Voices of Justice
Fa-Rectification Cultivation Stories
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Practitioners Exchange Insights
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Media Coverage
(Clearwisdom.net) On October 9, 2002, a diverse coalition of human rights
organizations held a rally entitled, "An Urgent Message to Jiang Zemin, the
leader of the Chinese Communist Party," calling to immediately stop Jiang's
blatant human rights abuses.
Freedom House, Amnesty International, National Organization for Women, and Friends of Falun Gong initiated and sponsored this rally. Over 30 human rights organizations, religious organizations, labor unions and democratic movement organizations joined the rally. The rally was held at the west side of the Supreme Court in Washington DC. It was held 2 weeks before the Chinese President's visit to the United States on October 25, so as to expose the Jiang regime's human rights atrocities committed in China and overseas to the US government officials, media and public.
Dr. He Haiying, a biomedical researcher from Boston, also attended the rally. His parents, younger brother and sister are currently suffering persecution in China simply because they practice Falun Gong. According to Dr. He, his younger brother, a 31-year-old medical doctor, was sentenced to 10 years in jail simply because he refuses to give up practicing Falun Gong. His parents and younger sister, who had been imprisoned for different lengths of time, are now living under full surveillance 24 hours a day.
Four US congressmen including Benjamin Gilman, Lynn Woolsey, Dana Rohrabacker, and Chris Smith, as well as 21 leaders from non-governmental human rights organizations, religious, women, labor union and student organizations and well-known figures delivered speeches at the rally.
The attendees of the rally urged the US government officials to demand Jiang to end his violent repression of Chinese citizens and illegal conduct to harass people with a sense of justice overseas, and demand his Consulates immediately stop pressuring those US government officials who support Falun Gong.
The rally began at noon and lasted 2 hours. This has been one of the biggest joint-effort public rallies held in Washington DC regarding issues related to China.
(Clearwisdom.net) As the date for the Chinese dictator's visit to the United States approaches (approximately October 22-25, 2002 Beijing time), we have begun to receive letters from fellow practitioners in and out of China. The letters are requesting the Clearwisdom editors to send out a notice as quickly as possible, so that Dafa disciples all over the world can start to send forth righteous thoughts at set times right now, completely clearing out the dimensional fields that the evil currently occupies and will go to, so that the evil will be disintegrated.
Taking into consideration the difficulties of relaying information to fellow practitioners in Mainland China, particularly the special difficulties in relaying information to those Dafa disciples who are illegally imprisoned, we have decided not to make wholesale adjustments or new arrangements on the timing. This is an announcement solely for this purpose. Starting from today, we hope that everyone will not wait for or rely on others, but based on each person's own specific situation with work and everyday life, will arrange well on their own the matter of sending forth righteous thoughts. We should not only make sure to send forth righteous thoughts every day, but also we should take care to guarantee the quality.
With regard to the specially designated schedule above, it is sufficient for everyone to have the thought of being extra pure and determined before sending forth righteous thoughts.
October 11, 2002
(Clearwisdom.net) On October 3, 2002, after finishing activities in Dallas, Texas, the "Urgent Rescue" group of over 20 practitioners drove to Waco, located just a few miles away from President Bush's ranch in Crawford.
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| Wang Xiaodan | Jason Wang | Lin Shenli |
In front of the square of the city government building, practitioners unfurled a huge banner with white words against a blue background reading, "President Bush, please help rescue our family members who are suffering persecution in China." The practitioners demonstrated the five sets of exercises to the Dafa exercise music. Major local newspapers and TV stations reported on the activity. Reporters came early to the press conference site and videotaped the practitioners' exercise demonstration.
Several practitioners whose family members are suffering persecution in China gave speeches. Among them was Wang Xiaodan, a student of the University of Texas. Her father Mr. Wang Zhiwen was illegally sentenced for 16 years in jail by Jiang's regime because he refused to give up his belief in Falun Gong. He suffered inhumane abuse in jail. She requested President Bush to help rescue her father so that she can reunite with him soon. Dr. Jason Wang from Houston told of his mother, who was forcibly sent to a mental hospital and suffered persecution for persisting in cultivating Falun Gong.
More and more people are opposing the Jiang regime's persecution of Falun Gong and recognizing its evil nature. The President of the "Peaceful Group" in Waco came to give an impromptu speech to express his support for Falun Gong. He expressed that he is not a Falun Gong practitioner, but he believed that these people who believe in "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance" are good people and should not be persecuted. He would try his best to stop this persecution.
Andrew Dunkling
China Hong Kong Department, Room WH309
Foreign & Commonwealth Office
King Charles Street
London SW1A 2AH
8th October 2002
Dear Mr Dunkling
We are appealing to you for help to stop the introduction of the highly controversial Article 23 legislation in Hong Kong. Last week Article 23 of the Basic Law was formally proposed, calling for provision against subversion, with a view to being made law early in 2003.
The new law would give the Hong Kong authorities the power to proscribe any organisation which: 'either has as its objective to engage in any act of treason, secession, sedition, subversion or theft of state secrets (espionage); or is affiliated to a mainland organisation which has been proscribed in mainland China by the Central Authorities, in accordance with national law on the ground that it endangers national security.'
It is now only five years since Britain handed Hong Kong back to China. Part of the handover agreement signed by both sides was the 'One country -- two systems' principle which allowed Hong Kong to be autonomous and to maintain its freedoms; China agreed that it would not interfere in Hong Kong's affairs.
Already however the Hong Kong SAR has undergone many changes under pressure from Beijing, showing that China has no intention of keeping its word on Hong Kong's autonomy.
The introduction of Article 23 would mean that Hong Kong would be effectively under the control of Beijing and would make a mockery of the 'One country -- two systems' principle.
If Article 23 becomes law, it would mean the complete end of the Hong Kong people's freedoms of speech, belief and expression.
The adoption of an anti-subversion law based on Article 23 will do nothing more than extend the ability of Jiang Zemin's regime to violate human rights as well as persecute Falun Gong and other peaceful democratic groups in Hong Kong. It will put Jiang Zemin above the law, above the Hong Kong government and above the will of the people of Hong Kong.
As in mainland China, the Falun Gong movement could be outlawed. At present nobody in mainland China is allowed to appeal against the persecution or to practise Falun Gong for fear of immediate arrest. If more than two people gather together in one place to practise Falun Gong, they can be arrested. The introduction of Article 23 would mean exactly the same treatment for Falun Gong practitioners and other religious followers in Hong Kong as well.
In China nearly 500 Falun Gong practitioners have been tortured to death while in police custody, over 10,000 have been sent to labour camps and thousands more committed to mental hospitals. They have been labelled by the government simply because they have their own thoughts and beliefs.
We would therefore be grateful if you could raise this issue with the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, and if you would urge the Hong Kong government to maintain Hong Kong's autonomy in the proposed legislation, and to resist China's increasing pressure on Hong Kong to ban or otherwise persecute Falun Gong and other democratic groups. China has shown a dangerous tendency in recent months to exert undue pressure on the authorities of other sovereign states, for example in the Ukraine and Iceland, to limit the effectiveness of peaceful protest activities, and Article 23 clearly represents another attempt by Jiang Zemin to use every means available to crack down on Falun Gong both at home and abroad.
The people of Hong Kong would also be very grateful if you could help in any way to stop the introduction of Article 23.
Our heartfelt thanks for any help you could extend in this extremely urgent situation.
Yours sincerely,
á
John Dee (Vice-Chairman)
Patrons: Lord Avebury, Lord Moyne, Dr Lynne Jones MP, Baroness Uddin
(Clearwisdom.net)
Transport Workers Union of America
1700 Broadway
New York, NY 10019
The Honorable George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20500
Dear President Bush:
The Transport Workers Union would like to add its voice to the many organizations and individuals who are speaking out against the ongoing rights violations by the government of China. We will be among the unions, human rights groups, religious and women's organizations who will be protesting Chinese Communist leader Jiang Zemin's visit to the U.S. this month.
All Americans should be aware of the human rights atrocities perpetrated by the Chinese regime in their own country and elsewhere against religious groups, workers, women, democracy advocates and various ethnic groups. The protection of fundamental human rights and freedom of belief must be a top priority for our country.
The U.S. government must demand that Jiang Zemin end the violent repression of Chinese citizens at home, as well as the regime's illegal conduct overseas.
Sincerely,
Frank McCann
Executive Vice President, TWU
á
(Clearwisdom.net)
Right Hon. Jean Chretien
Office of the Prime Minister
80 Wellington St
Ottawa, ON
K1A 0A2
Oct 1, 2002
Dear Prime Minister:
I am writing to bring to your attention the grave concerns of Canadians with family members in China who are practitioners of Falun Gong. It is alleged that these practitioners are being illegally detained, abused and tortured for their affiliation. As the Prime Minister of a country which upholds human rights and dignity, I urge you to investigate these allegations and bring pressure to bear against any miscarriage of justice.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Yours truly,
Wayne Wettlaufer, MPP
After our regular large-scale group study this week, another western practitioner and I spoke to a Chinese practitioner about some of the ongoing projects to clarify the truth. The Chinese practitioner showed us a VCD that had been bought from a local Chinese music store. The VCD was a 140-minute propaganda video that attacked Master Li and Dafa with lies and fabrications.
We felt immediately that something must be done to correct this. I asked the Chinese practitioner if we could have the VCD and asked him for the location of the store where it was bought. The other western practitioner and I took the VCD and prepared to visit the store the next day. At first I was a bit anxious, but my fellow practitioner helped me to calm down. We talked about what we could do to clarify the truth and effectively correct this situation. We called another Chinese practitioner who lived near the store and asked her to come with us the next day to visit the store and clarify the truth. She agreed.
