Clarifying the Truth at an International Conference in China

(Clearwisdom.net)

Some time ago I traveled to Mainland China to attend an international conference. The topic of conversation with various people between and after meetings often shifted to Falun Gong. I naturally took advantage of these opportunities to clarify the truth and expose the evil to my colleagues, friends, officials and reporters in China. The following are just a few episodes.

1. An Elderly Professor Said, "I Want to Read Zhuan Falun When I Return Home."

At a dinner banquet, an elderly professor from a Beijing research institute was seated next to me. Our conversation went from his heart-wrenching experience in the Cultural Revolution to the persecution of Falun Gong. The professor repeated some of the statements put out by the official propaganda. I patiently pointed out the lies in these statements one by one. Finally, the professor said himself, "This is how things are done in China. If something is defined by the leaders as bad, media will follow to condemn without exception." When we said good-bye to each other, the professor said, "Actually, my younger brother who lives in the United States sent me a copy of Zhuan Falun a few years ago. I never read it. I will read it carefully when I go home."

2. My Good Friend's Younger Brother, a Chinese Police Supervisor

One evening I was having dinner with an old friend. His younger brother's entire family joined us. His younger brother works as a supervisor in the Police Department. He told me that he received orders to start persecuting Falun Gong more than two years ago. At the time he knew nothing about Falun Gong, so he instructed the officers under his supervision to arrest practitioners. He said, "It is a common practice for police officers to beat and curse detainees. It is like hooligans hitting hooligans -- who cares. But," he continued, "I discovered later that Falun Gong practitioners were very kind. Then it would become 'hooligan police officers hitting kind people.'" His wife deeply believes that "good is rewarded with good and evil with evil." She often advises her husband not to make things difficult for Falun Gong practitioners, so he would do his best not to. Recently he was criticized by his superiors for not spending enough effort in persecuting Falun Gong. He now wants to leave the police department and to get away from the place where he is forced to do things against heaven's principles.

3. The View of High Ranking Officials

Conference attendees had the opportunity to meet with some high-ranking government officials privately. During these conversations, the topic of Falun Gong frequently came up. An official who is also a friend of mine said, "In China, officials have to be consistent with the Central Party in what they say, but you can determine an official's true opinion by paying attention to his tone of voice." When I told several of the conference attendees that we were against the persecution of Falun Gong, an official responded, "Then we have a different view." When saying good-bye, the official happened to stand next to me, and it was just the two of us. He said, "The truth is, the government also has different views internally."

4. Exposing the Evil to My Driver

My driver took me back to the hotel. We had about 45 minutes to chat on the road. Topics slowly shifted to Falun Gong. He told me that before the crackdown there were two Falun Gong practitioners in his department. They were both good people. They disappeared after the crackdown. The driver could never figure out what the "self-immolation" incident was all about, so I pointed out a few loopholes in the government's story, indicating that it was a staged incident. He said repeatedly, "You're right. You're right. It's very likely that it's a swindle. Had you not said it, I would have been cheated by them."