Persistent in Sending Righteous Thoughts to Eliminate Evil Elements
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[Clearwisdom.net] Daylight Saving Time in North America ended at 2:00 AM on October 27, 2002. At 2:00 AM EDT on October 27, the clock should have been turned back one hour. Please take care to adjust the time for sending forth righteous thoughts in your area.
Starting today (Sunday, October 27), the set times for sending forth righteous thoughts simultaneously around the world 4 times daily are: 5:00 AM, 11:00 AM, 5:00 PM and 11:00 PM EST (New York Time). Every Saturday's set times for sending forth righteous thoughts 3 times are: 4:00 PM, 5:00 PM and 6:00 PM EST (New York Time). Practitioners in other areas should adjust their schedules accordingly. For practitioners in areas that are affected by Daylight Savings Time, please remind each other of the time change.
Mainland China is not affected by Daylight Savings Time, so there is no need to adjust the schedule.
(Clearwisdom.net) I just read the article, " Let's Be Persistent in Sending Forth Righteous Thoughts Until the Evil Elements are Completely Cleared Away," posted on October 26 on Clearwisdom.net and thought it was very helpful and well done. Reading it, I recalled something that happened during the period of worldwide activities of sending forth righteous thoughts. I feel I should address it, as it has to do with how people get so "busy" at crucial times, like in Texas, that they neglect Fa-study, even to a startling extent.
When I noticed some of the practitioners I was with who were heavily involved in planning and coordinating, etc., getting badly interfered with physically (coughing, congestion, etc.) I began to inquire of them a little and try to help figure out what was going on. They were sending loads of righteous thoughts, yet still having all that interference.
I was surprised to learn that they hadn't studied the Fa "for days," as one person put it, and "for a while" as another person put it. Another coordinator, who I noticed seemed very irritable and anxious, and not able to discuss planning calmly, said that she too hadn't studied for days, but just laughed about it and seemed to consider it trivial compared to all the things that were left to do. I pointed out to them the seriousness of maintaining Fa-study at such crucial times, and a couple of them began to address it to some extent. I told one person that he probably shouldn't go to any more meetings unless he studied first, and afterwards he was surprised at the positive difference in himself and was grateful.
They still spent too much time making calls, planning all sorts of meetings, and doing all sorts of various busy-type things that I could see really just weren't necessary or even important; but their judgment seemed to be off, and they couldn't see it clearly, probably because of their lack of Fa-study. I know that when my Fa-study even just declines in quality or quantity, let alone doesn't happen, my decisions are not as good, my thinking is less clear, my wisdom is restrained, and so on.
In addition, they hadn't been doing the exercises for a while, either, which is also a part of our cultivation.
I've noticed this a lot at other big events where planning and coordination are involved. It always pains my heart--the losses seem pretty apparent and directly connected. One other example: some practitioners forgot about studying and some basics of Fa-rectification cultivation while preparing for May 13 celebrations this year, and spent countless hours and days creating and preparing their costumes for the celebration performances, which it turned out very few non-practitioners came to see due to bad weather (and undoubtedly other related factors). Afterwards they regretted it much, but it was too late to change.
Of course, there is another issue of how to make full use of the power of being one body. If only a few coordinators take on all the work themselves -- heavy or trivial -- though their act is admirable, the result may not be what they hoped to see or meet the objective requirements of Fa-rectification. If all practitioners consider doing "what I think I should do" or "what I consider important," then instead of being based on the bigger picture, with rational, clear-headed judgments being made on the overall Fa-rectification and the objective need of the general coordination of Dafa work, the bulk of the workload may fall on only a few practitioners. As a result, many practitioners may not be able to perform their respective true roles in this play.
In all the above cases, practitioners truly had the heart for helping out, validating Dafa and saving beings, etc.. In each of our previous events, what we were doing became to some extent ordinary human work or activities, without focusing on or somehow missing what were the real determining factors to our work's "success". Due to the time constraints, this article can only address some of the problems relating to poor Fa-study. The key point for sharing is: only by studying the Fa well can we make sound judgments based on the objective needs of the overall picture of Fa-rectification and coordination of Dafa work. In order to meet the Fa-rectification's requirements and to have a pure heart when doing Dafa work, we must integrate our work and cultivation and stand on the Fa at all times.