The next day, the three of us got together, sent righteous thoughts and prepared some truth clarifying materials for the storeowner. We found some materials that we thought would be very effective, including the verdict from the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC) that recently ruled the CCTV propaganda against Falun Gong that aired on Chinese TV in Canada to be "unethical and improper."
Just as we were about to print these materials, however, the power in the practitioner's house went out. Immediately, we sat down to send forth righteous thoughts. As I sent forth righteous thoughts, I thought of two things: one was that I should not be attached to any truth clarifying materials and I must be clear that it is Dafa disciples' righteous thoughts and righteous actions that can help save people, not the materials. I focused on removing any reliance in my mind on these materials. At the same time, I thought that the evil has no right to interfere with Dafa disciples clarifying the truth and saving people. Even if we have attachments and shortcomings, the evil should be eliminated.
After a couple of minutes the power came back on in the practitioner's home and we printed out the materials.
We drove to the music store and again sent righteous thoughts. We decided that we would go with the sole purpose of compassion for the store owners and doing our best to help them know the truth and be saved.
When we arrived at the store, the owner was not there and we could not find any other copies of the VCD in the store.
We approached the store clerk and began to speak with him. The other western practitioner told the clerk about the VCD that had been bought here. He said that in Canada, many people like to practice Falun Gong and that there is enormous support for Falun Gong from the Canadian people. He said we could not accept this material being spread here and that we would take appropriate means, including police and legal means, to ensure it was stopped. He said however, that he knew this store did not intend to slander Falun Gong but was just running its business. The practitioner told him that we do not want to hurt his business or give his business a bad name, so we would like to resolve this for everyone's best interest. We gave the store clerk a copy of the CBSC verdict and a Dafa flyer.
The store clerk was moved by the practitioner's kindness and firmness, and was apologetic. He said, "Yes, we didn't intend to defame anyone, we are just running our business. I will tell the store owner about this and she can call you. I will tell her not to get this VCD again." We gave the clerk our telephone numbers. Then the Chinese practitioner told the clerk that she would like to show him a short video on her laptop. She played the Cantonese version of the "Witness To History" truth-clarifying video.
We told the clerk that the other western practitioner and I would watch his store for him while he watched the video. As he watched the video, we could see that he was captivated. Every time he looked up, he could see us keeping an eye on things and watching the shoppers to ensure there was no shoplifting. As the video went on, he seemed to become more interested in it. When people approached the checkout to buy something, he only quickly looked up and then resumed watching the video. When the portion of the video came that showed the western practitioners' appeal in Tiananmen Square, the Chinese practitioner pointed out to the clerk that the practitioner in the video appealing in Tiananmen was the same one standing in his store. The store clerk looked at the western practitioner with a big smile and said, "Wow!" Then the video showed footage of myself in Tiananmen and the Chinese practitioner pointed to me. The clerk was again amazed. He watched the entire 20-minute video with close attention. The whole time we were watching his store, we were also sending righteous thoughts.
After the video concluded the clerk had been very moved. He had been really changed after learning the truth. He shook our hands, gave us his name and again promised to tell the owner about the VCD. He said, "I'll tell her to never to get that one again." The clerk pointed to other stores in the same mall that he thought also carried this propaganda VCD. He suggested we go to visit them too. We thanked him and left.
We visited a couple of other music stores and gave them the CBSC decision and Dafa flyers. We watched as one store clerk read with great interest and then passed it on to the other clerk saying, "Look, read this."
As we were leaving the mall, we again ran into the clerk from the first store, he stopped us and promised again to tell the owner. "We will never sell those VCDs again." We thanked him with a sincere heshi [hand gesture of respect] and said goodbye.
The very next day, the owner of the store called. She said her clerk was very impressed with our video and that she was very sorry about selling the anti-Falun Gong video. She told us that many stores were given those videos for free and that is why she had them. She promised in the future to contact us whenever she received anti-Falun Gong VCDs and said, "We're very sorry. We'll never carry an anti-Falun Gong VCD again."
(Clearwisdom.net)
Many people live in the countryside. The peasants there have a low enlightenment quality, so it is easy for them to believe in the evil propaganda, hurting them very deeply. Because of this, it is even more urgent that we clarify the truth to them and expose the lies. We have understood that studying the Fa guarantees that we will do everything well and that it is the foundation for us to have righteous thoughts and righteous actions. Because we continuously send forth righteous thoughts, exchange our ideas together often, and understand the Fa from Fa's perspective, our work has gone smoothly and we have developed a relatively peaceful and relaxed environment in our area.
In the countryside, people come home for a break at noon during the summer. We take advantage of this to distribute truth-clarifying materials to the people there. Before we go out, we send forth righteous thoughts and eliminate evil elements we travel to. We go quickly, so we can cover two or three villages in very little time. People are surprised to see that Falun Gong materials have spread over their entire village, yet they haven't seen those responsible for their appearance. We send forth righteous thoughts again when we leave the village to protect the truth-clarifying materials so that people can have the chance to understand the truth and therefore be saved.
One day at noon, after my wife and I had finished distributing materials, we saw a group of kids holding a Dafa VCD shouting, "Falun Dafa is good! Falun Dafa is good!" They entered a shop and said, "We want to watch the Falun Gong VCD." My wife and I smiled.
One practitioner often goes out to do business and carries truth-clarifying materials with him each time. Wherever he goes, that is where he distributes the materials. When it rains, he will wrap the materials up in plastic bags and hang them on people's door handles. While he is farming, he also carries some materials with him and takes them to a neighboring village during his break. One day, this practitioner picked up a package of goods on the side of the road. It had fallen to the ground from the tricycle of someone traveling ahead of him. He chased after them on his bicycle. The couple was very thankful and said, "What a nice person you are. It looks like there are kind people in the world! Thank you very much!" The practitioner replied, "You're welcome! I am a Falun Gong practitioner. Our Master teaches us to be good people! Please thank our Teacher." Then he clarified the truth to them. The couple, who were very appreciative, said, "If we had not met you today, we would not have learned the truth about Falun Gong. We used to believe the propaganda from television. Falun Gong is great! Falun Gong is great!"
The moon festival is a great chance to clarify the truth and offer salvation to people. The night before the moon festival, after we sent forth the righteous thoughts, we prepared materials and left home. Another male practitioner and I went to a remote mountain area. My wife and another female practitioner went to a nearby village. After two hours, we finished distributing materials in five other villages. The remaining materials were just enough to cover one more village. Then it started to rain. The practitioner at my side asked, "What should we do?" I replied, "We must control everything with our righteous thoughts, that way all will be open to us." The rain soon stopped. We finished without incident and it did not rain for the rest of the night.
The mountain farmers who learned the truth said, "It looks like everything about Falun Gong from the TV propaganda is false." The middle school students who had watched the truth-clarifying VCD suddenly realized, "All the Falun Gong news from TV and what our teacher had taught us at school were all wrong. Falun Gong people are nice!" They also praised the truth-clarifying Vic's, saying they were well made and that the contents were very good.
In doing this, we have traveled across twelve towns, visited more than one hundred villages and brought the true facts about Dafa to thousands and thousands of households. We know that there are still many people who don't know the truth and there is still much work to be done. We should give everybody here a chance to get to know Dafa and do our best to offer salvation to people with our benevolence.
(Clearwisdom.net) Just a year ago I attended a dinner hosting President Bush. At that time, I couldn't get very close to the President, so at the last second before he left the ballroom, I called out "Mr. President, please help stop the persecution of Falun Gong in China!"
On Wednesday September 15, 2002, I flipped on the TV and several minutes later the reporter announced that President Bush would be in town that Friday. Immediately, I called a fellow practitioner to tell him about President Bush coming to Colorado. We discussed whether we should attend the luncheon or not this time. The next afternoon, I told the same practitioner that I dreamt of giving the postcard to the President. Later on that afternoon, another practitioner reserved two seats for us at the luncheon.
On Friday, September 27, 2002, the same practitioner that I went to the dinner last year with and I attended a luncheon at the Adam's Mark Hotel in Denver, Colorado. While in front of the hotel, 7 practitioners were supporting us in their hearts and minds the whole time we were inside.
Prior to entering the ballroom, I stood at the corner reading Master's latest poems, The Net is Tightening and Be Clearheaded. I repeatedly read Be Clearheaded.
A fellow practitioner outside reminded me over cell phone of the poem Tathagata. At that moment I could sense his true compassion in encouraging me. Master states in Tathagata:
He comes with the Truth, which gives him full control
And travels the four seas[1] with a free and easy spirit
Spreading the Fa's principles throughout the secular world
Loaded full with sentient beings, his Fa Boat sets sail
With these poems, I felt great determination to go in there with the TRUTH and "Clarify the facts, send righteous thoughts" (from "Be Clearheaded").
Inside, while everyone was saying their prayers, I called out for our Master. I asked Master to help me do well with what I'm supposed to do and that I had the wish to fulfill my vows. The whole time, both of us kept our righteous thoughts.
