Clearwisdom Weekly

Nearly 2,400 Falun Gong practitioners from around the world came to Los Angeles to attend the Western US International Fa Conference on February 25, 2006. On February 26, they gathered in Chinatown in Los Angeles to hold a series of truth clarification activities, including a large-scale group practice, a rally and a grand parade to expose and call for an end to the Chinese Communist Party's persecution of Falun Gong.

The weather was warm and the sunshine was brilliant in Los Angeles. Before 8:00 a.m., practitioners came in succession to Chinatown Park to hold a group practice. The grand scene and peaceful atmosphere attracted many passersby to stop and watch. Some of them took pictures to keep as souvenirs, some learned the facts about Falun Gong, and some inquired about where practice sites are.

At the big rally, over a dozen people, including Falun Gong practitioners and people from different walks of life made speeches exposing the CCP's persecution of Falun Gong, and calling for all people with a sense of justice to stand up to jointly resist and stop the persecution.

After the rally, there was a grand parade. The parade procession was led by the vigorous and majestic Celestial Band, and strains of music accompanied by drumbeats reverberated in the sky. Behind the large band came the celestial maidens' group, a float, and groups exposing the persecution. The entire procession extended over a dozen blocks. Many people were amazed at the splendor and grandeur of the parade. Many passersby expressed that this was the first time they had seen a Falun Gong parade, and were amazed at the vastness of the procession.

Located in the north of the Asia-Europe plate, the state of Russia spreads across Eastern Europe and Northern Asia, bounded by the Arctic Ocean in the North, the Pacific Ocean in the East and the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea in the West. It has a total area of 17,075,200 square kms and a population of about 150 million.

As in over seventy other countries and regions around the world, Falun Gong has spread widely in Russia with its "Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance" principles and great effectiveness in improving the health of both mind and body. Since the establishment of the first practice site in St. Petersburg in 1999, there are now instruction centers and practice sites in over twenty cities and regions. From St. Petersburg near the Atlantic Ocean to Sakhalin Island at the Pacific Ocean, and from Archangelsk close to the North Pole to Stavropolsky in the South boundary, there are Falun Gong practitioners everywhere. Falun Gong practitioners can be seen practicing the exercises, promoting the teachings and exposing the persecution of Falun Gong in the streets, art exhibitions and health Expos.

Group exercise during the 1st Russian Falun Gong Experience Sharing Conference in St. Petersburg

Regarding the spread of Falun Gong in Russia, practitioners will never forget the warm and kind help from practitioners in Mainland China. The first practice site was established by a veteran practitioner from China's Tsinghua University in St. Petersburg in August 1996. In November 1997, a group of seventeen practitioners, consisting of University Professors, experts and scholars of Russian translations and some Beijing veteran practitioners, came to Russia and brought with them the lecture video tapes of Mr. Li Hongzhi, founder of Falun Gong. They used their own money to take the week-long train trip from Manzhouli to St. Petersburg, and organized the first screening of the nine-day lecture videos. Attending the class were local residents of St. Petersburg and people on business-trips, visitors and tourists. It seemed by chance that these people came to this city and saw a small notice at the entrances to the Metro or in another buildings and joined this class. They then started their journey as practitioners of Falun Gong. These veteran practitioners then brought Falun Gong to other places. From then on, Falun Gong practice sites were established in many other cities.

St. Petersburg, Russia's second largest city, is very beautiful. There are over 1000 well-preserved ancient tourist sites. St. Petersburg was once the capital of Russia and is thus full of culture and history. This city is known as the "Northern Venice" with lots of canals and bridges. A group of Falun Gong practitioners live here. Among them are teachers, professionals and retired seniors. There are also families of three generations practicing Falun Gong together.

Since the Chinese Communist regime started its brutal and illegal persecution of Falun Gong on July 20th 1999, in order to let people learn the truth about Falun Gong, many practitioners in St. Petersburg always carry Falun Gong leaflets with them and give them to people in the Metro, buses and in offices.

