By Hong Kong Dafa Practitioners

(Clearwisdom.net) Practitioners in Hong Kong recently had a discussion regarding the "anti-subversion" law; they realized that we, as one body, need to clearly recognize that this is a serious persecution of Dafa. Teacher said that when we are facing persecution, we should clarify the truth. Therefore, we should comprehensively understand the consultation document about the Article 23 legislation as well as recognize the concerned officials' lies disguised as kindness. After analyzing their "logic," we can clarify the truth to the Hong Kong residents. The following is our understanding of this persecution, which we share here with fellow Dafa practitioners around the world.

Consultation Document Regarding Article 23 Legislation

Article 23 is the Basic Law established in 1987 by China and Britain. It forms the foundation of Hong Kong's laws after Britain's secession. According to Hong Kong Legislative Council member Szeto Wah, after the June 4, 1989 incident, the central government added two items to Article 23:

1. One must not criticize Communist Party leaders.
2. One must not have contact with foreign political organizations.

The Relationship Between Hong Kong's Legislation and Official Persecution

The 100 years of British rule in Hong Kong was carried out following the letter of the law. Hong Kong citizens are very knowledgeable about their laws. The central government also promised the world it would allow "one country, two systems." Therefore, Falun Gong is still legal in Hong Kong. If China wants to officially persecute Falun Gong in Hong Kong, legislation would be a reasonable choice. The careless passing of the law regarding high-ranking official responsibility and the Anti-terrorism Law paved the path for the adoption of Article 23 and showed that the central government has a hidden agenda and is covertly manipulating everything happening in Hong Kong.

Unusual Persecution

This persecution is different from the previous one (referring to the 16 practitioners who were convicted for "obstruction"); they want to completely ban us this time. This would seriously affect our ability to clarify the truth.

The Persecution Has Already Begun

This persecution is insidious in that it has already quietly begun, although there is no overt significant change. As soon as the legislation is passed, the evil will act immediately. We have clearly seen the "impartiality" of Hong Kong's legal system through the trial of the 16 Falun Gong practitioners in the obstruction conviction. Some people would surely copy China's attitude: "If you are out to condemn somebody, you can always trump up a charge under the flag of the law."

Some practitioners say that if Hong Kong's environment became like that of China, we would have to continue doing what we should do. Of course, as Dafa practitioners we will definitely follow our own paths. However, I realize that this persecution is not necessary. If Hong Kong became like China, it would be because we allowed the evil to use our loopholes and it would be a great loss for Dafa.

The Truth Clarification Must Be Precise

After realizing that the persecution has begun, Dafa practitioners as a whole body should clarify the truth to all levels of society, the media, and the international community and thereby destroy the old force's arrangements. Our clarifying the truth exposes the evil and alerts the Hong Kong people and media. From their point of view, we need to explain the significance of this legislation for Hong Kong's future so that people can understand and accept.

Actually, many Hong Kong residents don't care about the legislation or don't know about the pending legislation. I once asked a taxi driver his opinion about the legislation and he replied that he did not have a clear understanding of it. I explained that this legislation allows officials to bring the Chinese system to Hong Kong. Then I briefly told him the truth about Falun Gong. I said, "You must care about this law even if you do not care about other laws, since there will be no human life without democracy."

This experience made me realize that in order to expose the evil, we must be precise so that the evil has nowhere to hide. During a news conference, Hong Kong Legislative Council member Szeto Wah called upon the Hong Kong residents not to be discouraged and feel that legislation is an imperative from the government. He encouraged the residents to actively express their opinions in order to bring attention to the matter both locally and internationally. Then, even if the legislation is passed, the government won't carelessly enforce the law, charge people, or sentence people. I think that if someone in everyday society understands the effect of clarifying the truth, Dafa practitioners should be even more aware.

Clarifying the Truth Itself Is Eliminating the Evil, Dafa Practitioners As a Whole Must Come To This Understanding So That the Evil Finds No Loopholes

I recently came to understand why our sending forth righteous thoughts and clarifying the truth seemed to have no effect before this persecution started and why the persecution occurred. It happened because we didn't upgrade our level as a whole body. When the persecution came, individual practitioners who realized what was happening did many things. However there was no communication shared by all practitioners so practitioners as a whole body were not clear about the persecution from the principles of Dafa. This left the evil a reason to act. If we all had a clear understanding from within the Fa and understood, supported, and treated each other kindly, the evil would have no means to persecute us and Teacher; the Buddhas, Taos, and Gods would have helped us if need be.

Treat Other Practitioners Kindly

Having a common understanding, as a whole body does not mean that everyone will do the same things or use the same methods. When the persecution comes, after realizing it from the perspective of the Fa and coming to the same understanding, we can do what we should do according to our abilities and the methods that we understand. We cannot judge others by our own standards.

Many factors have complicated things. How can we say that our ideas are better than those of others? Even when we truly know that we are right and others are wrong, if others insist on using their ideas after discussing the idea in a group , we should not forget to eliminate the disturbance for others and continue to treat each other with compassion and tolerance. If we all know the importance of tolerating others and just do it, the evil will die. Dafa is in perfect harmony. The problem is whether every one of us considers Dafa first versus holding on to our individual "correct" opinions. There may be several ways to achieve a good result. When facing different opinions, can everyone calmly assess whether someone's ideas are good and whether their ideas may be even better than our own? Every practitioner needs to truly cultivate his/her self in order to upgrade. Practitioners' understanding, compassion, and tolerance towards others are very important. The upgrading of understanding from within the Fa by practitioners as a whole body is the key to completely rejecting the old force's arrangements.

Posting date: 10/15/2002
Original article date: 10/15/2002
Category: Practitioners' Insights
Translated on 10/7/2002
Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2002/10/1/37361.html

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