(Clearwisdom.net) Every night from October 22 to 27, Austrian practitioners gather in front of the Chinese Embassy in Vienna to peacefully appeal and send forth righteous thoughts to purge the evil factors in other dimension that controlled the persecution against Falun Gong.
(Clearwisdom.net) Falun Dafa practitioners from Hong Kong and Macao gathered in Standard Garden to practice the Falun Gong exercises and send forth righteous thoughts together from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. on October 25, 2002. They called on all just people of the world to work together to end Jiang's persecution against Falun Gong.
(Clearwisdom.net) During the evil head's visit to Texas, Falun Dafa practitioners from around the world came to Houston to appeal, calling for a halt to the irrational persecution and suppression of Falun Gong in China. On October 24, 2002, upon knowing that the evil head was going to visit the George Bush Presidential Library at Texas A&M University, the four of us drove from Houston to the university to join the group appeal.
On the way to Texas A&M University, heavy dark clouds covered the entire sky, with light rain sprinkling down. When we were about twenty minutes away from our destination, the light rain suddenly became a heavy downpour. The sky was almost as dark as at dusk, and visibility was very poor. We could barely see three feet ahead of us. At that time, all four of us felt the evil force running rampant. Practitioner A was sending forth righteous thoughts and said he felt difficulty in releasing his supernormal capabilities. Just then, practitioner B, from his past experience, began playing an audiotape of Teacher's lectures. Immediately, practitioner A felt enormous energy emitting from his fingertips all the way up to the sky. Due to the evil's interference, practitioner C felt drowsy whenever he closed his eyes, so he sent forth righteous thoughts with eyes open. Practitioner D was interfered with to such a degree that he closed his eyes. Though in his mind he was still resisting, thinking that he must resist this interference by sending forth righteous thoughts, he still fell asleep. Very soon, practitioner A realized this was the evil force's interference and awakened practitioner D, who was in the back seat. We summoned up the best in ourselves and sent forth righteous thoughts together. Within a few minutes, the rain weakened and the sky became clearer and brighter. When we arrived at Texas A&M University, it was only raining lightly.
Through this experience, we realized that during the evil force's final, frantic struggles, we must maintain strong righteous thoughts at every moment in order to defeat its interference. Moreover, it is also critical that practitioners should remind, support and cooperate with each other.
Saturday, October 19, 2002
It is not a religion
Members of Falun Gong or Falun Dafa, an ancient Chinese practice, will peacefully demonstrate against the prohibition of this discipline by their government
By Fernando Castillo Dominguez
Members of Falun Gong or Falun Dafa, an ancient Chinese cultural practice, consisting of meditation techniques and exercises, explained the way the Chinese communist government had violently prohibited this life philosophy through repression, imprisonment and even death. Next week at the APEC meetings at Los Cabos, they will peacefully request the participating countries to speak against the position of the Chinese government.
Falun Gong followers emphasized it is not a religion but a philosophy, similar to Tai-Chi. They practice the virtues of truthfulness, compassion and tolerance, which has expanded to more than 50 countries around the world, even though the practice was prohibited by the Jiang Zemin's Chinese government. In the American continent, it is practiced from Argentina to Canada.
In a press conference, practitioners of this philosophy informed yesterday they arrived a few weeks ago to Los Cabos, where they have started the teaching of this practice, especially in San Jos del Cabo and Cabo San Lucas.
Due to the aggression and repression received from the Chinese government, where Falun Gong has originated, [the practitioners] have requested almost all the countries in the world to speak against these measures, and in Los Cabos, they will do the same.
When asked if they will demonstrate at the APEC meeting, where the economies of Asia - Pacific will participate, they responded that [practitioners] from many countries will arrive at Los Cabos and will exercise in parks, gardens and public spaces as a way of protest.
They made clear that they do not support violent demonstrations, do not participate in actions against globalization, do not favor any party, they only pursue the free practice of Falun Gong, especially in China, where the prohibition continues and where hundreds of practitioners are imprisoned or concentrated in isolated zones for forced labor.