Every Saturday is practitioners' day to promote Falun Gong at an entrance to the Metro. They have almost visited every Metro station (the city has 59 Metro stations), with a few stations having been visited many times over. Especially for a few retired veteran practitioners, although they have very limited income, they often use their own money to travel to the east and surrounding countries to let more people know about Falun Gong and the ongoing brutal persecution of innocent people in China.

Practitioners also keep up their protest at the Chinese Consulate, appealing for an end to the persecution of Falun Gong in China. People visiting the Consulate can see their banners. As long as the persecution continues, the protest will not stop.

There is a special group at the St. Petersburg train station who are there to welcome Chinese tourists. As a renowned tourist site, St. Petersburg receives many Chinese tourists every day. In order to let these precious Chinese people learn the truth about Falun Gong in this free country, more than ten practitioners in the city have voluntarily formed a group and they go to the train station in turn to give out truth-clarifying materials. For three years now, they have been there every day, be it freezing winter or hot summer, windy or wet. Just this summer they gave out over 20,000 leaflets, which were paid for using practitioners' own savings. After the publication of the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party by the Epoch Times newspaper, in order to let the Chinese people learn the evil nature of the Chinese Communist Party and understand the reason behind the regime's persecution of Falun Gong and its long history of persecuting Chinese people, practitioners started distributing the Nine Commentaries. The busy train stations are always filled with people. To better clarify the truth to the Chinese people, practitioners all learned to say a few sentences in Chinese. The response from the Chinese people has become better and better. Many visiting senior Chinese officials not only take the Nine Commentaries themselves, they also encourage other members to take it. Sometimes the tour leaders do not allow people to accept the material, but people ask for the materials once the tour leader is paying attention to something else.

The state of Archangelsk is located in the north of Russia's European section. It covers a vast area with little population and is normally very cold. This cold but fertile land had some very unusual experiences. Between 1923 and the 1950s, under the USSR Communist Party's control, the state had many concentration camps and forced labor camps in which political dissidents were persecuted. People here suffered greatly.

During this period of hardship, a prophecy was widely spread among the poor villages: it said that in the near future, a man with a wheel would come to save people. Although people could not understand it, they remember it in their hearts.

When Falun Gong was brought here, an elderly gentleman opened the first page of Zhuan Falun, the main teaching of Falun Gong, and said suddenly after seeing the Falun emblem and the picture of Falun Gong's founder Mr. Li: "Isn't this the man with the wheel?" He then told his descendants, "This is a wonderful book. You must study it with diligence and practice well."

An instruction center and a practice site have been established for more than two and a half years now. Practitioners here are very diligent. The tough environment has tempered their simple and pure character. They treasured Falun Gong greatly once they obtained it. They say often, "We will do whatever teacher Li teaches us to do." They study Falun Gong diligently and go everywhere to promote Falun Gong. More and more people have started practicing Falun Gong. This year the region held its first Falun Gong experience-sharing conference. They have also received widespread support from local and state levels.

People on Sakhalin Island in Eastern Russia learned Falun Gong through eight young men. In the beginning of 1998, these eight young men went to China for sightseeing. In a Park in Beijing, they saw a group of people practicing the exercises. They were deeply attracted by its gentle movements and solemn energy field and started to follow the movements. They quickly grasped the five sets of exercises with the patient guidance of Chinese practitioners. Practitioners also helped them to find a copy of the introductory book China Falun Gong in Russian. Upon returning home, they established a practice site. This is the Russia's most eastern practice site.

Due to the remoteness of the place, it is very difficult to travel around, and thus hard to share their experience with the others. It took them almost half a month to attend the Falun Gong experience-sharing conference in Moscow (by train, boat and train). Despite the tough environment, they have kept up their Falun Gong practice and efforts to expose the persecution.

Pyatigorsk is located in the region Stavropolsky in South Russia. In 1997, two practitioners from St. Petersburg returned home for the New Year and brought Falun Gong to their native city. Since then there are more and more people with predestined relations joining Falun Gong practice.

All local practitioners are westerners. In the past 9 years, they have been tireless in promoting Falun Gong and clarifying the truth of the persecution with practitioners' compassion and righteous thoughts.

