities from Around the World -- July 27, 2005

Issued by Clearwisdom Net

On July 23 and 24, 2005, Bulgarian Falun Dafa practitioners organized an open air exhibition in Boris Garden - the central park of the capital city of Sofia. The exhibition marked six years since the persecution against Falun Dafa was launched by former Chinese leader Jiang Zemin and enforced by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

The holding of the exhibition was approved by the Sofia Municipality and met with enthusiastic interest from the public. Several media organizations covered the event. The exhibition featured six boards containing photos and information about the introduction of Falun Dafa in China, the beginning of the repression, the torture methods used to force practitioners to renounce their beliefs, the international support for Falun Gong practitioners' freedom, the lawsuits against Jiang Zemin, and the efforts of Bulgarian practitioners to spread the practice and inform the public of the ongoing persecution.

The practitioners also informed people about the different types of human rights abuses happening in China, the country's system of labor camps where prisoners are tortured and forced labor produces cheap goods, often for Western markets, and the tight control of the Internet to stop Chinese people from reading information on the human rights crimes of the CCP.

People learn about Falun Gong through talking with practitioners and viewing the exhibition

During the weekend, more than 500 people had the chance to see the exhibition and learn about Falun Dafa. Most of them took a flyer and expressed their will to come and learn the exercises at the practice site. They were pleased to know that Falun Dafa is always taught for free. Some people signed a petition in support of stopping the persecution, which will be handed to the United Nations next month

People were shocked by the torture methods that the practitioners in China are subjected to. Others stated that people's basic human rights of freedom of thought and belief must not be violated in such a brutal manner. There were also people who said they were not surprised by the methods used by the Chinese regime as they had experienced similar repression before 1989 when Bulgaria was still a Communist country.

On July 23, over twenty Falun Dafa practitioners held a candlelight vigil in front of the Chinese Embassy in Bangkok to commemorate the practitioners who have been killed in the persecution in China. Practitioners also called upon people to take notice of the six years of brutal persecution of Falun Gong in China and to help stop the persecution.

On July 20, 1999, Jiang's faction launched a brutal persecution against Falun Gong. The suppression has continued for six years. In order to commemorate the more than 2,000 fellow practitioners who have been killed during the persecution and express support for fellow practitioners, Thailand Falun Gong practitioners gathered in front of the Chinese Embassy in Bangkok at about 5:00 p.m. on July 23, 2005. They brought banners, truth-clarifying poster boards, wreaths, and candles to display the facts of the persecution in China and to call upon people to work together to help stop the persecution.

Viewing the truth-clarification poster boards

People happily receiving truth-clarifying materials

Peaceful appeal in front of the Chinese Embassy in Bangkok

Opposite the Chinese Embassy's tightly shut gate, practitioners dressed in white carried photos of fellow practitioners who have died as a result of the persecution. Some practitioners held banners reading, "CCP, Stop Persecuting Falun Gong" in Chinese, Thai, and English languages. The scene was solemn and serene. Practitioners distributed flyers, explained the facts to passersby and demonstrated the Falun Gong exercises. The scene attracted the attention of many passersby. Quite a number of people stopped at the posters and were shocked by the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) atrocities and brutality. To cooperate with this July 20 event, practitioners in Thailand held a candlelight vigil, a group practice session, a Fa study, and sent forth righteous thoughts on July 22 in parks and along streets.

Practitioners also introduced Falun Dafa and the persecution that is occurring in China to Thai police officers who came by. The police officers said, "We came here to help maintain the order. As long as you don't disturb the traffic, you can come here. This is your right."

Thailand ITV and other media reporters came to cover the event.

(Clearwisdom.net) On July 20, Falun Gong practitioners from Gothenburg and places nearby gathered outside the Chinese Consulate General in Gothenburg. The gathering was held on the 20th of July because this was the day that the Chinese Communist Party, under the leadership of the previous president Jiang Zemin, began a brutal persecution of innocent people who practice Falun Gong. The persecution has also spread outside of China. Chinese embassies and consulates have been spreading slanderous propaganda and have harassed, spied on, monitored and refused Falun Gong practitioners visas and passport applications to China.

