(Clearwisdom.net) Two weeks before Hu Jintao's visit, the Yale Falun Dafa Club started a series of truth-clarification projects to expose the persecution, especially the recently revealed atrocities of harvesting organs from living practitioners. They collected 2,513 signatures, and news of their activities was reported by several Connecticut media outlets.
Practitioners clarify the truth during Hu Jintao's visit to Yale University on April 21
The New Haven Register reported on the practitioners' efforts in its front page on April 19 and 21. On April 21, in his article titled "Listen carefully, President Hu, to hear the voices of freedom" commentator Randall Beach spelled out the persecution of Falun Gong.
He also interviewed Harold Hongju Koh, Dean of Yale Law School and former Assistant Secretary of State for democracy, human rights and labor on human rights issues in China.
Koh was sure that Hu would hear the voice of protest.
"He's not going to think everyone welcomed him without raising their voices." Koh said. If he had a chance, Kosh said that he would tell Hu: 'It's in your self-interest as a leader who wants to be remembered for bringing China into the 21st century to modernize the legal system and make sure it's up to international standards. You can't have 19th century attitudes toward human rights and personal freedom if you want to be a player in the global marketplace."
When asked about the Chinese Communist regime's record of suppressing freedom of speech and arresting dissidents, Koh said: "It's really a dinosaur. If they want to encourage foreign investment, they'll have to install a 21st-century legal system, and they're far from it."
According to Beach's report, Koh also noted China officials practice "rule by law instead of rule of law. For them, rule by law is a code for members of the (Communist) Party setting the law."
On April 20, the Falun Gong club delivered more than 2,000 signatures to the Yale University President's office, requesting President Richard Levin to request Hu to open up all Chinese labor camps for independent investigation of claims of harvesting organs from living Falun Gong practitioners. On April 21, the New Haven Register and the Yale Daily News both reported this story on their front pages.
Channel 8, FOX 61, CNN, NBC and New England Cable reported on the practitioners' press conference in their afternoon or evening news on April 21. They specifically mentioned the CCP's atrocities of harvesting organs from living Falun Gong practitioners detained in labor camps.
On April 22, the newspaper, radio and TV stations once again ran reports on the practitioners' appeal activities. During Hu's visit, the Chinese Embassy organized about 300 people from New York and other cities to welcome Hu. These people tried to attack and block practitioners' banners, and some of them also repeated the CCP's propaganda to reporters, while a few even alleged that practitioners' persecution claims were fabricated. While reports published some of those allegations, they were overshadowed by coverage of facts about the persecution and true stories from persecuted Falun Gong practitioners, as well as comments from passersby.
Steve Piserchia, a massage practitioner in New Haven, said that he felt the "combat and struggle" of the communist party had arrived when he saw the red color and noisy music of the welcoming troupe.
On April 20, the Hartford Courant, the largest newspaper of Connecticut, reported on the organ harvesting practice inside Chinese labor camps. On April 22, a number of articles were published that included interviews with practitioners. One article featured the story of Dr. Charles Li, who was released in January from a Chinese jail. He was tortured and forced to do slave labor to assemble Christmas lights and Homer Simpson slippers.
Another report by the Hartford Courant highlighted the story of Jane Dai and her daughter, who came from Australia to protest. Dai's husband Chen Chengyong was persecuted to death in China for practicing Falun Gong. Dai wanted to isolate herself from others in her sorrow. However, she said that Falun Gong teaches practitioners to position others' interests first. "All of my best friends have been detained in labor camps for practicing Falun Gong, I can't remain silent." She said.
At the end of the report, the reporter wrote: "A woman from Munich,
Germany, stopped a reporter and said, 'You're from America. I need your support.
I'm from Germany. I need your support.'
She was holding a poster with a picture of an emaciated prisoner tortured in a
Chinese prison, with the words 'Chinese Concentration Camp Sells Human Organs
for Huge Profit.'
As she spoke, tears began rolling down her face."
Category: Organ Harvesting