Pyatigorsk is surrounded by five mountains. It is renowned for its Spring Spas. The natural scenery is very beautiful with mild weather. Therefore it attracts many tourists every year. Taking advantage of this unique situation, practitioners have been continuously clarifying the truth of Falun Gong. Many tourists have thus learned about the beauty of Falun Gong and the truth of the Chinese Communist regime's persecution of Falun Gong.

The story of practitioners in Pyatigorsk clarifying the truth to the Chinese people is very touching. There is a very large retail market in this city. Several thousand Chinese run businesses here. Since July 20th 1999, practitioners have never stopped telling the facts about Falun Gong to these Chinese people who are heavily poisoned by the Chinese Communist regime's lies and slanders. It was quite hard at the beginning. Russian practitioners who went to clarify the truth were often surrounded and attacked by the Chinese. In one incident Russian police with rifles who were not aware of the facts even pushed them away. Faced with a tough environment, practitioners didn't back down. They have actively exposed the persecution to the management of the market, government organizations and Chinese business people. With practitioners' persistent efforts, people learned the truth about Falun Gong. The management of the market and police no longer interfere with practitioners' activities. Many Chinese business people learned the truth. Now many Chinese people come to practitioners asking for Falun Gong materials.

Falun Gong has been spreading in Russia for nine years now. Due to the great efforts of practitioners in all regions who have diligently clarified the truth to governments of different levels and citizens, the Russian people recognize more and more the principles of "Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance" and Falun Gong's great benefits to the health of mind and body. They also learned more about the Chinese Communist regime's brutal persecution of Falun Gong.

During an activity in Moscow, an elderly lady stayed in front of the exhibition boards for a long time. She then came to the table to sign the petition calling for the end to the persecution. She told practitioners: "It's so familiar." One could see that in her heart, she had an unforgettable memory. The Russian people suffered greatly under the dictatorship of the world's first Communist regime. The Russian Communist party murdered over twenty million people during over seventy years while it was in power. Many people were persecuted for no reason in the labor camps, were abused in the mental hospitals and were sent to remote places. On December 26th 1991, the Soviet Union was dissolved. The federation of Russia was formed. Without the control of Russia's evil Communist Party, Russia's economy has developed steadily over the past ten years. Russia also made great progress in protecting citizen's democratic rights and freedom of belief. The Russian people feel deeply disgusted by the terrible violence still existing today and many of them came to sign our petition calling for an end to the persecution. Local government officials and police also often say to practitioners during Falun Gong activities: "This is Russia, not China. We support you."

The Communist Party of the Soviet Union has been disposed of for fifteen years now. Today over eight million Chinese people in China have withdrawn from the Chinese Communist Party and its affiliated organizations. More and more people have seen through the evil nature of the Chinese Communist Party and have learned about the truth of Falun Gong. The Chinese Communist regime's persecution of Falun Gong will not last long!

State Department.
Secretary of State Dr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier
Werderscher Markt 1
11013 Berlin

RE: Your state visit to China - Support for the family of Jiang Renzheng and an end to Chinese Communist Party violence

We, German Falun Gong practitioners, have been advised about your forthcoming official visit to China. We are approaching you in the hope that you will address the emigration of Mr. Jiang Renzheng and his family from China and an end to the persecution of innocent people while in China.

Regrettably, Mr. Jiang and his family were deported from Germany to China nearly a year ago. He was arrested and detained in a slave labour camp on his return to China, only because of his steadfast belief in Falun Gong and its principles "Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance."

We welcome that the Würzburg Administrative Court has approved retroactively the asylum request and that the Foreign Affairs Bureau is actively pursuing his release. If truth were told, Mr. Jiang is still under house arrest. We can no longer allow that his human rights and human dignity to continue to be trampled on.

