November 17, 2001
The SOS! Global RescueWalk teams of the Japanese Falun Gong practitioners Northern and Southern routes met in Tokyo on November 14, 2001 after walking for two months. The Northern route began in Sapporo City on September 12, 2001 and the Southern route began from Fukuoka City on September 16, 2001.
At 7:55 AM, the practitioners met in Huibishou Park, Tokyo, sent forth righteous thoughts and practiced the Falun Gong exercises.
At 10:00 AM, the enormous SOS! Global RescueWalk march started from the park. The practitioners applying for the march permit from police reported 50 people at the beginning and then changed to 80 people later due to unforseen circumstances. Actually more than 100 practitioners attended. The police said with a smile, "You are remarkable. So many people came, even on a work day." The march passed through the busy streets accompanied by the Dafa music of Pudu and Jishi.
At 10:30 am, six practitioner representatives went to the Tokyo City Government and handed over an appeal letter to the mayor. An associate counselor representing the mayor accepted the letter and expressed his serious concern on the human rights violations in China. The meeting lasted over 30 minutes.
At 11:30 am, the representatives of both the Northern and Southern route teams gathered in front of the Chinese Embassy in Japan, read an appeal letter and tried to submit a letter to the ambassador. However, the embassy kept its door closed tightly as usual and pretended to be unaware of us.
At 2:30 pm, four practitioner representatives went to the Office of Prime Minister of Japan and handed over an appeal letter to Prime Minister Koizumi. Some cabinet officials representing Prime Minister Koizumi accepted the appeal and listened to the introduction from the practitioners. They showed their interest in Falun Gong and expressed that Japan is paying close attention to human rights. The meeting lasted about 50 minutes.
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| Submitting an appeal letter in the Tokyo City Hall | Submitting an appeal letter to cabinet official, a representative of the Japanese Prime Minister. |
At 3:00 PM, the practitioners held a press conference in the Journalist Club in front of the Tokyo City Hall. Reporters from many media, including NHK, Japanese Economic News, and other Japanese and Chinese media attended the conference. An elderly Japanese man put forward his appeal from the bottom of his heart to request Jiang Zemin's regime to immediately release his 19-year-old daughter detained in China, whose current condition is unknown. Many people were touched.
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Press conference in the Journalist Club in front of the Tokyo City Hall
In these activities, the practitioners introduced the current situation of the persecution against Falun Gong in China and the aims of the SOS! Global RescueWalk across Japan. They also described the increasing understanding about Falun Gong by the local governments, media, and local people over the course of the walk, and the kind-hearted people condemning Jiang Zemin's regime for its brutal persecution against Falun Gong. They also pointed out that Jiang Zemin's regime not only violated the Chinese Constitution by undertaking state terrorism against its own citizens, but also knowingly infringed upon the rights of people worldwide, including Japan, by fabricating misinformation. The Jiang Zemin regime directly requested the Japanese government at various levels to restrict the activities of Falun Gong practitioners and even made intimidating calls to local Falun Gong practitioners. Their actions violated Japanese law. The Jiang Zemin regime blocked the Japanese Falun Gong practitioners from returning to China and turned them into refugees. All kind-hearted and upright people cannot imagine the evil actions of Jiang Zemin's regime.
After the march and other RescueWalk activities, the practitioners gathered to study the Fa together and exchange experiences.
Category: Rallies & Protests