Through this medium, they invite all the inhabitants of Los Cabos to learn this new philosophy that arrived last year in Mexico, which is practiced at the Mijares Square and Amelia Wilkes Square. It is free of charge and no age or religious faith matters.
They recognized that in Mexico they have been warmly welcomed, same as in the United States or Canada. They hope the practice of Falun Gong will spread rapidly and hope to receive the support of the government of this country to oppose the actions launched by the Chinese government.
Alberto Cabezas, EFE - 10/26/2002
LOS CABOS, Baja California Sur - As leaders began arriving for the Asia-Pacific summit, supporters of Falun Gong demonstrated Friday in this Mexican resort town to protest Beijing's harsh repression of the [movement].
Around 20 people gathered in Los Cabos to protest the Chinese government's persecution of Falun Gong, which supporters of the spiritual movement have likened to small-scale genocide, pointing out that tens of thousands of its [practitioners] in China have been killed or imprisoned.
"We want (Chinese) President Jiang Zemin to end the persecution against religious groups," said Lourdes Noriega, a Mexican living in San Francisco, who participated in the demonstration near the row of luxurious resorts in Los Cabos.
Jiang was expected to arrive in Los Cabos on Saturday to take part in the two-day summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.
Without disturbances or fanfare, the demonstrators went through the Falun Gong routine of traditional breathing exercises and demanded world leaders take note of the plight of their movement's followers in China.
Noriega told EFE the protest was aimed at criticizing the Chinese government's repression, which has led to at least 500 deaths of jailed Falun Gong practitioners since Beijing declared the movement illegal in 1999.
Considered an [...] by the Chinese government, Falun Gong was declared illegal by President Jiang after an official investigation found that 100 million people subscribed to the group's beliefs, outnumbering members of the Communist Party.
Noriega said 100,000 Falun Gong followers have been detained by the Chinese government, whether in jails, mental institutions or forced labor camps.
"Many have been tortured," Noriega said, explaining that followers of the movement do not consider Falun Gong a religion, but rather a discipline.
She stressed however, that members are persecuted in China because of their beliefs, in the same manner as Tibetan Buddhists and some Christian denominations.
Noriega said Falun Gong is based on an ancient practice - similar to Tai Chi or yoga - in which practitioners strive for balance through exercises and the teachings of Master Li Hongzhi, who made the movement public in 1992.
The exercises, which sparked the curiosity of Mexican motorists driving by the Friday protest, can last up to two hours per day, but each practitioner is encouraged to adapt their own routines to channel the universal energy from nature into their lives.
Fidel Barrera, an Ecuadorian resident of New York who follows Master Li's teachings, said Mexican authorities did not hassle demonstrators.
"We haven't had any problems with immigration authorities. Jiang Zemin has a black list for travelers, but we haven't had any difficulties in Mexico because they know we are peaceful people," Barrera said.
According to unofficial reports, Falun Gong has some 60 regular practitioners in Mexico City, a number that doubles after taking into account those who follow the spiritual movement without strict adherence.
http://www.thenewsmexico.com/noticia.asp?id=38423
Saturday, October 19, 2002
Persecuted in China by Jiang's regime
San Jose del Cabo.- Due to the APEC [Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation] meeting to be held in Los Cabos from the 21st to 27th of this month, a large number of Falun Gong or Falun Dafa practitioners from different countries are arriving in Los Cabos to bring awareness to the international community about this practice and about the devastating effects of the persecution, launched by the leader of the Chinese Communist Party, Jiang Zemin. The persecution's effects are in the fundamental fiber of the entire Chinese society and its policy for future participation in the world and trade interactions with Mexico.
Francis Madore, Elizabeth Chung, Axtli Yiang, Martha Lyszyk and Fernan Chon, all Falun Dafa practitioners, arrived in Los Cabos from Canada, Panama, Argentina and China, [to help world leaders and local residents] to get to know the goodness of Falun Dafa. Falun Dafa, which is a spiritual practice and has gentle exercises, is rooted in traditional Chinese culture with its principle of Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance, the essence of all life and matter, and teaches its practitioners to become kinder people. More people join daily to practice in many countries of the world, and also bring awareness to an international issue that is having a devastating effect on the fundamental fiber of the entire Chinese society and its policy for future participation in the world and trade interactions with Mexico.