Mr. Jiang's fate is only the tip of the iceberg among the hundreds of thousands of persecuted Falun Gong practitioners in China. We were shocked to read the open letter to the Chinese President Hu Jintao and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao from the renowned Chinese Civil Rights Attorney, Gao Zhisheng. He recounts in the said letter his personal investigation into the worst persecution and torture of innocent Falun Gong practitioners in his homeland and his call on the Communist leadership for an immediate end of the human rights violations against its citizens. His brave commitment for justice in China resulted in the closing of his office and the cancellation of his license, 24 hour surveillance and an attempt on his life.

Starting on February the 4th 2006, Mr. Gao went on a hunger strike with the call for "Protection of Human Rights, and Support against the Gangsters of China's Communist Party." The said action found immediate support within China and around the world. Also in Germany, more and more people are taking part in the staggered hunger strike rally.

Since the release of the "Nine Commentaries on the Chinese Communist Party" in the largest Chinese language overseas newspaper The Epoch Times, in November of 2004, more than eight million people have resigned from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its related entities. In the movement towards the downfall of the CCP, the tide is irreversible; yet every unthinkable vicious method is employed by the CCP. We only need to remember the attack on Mr. Li Yuan, technical chief of The Epoch Times, who resides in the US, and the severe injuries he sustained at the hands of the agents of the CCP.

There are more than a billion people in China who have not been granted the most fundamental human rights. Since the CCP's founding, about fifty seven years ago, it is responsible for the death of more than 80 million people. The bloody suppression of the June 4th 1989 student movement, as well as the six-year-old unabated persecution of Falun Gong practitioners has shocked the citizens of the world deeply.

Because of economic interests, Western countries can influence China. They should take advantage of the opportunity and condemn the human rights violations. Remaining silent or discussing the human rights violations behind closed doors because of self interest keeps the violent CCP system alive and will sooner or later have an effect on the Western world.

Dear Secretary of State Steinmeier, please address compliance with human rights in China during your meetings.

We also politely request that you address in the course of your China visit the release of Mr. Jiang and an immediate end of the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners.

Before the 12th Winter Olympics was held in Torino in northern Italy, many European organizations and individuals made it to this beautiful mountainside city to participate in a grand parade organized by the Italian Center for quitting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on February 4, 2006, to mark the figure of some eight million withdrawals from the CCP. To let people know a little more about Falun Gong and expose the seven-year persecution of innocent Falun Gong practitioners, nearly one hundred Falun Gong practitioners participated in this activity.

Torino is very beautiful with lovely sunshine in the early spring. The grand parade set out from the city hall. To show their support for the activity, a representative of the Mayor, a City Councilor and a Member of Parliament walked in the front row.

The Falun Gong waist-drum performance was especially eye-catching. To watch the performance and see the various banners, passersby stopped on the two sides of the street, while others stepped out of shops or opened their windows one after another. Other participants holding various colorful banners and posters followed the waist-drummers. Among them were lovely children. The banners reading, "Dissolve the CCP and Create a New China" were exceptionally striking in the sunshine. Several representatives of the media came to report the activity.

Many people were very angry over the evil CCP's human rights abuses after hearing the facts about the persecution. Many people expressed their support for those being persecuted and wished them a bright future, while others were reading the information regarding the movement of withdrawals from the CCP and the flyers exposing the CCP's atrocities. After talking with Falun Gong practitioners, some athletes and staff members participating in the Olympics came to know the facts about the Chinese Communist regime's persecution of Falun Gong practitioners and other religious groups.

A press conference was held after the parade concluded at the Statuto Square. On behalf of the Council of Regione Piemonte, the Provincial Assembly and Torino City Council, Mr. Leo made a short speech to support the millions of people withdrawing from the CCP. Besides lauding these Chinese people as "courageous" and "genuine heroes," he also condemned the Chinese Communist regime's persecution of Falun Gong. Among others, he expressed his appreciation for Falun Gong practitioners' extraordinary courage in their peaceful petition.

As one of the organizers, Mr. Tecchio, representative of the CISL Association, condemned the Chinese Communist regime's atrocious rule of Tibetans and the persecution against Falun Gong practitioners, members of House Churches, independent associations and others defending human rights.


Falun Gong practitioners' waist-drum performance	The representative of the Mayor, a City Councilor and a Member of Parliament walked in the front row