Speech for the Amnesty International Midwest Regional Conference 2000

Ladies and Gentlemen:

I would first like to thank Amnesty International for inviting us to the Midwest Regional Conference to speak about the Falun Gong situation in China.

I am particularly honored to be here today before all of you who are so dedicated to improving the lives of others. It takes compassion and selflessness to take an interest in the welfare of others, especially when the object of your concern is many thousands of miles away.

This year's Midwest regional conference is entitled: "Spirituality, Religion and Human Rights: Uniting our hope and activism." I can't think of anything more fitting to describe the Falun Gong situation in China right now.

Most of you will have heard about the persecution going on in China, so let me first tell you a little bit about the 'hope' before the 'activism,' and describe a little what Falun Gong is, and what it means to be a practitioner. Falun Dafa practitioners like myself are people who try to live our lives in accordance with the principles of Truthfulness, Benevolence, and Forbearance ?principles that we hold to be universal. When I first found Falun Dafa, it was almost a relief, like I had finally found something in the world that was real and true, something that was eternal. Something inside me resonated with the words I read in the main text of the teachings, Zhuan Falun, and I have never looked back. It has given me a lasting sense of purpose ?never before have I lived life in such a clear-headed and meaningful way -- and it has also given me a sense of what true freedom is. Spiritual faith is something that can provide solace in hard times, and strong moral values can anchor you when everything else around you turns murky and the currents are pulling everyone in every direction.

I think you will agree that these are things that the Chinese Communist Party definitely cannot provide.

Nor can the Chinese government provide adequate health care to its people. There are far from enough hospitals in China for its population of 1.3 billion, especially in the rural areas. And despite the rising costs of medical care, especially for larger procedures like surgery, the quality of care in many of the hospitals often leaves much to be desired. It is no surprise, then, that for decades, the Chinese people have sought out alternative forms of medicine and healing, despite the government's taboo against what they consider 'superstition.' Qigong caught on, and it was no secret that Deng Xiaoping himself and other PRC leaders used a Qigong master as their primary form of healthcare, considering the man to be a 'national treasure.' Millions gathered in parks all over the country every morning, doing all forms of exercise as a way to stay healthy and fit. Falun Dafa was introduced to the public in 1992 in that environment. Almost exclusively by word of mouth, the practice just kept growing. At first, it was because, for example, an elderly man would stumble upon people practicing it in the park, and so he would learn it. By diligently practicing and studying the teachings, gradually his aches and pains and chronic ailments would go away and he would become noticeably healthier. Then his wife and neighbors and friends would wonder what was going on and give it a try for themselves. When they, too, experienced the benefits, more friends and relatives would be curious to try it out.

While I'm not here to make any claims about the healing powers of the practice, there was definitely something to it -- the U.S. News and World Report ran a story in February of last year before the crackdown in which an official from the high profile PRC sports commission said:

"Falun Gong and other types of qi gong can save each person 1,000 yuan in annual medical fees. If 100 million people are practicing it, that's 100 billion yuan saved per year in medical fees. Premier Zhu Rongji is very happy about that. The country could use the money right now."

That comes out to more than ten billion U.S. dollars a year -- no small sum.

But not everyone in the leadership was so happy with Falun Gong's unadvertised but rapid rise in popularity. Members of the Party apparently did a survey on the practice in early 1999 and were shocked to find that the number of practitioners of Falun Gong alone was an estimated 70 to 100 million people. To put that into perspective, that's roughly a third of the U.S. population. These people were just ordinary citizens of all ages and from all walks of life, from farmers to professors and even government officials. They led ordinary lives, the only difference being that they would do exercises and hold themselves to certain principles, and as a result, many of them seemed particularly healthy, happy, and productive. It would make sense that any government would be happy with that situation. But to a few of the hard-liners in power, there were just too many people answering to higher principles, not necessarily the Party line.

Contrary to what many may think, practicing a true spiritual faith doesn't mean blind faith. This is one of the biggest misunderstandings of this whole incident -- the idea that it's always Master Li, the founder of the practice, directing people to go to Tiananmen Square and to sacrifice for the practice. Master Li hasn't taught in China since 1994, and the vast majority of practitioners have never laid eyes on him. People are stepping forward because they feel that Falun Dafa is a good practice, not because someone told them to do it. Practitioners are supposed to think for themselves and cultivate themselves to attain greater wisdom. I don't think you could pay someone to have courage and stand up to a brutal regime unless they themselves wanted to in their hearts. Of course, there are always going to be certain practitioners who are more likely to come up with ideas and are able to communicate their ideas effectively who become 'key people' as a result, but even after they are arrested, the resistance still continues. The network is vast and loose. And many practitioners are not stepping forward because they don't want to endanger their families. That, too, is their choice.

