(Clearwisdom.net)
Media Reports
Central News Agency (Taiwan-based) from Washington on May 6 reported that the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom pointed out numerous ways of how Mainland China has been violating the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (IRFA). These violations include the violations against Falun Gong. The Commission expressed that, although China has signed several International Basic Human Rights Agreements, it has never followed them and continues to severely violate the categories on freedom of religion and belief.
The South China Morning Post reported on May 5 that the government of Hong Kong used flowerbed planting as an excuse to block off the protest area that Falun Gong practitioners usually use outside the China Liaison Office. The Falun Gong spokesperson in Hong Kong said that this action is the result of pressure from Beijing.
News from China
My home was illegally searched. Police abducted me and forced me into a brainwashing class located in Yangyuan, Wuchang District, Wuhan City. Police shackled me to the wall with my arms and legs stretched apart and kicked me with their boots. They kicked my ankle bones especially hard, and because there is little muscle in the area, the pain was quite severe. My family had to pay 900 Yuan RMB (monthly salary of an urban worker is 500 Yuan) every month to the brainwashing class. The police there often beat Falun Dafa practitioners. Whoever went on hunger strikes were force-fed.
Police from Yunfeng Station, Tiexi District, Shengyang City abducted me and inflicted inhuman torture for two days. I lost feeling in both hands and lost my ability to walk. My wife had to pay 10,000 Yuan as a guarantee. I was finally released after 18 days on hunger strike. I have since been forced to leave my home to avoid further persecution.
Open Forum
In history, large groups of Israelis were persecuted in Egypt. At God's command, Moses requested that the Pharaoh give the Israelis freedom. God's miracles happened again and again to prompt the Pharaoh, who again and again chose not to believe in God's miracles. This eventually led to punishments and disasters: toads, locusts and plagues befell Egypt and they especially attacked the Egyptians. Nowadays, there are large areas in China that are also affected by great locust plagues and invading toads. Are they warnings sent by heaven?
Everyday when we open up the newspaper we can see much ugliness, coldness, enmity and jealousy. We deeply feel that this is because people's hearts lack a bridge, a bridge that connects to "Truth, Compassion, Tolerance." When "Truth, Compassion, Tolerance" becomes less in our hearts, then the desert of lies, violence and brutality grows and runs rampant in us. This world cannot exist without "Truth, Compassion, Tolerance," just as it cannot exist without bridges.
A public criticism and denouncement meeting was held at Hong Kong City Hall. According to Xinhua News Agency's May 5 report, 230 organizations in Hong Kong held a public gathering in the city hall to criticize and denounce Falun Gong Cultural Revolution-style. 1,500 people attended the meeting. Although Falun Gong is still flourishing even after three years of brutality and turmoil, one can easily see that the so-called "one country, two systems" has been corrupted.
The U.K. Falun Gong practitioners wrote to the Chinese Embassy in England: Who exactly is playing the "farce"? The U.K. police have recognized that Falun Gong practitioners are some of the most peaceful and rational people in the world. We distribute as many as 2,000 Falun Gong flyers per day. Passersby usually, on their own initiative, stop to ask for flyers, learn the truth about, and sign the petition to support Falun Gong and oppose Jiang's brutal persecution of innocent practitioners. This is the United Kingdom -- could the English people be deceived the same as the people in China by the lies from the "hall where one person has all the say" and thus no one dares to speak the truth?
News and Activities around the World
Tokyo Falun Gong practitioners spread Dafa during the Azalea Festival at the end of April. They distributed over 10,000 copies of the Japanese Falun Gong Newsletter.
Falun Gong practitioners from Atlanta, Georgia participated in the "Imman Park Festival" at Imman Park. In the festival parade, the Falun Gong display vehicle, and the graceful exercise demonstration gained warm applause, greetings and blessings. People asked for the flyers one after another. Many people stopped in front of the Dafa display booth and watched with genuine interest for a long time.
In April, Georgia Falun Gong practitioners attended the two-day "Human Rights Festival" in Athens. Western practitioner Scott Robertson gave a special speech about Falun Gong. He especially talked about his extraordinary experience of going to Tiananmen Square to validate Dafa. This attracted a lot of attention from the whole audience. During the two days, many westerners signed a petition in support of justice.
A Story about Righteous Thoughts
A determined heart can eradicate every arrangement by the old forces. On June 4, 2001, I firmly went to Tiananmen Square to validate Dafa. Under the protection of our compassionate Teacher, I finally shouted out the words that I have been waiting to say for tens of thousands of years. The police were chasing me. I still shouted while running until several police vans surrounded me. I kept shouting. Later I was sent to the security office. The evil police beat me up until I had bruises and wounds all over. At last I managed to walk out the security office.
Practitioners Exchange Insights
Eradicate the last of the evil: The old forces arranged that the head of the evil would survive until the Fa-rectification enters the human world so that many innocent and deceived people would be eliminated and sacrificed as the accompaniment of the evil old forces. However, Dafa practitioners will never agree to nor accept this arrangement. We need to completely eradicate the arrangement of the old forces and speed up the elimination of the evil head by sending forth righteous thoughts. Before the ultimate elimination of deviated lives, we need to create a peaceful and fair environment to clarify the truth and offer salvation to more innocent lives.
Suggestions regarding clarifying truth to students in Mainland China: I often hear some deceived students slandering Dafa. The education department in this city held a so-called "million signature collection" and severely poisoned many teachers and students. I think if we can send a letter clarifying the truth to every class, we can influence students and their parents as well as the whole society. It will certainly touch the teachers.