In a press conference conducted yesterday, they revealed that the leader of the Communist Party, Jiang Zemin, ordered the brutal and illegal prohibition of the practice of Falun Gong or Falun Dafa, due to the unprecedented popularity that this practice had reached.
A massive persecution campaign against the teachings themselves was launched in China, they said, affecting around 100 million practitioners in that country whose only crime is their belief.
The severity of this persecution, they say, is difficult for people in free and democratic societies to grasp. Since July 20, 1999, China's current party leader has spent millions if not billions of Yuans to persecute Falun Dafa through a state-organized terror campaign designed to rip apart the essential human fabric and ethics of the entire society and nation. Practitioners have been denied all rights to appeal. Hundreds of thousands have been detained. Tens of thousands are sentenced to labor camps and mental hospitals. Practitioners are beaten, electrically shocked, sexually abused, and tortured to force them to renounce their practice.
They denounced the State controlled media broadcasts unending hate propaganda and lies about Falun Gong. [The broadcasts are attempting] to turn public opinion against the group and all media outlets inside and outside China that could reveal the truth have been sealed off.
China was condemned for spending millions upon millions of dollars and a staggering amount of man-hours dedicated to eliminate Falun Dafa while AIDS is affecting millions throughout the country and lacks an adequate assistance program.
Falun Dafa practitioners arrived in Los Cabos due to the APEC meeting to appeal to the world leaders, top businessmen and CEOs to "Join In One Voice" to stop the irrational persecution of Falun Dafa which deals with life and death [of millions], motivated by the quest of prestige and power from the leader of the Chinese Communist Party, Jiang Zemin.
As a matter of fact, they said, countries from around the world such as Canada and the United States have forcefully condemned the persecution by Jiang's regime against Falun Dafa practitioners and have extended their helping hands to rescue persecuted practitioners in China.
(Clearwisdom.net) Amnesty International and the National Autonomy University of Mexico sponsored an exhibition of traditional Chinese paintings by Zhang Cuiying in Mexico City on 21-23 October, before the APEC Summit.
Ms. Zhang Cuiying, world-renowned artist and citizen of Australia, has been a tireless ambassador for human rights since the conclusion of her eight-month, illegal incarceration in 4 different prisons for appealing the ban of Falun Gong in China.
After Amnesty International learned that Zhang Cuiying and other Falun Gong practitioners were being tortured in China, they became very concerned about the situation of human rights there. They hoped that by sponsoring Zhang Cuiying's painting exhibition in Mexico City before APEC they could help people understand more about Falun Gong and stop the persecution in China.
The inner beauty displayed in the paintings and the experience of Zhang Cuiying's persecution manifest the principles of Falun Dafa -- Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance -- and highlight the contrast between kindness and evil.
The practitioners held a "Peaceful Journey of Falun Dafa " photo exhibition at the same time.
(Clearwisdom.net)
According to a report by the Central News Agency, during his meeting with Jiang, President Bush emphasized that no nation should take advantage of counterterrorism to justify the suppression of peaceful expression of political opinions. He also urged that China free prisoners of conscience and give fair treatment to people of faith.
(Clearwisdom.net)
On October 23rd, 2002, RFA (Radio Free Asia) published a commentator's article. It said that this might be Jiang's final visit to the U.S. The Chinese media stated that it is the highest honor to have a barbeque at President Bush's Crawford ranch in Texas. He Yafei, the secretary for the Chinese department of foreign affairs in the U.S. said at a press conference that China and United States would soon publish a joint statement. Before Jiang's arrival, 13 large international enterprises from China and United States signed a contract amounting to US $4.7 billion in New York, securing Jiang's barbeque.
