(Minghui.org) Falun Dafa practitioners rallied in front of the Chinese consulate in Montreal, Canada on March 1, 2023. They called for the immediate release of Ms. Cong Lanying, a Falun Dafa practitioner in Shandong Province, who has been arrested and sentenced by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Practitioners rallied in front of the Chinese consulate in Montreal on March 1, 2023. They asked for the immediate release of Ms. Cong Lanying, a Falun Dafa practitioner in Shandong Province, China.

Cong Xinmiao, Ms. Cong Lanying’s daughter, a Canadian resident, said that her mother is 78 years old. She was kidnapped multiple times and illegally detained because she practices Falun Dafa and follows the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. Her mother was sentenced to four years and was fined 20,000 yuan (around USD $2,895). Her mother is detained incommunicado in Wendeng District, Shandong Province. 

Ms. Cong Xinmiao said, “The CCP brutally persecutes Falun Dafa practitioners who adhere to the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. Practicing Falun Dafa is not against the law in China. It is not a crime to believe in the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance to be a better person. I am calling for the immediate release of my mother.”

Cong Xinmiao calls for her mother to be released.

Cong Xinmiao said that on October 15, 2022, a day prior to the 20th Chinese Communist Party Congress, her mother went to practice the Falun Dafa exercises at a local square. Officers from the Domestic Security Division of Huancui Police Department in Weihai City forcefully took her mother away and held her in the Rongcheng City Detention Center. She was then transferred to the Wendeng City Detention Center. Her house was ransacked and all her Falun Dafa books, computer and printer were taken.

She said, “My 78 year old mother was taken away in handcuffs. This caused her blood pressure to escalate. The police department demanded that my relatives pay a fine of 10,000 yuan 32 days after my mother was illegally detained. They said they would release her after the fine was paid. It was not until later that we were told that it was only a deposit for her to be released on bail. Three days after my mother was released, the police came back and harassed her again.”

Cong Xinmiao said, “The police came back and kidnapped my mother once again at 5 p.m. on February 1, 2023. They drove to Rongcheng City Court, which was about a two hours away, and interrogated her in secret. During the interrogation, they showed videos of my mother, which they had secretly filmed, going to the square to practice the exercises and going to the post office to mail letters. They said these were evidence and reasons to arrest my mother.”

Ms. Yang Dongdong, a representative from the Montreal Falun Dafa Association said, “The CCP has been brutally persecuting Falun Dafa for 23 years now. Numerous practitioners have their families broken up and some were even persecuted to death. We call for the CCP to end this persecution immediately and release Ms. Cong Lanying unconditionally.”

Passersby Voice Their Support

Locals who passed the Chinese consulate signed on the petition to help rescue Ms. Cong Lanying after hearing about the persecution. Mary, a Montreal resident, said, “The CCP is making a huge mistake by arresting these practitioners and putting them in jail.”

Jeremy Fishaut, a Montreal resident, signed the petition to rescue Ms. Cong Lanying.

Jeremy Fishaut, a Montreal resident, said, “It is unacceptable for the CCP to arrest an elderly lady.” Jeremy said that he was well aware of CCP’s persecution of Chinese people and how it violates human rights. He said, “I support Falun Dafa practitioners. I wish them success.”

Patrick Latendresse supports practitioners and said, “It is good that you’re here and letting people know about this. People need to awaken.”

After listening attentively to Ms. Cong Lanying’s situation, Patrick Latendresse said, “I do grieve for this lady.” “The CCP’s forced live organ harvesting is widely known, but it is heartbreaking to know that this persecution has been going on for so many years. Why hasn’t it been stopped? It’s good that you’re here. People need to awaken.”

After Practicing Falun Dafa All Her Illnesses Disappeared

Cong Xinmiao said that before she began practicing Falun Dafa, her mother had many illnesses, “Her heart problem was the most severe. She passed out multiple times due to heart failure. She had spondylosis, a compressed nerve and felt numb on her left side of the body. She had difficulty sitting or standing. My mother was often in tears and wanted to end her life.”

Her mother started to practice Falun Dafa in May 1997. Ms. Cong Lanying heard a cracking sound in her spine while practicing Falun Dafa’s second exercise eighteen days after she began doing them. Afterwards her spine was fine.

Cong Xinmiao said that her mother was so happy she wept. Her mother said, “I have been suffering all my life. Regardless of it being Chinese medications, Western medications or all the other healing methods that I’ve tried, none of them cured my illnesses. Master purified my body 18 days after I began practicing Falun Dafa. No words can describe my gratitude towards Master and Dafa.”

She said, “However, the CCP started to persecute Falun Dafa in 1999. My mother was harassed and kidnapped multiple times by the police. The police harassed my mother in 2000 for the fourth time and forbade her from practicing the exercises. My mother was clarifying the truth and telling people about the beauty of Falun Dafa on a bus in August 2006. She was kidnapped by the police and was illegally detained for 23 days. The police also ransacked her house and after that, my mother was kidnapped multiple times and taken to detention centers.

Calling on the Canadian Government and Compassionate People to Help

Cong Xinmiao said that the Chinese Constitution guarantees freedom of religion. There is no legal basis for the CCP to persecute Falun Dafa. The persecution is completely illegal. She advised public prosecutors and those working in the Chinese judicial system who are involved in the persecution to recognize the evil nature of the CCP and not help it commit crimes.

Background: What Is Falun Dafa and Why Is the CCP Persecuting It?

Falun Dafa (also known as Falun Gong) was first introduced to the public by Mr. Li Hongzhi in Changchun, China, in 1992. The spiritual discipline is now practiced in over 100 countries and regions worldwide. Millions of people who have embraced the teachings, which are based on the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance, and have learned the five exercises have experienced improved health and well-being.

Jiang Zemin, former head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), perceived the spiritual discipline’s growing popularity as a threat to the CCP’s atheistic ideology, and on July 20, 1999, he issued an order to eradicate the practice.

Under Jiang’s personal direction, the CCP established the 610 Office, an extralegal security organization with the power to override the police and judicial systems and whose sole function is to carry out the persecution of Falun Dafa.

Minghui.org has confirmed the deaths of thousands of practitioners as a result of the persecution over the past 23 years. The actual number is believed to be much higher. Countless practitioners have been imprisoned and tortured for their faith.

There is concrete evidence that the CCP sanctions the harvesting of organs from detained practitioners, who are murdered to supply China’s organ transplant industry.