After the President's speech, we followed everyone up close to the stage where the President was going to walk across to shake hands with people. It was so crowded, but I managed to get in front which was half way down his path. People were happy to let me through. As I was holding the postcard in my hand, I thought about what to say to the President in the brief moment that he approaches me. So as soon as he approached me, I shook his hand and spoke from my heart, "Mr. President, please protect freedom. Help Falun Gong!" Then I handed the postcard to him and he glance at it and continued down the pathway. Soon, the other practitioner was able to squeeze through to shake hands with the President and said a few words to him. Feeling that I need to not let this opportunity pass, I went to the end of the path where the President was going to exit. Again, in the mist of the crowds, I was able to get through to the front and not surprisingly people were welcoming me through. Several minutes later, the President came over, I called out from the bottom of my heart, "Please help Falun Gong. Stop the Chinese President!" I was at the far end of the railings and a bit far from where he was going to exit, but after I said that to my surprise he approached me and shook my hand again and gently nodded in acknowledgement. I was the last one he shook hands with in the ballroom.
Afterwards, we walked around and clarify the facts to the other U.S. government officials. I handed a small information package containing the VCD, postcard, and flyer to Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell informing him of H. Con. Resolution 188 and invited him to attend the Public Rally in DC on October 9. Then I clarified the facts to Congressman McInnis and Bob Schaffer and informed them to co-sponsor H. Con. Resolution 447 and invite them to the Public Rally. I ask them to protect freedom and not allow the Chinese regime put pressure on the U.S. officials just because they support Falun Gong. I also stated that now more than ever, the world needs "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance."
I also clarified the truth to two candidates for Congress. The female candidate was quite shocked and outraged after hearing that under Jiang's leadership, many female practitioners were thrown into male prison cells to be raped, that the Chinese police inserted electric batons into female private areas as a form of torture, that an 8-month old baby was hung to death before his mother's eyes and later the mother was tortured to death just because she was a Falun Gong practitioner, and how the doctors performed forced abortion on an 8-month pregnant woman. She then asked me to keep her informed of the situation. Overall, I encouraged all of them to watch the VCD and see for themselves the brutally of a most brutal persecution headed by the leader of the Chinese Communist Party. The evil crimes by Jiang and his regime will soon be revealed to everyone. By the time Jiang visits the U.S., Americans will see the true evil behind his dictatorship.
I believe that when we, Dafa disciples, work together as one body, all the Buddhas, Taos, and Gods will help us under all circumstances, for what they look at is just that one thought. With the practitioners outside continuously kept their righteous thoughts so that things would go well and smoothly inside, and with us having the heart to do what we should do, that to me, is acting as "one body." I sincerely thank our Master for providing us the opportunity and environment to fulfill our vows during the end of the Fa-rectification period. After all, it is all done by our Master, and we Dafa disciples just need to put our heart into the task.
Now, I can still recall so vividly from my dream as I handed the red, white, and blue flag postcard to the President of the United States of America. The card was written with "The World Needs Truthfulness, Compassion, and Tolerance. Americans Say No To Persecution!"
(Clearwisdom.net)
On August 23, 2002, a number of practitioners had an experience-sharing meeting at a practitioner's home in Huangxu Town, Shengyang District, Deyang City, Sichuan Province. That day, right after 10 a.m., the first section manager Hong Qi of the district public security police brought more than ten policemen and forcefully arrested every practitioner on the scene and put them in a detention center. More than one hundred people from Shengyang District, Huangxu Town, Yangjia Town, Guanghan City, and Mianzu City were illegally arrested.
Some of the practitioners were sent to a detention center on the same day. The majority were taken back to their villages by the local police and detained there. During their detention, they were brainwashed, forced to write a guarantee letter to give up practicing Falun Gong, and to pay bail. Those practitioners who did not comply with the unreasonable demands received a brutal beating.
On the first night, the Huangxu Town police viciously beat up the practitioners; even an eighty-year-old woman was not spared. The people close to the police station could hear the practitioners' screams of pain. During the day, the police ordered the practitioners to stand under the scorching sun. To achieve their aim, the Huangxu Town Police Station sent the practitioners from the Huangxu Town back to the detention center at Deyang City for more torture. One Huangxu Town elementary school teacher, Jiang Degui, was beaten so badly that he fainted and sustained severe injuries. He is still bedridden today. Another teacher, Luo Ying, was also beaten up severely. A lot of practitioners were hung up and beaten. Another practitioner went on a hunger strike in protest. When he was force-fed, the food was carelessly forced into his lungs. He lost consciousness; two of his teeth were also knocked out in the process. He was rushed to the hospital for emergency treatment, but the hospital refused to take him. Because the police were afraid that he might die, he was sent home.
When the Yangjia Town police brought the practitioners back to be brainwashed, one of the practitioners died. The lawless officer lied to the media, saying that the death was due to a heart condition, but the staff from the public security department said the practitioner was beaten to death.
The practitioners were also forced to pay huge fines. They were asked to pay "bail" and the money was deducted from their salaries. In Huangxu Town, one retired teacher was extorted 7,000 Yuan as bail for his release. The teacher was only given 200 Yuan per month living expense in lieu of his retirement benefits. Also, the teacher had to report to school every day for work. Teachers were not paid their normal wages but were given only a 200-Yuan monthly living expense, and not allowed to teach classes.
Because four of the practitioners arrested were teachers, the Deyang City Education Department gave orders demanding that the schools in Deyang City force their teachers and students to declare their position on Falun Gong, take an oath, sign and give a speech on Falun Gong. Many teachers were appalled by these measures.
Up to now, there are still seven or eight practitioners, including Yang Daifu and Qiu Caiyuan, who are being illegally detained. Jiang Shengui, Luo Ying, Zhou Min, a young man whose last name is Deng, and one other person whose name is unknown had all been released, but they were forcefully arrested again from their homes a few days ago.
We hope the practitioners who know about this matter can intensify their sending forth righteous thoughts to help these practitioners regain their freedom, and all the kind, righteous people can join us to stop the Jiang regime's persecution of Falun Gong practitioners.
(Clearwisdom.net) Falun Dafa practitioner Zhou Huimin (female, forty years old) went to Beijing to appeal in December 1999. The police arrested and sent her to the Nanmusi Female Forced Labor Camp, Zizhong County, Sichuan Province, where she was sentenced to one year and was actually detained for a year and half. In the forced labor camp, she maintained her faith in Falun Dafa. Thus, the police beat her, shocked her with electric batons, forced her to stand still for long periods of time, and physically abused her in other ways. However, all of these tortures couldn't shake her belief in Falun Dafa. In June 2000, she left the forced labor camp with dignity.
In October 2001, when practicing exercises outdoors, Zhou Huimin and another three fellow practitioners were arrested by the police from the Xiyuhe Police Station in Chengdu City. After being sent to the Longquanyi Detention Center, they firmly resisted the unreasonable demands by the police. To validate Falun Dafa, they continued to practice the exercises and send forth righteous thoughts. The police dragged them one by one out to the courtyard and beat them badly until they were unconscious. Then the police poured cold water on their bodies to wake them up and dragged them back to their cells, where with wet clothes on, they were bound together by handcuffs and fetters. The police even made them suffer a torture called "Dragon Holding onto the Pillar" for one month, but the practitioners' firm righteous minds terrified their tormentors. Their righteous actions also moved and inspired other fellow practitioners in jail. Zhou Huimin went on a hunger strike to protest the illegal detention. Disregarding her extremely poor health after one month's hunger strike, the Xiyuhe Police Station sent her to the Nanmusi Female Forced Labor Camp for a second time. She continued her hunger strike to protest the imprisonment and gain her freedom. The prison doctors force-fed her so fiercely that the feeding tube poked a hole in her stomach and caused internal bleeding. Due to her shrinking blood vessel, the needle couldn't be inserted. Afraid that she might die in custody, the authorities of the forced labor camp had to release her on medical parole.
In September 2002, the plainclothes police abducted Zhou Huimin on the street as she was spreading truth-telling VCDs to clarify the true facts about Falun Dafa. It has been a month since Zhou Huimin went on a hunger strike once more to protest the illegal arrest. She is on the verge of death.
Zhou Huimin is detained in a separate cell in the Chinese Traditional Medical Hospital in Jianyang City. The perpetrators fastened her to a bed with handcuffs and fetters to immobilize her. The staff from the Jiancheng Town Hall and the plainclothes officers from the Chengzhong Police Station in Jianyang City are keeping her under close watch twenty-four hours a day. They don't allow her family members or anyone else to visit her so as to block the information about her critical situation.
We are asking compassionate people for help to end the persecution of Falun Dafa by Jiang's regime. Please help the innocent Falun Dafa practitioners! Please help our fellow practitioner Zhou Huimin!
The perpetrators:
The supervisor of Jiancheng Town, Jianyang City, Sichuan Province: Wang Yong, 0832-7222086 (Office);
The Chinese Traditional Medical Hospital, Jianyang City, Sichuan Province: 0832-7019217 (Office);
The Chief of the Chengzhong Police Station, Jianyang City, Sichuan Province: Li Haicheng
The Office of the Chengzhong Police Station, Jianyang City, Sichuan Province: 0832-7222175
Written on 10/01/2002
(Clearwisdom.net) My entire family steadfastly practices Falun Dafa. Since the evil persecution began three years ago, our family has undergone relentless and completely unjustifiable persecution. Simply for shouting from the bottom of my heart, "Falun Dafa is good," I was arrested and sent to the detention center, forced labor camp, and brainwashing classes numerous times, and I was unable to lead a normal life, attend school, or go to work.
My daughter was an outstanding student in the No. 3 Middle School of the city. She was admitted to college in 2001 with an excellent score. However, because she firmly practiced Falun Dafa, she was refused admission and deprived of continuing her education.
