(Clearwisdom.net) "What a cold day! Your courage is truly admirable," a policeman told practitioners. He had just gotten out of his warm vehicle, and the piercing wind already made him shiver.
On November 23, 2005, the Governor of Bavaria was holding a banquet for visiting Shandong Province Governor, Han Yuqun, in the Palace in Munich. Outside the palace, practitioners rallied to condemn the severe persecution of their Chinese fellows by the Shandong government. In a world of ice and snow, practitioners practiced the five sets of Falun Gong exercises and sent forth righteous thoughts. When Han and his delegation arrived, the practitioners called aloud: "Falun Dafa is good! Stop the persecution of Falun Gong!"
Despite the cold weather, practitioners rallied to condemn the persecution
in China
Since the persecution started in July 1999, at least 281 practitioners have been persecuted to death in Shandong Province, ranking it 5th among all the provinces of the communist state for their brutality in the persecution.
The first death case reported by the Minghui/Clearwisdom website was Zhao Jinhua of Zhaoyuan City, Shandong Province. Ms. Zhao, 42, was illegally arrested by Zhangxing Township Police Station on September 27, 1999. Ten days later, Zhao Jinhua died at the police station. Her death raised a sensation around the world, and the CCP's (Chinese Communist Party) atrocity was widely condemned by all nations that support justice and by kindhearted people worldwide.
In addition, the first death that was reported in depth by foreign media was from Shandong Province as well. Ms. Chen Zixiu, 59, was a practitioner from Weifang City, Shandong Province. After being unlawfully detained for 5 days, on February 21 2000, Ms. Chen was beaten to death by officials. Ian Johnson, a reporter from the Wall Street Journal, received the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for his series of articles on the persecution of Falun Gong. The first article he wrote was on Chen Zixiu's death.
The persecution has lasted more than 6 years. While the governorship of Shandong Province has been transferred from Wu Guanzheng (promoted to the Central Government in acknowledgment of his harsh persecution of Falun Gong) to Han Yuqun, the persecution has never stopped.
In this month alone, reports on the persecution of practitioners in Shandong are too many to count. For example, Wang Shuhua of Zhaoyuan, Ma Wenlong and Yu Chuanqi of Yangguo County, Liang Chunyan of Weifang, Li Qingmei, Liu Guifang, Cui Fenglan and Zhou Huajun of Chiping County have been unlawfully arrested, and Yao Guizhen, Bai Jiazhen, Yu Zhenghong and Han Yusheng have been persecuted to death.
During the very first day of Han Yunqun's visit to Germany, the Minghui/Clearwisdom website reported another persecution case in Shandong: In the beginning of November, the 610 Office of Huantai County arrested Chi Yongzhi who is in his 60s and sent him to Zibo City Brainwashing Center.
The purpose of the practitioners' rally at the palace was to tell Shandong officials to immediately stop the persecution. Otherwise, they will be held accountable for all the crimes they have committed. Though Han's delegation left the palace from the back door after the banquet, they still ran into some practitioners who were waiting there. From several meters away, the practitioners shouted loudly: "Falun Dafa is Good! "Stop the persecution of Falun Gong! "Bring Jiang Zemin to Justice!" Many of the officials were shocked by the courage of the practitioners.
Category: Rallies & Protests