During this gathering, Falun Gong practitioners demonstrated the five sets of exercises, sent forth righteous thoughts, distributed flyers to passers-by and collected petition signatures calling for an end of the persecution.

The flyers mentioned that it had been six years since the beginning of the brutal persecution against Falun Gong and gave a few examples of some torture victims. One of them is Gao Rongrong, a thirty-seven-year-old woman who suffered seven hours of continuous electric baton torture that disfigured her face. Despite the injury, she was later exposed to more severe torture. She died on June 16, 2005. The flyer also mentioned a Chinese diplomat in Australia, Chen Yonglin, who recently defected and withdrew from his job, which included monitoring and persecuting democracy activists and Falun Gong practitioners in Australia, because he refuses to continue to participate in this persecution.

Falun Gong practitioners engage in peaceful appeals outside the consulate every weekday during office hours, calling for an end to this persecution that has caused so much suffering for so many Chinese people. On July 20, there were more practitioners participating than usual. They wanted to tell the staff of the consulate that all people have responsibility for their own actions and for following their own conscience. Falun Gong practitioners will continue to hold peaceful appeals outside the Chinese consulate until this brutal persecution stops.

On July 1 and 2, 2005, a group of Falun Dafa practitioners from Moscow went to the city of Stavropol to promote Falun Gong and tell people about the persecution against practitioners in China.

Because of a problem with the electricity supply, the introductory meeting was delayed for ninety minutes. But nobody left. During this time, the practitioners gave out a lot of handmade paper lotus flowers to the audience. Meanwhile, they also explained to people what cultivation practice is and about the characteristics of Falun Gong cultivation practice. Many people in the audience were young people who were very interested in Falun Gong.

Once the meeting was underway, practitioners from Moscow and some local practitioners demonstrated the five sets of exercises. They then introduced Falun Gong and the persecution happening in China. Afterwards, the practitioners also performed dancing and singing. When the meeting was finished, the audience did not want to leave for a long time. They surrounded the practitioners and asked many questions.

On the second day in Stavropol, the practitioners did group exercises in the local park. People who were interested in learning the exercises were taught on the spot. Many of them were young people. At the beginning, they were a little hesitant, but they all joined the exercise group later on. Some of them even learned how to do the meditation with their legs crossed in the full lotus position.

Stavropol is a poor area and people there are generally in low spirits and suffer from low morale. The practitioner's arrival was a great gift for the local citizens. The atmosphere was like a festival.

Fengjiao was getting a little worried. She had visited several shops but still had not found the special small rubber bands for making paper lotus flowers. The Munich International Multicultural Festival was approaching, but the lotus flowers were still not ready.

Fengjiao is a Falun Gong practitioner. She deeply feels the goodness of Falun Gong and has benefited so much from the practice. Therefore, she has a strong wish to help more people know about Falun Gong, in order to stop the persecution in China as soon as possible and to enable people to practice Falun Gong freely. For this festival, she made many paper lotus flowers. After visiting lots of shops, she eventually got all the necessary material for making the flowers. Fengjiao went to West Park with hundreds of beautifully-made lotus flowers, attaching a bookmark to each, for the purpose of introducing Falun Gong.

There are always many people in front of the Falun Dafa booth

The International Multicultural Festival was jointly sponsored by the Culture Department, the Social Affairs Department and the Foreign Committee of Munich City Hall. Over thirty local associations from Munich took part in this festival. The Falun Gong association was also invited.

West Park is usually very quiet but during the festival it becomes extremely lively. Many families come to enjoy the fun and enthusiasm of the festival.

Many people were interested in the hand-made lotus flowers, admiring the care and attention that had gone into making them and asking about their significance and meaning. They were told that the lotus flower grows in mud but is still extremely beautiful, which symbolizes Falun Gong practitioners' strong faith that has not been tarnished by the human rights abuses they have suffered in China. Having learned about the persecution and seen the exercise demonstration, people were moved and wanted to know more about Falun Gong. Some people asked for leaflets, some learned the exercises from practitioners and others learned how to make the paper lotus flowers.

Looking at people with their little flowers and leaflets, the smile on Fengjiao's face bloomed like a lotus flower itself.