However, the White House immediately replied that there won't be a joint statement from President Bush and Jiang during their (meeting) at APEC. Furthermore, New York Times pointed out immediately that the propaganda from Beijing was exaggerated. Among the foreign dignitaries that President Bush received at his Crawford ranch, only Russian President Vladimir Putin and UK Prime Minister Blair stayed overnight. The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Abdallah spent 5 hours there with President Bush, and they had a formal meeting that lasted at least two hours. President Bush also drove a small truck himself to take the Putin couple around the ranch.
Compared to this, Jiang, as the head of a major world power, was rushed to leave only after one and a half hour's meeting with Bush, which seemed to rank him low amongst foreign dignitaries.
The first stop of Jiang's visit was Chicago. According to the media reports, his "welcoming group" had 400 - 500 people, but the protestors amounted to 1,000 people. Most of them were Falun Gong practitioners, but there were also human rights organizations, some Chinese democracy advocates, the U.S. Independent Federation of Chinese Students & Scholars in the United States (IFCSS), some Tibetan and Taiwanese etc. Jiang was so scared to see the protestors that he entered the hotel through the back door. This disappointed the "welcoming group," so the Chinese Consulate comforted them by promising to give them T-shirts, hats and travel allowances.
On the first day of Jiang's arrival, he was served with a lawsuit from the United States District Court of the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division that is located in Chicago. Falun Gong practitioners as plaintiffs sued Jiang as the Secretary General of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, for his crimes of human rights violations and genocide against Falun Gong practitioners since July 1999. According to incomplete statistics, over three years since July 20th, 1999, it has been verified that 505 Falun Gong practitioners have been tortured to death. According to the Chinese Communist's internal official statistics at the end of October 2001, the death of detained Falun Gong practitioners has amounted to at least 1,600. At least 6,000 practitioners were sentenced in the country. More than 100,000 practitioners were sent to forced labor camps, and more than 1,000 practitioners were forcibly sent to mental hospitals, where they have suffered from "treatments" damaging their central nervous systems. Countless practitioners were kidnapped and taken to local brainwashing classes, and tormented mentally there. Many people were brutally tortured, physically punished and financially blackmailed by the so-called law enforcement personnel. Of course, Jiang was not served the lawsuit directly for security reasons; rather, it was served to his security guards. This "highest honor," though, was plenty enough to cause him to lose a lot of face.
A display truck made by Chinese democracy advocates accused Jiang of selling land in Northern China attracted many Chinese people's attention. Some people from the "welcoming group" were holding their Chinese flags in their hands. When they saw this display truck, they were too shocked to hold up their Chinese flags.
In Texas, a very large group of protestors has terrified Jiang and his followers. On one hand, the Jiang group used various incentives to form the "welcoming group." On the other hand, they were worried that they could not control the situation. So they pressured the hotels nearby to cancel all the bookings by Chinese people, and they also asked the sponsors to send emails to the participants of the "welcoming group," requesting them to sign an agreement: "In consideration for this invitation, I agree to abide by the rules and regulations of the Welcoming Group. I also agree if any disturbances are caused by me (e.g. protest against the United States and/or President of China) to pay $5,000.00 as minimal damages for any harm that may result from such disturbances to the group's reputation." It seems that while Jiang claims to represent advanced productivity, advanced culture and the citizenry's welfare, he is still resorting to financial threats to maintain his support base.
October 25, 2002 They followed Jiang Zemin through Europe. They followed him to Iceland, and pretty soon they'll be following him through Mexico.
On Thursday, a crowd of drenched Falun Gong practitioners stood silently in the rain outside the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum, meditating to protest the Chinese president's arrival.
"You probably won't believe it, but wherever he goes the weather is like this," said Houston resident Yiyang Xia.
Yiyang has traveled to Falun Gong protests in Iceland, New York and Hong Kong. He is part of an international movement among Falun Gong followers to peacefully confront Jiang whenever he leaves China.
[...]
Since 1999, [...] many practitioners have been imprisoned and others have been tortured or killed, protesters said.
"We want to end the persecution - that's the only thing we're concerned with," Yiyang said. "We need every opportunity to appeal. Wherever he goes, we'll be there."
According to university police estimates, about 2,000 people trudged through the rain-soaked "free speech area" to protest Thursday as Jiang spoke inside with former President Bush.
