Texas Falun Gong practitioner: Qiaoyu Zhou

In China, the following tragedies have occurred: at least 260 Falun Gong practitioners have been tortured to death; at least 100,000 people have been arrested and detained for no legal cause; at least 1000 practitioners have been sent to mental hospitals. Among those who died from the torture they received were a young mother and her 8-month old baby. There were the fifteen female practitioners who were brutally murdered in one group at the Wanjia Labor Camp in the city of Harbin. Similarly, a dozen male Falun Gong practitioners were tortured to death at one time while detained at the Changlinzi Labor Camp in Heilongjiang Province. In Baiguo Township of Hubei Province, one Falun Gong practitioner was burned alive by the authorities who tried to fake a self-immolation. Two more practitioners died after being tied to a motorcycle and dragged along the ground. As we speak, 130 Falun Gong practitioners are in the midst of a hunger strike that has lasted more than 20 days in the Masanjia Labor Camp in Liaoning Province, and their lives are hanging in the balance. Sadly, there are still many more stories like these ...

Recently we were even more shocked to hear the story of one Falun Gong practitioner who sustained thirteen separate third degree burns when Chinese policemen pressed red-hot iron rods against his legs. With his life in jeopardy and gaping wounds on his body, he was forced to escape from China and found help here in Houston.

Having grown up as a sickly child, I developed a serious gastric ulcer eight year ago. Three years later, I was diagnosed with a cyst in my right ovary, and the doctors said that I had no chance for pregnancy. However, after only three months of practicing of Falun Gong, all of my symptoms disappeared. What is more amazing is that in 1998 I gave birth to an adorable baby boy. It was Falun Gong that opened up a new chapter in my life and offered me a chance to open my heart to the principles of "Zhen (Truth), Shan (Compassion), Ren (Forbearance)."

Two years ago I bid a tearful goodbye to my homeland with a saddened heart, but today it is on a foreign land where I am running back and forth with a bleeding heart, pictures of my native people suffering under brutal inhumane persecution in hand, calling out: Please help STOP the appalling crimes being committed by a small group of people led by Jiang Zemin in China right now.

During the last two years, Falun Gong practitioners in China have persistently gone to Beijing to speak out their call for justice, regardless of the consequences. This determined group of people was unwilling to compromise and unyielding in their belief. They sacrificed everything for the Truth of the universe.

In order to provide urgent help to those 130 Falun Gong practitioners in the Masanjia Labor Camp of Shenyang City in China, to recognize these courageous, selfless beings suffering under the persecution of tyranny, in order to awaken the kind hearts of those who are being deceived by lies but still have their conscience untouched, I have come here to meditate and hold a hunger strike. I call out from deep within my heart: please awaken to the truth with your kindness and your conscience! Please lend us your hand with righteousness in your heart!

Posting date: 8/23/2001
Original article date: 8/19/2001
Category: Falun Dafa Worldwide

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