Germany: Peaceful Protests Held at the Chinese Embassy and Consulates to Mark the 25th Anniversary to Expose the Persecution of Falun Gong

(Minghui.org) On the occasion of the 25th year of the ongoing Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) persecution of Falun Gong (also called Falun Dafa) practitioners in China, practitioners from Berlin, Munich, and Düsseldorf held peaceful protests at a Chinese embassy and two Chinese consulates on July 18, 19, and 24, 2024.

Practitioners peacefully protested on the Jannowitz Bridge (Jannowitzbrücke) across from the Chinese Embassy in Berlin on July 19.

Practitioners commemorated the 25th anniversary in front of the Chinese Consulate in Munich on July 18.

Practitioners told people about the persecution in front of the Chinese Consulate in Dusseldorf on July 24.

On July 19, practitioners demonstrated the five sets of exercises on the Jannowitz Bridge across from the Chinese Embassy in Berlin. Their calm and graceful movements formed a stark contrast with the CCP’s brutalities against practitioners shown on the banners. Passersby who learned about the situation signed the petition to end the persecution. 

Practitioners demonstrated the Falun Dafa exercises.

Passersby speak with practitioners to learn more.

People sign the petition calling for an end to the persecution.

“I Very Much Support What Falun Dafa Practitioners Are Doing”

Thelma Bonavita is a Brazilian dance artist residing in Germany.

Thelma Bonavita, a dance artist from Brazil, has lived in Berlin for almost ten years. The practitioners’ exercise demonstration attracted her attention. After reading the materials and learning about the crimes the CCP is committing against Falun Dafa, she signed the petition calling for an end to the persecution. She said she wholeheartedly supports their efforts to resist the persecution, because she completely understands how severe the persecution is. 

Ms. Bonavita said she is very much against totalitarianism. “I very much support what Falun Dafa practitioners are doing. I firmly state my position alongside them,” she said. 

She said that she is usually very busy and passed there by chance. “I’m not in such a hurry today so I’m happy to be able to learn all this information. I also hope that I can do something to help, like continue to spread information like this,” she said. 

“We Have to Do What We Should to the Best of Our Abilities”

Lucas Fester, graphic designer.

When Lucas Fester, a graphic designer, saw practitioners’ events, he signed the petition without hesitation. “I learned about Falun Dafa a long time ago, because I live nearby and always see them,” he said.

“What’s happening in China, the tyranny’s oppression of people, it’s very scary. Nobody knows when there will be changes or when the persecution will end. But we have to do what we should to the best of our abilities,” Mr. Fester said. 

Practitioner: “Everyone Is Waking Up”

Pamuk Alkan, from Berlin, practices Falun Dafa. 

Pamuk Alkan began to practice Falun Dafa in 2016 and said she changed a lot. She has been a competitive person since she was a child. However, after she started practicing Falun Dafa, she became easygoing and gentle. Her family and colleagues saw that she was no longer overbearing, so they were all very supportive of her participating in events for Falun Dafa.

“Falun Dafa changed my behavior and understanding of life. It allowed me to live as a person with value, live purely as a real person, and become a very happy person. This is why everyone needs Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance, because this can allow people to return to traditions, relearn what is right, and have their family life return to normal. Everyone can again enjoy happiness. It can really bring many beautiful things,” she said.

For eight years since she began practicing, Ms. Alkan has been joining activities across from the embassy to tell people about the persecution. “When some people hear me tell them about the ongoing persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, they are moved to tears. This kind of persecution should not be happening. I hope the persecution will end very soon,” she said.

She said she’s already seen hope. “Right now there are many big changes. The European Parliament passed a resolution opposing the persecution of Falun Gong. The U.S. House unanimously passed the Falun Gong Protection Act. These changes are all very important. It means that everyone is waking up. Just like Falun Gong practitioners: they understood the true meaning of life and truly woke up. Nothing can stop someone who truly understands,” she said.

Activities in Front of the Chinese Consulate in Munich

Practitioners held activities commemorating the 25th anniversary of the persecution in front of the Chinese Consulate in Munich on July 18.

Every week, Sebastian goes there to call for an end to the persecution. He said that because many people pass by that location to have lunch or when students get off from school, a number of people have already learned the truth and many signed the petition supporting practitioners’ efforts to end it. 

A businessman told Sebastian that he often passed by but was always in a rush. He said that although he didn’t have the time to talk with practitioners, the peaceful exercise scene still left a deep impression on him. This time, he spoke for a long time and learned that Falun Gong cultivates Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance, why the CCP fears and suppresses Falun Gong, and practitioners’ efforts to expose the persecution.

Because the gentleman is a businessperson, the conversation also centered around ethics in national trade with the CCP. A practitioner said that they are not against trade between China and Germany, and it would be great if this kind of trade benefits people and is based on morality. However, if the CCP uses slave labor to manufacture products, such as those made by illegally detained Falun Gong practitioners and forces them to produce slave labor products, these products would in turn hurt Germany’s labor market and small and midsize enterprises. This kind of trade would also not be worthwhile if the CCP exports the CCP culture, corruption, poisonous food, etc. to Germany or other Western countries, seriously corrupting Western society and at the same time making people in Western countries unwilling to openly condemn the CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong and other crimes of persecuting human rights.

A sculpture in the courtyard of Munich’s New Town Hall portrays a middle-aged man touching his wallet with one hand and pointing to his heart (conscience) with the other. 

A practitioner also mentioned that Germans’ ancestors already created a warning for this. For example, a set of sculptures in the courtyard of Munich’s New Town Hall reminds later generations that people go through the cycle of birth, age, sickness, and death, and wealth and fame cannot be brought along at birth or after death; only when people continuously resist different kinds of temptations can they go to heaven. One of the sculptures portrays a man who has reached middle age—he touches his wallet with one hand and points to his heart with the other. He seems to be pondering whether conscience or money is more important. 

The practitioner mentioned that this is the precept of Munich’s forbearers. The gentleman said he didn’t know about this set of sculptures and he would definitely go check them out. He said that he very much hoped to continue their conversation because it was in-depth, but unfortunately, lunch time was about to end and he had to leave. He took some materials and said he would read them. 

Practitioner Andreas (second from left).

German practitioner Andreas traveled a long distance to participate in the event. He said that he was very glad to be able to join. “This is also a way to put into practice the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance, and help stop the CCP’s persecution,” he said. 

“It’s already the 25th anniversary of Falun Gong’s protesting the persecution. Germany should awaken and not continue to support commercial trade with the CCP. A lot of evidence shows that the CCP is trampling on human rights,” Andreas said. 

He began practicing Falun Dafa in 2003. “To me, Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance, are the highest principles of the universe. The entire life is built upon this foundation,” he said.

Andreas hopes that people who are still not familiar with the true nature of the CCP “can slowly wake up and see the CCP’s lies clearly.”