Suffocating the evil during "A national conversation with the Chinese Ambassador to the US" in San Jose, California

On Thursday, January 18^th, 2001, a luncheon with the Chinese Ambassador to the United States took place in San Jose. The luncheon and seminar that followed were held to provide more information to companies interested in doing business with China. The ambassador, Li Zhaoxing had an approximately 20 minute speech after which he took questions.

As practitioners in the Bay Area knew about this event, it was decided to purchase 5 tickets to have practitioners there in order to ask question regarding the persecution of Falun Gong in China, if given the opportunity. A permit was also obtained for the area across the hotel where the luncheon was held, and many practitioners (30-40) peacefully practiced the exercises and held banners asking China to stop the brutal persecution.

As I was told about this event, I thought it would be very good if I can participate, since as a westerner I may have the opportunity to ask a question, and therefore I can face the evil directly and reveal the truth. However, that day I had planned 3 different meetings at my company, including one at noon (exactly when the ambassador's speech was about to start), which seemed tough to cancel.

So, in my mind, I was not planning to attend this event. However, around 11:00 am, due to the power crisis in California, and the "rolling blackouts" the power was turned off in my building. We were told that the power is usually off for 2 hours in such a situation. There couldn't have been a clearer message that I should go to the luncheon.

I took off right away, and found the place pretty easily. The practitioners were doing the exercises outside in yellow T-shirts to the beautiful Dafa music. After I parked my car, I walked over and the sitting meditation was just starting. As I haven't been able to go to practice that morning I thought it would be good to do the exercises and peacefully demonstrate at the same time. As I was about to sit down, I became a bit restless as the thought occurred to me: "What if I could be of more help inside?" Of course, that would mean I may get to ask a question of the ambassador, and may get nervous, or not say the right thing. I decided I should ask if there are enough practitioners to use all 5 tickets.

As I walked into the lobby a few practitioners encouraged me to go in by giving their ticket to me, since if a westerner is to validate Dafa, it may have a bigger impact on the Chinese officials. I was quite touched by this, also by watching the other practitioners outside holding the banners, how every one of them is a part of Dafa, and doing something for Dafa, no matter what it is. I realized the great honor I have to be able to validate the Fa in such an environment, directly to a high Chinese official, and that this was to be my role for that afternoon.

We all walked in with a bit of socializing and lunch. There were about 100 people in the room and only 5 practitioners -- what would be the chance that our hand would be picked for the few questions for the ambassador? After lunch there was a person who officially introduced the ambassador. Among other things he said he knows that his mother who died a few years ago is watching him from above and will not let him mess up this occasion. This comment seemed a bit odd at the time, but as we will see later, it was shown that indeed she didn't.

The ambassador talked for about 20 minutes about China-US relations, as well as other things. He mentioned also the Taiwan issue and Falun Gong, not in a positive light of course. He was then ready for questions. The person who introduced him chose the first hand (we all raised our hands) ?and he picked a practitioner! The Chinese practitioner mentioned the human rights violations and Falun Gong persecution in China, and asked what the ambassador is doing to stop this. The ambassador had a long answer, slandering Falun Gong, and finally asking the person who asked the question if he is a practitioner. As he answered yes, he began to almost attack him directly verbally and at times, at a ridiculous extent, that even the audience started laughing. Among the things he said were "some of those stories are unreliable" ?in regards to the a couple of front page Wall Street Journal articles that mention Falun Gong practitioners being tortured to death in Weifang, China. He also mentioned that 15,000 practitioners died in China because of Falun Gong (he just arbitrarily increased the originally fabricated number which is 1,500).

For the 2^nd question, the introducer, a bit shaken by his first choice, looked around to pick someone else, and he pointed at myself! As I got up and introduced myself, I mentioned that I am also a Falun Gong practitioner and would like to understand the ambassador's position on how is it evil to practice meditation and follow the principles of "Truthfulness, Benevolence, Forbearance." First, he seemed extremely surprised that I am a practitioner, asked me where I live and where I went to school. It seemed that he is not quite sure what to say. Finally he said something like "Stanford students won 16 medals at the Olympic Games and none of them was a Falun Gong practitioner." This was the extent of the ridiculousness of his answers.

As the third question came up, the organizer was visibly shaken, he mentioned that the ambassador will only take one more question, and to his relief, it was not related to Falun Gong. If I remember correctly there were only 4 questions asked total, out of which 2 were asked by practitioners. His mother if she watched can be proud -- he did make the right decision (to pick the first two questions from practitioners)! He may not realize it now, but he will in the future.

As I was walking out, two other practitioners were going to present the ambassador with a letter and pictures of the persecution. After I got out of the hotel and again saw the practitioners outside validating Dafa, and thinking about the practitioners in mainland China who are validating Dafa with their lives, I felt extremely touched as I am so lucky I can contribute to this Fa rectification. The practitioners in mainland China are sacrificing their lives to validate Dafa in front of a few policemen and tourists, while I was able to do it in front of such a high official with minimum risk. At the thought that we are all part of the same body, the feeling is hard to describe, but I am sure that practitioners know what I am talking about.

As I was about to find out later, more happened inside the conference hall after I left. As the luncheon was over, the ambassador was talking to a few people before leaving. Another western practitioner together with a Chinese practitioner waited for their turn to talk to the ambassador. The western practitioner said: My name is... I have a PhD from Stanford and have my own company here in Silicon Valley, and I am also a Falun Gong practitioner. I think Falun Gong is very good." The ambassador was shocked, he did not have many words to counter with anymore. He was presented with a letter (which he took with much hesitation) and with pictures of the persecution. His own staff pulled him out of the room later on.

The entire event went very smooth, as it always does when we do things for Dafa. Even though we did not plan things almost at all, it was so well organized, better probably than if we would have planned it for months. Even the order of events, which practitioner spoke first and so on, where perfectly arranged.