(Clearwisdom.net) Over a hundred Falun Gong practitioners gathered in Tokyo's Ebisu Park on the afternoon of April 25, 2010. They held a rally and a march to commemorate the 11th anniversary of the April-25 appeal and to expose the 11-year-long persecution of Falun Gong in China.
A representative of the local Falun Dafa Association said that the persecution has continued for 11 years. He called upon the Japanese government to officially demand that China stop the persecution.
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Ando Kan, Vice President of the CPPFG Asia Pacific and human rights activist, has been watching human rights issues in China over the last dozen years. Ando was pleased to learn that the US Congress passed Resolution 605 calling upon China to immediately stop the persecution of Falun Gong. He hopes that the Japanese government will also speak up for human rights in China.
Nakatsugawa Hirosato, a member of Japan's House of Representatives, expressed his concern for the persecution in a letter. Tokyo city councilor Koga Toshiaki observed that Falun Gong practitioners became more courageous as the persecution wore on. "The practitioners held this activity to tell people in the free society of Japan the facts of the persecution and to condemn the dictatorship in China. Let's fight for the freedom together," said Koga.
Wang Tianzeng, representative of Federation for a Democratic China, said, "On April 25, 1999, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) pointed its butcher knife to Falun Gong. It was the beginning of a disaster and was time for everyone to wake up." Wang believes that the Spanish Criminal Court's indictment of the officials who committed the crimes of torturing Falun Gong practitioners was the turning point where the world tells the CCP to stop the persecution of religious belief.
After the rally, Falun Gong practitioners marched from Ebisu Park to Roppongi. The Divine Land Marching Band led the march, followed by practitioners holding pictures of those who died in the persecution.
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Lu Jia participated in the April-25 incident 11 years ago. She said it was very peaceful and everyone stood in an orderly fashion on the street and followed police instructions. "It was not a public attack as claimed by the CCP. The police were friendly to us. We quietly waited until then-Premier Zhu Rongji told us that the practitioners arrested would be released. We left without leaving a piece of garbage on the ground. I could not believe the government later described it as "a riot" and used it against Falun Gong."
Photographer Yoshida could not believe any qigong practice should suffer such inhumane persecution. "If China wants to become democratic, such actions must stop."
Ogino has been seeing Falun Gong practitioners protest in front of the Chinese Consulate in Tokyo in the past 11 years. She realized what happened to it from the parade, "I am completely in shock."
