Hunger Strike Statement

Jinyu Li

August 22, 2001

To protest the beastly conduct of the Chinese government in torturing Falun Gong practitioners, and also to help rescue the 200 practitioners who are hunger striking to win their freedom, I will join four other ladies and start my own hunger strike in front of the Chinese embassy.

There are currently 130 practitioners in the Masanjia Labor Camp and another 70 in the Changlinzi Labor Camp who have been hunger striking for 22 days to protest their extended illegal incarceration. As the Chinese authorities continue to use all kinds of degrading punishment to torture these people, their lives are in great danger.

Falun Gong practitioners are jailed simply because they would like to become better people by following the principles of "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance;" they are tortured simply because they do not yield to the forces of evil that try to corrupt their moral fiber.

On the date of his due release, my husband, Shenli Lin was given an extra six months' imprisonment. Nobody knows at the moment what his current situation is. I feel that my life is interconnected with those of all Falun Gong practitioners. When these great cultivators' lives are in jeopardy, I am willing to show my support for them with all my effort.

The most valuable possession a person has is his life. The innate, purest nature of a person is characterized as being truthful, kind and tolerant. When the political scoundrels headed by Jiang [Zemin] mobilize the whole country to destroy Falun Gong, they are trying to deprive humanity of its most basic conscience and judgment.

It has been two years since the start of the crackdown against virtue; it has been two years since Falun Gong practitioners started the most benevolent petition known to mankind --- when faced with defamation, slander, torture, and illegal confinement from the country's highest authorities, practitioners are peacefully defending their right to practice. They do so with benevolent minds and everything in their possession, including their lives. Every one of their deaths breaks my heart.

I call for the immediate release of these 200 practitioners from illegal confinement as well as for the release of my husband. I am willing to dedicate my whole life to this effort. I hope all Canadians will extend their help in ensuring the immediate release of these upright, kind practitioners.

As stated by Martin Luther King, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." The suppression of Falun Gong by Jiang's government is a challenge to the conscience of all the world's people. If its evil actions are allowed to continue, people will lose their righteous thoughts. When people think of evil as being normal, our world will not be far from total destruction. I hope all people of kindness will step forward and say no to such brutality. I believe all Canadians are caring and supportive of one another, as our best wishes are peace and freedom.

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