(Clearwisdom.net) San Antonio is located in southern Texas, and it attracts many tourists. The city government, local media, and the general public all have a relatively good understanding of Falun Dafa, and public support for Falun Dafa and Dafa practitioners is substantial. The local practitioners have spoken with city officials and have clarified the truth of Falun Gong to them. Every year, the city government has issued proclamations for Falun Dafa. Although none of this seems out of the ordinary, the city officials have had some rather extraordinary experiences that most people are not aware of. Recently, when practitioners were further clarifying the truth to some city officials, they told the practitioners about how the Chinese Consulate in Texas had tried to pressure the city government and how these attempts have fallen on deaf ears.
According to the officials, in November 1999, the day after the mayor issued a proclamation for Falun Gong, two officials from the Chinese Consulate in Texas arrived in San Antonio in a huff. They wanted to see the mayor. When the mayor's assistant told them that the mayor was busy, the two officials insistently demanded to see the mayor. Out of politeness, the mayor agreed to meet with them. The two officials accused the mayor of issuing the proclamation to the practitioners and asked him to retract the proclamation. They also made slanderous statements about Falun Gong. Most of the things they accused the mayor of, however, had nothing to do with the proclamation. The practitioners were told that the mayor was indignant, and told the Chinese Consulate representatives that the things they were talking about had nothing to do with the content of the proclamation. Very quickly the meeting came to an end, and the mayor bid them goodbye.
The practitioners remembered that the Chinese Consulate had pressured the city to rescind the proclamation not long after it was issued, and practitioners had gone to the mayor's office to explain the situation. At that time, the mayor's assistant had firmly assured them that they would never recant the proclamations already issued, and until they heard the story about this ineffectual attempt at interference from the Consulate, they hadn't understood why.
The city official who told the practitioners about the situation said that he thought that the officials from the Chinese Consulate were pathetic, using up government resources and doing bad deeds. They were not even aware of the content of the proclamation before they approached the San Antonio city government and could only say what they were told to say, as if they had no minds of their own. The practitioners told the official, "They really don't have their own minds, and they were merely following the orders of Jiang's faction and executing its evil policies."
Another official from the city government told the practitioners that in the past several years, the Chinese Consulate in Texas has attempted to pressure the city government many times regarding their support of Falun Gong. He said that the city government listened to what Consulate officials had to say, but never acted on any of their demands.
In fact, every attempt by the Chinese Consulate to pressure the city government has failed. Instead, their insipid tactics only made the city government more aware of the truth about Falun Gong, and affirmed what they already knew about the persecution. Every year since 1999, the city government has issued a proclamation supporting Falun Gong. We must advise officials from the Chinese Consulate: It is time for you to examine yourselves with a clear mind.