My husband worked in a state-owned enterprise. For many years, he was always diligent and responsible in his work. However, because he practiced Falun Gong, he lost his title, was deprived of all kinds of bonuses, and stripped from the retirement benefits that he was entitled to. He was often harassed by lawless officials in his company, and was also forced to go through brainwashing. At the end of July this year, he was deceived by the vicious police, punched and kicked, and forcefully taken to a brainwashing class for further persecution.
I was detained for 50 days for trying to go to Beijing to say, "Falun Dafa is good." Then I was kept there for another 40 days for refusing to sign the so-called "Guarantee Statement" [A statement to declare that a practitioner is remorseful for practicing Falun Gong and guarantees not to practice Falun Gong again, not to go to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong, and never again associate with any Falun Dafa practitioners]. After that, I was arrested and sent to detention centers and labor camps several times. Once I went on a hunger strike in jail to protest the unlawful arrest. The police hit and verbally abused me, and brutally force-fed me for the sole purpose of torturing me. They also extorted 50 Yuan [500 Yuan is the average monthly income for an urban worker in China] from me each day as a fee for the force-feeding, and I was illegally fined a total of almost 2,000 Yuan. On a summer day in 2001, six or seven police invaded my house for no reason, confiscated all our belongings including my pager, bag, and walkman along with some other household items. They arrested me and my husband, and detained us for nearly six months. After that, I was immediately sentenced to three years of forced labor. As I looked quite ill, the police were afraid of my dying, so they sent me home. Afterwards, the vicious people often came to knock at or smash in my door. They even appointed people to keep watch on me outside my house, constantly disturbing our neighbors. In 2002, the police often seized the opportunity while I went out of the house to forcefully take me into a police van and send me to forced labor camps. Based on my firm belief in Dafa and sending forth righteous thoughts to eliminate the evil, I walked out of the labor camps honorably and uprightly time and again.
Because our whole family steadfastly cultivates Falun Dafa and follows "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance," our companies withheld money from our salaries for no reason. Since 2001, we have had up to 20,000 Yuan extorted from us, and even now we are still not given even a cent for living expenses. We call on kind-hearted people everywhere to give their support to Dafa practitioners and to help stop this persecution as soon as possible.
September 26, 2002
(Clearwisdom.net)
Note: The number of years mentioned below refers to the length of the illegally imposed prison terms.
Details of female practitioners illegally sentenced to jail terms:
Tian Guiying - 9 years, Wang Ying - 7 years, Liu Xia - 7 years, Ding Fenglian - 6 years, Run Huijuan - 5 years, Xu Hongmei - 4 years, Wu Meiyan - 3 years, Sun Fengling - 3 years, Ma Guangxia - 2 years, Wang Shuqing - 4 years.
Dafa practitioners who were illegally detained but have not been sentenced to jail:
Xu Xianping, Liu Yaqin, Zhang Yan, Wang Fengjie, Hao Shuxian, Chen Yanmei, Li Guirong, Han Ying.
Details of male Dafa practitioners illegally sentenced to jail:
Zhang Jingliang - 13 years, Zhang Yu - 6 years, He Congfeng - 6 years, Zhang Shuping - 7 years, Wang Jiuyi - 3 years, Su Qinghe - 4 years, Di Huibin - 5 years, Wang Dongxu - 4 years, Bi Hailin - 8 years, Li Zhigang - 9 years, Gao Zhonggen - 5 years.
Male Dafa practitioners who were illegally detained but have not been sentenced to jail:
Li Changjin, Huang Shisheng, Tan Yanjun, Wang Yongzhi, Zhang Hengguang, Wang Yafan, Zhang Yueming, Zhang Hongrui, Jiang Yunjing, Wang Shusen, Liu Qingfu, Li Jiangang, Guo Zhongquan, Guo Xingguo, Zhao Jingfu.
Dafa practitioners who were illegally sentenced to jail in May:
Female: Liang Wei - 4 years, Wang Shuxia - 6 years, Yang Xiaohong - 3 years, Zhao Shuling - 4 years.
Male: Fu Detian - 3 years, Wang Guanglu - 6 years, Gong Guidong - 4 years, Ma Yingyuan - 4 years.
Dafa practitioners who were illegally imprisoned in hospitals:
Qu Jie, Li Xiaoping, Huang Xiuying.
Up to 56 Dafa practitioners were illegally arrested.
We hope that all Dafa practitioners will send forth righteous thoughts together upon reading this news to completely eliminate all the evil elements in other dimensions that are attempting to damage Dafa and persecute Dafa practitioners in Hegang City.
September 30, 2002
(Clearwisdom.net)
1. [China] Dafa Practitioners Distribute Truth-clarifying CD's at a Market
On National Day in October, there are many tourists on the streets of Commerce City. While some practitioners, with compassionate hearts and harmonious smiles, openly distributed CD's to tourists at the city's gate, other practitioners sent forth righteous thoughts to clear out the evil factors in other dimensions and strengthen the practitioners who were distributing CD's for their safe return. In less than two hours, they give out all of the CD's and were able to leave safely.
2. [Yanshan City, Hebei Province] Dafa Practitioner Xia Zhongjie, on Hunger Strike for Three Months Is Near Death
In June of this year, a practitioner arrested in Yanshan County, Hebei Province, disclosed the name of another practitioner. As a result material sites at Yanshan and Botou were damaged and suffered great losses. Eight practitioners connected with these sites have been detained in the Botou Detention Center. Among them, Xia Zhongjie has been on a hunger strike for three months. His life is now in danger. The other practitioners' situations are not known.
3. [Guizhou Province] 610 Office in Guizhou Attempts to Stage Large-scale Arrest of Falun Gong Practitioners
Police in Guizhou are determined to illegally arrest 13 local practitioners. They have claimed that they will sentence each of them to 10 years in prison.
The Guizhou 610 Office has ordered each residential committee to report the number of practitioners in its area to their local police branch. The local branches are then to report to the main police station, after which they intend to arrest as many practitioners as possible and detain them until after the 16th Representative Conference.
4. [Haikou City, Hainan Province] The Evil People and Evil Behavior of a "Special Case Team"
For two years the Haikou Police Station has used a "Special Case Team" to persecute Falun Gong. This team is composed of over 20 people, most from branch police stations, the rest from the political safeguard office of the city police station. They are given a "bonus" of 3000 Yuan for each practitioner they catch.
"Special Case Team" personnel often bind the hands and feet of practitioners to chairs and forbid them from sleeping. One practitioner was tortured this way for two months. Sometimes they use other cruel tortures. Wu Zhuanxin, a female practitioner, was deprived of sleep for nine days and nights and then was severely beaten. Team personnel have sent Falun Gong practitioners who do not give up their beliefs to three years of labor camp. They sometimes confuse practitioners by giving them a living stipend or buying them incidentals.
Special Case Team members:
Leader: Xu
Vice leader: Hong Lizong (Xiuying Police Station)
Members: Li Jun, Xie Haibin, Wu Dafu, Huang Xin, Chai Renzhong, Wu Haozhuang, Huang Yunxiong, Wu Shuhuang, Duan Baojin, Li xiaosi, Wen Qiyao, Deng Bin, Chen Xiaokun (Vice Director of the Political Safeguard Department), Ma Kai (Director of the Political Safeguard Department and extremely hypocritical), Xu Yubo, Zhou Zhengsheng and Zhong Min (all three from the Political Safeguard Department).
5. [Yancheng City, Jiangsu Province] Latest News
Some practitioners are arrested. Many good people are deceived by lies and do not know the real situation.
6. [Hengyang City, Hunan Province] Dafa practitioners Wang Rong and Liu Yuanrong Tortured and on Trial
Wang Rong, 31 years old, and Liu Yuanrong, 30 years old, two female practitioners from Hengyang, were arrested at home by officers from the Zhuhui Police Station in May of 2001. They had been detained in the No 2 detention center for over a year, suffering all kinds of tortures.
On September 16, 2002, the Zhuhui Court held a trial to sentence these two practitioners. Based on their personal experiences, the two women refuted the government's defamation and trumped up charges. The judge, however, refused to let them defend themselves. Because the police did not have any proof, the judge ended the trial hurriedly, claiming the case was closed after only an hour.
7. [Wuchang city, Hubei Province] A Material Site Is Damaged by Police
A material site was damaged a few months ago in the Guanshan area of Wuchang City. A lot of equipment, flyers, CD's, and banners were lost. Dozens of people were arrested, some of them college students, and their whereabouts remain unknown.
8. [Dalian City, Liaoning province] A Persecution Case
Practitioner Wang Shuqing, an employee of the Dalian Technical University Library, was sent to the Masanjia Labor Camp. She was very steadfast in the jail and called out "Falun Dafa Is Good!" at the meeting, which resulted in her prison term being extended by two months.
9. [Anhui Province] Anhui Dafa Practitioners Congratulate Newly Formed Japan Falun Gong Association
We are glad to hear that the Japan Falun Gong Association was registered on September 27, 2002. We Anhui Dafa practitioners send our sincere congratulations. Along with the speedy process of Fa rectification, the establishment of the Japan Falun Gong Association will prompt the spread of Falun Dafa truth in Japan, making people became more and more clear-minded. We sincerely appreciate the great compassion of Teacher. At this moment, all of us practitioners should make more effort to cooperate and improve together, to study the Fa well, to disclose the evil, clarify the truth, clear out the evil with righteous thoughts, follow each step to assist Teacher in the Fa rectification, and welcome the great moment of Fa rectifying the human world.
Anhui Dafa practitioners
September 30 2002
10. [Zhejiang Province] Congratulation from China
Zhejiang Practitioners Offer Congratulations on the Establishment of the Japan Falun Gong Association.
