(Clearwisdom.net) On January 11, 2004, a Falun Dafa experience-sharing conference took place in Taipei's International Conference Center. More than 6,000 Falun Gong practitioners from around the world including Taiwan, Europe, America, and Asia attended the conference. Taiwan's President Chen Shui-bian, vice-president Lu Hsiu-lien, Lien Chan, presidential candidate of the Nationalist Party and Ma Ying-jeou, the mayor of Taipei City, all sent congratulatory letters to wish the conference a complete success. Huang Chu-wen, the President of Taiwan's Joint Party delivered a speech at the conference.
Joint Party President Huang Chu-wen first greeted the audience, and then he said he was very honored to be able to attend the annual Falun Dafa conference.
Huang Chu-wen said, "Falun Gong is not only a physical and spiritual practice; it shows our respect for our basic human rights and freedom of belief, which is very important. Falun Gong had been introduced in Taiwan seven years ago, and right now about 300,000 people in Taiwan are practicing Falun Gong. There are more than 1,000 practice sites. These numbers are very considerable."
Huang Chu-wen firmly acknowledged Falun Gong's effect on health improvement. He said he was recently hospitalized for ten days due to an illness, and he regretted not practicing Falun Gong. He asked the audience, "Can I join you in Falun Gong practice?" All practitioners gave their warm applause as an affirmative response.
Taiwan's President Chen Shui-bian said in his congratulatory letter, "I sincerely hope your conference will abide by your principles, deeply study the essence of Falun Dafa, intensify experience sharing and study, keep your respect for freedom of belief, and work together to uphold the basic human rights and improve our people's physical and spiritual health. I respectfully wish the conference a complete success, and all of you health and happiness."
Vice President Lu Hsiu-lien said in her congratulatory letter that she deeply believes this large conference will allow the society to further learn about Falun Gong. She respectfully wished the conference a complete success, health to all attendees, and "Godspeed."
Lien Chan, the president of the Nationalist Party said in his letter, "I was very happy to learn that the Falun Gong conference follows the principle of Truth-Compassion-Tolerance. I believe it is beneficial for individual physical and spiritual health as well as social morale. I cannot find appropriate words to express my admiration for such a noble practice, so I send my greetings and respectfully wish the conference a complete success."
Ma Ying-jeou, the mayor of Taipei City said in his congratulatory letter, "I was happy to hear the annual Falun Dafa conference is being held in Taipei, so that more people can learn of the essence of Truth-Compassion-Tolerance. Hereby I respectfully wish the conference a complete success."
The record number of people who attended the conference topped the attendance at past conferences held in Taiwan. The host opened three other smaller rooms in addition to the main hall. They also arranged translation services to help elderly practitioners to understand Mandarin.