[...]
"Everything went super - smooth as honey," said University Police Department Director Bob Wiatt. "The protesters and the supporters of the president were all well behaved."
About 250 officers from Texas A&M, College Station, Bryan, Brazos County and the Texas Department of Safety were on hand in case trouble occurred.
The only hitch, Wiatt said, was when about 200 Jiang well-wishers left their designated area to get a better view of the motorcade. But a mounted police unit led them back to the free-speech area.
"We were just so tickled," Wiatt said. "The Falun Gong people were very nice. They caused no disruption."
That wasn't surprising to Jared Pearman, a 22-year-old student from Florida who estimates he has traveled to a dozen countries to support Falun Gong. For the past few days he's been in College Station, passing out literature and talking to students on campus.
"This is how Falun Gong protests are," he said, standing among a crowd of people meditating. "Ninety-five percent of the people are silent."
Their presence is loud enough, he said.
"What Jiang Zemin fears the most is the world finding out what he is," Pearman said. "He wants to preserve his name in the international community. He's terrified to see us out here."
Many protesters said they will continue to follow Jiang throughout his four-day visit to the United States. They gathered in front of his hotel and at the Chinese Consulate in Houston and plan to stand outside President Bush's ranch Friday when Jiang visits him in Crawford.
Many protesters traveled from beyond the United States to participate in the protests. Organizers estimated that there were about 40 people in the crowd from Sweden, 400 from Taiwan and 170 from Australia.
"I think this is a very rare chance for me to appeal to him," said Sunataya Samkoses, who traveled from Thailand with a handful of others. "There we can't do that."
When local Falun Gong practitioners tried to hold an "experience sharing conference" in Thailand, China threatened to halt trading, she said.
Others had more personal stories of intimidation. Maria Salzman, a mother from Poland, told of a friend from China who was sentenced to 18 years in prison. The man was singled out because he had volunteered to bring a stereo to the group's exercise site, she said.
In addition to visiting Texas, Salzman said she has attended protests in the Baltics and in Tiananmen Square and has discussed the persecution of Falun Gong followers with the Polish president and the pope.
"I decided to use my mouth, because people in China cannot say anything," she said. "I do this because my conscience won't allow me not to."
http://www.theeagle.com/region/localregional/102502zemingong.htm
October 25, 2002, 9:20 a.m.
If I lived in China, the chances are overwhelming that I would have been tortured, imprisoned, or executed by now, for one reason only: I practice Falun Gong. I am neither a fanatic nor a political activist, I practice law, but Jiang Zemin would want me dead nonetheless. More than 100 million people like me have been persecuted, sent to jails, forced labor camps, and mental hospitals. In more than 100,000 cases, torture and coercion have resulted in death, which is often made to look like suicide.
Today Jiang will be President Bush's guest at his ranch in Crawford, Texas. The president should make clear to Jiang that his continuing persecution of persons who practice Falun Gong is vigorously condemned by the United States. And American religious leaders, intellectuals, and civil-rights advocates most of whom have been oddly silent about this persecution should join President Bush in sending that message to Jiang loudly and clearly.
Jiang has waged such an effective propaganda campaign against Falun Gong, not just in China, but in America as well that many Americans have no idea what Falun Gong is, and what it isn't. As someone who has adhered to its teachings for more than three years, I can tell you what it is not: It is not a religion, a cult, a sect, or a movement dependent on a single, charismatic leader. On the contrary, Falun Gong is a traditional Chinese spiritual discipline that includes sitting meditation in a double-lotus position and gentle exercises. It also involves universal moral principles "truthfulness, compassion, forbearance" and relates them to an individual's mental clarity and physical well-being. Perhaps the closest analogy that most Americans would understand would be to compare Falun Gong to Zen, yoga, and Tai Chi.
If Falun Gong is harmless, why is Jiang waging a virtual war against it? The answer lies in the numbers: 100 million people have started practicing Falun in a short span of 10 years. As of 1999, when Jiang announced its official persecution, more people practiced Falun Gong than belonged to the Chinese Communist party.