(Clearwisdom.net) As practitioners in China face tremendous pressure to give up their beliefs under the Chinese regime's brutal persecution, there are those who have given in and signed documents renouncing Falun Dafa. However, many of these people deeply regret doing so after they are released from detention and labor camps. "Solemn declarations" are the public statements made by such practitioners, often at great risk to their personal safety, to declare to the world that the documents they signed under duress are null and void and that they will continue to practice Falun Dafa. Due to lack of resources, we are unable to translate them all.
Here are some of the Solemn Declarations from the practitioners:
Please click here for more Solemn Declarations.
(Clearwisdom.net) The evil beings used by the old forces have been eliminated in great numbers, and there are very few of them left. The old evil forces could only maintain their evil field in very few areas and agencies. In order to preserve this evil field, the evil beings must possess people, including their bodies and minds Police officers in labor camps, police departments, government officials and staff in the "610 Offices" are their most likely targets; this is also the arrangement the old forces made for these people and for these evil beings.
"Yet this matter has also been arranged by those old beings. They divided these beings who've come to this world into those who would obtain the Fa and those who would cause tribulations for Dafa. They thought that those who would cause tribulations would also achieve Consummation in the future, because if they didn't create tribulations those who cultivated wouldn't be able to reach Consummation. But this reasoning doesn't work for me here. It might work in any period in the cosmos when any given being comes to save people, but not during the Fa-rectification period." ("Teaching the Fa at the Great Lakes Fa Conference in North America," Guiding the Voyage)
Whether a being can reach Consummation or not and what his or her future position will be is determined solely by his or her attitude towards Dafa. No matter what the old forces' arrangement is, if a person thinks Dafa is good, then he can be saved; if he opposes Dafa, he will be eliminated.
Although our practitioners are being arrested, beaten and even tortured to death, nevertheless, we are righteous beings, beings that have obtained the Fa, who have listened to Master's lectures and assisted Master in Fa-rectification. We are fulfilling our great missions as Fa-rectification period Dafa disciples. We will enter the new cosmos and the future of our being will be forever wonderful; however, the police officers, government officials, and officials from "610 Offices" are mostly people who were arranged by the old forces to do evil. Their positions were arranged to be bad people who would interfere with Dafa, persecute Dafa practitioners and attack Dafa. However, they do not know that there is no place for them in the new cosmos. We should create the opportunity for them to learn the truth. In Lecture at the Fa-Conference in Canada Master said, "Some people have walked in here today. I'll treat you as a human being, regardless of the purpose that brought you here--reporting news, obtaining the Fa, getting some information, or fishing for news. As long as you walk in here, I'll treat you as an ordinary human being. It's only that there are different types of work. Even if you're a spy, you still have a human heart, so I will treat you as an ordinary person. The type of work you do doesn't matter."
Master said in the Lecture at the Australia Fa Conference, "Some people who work as spies are also practicing alongside the students and observing, watching what they're doing. Do you know how I view the situation? No matter what kind of job he does, he is a sentient being. He is a being first. In my attitude toward them, I simply regard them as people with different jobs. No matter what kinds of thoughts they had when they first entered this environment of ours, I treat all of them with benevolent thoughts." Master doesn't acknowledge the old forces' arrangements for them, benevolent Master wants to save all beings, so we should also negate the old forces' arrangements for them and have tremendous benevolence. Of course, whether the police officers, government officials and officials from "610 Offices" will stop their persecution against Dafa and Dafa practitioners, whether they will change their vicious notions against Dafa will still depend on themselves.
Dafa practitioners have no enemies; Dafa practitioners are facing people waiting to be saved. When we treat them with benevolence, some of them will indeed be saved. We can send forth righteous thoughts to disintegrate the evil behind them; we can clarify the truth to them so they will awaken; if all these fail to change them, we can still let them have immediate retribution so they will learn a lesson and stop committing crimes against Dafa, and create less karma for themselves. Benevolence can achieve all of this. By doing this, we are also negating the old forces' arrangements.
When we have completely eliminated the evil beings possessing these people, the evil field will not be able to exist. The old forces' arrangements will be completely denied. Master told us about this a long time ago. Master said, "When you go to the Chinese consulates to make appeals, the consulates seem really scared. It's not actually the human beings who are afraid, but those evil ones that manipulate human beings. When it manifests over here in this human dimension, they appear to be really scared, when in fact it's the evil factors that are afraid. If the evil is completely eliminated, and if at that time even the people in the consulates come out to learn Falun Gong from us, it would be just too terrifying for that chief political scoundrel in China. That's why the evil beings are trying so hard to control those who work in the consulates, and to keep up everything that the evil has been doing. But despite this, they can't keep it up anymore." (Touring North America to Teach the Fa)
In fact, when they come to us and try to create trouble, we can in turn use this opportunity to eliminate the manipulating evil elements in other dimensions in order to save them. Master said, "Since the old evil forces insist on giving us a chance to eliminate them, make good use of it. History has never seen this before, it's hard to come by." ("Teaching the Fa at the Washington, D.C. International Fa Conference," Guiding the Voyage) We have already read Master's scripture "Be Clearheaded." Indeed, at this time, Dafa practitioners should not be sad and shed tears; instead, we should clear-mindedly devote ourselves to the great action of eliminating cosmic garbage and low-level evil beings.
Master again clearly told us in Teaching the Fa at the Washington, D.C. Fa Conference, "Wherever there's a problem, that is where you need to clarify the truth and save people. Don't take a detour when you run into difficulties. When you see something that does us harm, or when you see something blocking our validating the Fa, don't take a detour-you should face it, and clarify the truth and save those beings. This is the compassion (cibei) of a Dafa disciple, and it's our saving lives." When we clarify the truth to police, government officials and officials from "610 Offices" to save them, we should have benevolence as well as wisdom. When we do things according to what Master said, then we would be completely doing away with the old forces' arrangements for both the positive lives and the negative lives, which is also walking the path Master has arranged for us.
2002-9-25
(Clearwisdom.net)
Recently, Jiang's gang has utilized the Chinese Embassies and their administrative setups to force the hosting countries and regions to coerce local authorities into participating in the persecution of Falun Dafa and its practitioners. In this way, Jiang's fabricated rumors can poison the minds of large numbers of people. This is another manifestation of the evil's wish to spread their persecution worldwide, because practitioners of Falun Dafa over the entire globe are reflections of Dafa in the human society. Falun Dafa practitioners constitute a single entity.
Being Dafa practitioners, we must, under such circumstances, contemplate how to rectify the Fa, expose the evil, save sentient beings, live up to the standards in the practice of discarding the concepts of ordinary people, and continuously understand the Fa from within the Fa. These factors are crucial to our cultivation.
On the path of our practice, and in the process of disseminating and rectifying the Fa, nothing occurs by chance. Everything that occurs has to do with the improvement of practitioners as an entire body. In "Eliminate Your Last Attachment(s)," Teacher said, "If a cultivator can let go of the thought of life and death under any circumstance, evil is sure to be afraid of him. If every student is able to do this, evil will of itself no longer exist." Therefore, no matter in which countries or regions the evil's claws have extended, they are all damaging Dafa and constitute persecution of the entire entity of Dafa practitioners. Thus, the persecution is a concern for every Dafa practitioner. Regardless of where the persecution occurs, it is not confined to that country or region alone. The practitioners worldwide must understand that the persecution is against each and every one of us. Hence, no matter where the persecution occurs, we must all work steadfastly together and utilize immense righteousness to eliminate it.
Shared by a practitioner from the UK at the 2002 European Fa Conference in Copenhagen
Hello Master! Hello fellow practitioners!
It has been five years since I started my cultivation. These five years have been the happiest years of my life. Five years of cultivation has been full of ups and downs but I went through them without noticing it. Looking back, I feel quite touched and want to thank Master for his compassion and help.
Now the Fa-rectification has come to the last stage. For Dafa disciples and countless sentient beings, this is a very important time as it concerns how many beings will be saved. Thus for practitioners, how to do it better is crucial.
In recent articles, Master mentioned many times about conflicts between practitioners. "Every realm has its own state of being. If you remain stagnant, you definitely won't be able to keep up with the Fa-rectification." (Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa Conference in Boston)
Regarding this common phenomenon among practitioners, I would like to share my experience and understanding with you.
1. Expectation Is an Attachment
A common phenomenon is that when we enlighten to what we should do, very often we expect other practitioners to do it as well. Expectation itself is an attachment. When this expectation is satisfied, complacency may grow without being realized. When this expectation cannot be met, a complaint may start to come up. You may even start to think other practitioners are not keeping up with the pace of Fa-rectification. Maybe what you want to do is genuinely a very good thing for Dafa, but expectation itself is an attachment. Expectation is an emotion. Since you have used emotion, you would have the mentality of "should", "should not", and feel unsatisfied. Only when your heart is truly in Wuwei (non-action or without intention), are you doing something noble. If we can all do this, there won't be arguments or conflicts.
In my cultivation, I once had a lot of expectations of other practitioners. I remember in March 2000, after I came back from Geneva, I wanted to send Dafa material to all NGOs and government organisations etc. all over the UK. Before sending Dafa information, we needed to collect information, such as name and addresses. It was time-consuming work. I asked some practitioners to do it together. After some time, the progress was not as much or as quick as I had expected. I began to worry and even complain in my mind. I thought, 'Isn't it very clear that this is very important? Why can we not get it done efficiently?' Then I had a dream. I was going to go across a river with my push-bike. I walked towards the river and there was a big wide bridge. Just before I got there, the bridge suddenly twisted, and I could not walk on it anymore. I stood by the river and looked around. On the right there was a big bridge on the horizon. On the left, a small narrow road led to a small wooden bridge. I decided to take the small bridge as it was nearer. Walking along the path, the road was really narrow along the cliffs, up and down. Eventually I reached the bridge and crossed the river.