Why is freedom of faith so important, you might ask. Why should I be concerned about this issue any more than any of the other eight thousand torture cases I read about everyday? Rabbi David Saperstein, former Chair on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom discussed this very point:

"...religious freedom is indivisible. If it is not provided for all, it will never work for any. Religious freedom?in the United States throughout history, is a foundational right?Without it, a [commitment to religious freedom], and freedom of conscience, you cannot have, ultimately, all the other freedoms that we cherish under international human rights schema?And when we see groups like Falun Gong attacked for what they believe and practicing what they believe, that requires democratic countries to speak out. We're particularly concerned with China, because China in this past year卙as significantly worsened the condition of religious freedom across the board. For Muslim leaders, for Tibetan Buddhists, for the underground Protestant and Catholic churches, and for groups like Falun Gong. In that sense, Falun Gong has almost become the symbol for the struggle for religious freedom more broadly."

The PRC is the largest totalitarian regime remaining in the world today. There are few dictators left in the world, and even fewer that can marshal the kind of troops and police forces that Chinese President Jiang Zemin can. Every day, human rights atrocities are occurring in small nations all over the world, and every day they are largely ignored by the world. China is so big that we would ignore it at our own risk. What happens to the largest dictatorship in the world will necessarily have repercussions everywhere, especially in Asia, so we encourage the human rights groups of the world to help make a stand in China.

We have called for a dialogue with the Chinese leadership since day one, but they have never responded with anything but violence. Many of the practitioners who dare to appeal to the government are senior citizens Partially it's because so many of the practitioners are elderly - another reason why all this "counter-revolutionary" rhetoric on the part of the PRC leadership is so laughable. But there's another reason. Imagine that you were an elderly person with failing kidneys, a failing heart, high blood pressure, and your remaining days were to be spent taking medication and going to the hospital, and all you had to look forward to was pain and discomfort, and years as an invalid being a heavy burden on your family. Then something comes along that gives you a renewed sense of vigor and basically gives you a new lease on life. It's not a drug - you are transformed from within and your mind is clear. Then the police come and say: "Stop doing what you're doing, it's evil and its bad for you. And if you don't agree it's evil, then I'm going to throw you in prison, I'm going to put you in a labor camp and work you to the bone until you change your mind." Like many senior citizens in China, you'd probably think: "What, and go back to that life of misery and despair and a hopeless death. The government must not know what I know about this practice -- I'm going to go tell them. What do I have to lose?" There are also those who, unable to withstand the pressure and the abuse, will give it up.

I, myself, would never consider renouncing my faith in Falun Dafa. It would be giving up everything that I hold to be true in the world. It's like trying to tell someone that it's bad to be honest, it's bad to be compassionate, and it's bad to be patient and tolerant. The crackdown makes no sense to me. But I do understand what it is that drives the Falun Dafa practitioners in China to risk everything that they own -- their jobs, their studies, their homes, their reputations, their social standing, and even their lives -- to say one thing: "Falun Dafa is good." They want the PRC government to know this, and they want the world to know it. Falun Dafa gives them freedom in mind, body and spirit, and this is the one thing that most infuriates the hard-liners in the Chinese Communist Party and their obssession with maintaining control.

And so, every day, practitioners from Shandong to Shanghai, from Wuhan to Xinjiang find their own ways to stand up to a repressive policy. These practitioners understand that to not stand up to evil is to betray the good. Some try to go to Beijing to unfurl banners in Tiananmen Square, although many are captured by public security officers before they get anywhere near Beijing. With a huge public security and intelligence machine, the government has managed to have many practitioners followed, have their phones tapped, and even have their neighbors inform on their movements. Others find ways to get leaflets to the general public who, because of the government's control of the state-run media, probably has little idea what's actually happening.

Amnesty International's own Asia-Pacific Advocacy Director, T. Kumar, said earlier this year:

"Tens and thousands of Falun Gong members were arrested by the Chinese purely because they were practicing their own belief. These are the people who are ordinary citizens of China. They never harmed anyone... they are not criminals... It's shocking to see that China can get away with this for the past one year... arresting, imprisoning, torturing and harassing even the people who speak out against these crackdowns."