Since Jiang's rise to power in the 1990s, he has: established a top-down network of 610 offices to carry out his persecution orders; instructed Chinese police to shoot on sight and kill Falun Gong practitioners; directed immediate cremation of the badly bruised and electric-shocked bodies; encouraged torture and detention; promoted psychiatric injections and medical abuses; and pressured local officials and work units to spy on local Falun Gong practitioners and identify them for persecution.
The parallels to the former Soviet Union's treatment of dissidents are clear. But while those dissidents elicited great sympathy among Western intellectual circles, the plight of the Falun Gong does not seem to have caught on. This may be because Jiang has waged a successful propaganda campaign in the United States as well. Acting as tentacles of Jiang, the Xinhua News Agency, Chinese consuls, and representatives in the United States have been stirring fear with letters, videos, and booklets with which to bully American government and community leaders who support Falun Gong.
There is hope. On July 24, 2002, the House of Representatives unanimously passed House Concurrent Resolution 188 condemning Jiang's persecution of Falun Gong. But Jiang's campaign is gaining ground nevertheless. As he visits Crawford, Americans of good conscience must ask themselves whether they too are to fall for Jiang's anti-Falun Gong propaganda.
Lana S. Han practices law in New York.
http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/comment-han102502.asp
October 25, 2002
More than 1,500 Falun Gong practitioners silently meditated and held signs while nearly 1,000 pro-China demonstrators waving Chinese flags held banners welcoming President Jiang Zemin to the George Bush Presidential Library Complex Thursday morning.
The two groups were separated by 50 feet and confined by 3-foot-high metal barriers while police looked on during Jiang's brief visit to College Station. Zemin arrived from Houston at 11 a.m. in a large motorcade and departed around 2 p.m.
The torrential downpour and lightning overhead did not affect attendance, though lack of parking and transportation prevented some Falun Gong protestors from arriving, said Jared Pearman, an informal Falun Gong organizer and a student at the University of Central Florida.
Pearman was one of many out-of-state protesters. Other protesters came from as far away as Boston, Maine, Vancouver and Poland.
[...]
Pearman said he participated in a protest in China in February that let him see Chinese oppression firsthand.
"The police hate you so much, it's hard to keep thinking straight," he said. "The Falun Gong practitioners in China must be so strong."
[...]
Bob Wiatt, Director of the University Police Department (UPD), said there was only one incident with the protesters, just before Jiang left.
Wiatt said 200 pro-China supporters left the barricades and headed toward Jiang's motorcade to welcome him. The horse patrol followed them, turned them around, and marched them back to the protesters' area, Wiatt said.
"The well-wishers just wanted to wave to their president, but they shouldn't have left the marked-off area," he said.
More than 250 police and authorities, not including the Secret Service protecting Jiang and former President George Bush, were on site Thursday. The UPD, Bryan and College Station police departments, the Brazos County Sheriff's Office, and the Texas Department of Public Safety comprised the ground force.
"Other than the weather, the day was completely idyllic," Wiatt said. "The Falun Gong protesters were very well-behaved."
The mounted patrol had a total of 15 police officers from San Antonio and Galveston as well as UPD, Wiatt said.
Jiang will meet with President George W. Bush Friday at Bush's Crawford ranch.
http://www.thebatt.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2002/10/25/3db9a7e53f4e1
25 October, 2002 18:17 GMT+08:00
LOS CABOS, Mexico (Reuters) - A Japanese man pleaded on Thursday for the release of his Chinese-born wife, jailed in a labour camp in China for publicizing the Falun Gong, a spiritual movement banned by Beijing's communist rulers.
Atsushi Kaneko said he had flown to this remote luxury resort on Mexico's Baha peninsula to publicize his cause at a weekend gathering of leaders of 21 Pacific Rim countries attending the annual Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.
"I have travelled thousands of miles from Japan to be here," Kaneko said. "The reason for my coming here is to ask more people to help rescue my wife from torture in a labour camp in China."
Just this week, the movement said it had sued Chinese President Jiang Zemin in a U.S. court for his alleged role in the jailing of the group's followers.