I enlightened through this dream that nothing is easy when doing things for Dafa. Whatever we do, we have to go through some difficulties. We need to do it with our hearts. As Master said, there is no sweetness if there is no bitterness. You would not feel the happiness after the victory if you had not tried hard. I asked myself, "Why should I expect other people to do what I want to do?" Expectation itself is an attachment. Though on the surface it is for Dafa, actually what is hidden behind it is myself. I was using my standard to require other people, and expecting other people to do what I wanted them to do. When they had not met my standard or requirement, I would feel unsatisfied. Having realised this, I tried my best not to have any expectations of anybody ever since. Of course, this was a process. Occasionally I still had the concept that practitioners should do what I want.
2. Learning To Understand Others is the Foundation Of Harmony
Master has told us many times to learn to understand others. To understand other people, one has to give up selfishness and put oneself in other people's position. If we can do this, whatever we do, many unnecessary conflicts will not happen. One will not have the mind to complain or blame. When one learns to understand others, one will understand other people's behaviour. Even if they are wrong, we would feel sorry for them. Once you have learned to understand others and respect other people's wishes, harmony can be produced. To reach this harmonious state, you yourself need to maintain a calm, balanced and Wuwei mind.
As I said earlier, expectation itself is an attachment. Even though it is for Dafa, you can only get it when you are not attached to it. Only when we try to understand other people and respect them, can harmony be produced. Whatever we do is a process of cultivation in which we need to improve ourselves genuinely and let go of our attachments. Then what we do is meaningful. Complaining is negative. When there is a lot of complaining, it will form a negative energy field and in such a negative field, it would be difficult for practitioners to communicate and understand each other, and difficult to reach harmony as this negative material becomes a barrier between practitioners. If we could learn to be more tolerant of other practitioners, try to understand and listen to what other practitioners say, this will produce a positive energy field. In such a positive environment, it would be easier for practitioners to communicate and to understand each other. It will reduce or avoid many unnecessary conflicts, and if there is a conflict, it will be easier to resolve.
Above are some of my personal experiences and understandings. If anything is not appropriate, please kindly point it out.
Thank you.
(Copenhagen, September 22nd 2002)
(Clearwisdom.net)
A while ago a few practitioners, many of whom had done quite well in the process of Fa-rectification, were arrested. When trying to understand this, almost every one of us felt that the practitioners must have had omissions. This made me think. If all practitioners believe that having omissions is an excuse for the evil to persecute Dafa disciples, then this notion could be a huge loophole in the whole body through which the evil can continue to persecute Dafa.
We are one body. Master said: "The next person's things are your things, and your things are his things." ("Teaching the Fa at the Washington, D.C. Fa Conference") It's not that we actually must do something. As Fa-rectification practitioners, we should be responsible for the Fa. We should have this great realm of thought. It's not only a matter of that practitioner's problem. It's that our whole body has shortcomings. We should make more efforts to improve together so that in the future we can do better as a whole.
As to that practitioner, we should not give up on him. Instead we should send forth righteous thoughts to strengthen him at all times and eradicate all the evil interfering with him. Master has created us and told us that we are magnificent enlightened beings. "He comes with the Truth, which gives him full control." ("Tathagata") In our future realms we will have full control.
There are so-called reformed practitioners who have "enlightened" along an evil path in many areas. In the future they will regret this terribly, and it will also be a great loss for Dafa. It is the evil persecution that caused them to fall. Shouldn't we try our best to help them out of danger?
When we are assimilated into the Fa and reach the realms of selflessness, we have immeasurable wisdom. How can we not get rid of all of our attachments and sacrifice everything to save the colossal firmament's sentient beings? When you are able to change into heaven, earth, mountains, and rivers for the sentient beings in your world, you will have everything. When we are able to melt into the Fa and let go of all attachments for the salvation of sentient beings, our lives will be together with the Fa forever.
Due to the limitations of my level, this article might contain mistakes. Please kindly point them out to me.
Shared by a practitioner from Switzerland at the 2002 European Fa Conference in Copenhagen.
Salutations to our beloved and respected Master! Salutations to all of you!
My name is Richard. I was born in Sweden, but have lived in Switzerland since 1990. I'm very happy to share my understanding and cultivation experiences with you. I would like to start by saying, that you are my family, my great Dafa family, and are very near and very dear. Just like pearls on a thread, our hearts are joined in the light of the Fa.
I got to know Falun Gong at a seminar in the city Lucerne in Switzerland 13th of September 1997. It was a joyful day. I felt the strong energy field and at the 5th exercise my body got full of light and I saw a smiling Buddha. The music was as if from an ancient time and it was calling me home, filling me with longing.
Since my childhood I practiced martial arts with deep dedication, spending most of my free time in meditation and practicing what I loved. Being sometimes a bit sensitive, shy and introverted I was contemplating the nature of life, asking myself why there is so much suffering and pain. How does one find peace of mind? To discipline the mind seems more difficult than to control the wind. Pleasure is deceptive and goes hand in hand with pain. Time catches up with everyone and nothing seems to remain the same. Seeking the answer and truth within, taking one step forward and one step back, longing for liberation and enlightenment-- but how could I find it?
My cultivation way back home to the true origin started genuinely when I got to know Falun Dafa and a big transformation of my body, mind and spirit took place. My body got lighter, stronger and firmer. My mind got calmer and clearer, taking things more lightly with much deeper understanding. And after meeting Master Li for the first time, my restless spirit came to peace, like finding my home and feeling completely safe.
At the beginning my cultivation went quite smoothly without any major difficulties, but in April of 1999 it was time for me to break away from human attachments like fame, showing off, and doing what I liked most, practicing martial arts. The tests were coming one after another and the hardest one was over my attachment to martial arts. At that time, I was requested to teach kung fu by some friends and everything seemed to be arranged with a place to practice. On the first introduction day, my mind was not upright and I felt weak, tired and heavy. What was happening? In the darkness of my ignorance I got support from a Dao at a low level, which I had seen some days before. He looked fascinating to me; then I ignored him and did not think of him any more.
As you all know our Teacher is watching over his disciples. Thanks to his saving grace, urgently, already the next day, a veteran practitioner came from Geneva and we met at my mother's place to read the latest article from Master Li concerning exactly my situation. Reading the article and talking to her, I immediately got enlightened to what was going on. I decided to stop teaching kung fu, but was worried about what my students would say and my strong attachment to kung fu created a big conflict in me. I gave one more class the following week and after coming home late at night, I came to know the seriousness of cultivation: my body started to shiver strongly and got very cold. It took me four days to recover and at the beginning I felt a tremendous pain. Being unable to move, I was thinking that humans are really suffering a lot. When my mother read Zhuan Falun for me at that time, small Falun rained upon me and at the beginning it felt painful with every word she said, but after a while my body began to relax and I felt much better.
Feeling that I had to start from scratch, I was sad and shameful. What had I done, putting obstacles in my own way home? Wasting my time on human skills like kung fu, what is that in comparison to Dafa? During the next class, I explained what cultivation and Falun Gong is for my students--and from then on we started to practice Falun Gong. My head got hot and over it a Gong pillar shot up in the sky. And from the energy field, one person was even touched to tears from the compassionate and peaceful atmosphere.
After this experience I was still full of questions about what had really happened to me at that time. I got my answer when reading the Fa lecture from New York, March 27-28 1999. It was not that the martial arts itself caused me trouble. I was tainted by the small Dao and had various motives which were not upright, driven by my own attachments. May I express my deepest gratitude to Teacher and Dafa practitioners' having patience with me at that time.
Some Swiss practitioners were planning a trip to China in August 1999 and I was very excited to go and practice Falun Gong in the land where Falun Gong was started. But in July shocking news made us cancel our plans of going there. The most terrible persecution had begun. Dafa practitioners started to safeguard Dafa around the world and clarify the truth, and because of that many people know today about the situation in China and give us support. Most of the newspapers are sympathetic and VIPs put pressure on the Chinese government. The SOS campaign brought a good response as well. All this was the result of joined efforts. But in China the situation is very bad. Reading the reports from China about how great beings are getting tortured to death, my eyes were filled with tears, and emotions like anger and sadness came to govern my mind. Dafa and Teacher are getting slandered, and the pain seemed endless.
By studying the Fa my mood changed to optimism; strength and unwavering determination filled my heart and that which was not possible seemed possible. The words from Master Li penetrate every level of our being, transcend time and space, bring life to that which is dead and rectify everything, leaving out nothing. Sometimes when I read Zhuan Falun or other writings from Master Li, it is like quenching my thirst with the nectar of bliss. The book is glowing; golden and small Falun are shooting out from the letters. The universe is opening up before my celestial eye. Seeing galaxies, different realms, Buddha's, Dao's and different Gods come to see and listen to the great Law. And Master Li is manifesting himself in his glorious form, at different levels through out the whole universe, level by level, endlessly. Reading and studying the great Law, there is nothing greater than this. All good beings in the universe are delighted.
It is bound to be that the one who safeguards Dafa, will be safeguarded by Dafa. When we forget our self-interests, put the Fa in the first place, think only from the Fa, and see only the Fa before ourselves, nothing can go wrong.
