California: Falun Dafa Practitioners in Los Angeles Hold Candlelight Vigil To Mark the April 25 Appeal and Call Attention to the Persecution

(Minghui.org) On the evening of April 23, 2021, Falun Dafa practitioners from the Greater Los Angeles area peacefully gathered in front of the Chinese Consulate. They held a rally, as well as a somber candlelight vigil to commemorate the April 25 Appeal. That day, more than 10,000 practitioners peacefully appealed the illegal arrests of practitioners in Tianjin.

On the evening of April 23, Falun Dafa practitioners from the Greater Los Angeles area gathered in front of the Chinese Consulate to commemorate the 22nd anniversary of the April 25 Appeal in Beijing.

Participant Recalls the April 25 Appeal

Mr. Zhang Yong, who currently lives in Los Angeles, participated in the April 25 Appeal.

Mr. Zhang Yong, who was a postdoctoral fellow at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, participated in the April 25 Appeal. Although 22 years have passed, he still vividly recalls that day. He said, “It was warm and sunny. We stood on the roads near Zhongnanhai, to peacefully appeal to the Chinese government for the release of practitioners who were arrested in Tianjin. Even though they were thousands of practitioners, we did not block the walkways or streets, and traffic and passersby continued to go by.”

Mr. Zhang said, “In the morning, a large number of armed police officers arrived. They stood apart from each other every few meters. In the beginning, they appeared to be very tense and serious, treating us like enemies. But gradually they realized that they had nothing to do. Seeing our friendly faces, they let down their guard and relaxed. They began chatting with us and smiled. The scene was peaceful and relaxed. I heard a woman say to an armed police officer: ‘Falun Dafa is truly awesome. Look at the practitioners' high-quality behavior.’”

“Night came, and as soon as we heard that the arrested practitioners were released, we quietly left.”

Mr. Zhang said, “The April 25 appeal will forever be a historic moment. Falun Dafa practitioners used their compassion and forbearance to fully display the great power of ‘Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance’ to the world’s people.”

He said, “Over the years people ask me, ‘Why does the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) persecute this group of good people who cultivate ‘Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance’?’ As a practitioner who has been subjected to the CCP’s persecution, I became clearer and clearer and feel I know the answer. Behind countless lies and frame-up, as well as solidifying its power through this cruel persecution, the CCP fears and is jealous of Falun Dafa.”

He said, “The CCP actually plotted to persecute Dafa long before the persecution began. We later heard from various sources that the CCP was ready to crack down on us on April 25. However, practitioners’ peacefulness and rationality made it impossible for it to strike, thus diffusing the crisis.”

UCLA Professor: Everyone Witnessed the Practitioners’ Peacefulness and Rationality

Mr. Wu Yingnan, a UCLA professor

Mr. Wu Yingnian, spokesperson for the Falun Dafa Cultivation Group in Los Angeles and a UCLA professor, said that after the April 25 appeal, former CCP head Jiang Zemin distorted the event and claimed that practitioners “besieged Zhongnanhai.” He used it as an excuse to start the persecution of Falun Dafa that July, and it has gone on for 22 years.

Mr. Wu said the CCP’s propaganda was completely false, “The April 25 appeal was peaceful, rational and non-violent. Every truth-clarification effort and activity calling for an end to the persecution held by Falun Dafa practitioners has been peaceful, rational and non-violent, which has been witnessed by everyone.”

As to the claim that the April 25 appeal led to the persecution, Mr. Wu said, “This is the reversal of cause and effect. At that time, the reason for making the appeal was that Tianjin police officers arrested and beat local practitioners, and they also refused to release them. They told us that if we wanted to get the issue resolved, we had to go to Beijing. The persecution caused practitioners to appeal, the appeal did not cause the persecution.”

Chairman of American Southwest Falun Dafa Association: We Should Join to Stop the CCP from Poisoning the World’s People

Mr. Li Youfu, Chairman of the American Southwest Falun Dafa Association

Mr. Li Youfu, Chairman of the American Southwest Falun Dafa Association, pointed out that after July 1999, the CCP began using its entire state machinery to brutally persecute Falun Dafa. Tens of thousands of practitioners have been illegally arrested and sentenced. They were subjected to various kinds of torture such as beatings, handcuffing, electrocution, force-feeding, injection of unknown drugs, and torture by fire, even to the point of having their organs harvested while they were still alive.

Mr. Li said, “Since the beginning of the persecution of Falun Dafa, the CCP state machinery has created rumors, propaganda, threats, and incitement to brainwash the entire nation and frame Dafa and persecute practitioners. It has used the state machinery to comprehensively suppress Falun Dafa and spread the persecution to the international community. The entire world knows about the persecution, and the CCP’s evil crimes are too numerous to mention. The CCP persecutes people from the minority to the majority, from the individual to the whole, from China to the world—now no one can be exempted from it.”

He said, “At this critical moment of historical choice, we once again call on all kind people in China and the world to work together to put an end to the evil CCP and this Marxist-Leninist cult, so that the people of China and the world can be freed from evil persecution and move towards a bright future of restored tradition and high morality.”

Advising Those Who Participated in the Persecution to Stop Following the CCP

Ms. Wang Minzhi is from Shanghai, China. She recently heard that Ms. Lu Xiuli from Shanghai was persecuted to death by the CCP. She said, “Ms. Lu was 72 years old. Before she started practicing, she had cancer. Falun Dafa resolved her cancer completely and she felt uplifted. She was targeted for persecution and for 16 years, she was held in mental hospitals about 20 times. Despite this, she remained conscious and healthy. At the end of 2018, Ms. Lu was once again held at the Lansegangwan Orphanage in Songjiang City. After being abused there, she lost her memory and suffered a mental breakdown. She passed away during the Chinese New Year in 2021.”

Ms. Wang said, “This is another unforgivable blood debt added to the CCP’s heinous crimes of persecuting Falun Dafa practitioners. I hereby call for an immediate end to the persecution of all Falun Dafa practitioners. All those involved in it should stop following the CCP’s orders and choose a better future for themselves.”

Ms. Li Hailun, head of the Los Angeles Quitting the CCP Center, said, “Twenty-two years ago, ten thousand Falun Dafa practitioners peacefully upheld the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. They set a precedent for human beings to uphold goodness, improve morality, and awaken their conscience.”

Twenty-two years have passed. She said, “One by one, the followers of Jiang Zemin who participated in the persecution back then have been punished by Heaven’s will and have either been jailed or died badly. The evil head, Jiang Zemin, is also dying, waiting for the great judgment of Heaven’s will. Good is rewarded and evil is punished—this is heaven’s mandate.”

Ms. Li said, “The forces of justice in the world have formed an alliance, and the evil CCP is in danger on all fronts. To date, more than 370 million Chinese have chosen to renounce their memberships from the CCP to ensure their safety. Chinese people are awakening to the evil CCP’s tyranny.”

Ms. Li concluded, “As the CCP virus (Covid19) is still spreading around the world, and a large number of people are in danger of losing their lives every day, we sincerely tell people the hope for staying safe is to sincerely remember and say, ‘Falun Dafa is good, and Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good’ We call on all people to withdraw from the CCP and its affiliated organizations that they joined.”