1. Outside the Press Conference Room
On Monday, March 19, 2000, an hour before the Falun Gong press conference began, several people who of Chinese ethnicity arrived at the restaurant where the conference was to be held. One of them claimed that he hadn't known what would take place before he passed by the restaurant; another claimed that he had read Zhuan Falun [the main instructional book of Falun Gong], but had many questions that he would like to ask the practitioners. This person also privately asked some practitioners, "Can I invite you to dinner?" and even "Can I invite you to dinner in (the country where the practitioner came from)?" All practitioners refused his invitations. Still some of them declared to be reporters from a Chinese newspaper office or the Xinhua News Agency, and tried to get into the conference room this way. Because they could not show their invitation letters, they were asked to leave the conference room.
A reporter from the Xinhua News Agency snuck into the conference room, but was immediately recognized and was asked to leave. He then began to shout loudly in French at the entrance to the conference room, claiming "freedom of speech". The practitioners were calm and peaceful all the time, and explained to him, "This is a private meeting. We have the right to decide who to invite and who not to invite." However, this man kept shouting, and he stood in the hallway of the restaurant, hampering the restaurant's regular business operation. His outrageous behaviour was extremely inharmonious with the elegant atmosphere of the restaurant, and also inconsistent with what was expected of a large country's official media reporter. His behavior received disdain from all the restaurant staff and Western news reporters present, and stained the image of the Chinese people.
When practitioners told this news reporter that they would have to call the police if he continued to act so hysterical, this reporter began by saying "The police is who I'm waiting for." etc., and also stealthily contacted some Western news reporters outside the conference room in order to spread false information and cause trouble. Western news reporters appeared to be very indifferent to his words. However, this man disappeared without a trace before the police arrived.
2. Outside the Group Practice Field
On Tuesday, when practitioners were doing exercises outside the United Nations buildings, the practitioner who was maintaining order noticed two Chinese men who were carrying professional cameras and video cameras, and were taking pictures of the practitioners from a short distance. The practitioner walked up to them and asked for their identification. They claimed to be news reporters, however their so-called "journalist ID card" only had the word "China" on it, which could not prove them to be news reporters. The practitioner told them that they shouldn't take pictures and make video recordings unless they obtained permission from the people they were taking the pictures of.
The two men then moved farther away, yet continued to take pictures. After they were warned again, one of them took out a small camera. The practitioner was compelled to cover up the camera lens using his body, not allowing them to take any more pictures. These two men circled from the side of the meadow to the back, later to the side of the back, but each time the practitioners blocked them.
Exasperated, they used various "excuses", from "reporting on the news" to "private photography", and "to show them to my family". They even made up stories and hoped to move the practitioners. At last they began to beg, "Just one picture, just one picture." This Swiss practitioner answered, "One more picture might mean the death of another fellow practitioner. 160 deaths are far enough. It must end now." Later he told other practitioners that when he stood in front of the camera, he felt he couldn't give the evil forces any space to breathe, he must "suffocate the evil."
In the end, when five or six policemen came from nearby after the practitioners called, the two men left quickly before the police reached the practice field. The whole incident lasted for about ten minutes, and was video recorded as evidence (for later times).
Submitted by European Practitioners
March 23, 2001