Last year, I was thinking that if westerners went to Beijing to do Fa-rectification on Tiananmen, it would draw much attention from the world, especially if the Chinese regime would treat us the same way as they do to the mainland practitioners. Being not the only one thinking like that, we got together and made some plans for the trip. While feeling excited about going, I felt also the seriousness and danger of the trip. But whatever would happen, it would happen for the higher good. Not thinking of the fruit of my action, I would try to do my very best and the best would come. Upon landing in China on the 17th of November, I felt nostalgic and a wave of bliss and warmth filled my body and heart.
The day before our appeal on Tiananmen Square, I went there with another practitioner to send forth righteous thoughts and see how it looked. Standing on the square, looking at the Forbidden City, I saw a huge dragon with a transparent red colour and its tail was moving with the wind. Gazing at it for a while I came to realize that the dragon was evil and has put the whole of China, if not the whole world, to sleep. I told my fellow practitioner about my experience and we started to send forth righteous thoughts. My righteous thoughts felt very powerful and I could sense that Teacher and all good beings were with us. That filled me with a deep calmness and security.
I was in a nostalgic mood; I just loved being in China. When seeing the Chinese people, so sweet and innocent, living in their own country as if it were a prison, without any human rights, poisoned by wicked lies, it hurt my heart a lot and tears fell. Feeling even stronger determination to go and appeal the next day, I was sure many of us felt like that.
Everyone was clear about what happened the next day; a strong battle between good and evil took place. After we succeeded in opening up the banner with Zhen Shan Ren, we were rounded up by the policemen. Six police officers found it very hard to move me. Having great trouble taking me to the bus, the police officers found it funny and started laughing. After struggling for a while they carried me high up in the air and one officer said, "I love you."
These officers belonged to the good ones. I explained to them the truth about Falun Gong. When leaving the detention centre, one officer in particular seemed to be very sad and ashamed of his own country. It was very nice to see how practitioners were explaining the truth to them. I also saw that when all Dafa practitioners were sending forth righteous thoughts on that day, the dragon fainted away. I told this to another practitioner and he answered with a smile.
I have seen that the sphere in heaven is full of Teacher's Gong, Zhen-Shan-Ren. It is immense, beautiful and clear, with sparkling playful light and transparent, beautiful colours. I have also seen that the energy takes on special patterns like snow crystals, but much more complex and beautiful. It is like a beautiful cosmic play and I cannot find words to express it; still I have only seen a little, some few glimpses of this glorious Dafa.
The evil forces have destroyed many beings so that they could not receive Dafa during the Fa rectification, and there are even beings that turned away from Dafa's saving grace because of them. When thinking of all the people who were predestined with the Fa-rectification and could not assimilate to the Fa at this time, it is really sad.
Teacher says: "I know all of the suffering of my disciples. The truth is, I treasure you more than you treasure yourselves!" "Whenever I see you suffer hardships, Master feels even more upset than you; whenever you do not take a step well, it really pains my heart."
If we one day will reach the goal of our cultivation, then we will think like a Buddha, Dao, or a God. Our state of well-being will be incomprehensible. Thinking then back on this time in the human world of so much pain and sorrow, will it not hurt a lot if we had not given our best when we had the chance to save all sentient beings.
Let us treasure this time even more, since it will never come back again. May we Dafa practitioners do even better!
(Copenhagen, 22nd September 2002)
(Clearwisdom.net) Since mid June, 2002, practitioners from Koeln, with
support of practitioners from nearby cities, set up photo display boards and a
table in front of Koeln Cathedral to disclose the facts of the brutal
persecution of peaceful Falun Gong practitioners in China. A banner that reads,
"Falun Dafa is good" is displayed on top of the photo exhibition.
Koeln Cathedral is an important sightseeing stop and attracts visitors from around the world. It is located close to the train station. Passengers as well as visitors to the cathedral often stop by and look over the photo exhibit. Every day several hundred, sometimes even close to a thousand Chinese tourists come to visit the cathedral. Three of the nine photo display boards are in Chinese, and many Chinese tourists have expressed interest in our exhibition.
(Clearwisdom.net) With concerted efforts by practitioners from the Philadelphia, Minnesota and Pittsburgh areas, a "Journey of Falun Dafa" photo exhibition was held in Pittsburgh's City Hall in the state of Pennsylvania, USA.
On October 1-4, 2002, a four-day photo exhibition brought peace and harmony to Pittsburgh's City Hall, and the magnificence of Falun Dafa attracted many predestined people who were astounded by the brutal persecution of Falun Gong in China, and many people came to request postcards for President Bush, hoping to help end this persecution soon. Councilman Mr. William Peduto, who has been very supportive of Falun Dafa, especially came to look at the exhibition. He welcomed and thanked practitioners for holding this exhibition in City Hall, and he also expressed that he would continue supporting and helping Falun Gong practitioners.
During the four-day exhibition, most of the people who came to learn the truth about Falun Dafa signed their names on postcards to President Bush, and many people also asked their colleagues to come to sign. The following are some examples.
Early morning on October 1, while practitioners were arranging display boards in City Hall, a guard walked up to ask what the exhibition was about. When he heard "Falun Gong," he smiled and said he had heard about Falun Gong from the news, but did not know any details. He said he would like to learn more. In the following three days, he came to look at our display boards multiple times, requested information and materials and signed on postcards for President Bush. Later he also introduced other guards on duty to come to sign. He also took some materials for his daughter and said he would learn to practice Falun Gong.
The first morning before the practitioners got all the display boards set up, a middle-aged woman approached us and happily told us that she had known about Falun Gong from her Taiji teacher. She once borrowed the exercises instruction videotape from a library and bought a copy of Zhuan Falun. She had read it once, and she liked it very much. She has been looking for a place to learn the exercises, so she was very happy to see us. She was eager to learn the exercises from us.
On the morning of the second day, a Catholic nun came to us and said she knew that Falun Gong is persecuted in China. She requested some Dafa truth-clarifying materials and wanted to bring them to her school. She also took several postcards appealing for stopping the persecution of Falun Gong. Later in the afternoon, she came back and said she wanted to get videotapes explaining the facts about Falun Gong. Unfortunately, we did not have any on hand. On Friday, the last day of the exhibition, she came back again, and was very happy to get the videotapes that she wanted. Upon hearing that the "Journey of Falun Dafa" photo exhibition would be held again in City Hall, she said she would come again. She requested 30 more postcards and thanked us for the Dafa information and materials.
On the last afternoon of the exhibition, while the practitioners took down display boards from the frames, a young lady came up and stayed in front of the display boards for a long time. She then requested Dafa materials for herself and her husband. She said she was glad to see us, and she would go to our practice site the next morning to learn the exercises.
During the four-day exhibition, the guards at City Hall and the practitioners became friends. They all came to sign their names on postcards; sometimes they also helped practitioners to pass out Dafa materials. Before the practitioners left, a staff member came to shake hands with us, and said he felt the exhibition was very successful and thanked us for holding it.
(Clearwisdom.net) On October 5, 2002 local practitioners participated in the City of Ames Multicultural Festival, a showcase of eastern and western cultures. The organizer asked our booth to distribute a map of China poster to visitors of our booth and we gladly accepted the request. During the festival we introduced Falun Dafa to the visitors and many people learned of Dafa's magnificence and the Jiang regime's abuse of Falun Gong practitioners' human rights. Many people were already aware of the persecution in China, but most of them did not know the details. We also met some Chinese people, and they were willing to talk with us, read the information on the exhibition board and accept Dafa information. A lady from China said she worked in a university in China. She knew many people who practice Falun Gong who had received advanced educations. She felt disgusted with the persecution in China. A student said he had received truth-clarifying materials in the mail and that he had read the flyer. We are happy to see more and more Chinese people coming to know the truth and our efforts in previous years having positive effects.
(clearwisdom.net) On October 5, 2002, practitioners attended the annual Hobo Day Parade in the city of Brookings, South Dakota.
During the process of applying for participating in and preparing for the parade, practitioners kept righteous thoughts in mind, cooperated with each other in a harmonious way and formed one whole entity. According to the weather forecast two days before the parade, it would rain on October 5 and the temperature would drop to the lowest mark over that period of time. Practitioners continuously sent forth righteous thoughts to eliminate the interference. It was still cloudy and very cold before the parade began. However, right before the practitioners' float began its procession, the dark clouds disappeared. The warm sunshine splashed onto the practitioners' faces and the weather remained beautiful during the parade. The practitioners' bright, beautiful float won rounds upon rounds of applause and cheers.
(Clearwisdom.net)
Practitioners Exchange Insights
Suggestions from fellow practitioners in China about producing truth clarifying CDs: Please keep using the high quality CDs to ensure high quality picture and sound. The contents of each CD should focus on the important facts, have easy to read subtitles, attract audiences, and be thoroughly put together. The package of each CD should take into consideration everyday people's perspective; please do not only think from a practitioner's viewpoint.
A new practitioner's understanding of righteous thoughts and deeds: Some practitioners have suffered long-term intensive labor and torture in labor camps. In my opinion, the best way to prevent police from committing this kind of crime is to firmly resist every arrangement by the evil. In brainwashing classes, there are opportunities for practitioners to either walk out with ease or come out after suffering many tribulations. Some people think that it is better to come out from the class after passing many "tests." Therefore they dare not or are unwilling to walk out even when they have the opportunity. Our Teacher does not recognize the tests arranged by the evil. As practitioners, we should not recognize them either. We can walk out from the class whenever we have the chance; forming a whole body among practitioners does not necessarily have to be maintained on the surface. Sometimes it is important not to contact each other for safety reasons.