Human rights groups have recently reported that some 25,000 people have been sent to labor camps without trial, at least 600 have been sent to mental hospitals, over 500 have been given harsh jail sentences of up to 18 years, and at least 67 persons have died due to torture in police custody. And these are only the cases that have been reported and confirmed.

But the numbers don't tell the whole story. In April, The Wall Street Journal ran an article that began:

"The day before Chen Zixiu died, her captors again demanded that she renounce her faith in Falun Dafa. Barely conscious after repeated jolts from a cattle prod, the 58 year-old stubbornly shook her head. Enraged, the local officials ordered Ms. Chen to run barefoot in the snow. Two days of torture had left her legs bruised and her short black hair matted with pus and blood, said cellmates and other prisoners who witnessed the incident. She crawled outside, vomited and collapsed. She never regained consciousness, and died on Feb. 21."

Civilized nations like our own don't even treat our worst criminals like this, let alone our grandmothers. Just a few days ago on October 25, the newswire AP reported:

"One man, thrown to the ground, was kicked in the stomach and head until blood ran from his mouth onto the gray flagstones. An elderly woman was dragged by her hair for several yards as bystanders pleaded with police to stop."

As you can see, this issue is very much a moral issue, and the people of China seem to be slowly but surely waking up to the horrors that are going on under the current regime.

From the accounts that trickle out of China, we are seeing that police are bringing back some of the most inhumane tortures the Chinese culture has had the misfortune to invent, such as sticking bamboo slivers under the fingernails and the torture device known as "Dilao," or "Hell on Earth" whereby the prisoners are chained down in the most excruciating positions. They have resumed one of the tactics used in the former Soviet Union of sending completely sane, normal people into mental institutions as a way to insinuate that everyone who believes in this so-called 'evil cult' has mental problems. They have also found that mental hospitals are also an easy place to keep someone detained without due legal procedure and keep them quiet by injecting them with nerve-damaging drugs and sedatives.

Another disturbing trend is the total disregard the perpetrators have for women. A large percentage of the practitioners who have stepped forward to appeal to the government are women, both young and old. Policemen think nothing of punching unarmed women in the face and kicking them in the groin. We have also had reports of a particular labor camp where a group of female practitioners were stripped naked and pushed them into a prison cell full of male criminals. What ensued is too distressing to relate here, but it only indicates the brutality of the persecution, not only in terms of physical torture but the humiliation and the terror. Police are given free rein to break into people's homes at any time of day or night and to steal their personal belongings. In some regions, they impose fines on practitioners' families and force them to borrow money to pay them. In their wake, they leave thousands of families broken and destitute. Judging from recent directives from President Jiang Zemin, this was not just an unintended side-effect of the crackdown, but a strategic policy encapsulated in the directive: "Exhaust them financially, ruin their reputations, eradicate them within three months."

But of course, that was more than three months ago, and the practitioners in China are holding strong. Apart from their remarkable stamina, what is remarkable in this whole situation is that the practitioners have managed to maintain a stance of non-violence throughout, and they simply don't fight back. They endure for the sake of a larger good. They know that you cannot fight evil with evil. Their strongest weapons are their compassion and their forbearance because that's the only way the world will see the truth.

As activists, I'm sure you all know those days when you wonder if you'll ever make a difference, when the apathy and brutality in the world threaten to overwhelm you. That's when activism is activism without hope. Falun Gong is the issue on which our 'hope' and our 'activism' can finally unite into a powerful force for good in the world. Because of their faith, the Falun Gong practitioners in China have powerful inner reserves of strength that they will continue to draw on to appeal for the freedom to practice that faith. What we overseas must do is make sure that the rest of the world knows what is happening, and gather support so that one day the conflict can reach a peaceful resolution.

We have seen time and again in recent history that grass roots, non-violent resistance can succeed. In China now, wave after wave of Falun Gong practitioners are stepping forward, and they show no signs of being deterred.

I would just like to end by quoting Mark Palmer, the Vice Chairman of the Board of Freedom House that I think sums it up better than I can:

"People are sophisticated and educated who want to improve their health and spiritual values. You can't dismiss this, any more than you can dismiss Christianity or Buddhism or Islam or any other great spiritual movement. [Falun Gong] is in my judgment, the greatest single movement in Asia today. There is nothing that begins to compare with it in courage and importance... Falun Gong deserves the world's support... I feel very strongly that this is a special moment for China now. A time to get rid of the backwardness, the dictatorship, the oppression, and to join the modern world."

Thank you very much.