At the crucial historic moment of the Fa rectifying the human world, it is extremely important to try our best to let more Chinese people come to know the truth. Through chatting, I bring the truth to people on the other end with a practitioner's compassion and pure kindness. From the perspective of "Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance" being closely related to everyone's life, I tell Chinese people Dafa is wonderful by using different means such as telling little stories and singing songs. No matter what method we take to tell the truth, we all should show our great compassion as Dafa practitioners and always think of others.
(Clearwisdom.net)
Recently, the Jiang regime admitted its failure to suppress Falun Gong once again in public through self-contradictory speeches. As this regime has been good at fabricating its history, is it covering up its inability to eradicate Falun Gong and its impotence in attempting to control Falun Gong by blaming Taiwan?
Taiwan Daily reported on September 29th that the Jiang government's Taiwan office news official, Zhang Mingqing, spoke directly to Taiwan in a press conference, demanding that Taiwan forbid Falun Gong followers from attacking the SINOSAT 2A, 3A and 6A switches, which he claimed interrupted Chinese satellite television signals. He seriously reprimanded the Taiwanese government for not taking seriously the hacking of TV signals. However, Zhu Rongji, China's Prime Minister, expressed openly in an international media press conference that the persecution of Falun Gong is a domestic matter and that other countries are not allowed to intervene. This is in direct contrast to their current demand for Taiwan's help. Are they openly looking forward to Taiwan's involvement in their domestic matters? It seems that they need to redefine what "domestic matter" means, as it is such an all-encompassing term. It also seems that the Jiang regime will gain little from using up so much energy to eradicate this spiritual group, which has become such a strong global force that he is forced to require other countries' assistance to suppress it.
The first issue is to ascertain whether the satellite was hacked from Taiwan or not. Next, one then would see if it were done by Falun Gong followers or not. As soon as Taiwan telecommunication officials received the news, Taiwan initiated extensive searches (twice on Yangming Mountain), but they did not find any evidence of hacking.
Furthermore, the director of the Taiwan Falun Gong Association, Chang Ching-hsi, stated that Taiwan Falun Gong practitioners had nothing to do with this incident. However, since the Jiang regime is blocking information and suppressing Falun Gong, he expressed his thanks to whoever did the interception. He also pointed out that the Jiang government has no evidence showing who did it. Their intention is to fabricate allegations to attack Falun Gong.
The Jiang regime has been good at fabricating its history. Does it intend to cover up its lack of ability to eliminate Falun Gong or control Falun Gong by blaming Taiwan? To be honest, it is very possible.
Original article date: 09/30/02
October 10, 2002
(Clearwisdom.net) What happens if I report the views of politicians advocating
independence for Taiwan? What if I publish the contents of a speech of a
prominent Chinese leader before it's officially released? What if I report on
the death of a prominent leader or a top-level government reshuffle prior to an
official announcement?
These are the concerns of a senior reporter in Hong Kong who reports on China
affairs, in the wake of the Hong Kong government's announcement in September of
proposals to implement new national-security laws. Many journalists feel the
same. Many newspapers -- some that would have been expected to take a more
pro-government line -- have expressed similar fears.
The government's consultation document identifies several offenses, including
treason, sedition, secession, subversion and the theft of state secrets. Some
are re-workings of existing offenses; others -- primarily secession and
subversion -- are new offenses. The government is under an obligation to enact
such offenses under Article 23 of Hong Kong's constitution, the Basic Law.
Two areas in the consultation document could have a devastating effect on media
freedom -- sedition and the theft of state secrets. Other offenses could have a
lesser impact on publications. There is also considerable unease about proposals
to grant the police additional powers of search and seizure without first
obtaining a court warrant.
The sedition offense strikes at the very heart of media freedoms. Some lawyers
and civil rights groups argue that the offense is antiquated; that it is no
longer needed. The government argues that the fundamental national-security
interests and the stability of the state may sometimes be seriously endangered
by verbal or written communications.
The government bends over backwards to argue that its new sedition offense will
not have an onerous effect on the media. Its consultation document states, "(t)he
crux lies in striking a balance between proscribing . . . highly damaging
communications and protecting the freedom of expression."
It argues that the mere reporting of views will not be criminalized unless it
incites others to commit treason, secession or subversion, or causes violence or
public disorder that seriously endangers the stability of China or Hong Kong.
The maximum penalty is harsh -- life imprisonment.
Further, the paper proposes an offense of dealing with seditious publications.
This covers the whole range of publishing activities: printing, selling,
distributing, importing and exporting. An element of knowledge and reasonable
suspicion is involved in the offense, and a defense of "reasonable excuse" is
provided. The penalty is seven years --substantially higher than under the
pre-1997 colonial law that is now in effect.
The government argues that its proposals are in line with the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which is enshrined in the Basic Law. But
many journalists worry that in more controversial areas -- Taiwan, Tibet,
Chinese dissidents, Falun Gong -- they could fall through the cracks in the law.
And the rub is that critics do not know the exact wording of the law, because no
draft is provided.
The Hong Kong Journalists Association and other civil-rights groups argue that
the law must be tightened, to ensure that no abuse can take place. There is
extreme suspicion about what they consider to be the vague nature of the
offenses, despite the government adding safeguards aimed at easing their
worries. This suspicion is exacerbated by the impression that a deal has been
done between the governments in Beijing and Hong Kong about the nature of the
offenses. The two sides have admitted that they have held discussions on the
issue. Hong Kong's secretary for security, Regina Ip, went so far as to admit
that they had reached a consensus to have laws in place by July of next year,
when the current Legislative Council session ends.
As a defense mechanism, civil-rights groups are rallying around a document
called the Johannesburg Principles on National Security, Freedom of Expression
and Access to Information. These guidelines, drawn up in South Africa in Oct.
1995, state that expression can be punished only if there is an intention to
incite violence, a strong likelihood of violence and a direct and immediate
connection between the expression and the risk of violence.
These principles are considered to be at the more liberal end of interpretation
of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights á-- so much so that
the Hong Kong government already appears to have shot them down. It says in its
consultation document that they "are not yet widely accepted international
norms."
The solicitor-general, Bob Allcock, goes further, quoting human-rights
commentator Sandra Coliver as saying that some of the Johannesburg Principles
are "more protective of freedom of expression than widely accepted international
norms." Given the widespread fears among journalists and human-rights advocates,
as well as the democratic deficit in Hong Kong, this is precisely what the Hong
Kong government should be aiming for in drafting national security laws.
The other area of grave concern for journalists is the section in the
consultation document dealing with the theft of state secrets. The term itself
prompts considerable fear among journalists. Several journalists and other
activists are now serving lengthy jail terms in China for leaking state secrets.
The most recent person to suffer was AIDS activist Wan Yanhai, who was accused
of leaking a report on a blood-transfusion scandal in Henan province. He was
lucky. He was released from detention after his case was highlighted in the
overseas media.
Hong Kong's Official Secrets Ordinance is based on a British law, which deals
with spying and the unauthorized disclosure of information in six major areas --
including security and defense, international relations, the commission of
offenses and criminal investigations. While the prosecution has to prove harm in
some cases, there is no public-interest or prior-publication defenses. These are
essential for the protection of journalists who obtain sensitive information.
The government's consultation document proposes new offenses, including the
addition of a new category on "information relating to relations between the
central authorities of the PRC and the HKSAR." The addition of this new
category, covering relations between Beijing and Hong Kong, is disturbing. The
relationship between the sovereign and its special administrative region is of
utmost importance to how Hong Kong is run. Indeed, the government gives away
very little information about this. It is simply too sensitive.
For example, people know very little about the nature of the consultations
between Beijing and Hong Kong over national-security offenses, apart from the
fact that they did take place, and apparently the two sides reached a consensus
to enact the new laws by July 2003. Yet there are strong public-interest reasons
for knowing more about how the two sides are conducting business. For example,
people are asking whether Beijing and Hong Kong have agreed on the nature of the
new offenses.
Yet if a journalist were to obtain information about such issues, then once the
new law is enacted he or she could be prosecuted for disclosing protected
information. Without a strong public-interest defense, a journalist would be
extremely vulnerable to government action.
These fears are genuinely held by human-rights groups and journalists, yet the
government keeps stating the mantra: Don't worry, we will provide sufficient
safeguards in the law, once it is published early next year. Yet, the reality is
that the critics cannot be sure about the effect of such provisions until they
see them in black and white.
This is why critics say it is vital to have a second round of consultation on
the wording of the law itself. Many politicians, lawyers and human rights
activists have made this call. The former chief secretary for administration,
Anson Chan -- the so-called "conscience of Hong Kong" -- has made a similar
call. Yet the government has rejected further consultation.
Once the new laws come into effect, the question then arises as to whether the
government will use them sparingly. It will probably depend on the extent of
pressure from Beijing and its friends in Hong Kong. If there is an outcry from
pro-Beijing elements, then the secretary for justice will probably feel a need
to take action. That in turn will set precedents for future action.
Ironically, though, the greatest danger might come from the chilling effect the
new laws have on the media. There has already been a definite trend toward
self-censorship in areas that are sensitive to China. These include Taiwan,
Tibet, Falun Gong, mainland dissidents and the inner workings and personnel
matters relating to state and party leadership. Many media organizations feel it
is just not worth the trouble of carrying out their own investigations into such
matters.
This trend is likely to be exacerbated once the new national-security offenses
come into effect. Publications and broadcasters will shy away from conducting
their own interviews with Taiwan leaders or overseas-based Chinese dissidents.
That -- at the end of the day -- is likely to be the greatest impact of the new
laws.