Kaneko said he visited his wife, Yoko, in August in a Chinese labour camp where she is serving an 18-month term. "Not only has she lost weight, but I could see she was suffering mentally," he said.
Yoko disappeared in May on a visit to her parents and Kaneko said her family later learned she had been arrested for publicizing the Falun Gong.
"She was slow and quiet, not even able to fix her eyes on me," Kaneko said. "I could not help wondering if she could survive the 18 months' labour camp life and come back to Japan alive."
Mexican highway police watched but took no action as about 20 seated demonstrators, some wearing their trademark yellow T-shirts printed with the slogan "China -- Free the jailed Falun Gong practitioners," sat cross-legged by the side of the road, their hands pressed together in meditation.
1,600 FEARED DEAD
The demonstrators said they planned to continue their roadside vigil until after Jiang's arrival later on Friday.
Falun Gong's U.S.-based information centre said on Tuesday it had filed a suit in an Illinois court and handed Jiang's guards a legal complaint in Chicago, where he was visiting ahead of a meeting with U.S. President George W. Bush in Texas on Friday.
[...]
The activists staging the demonstration on the outskirts of the smart resort town of Cabo San Lucas at the tip of Mexico's Baja California peninsula unfurled banners in Spanish reading "Truth, Compassion, Tolerance", and "The Falun Gong is good".
[...]
Activists have urged Bush to press Jiang on human rights when the two leaders meet in Crawford, Texas on Friday.
Analysts say Bush is expected to soft-pedal on the sensitive issue to secure China's acquiescence to U.S. plans for possible military action against Iraq.
http://asia.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=topnews&StoryID=1633030
October 16, 2002
Dear Ms. Gamrecki:
Thank you for your letters to the Department concerning Falun Gong practitioners in China. We are of course deeply concerned about China's human rights record. This Administration is making an enormous effort to bring about change in China and in other countries that continue to oppress people seeking to exercise their right to free speech, religion and assembly.
The U.S. has repeatedly called on China to permit the free exercise of religion in China and has raised the issue of human rights violations in China in numerous international forums and in direct discussions with Chinese officials. The U.S. State Department's report on human rights practices of 2001 notes the intense repression of Falun Gong, the deaths of 200 practitioners of Falun Gong in detention and the efforts to "re-educate" practitioners.
President George W. Bush is strongly committed to democracy, human rights, religious freedom and worker rights. These values define who we are and we will continue to promote these universal values.
Sincerely,
Michael Magan
Associate Deputy Under Secretary
(Clearwisdom.net) Members of the Canadian Parliament wrote letters to Prime Minister Jean Chretien, asking him to raise the Falun Gong issue at the upcoming APEC forum in Mexico and asking him to express Canada's strong opposition to the violation of human rights in China.
Below are two of these letters.
October 21, 2002
The Honourable Jean Chr tien
Prime Minister
House of Commons
309-S, Centre Block
Ottawa, K1A 0A6
Dear Prime Minister,
I write to you in anticipation of the upcoming APEC summit to express my concerns, and those of many of my constituents, about the on-going persecution, torture and imprisonment of Falun Gong practitioners in China. I have, along with other MPs, raised this issue with your government on previous occasions, and urged you to express Canada's strong opposition to the denial of basic human rights in China.
Mr. Prime Minister, trade is important, but surely the upholding of human rights must be our most important priority both as a government and as Canadians. Right now there are 12 practitioners imprisoned who have families in Canada, and thousands of others who are being persecuted on the basis of their beliefs.
I believe Canada has a duty and responsibility to speak out in the International Community and in forums such as APEC, and voice our condemnation of these Human Rights violations. Amnesty International, a well-respected and independent organization, has thoroughly documented these massive violations by China, and we need to back up this information and what it represents, by clearly speaking out.
I urge you to use the APEC summit as a venue to raise these serious issues. We can no longer afford the unilateral thinking that trade is separate from the quality of human life.
I thank you for considering my concerns and hope sincerely that you will display the leadership and compassion that Canadians are so desperate for.
Yours Sincerely,
Libby Davies
MP, Vancouver East
October 22, 2002
The Right Honourable Jean Chr tien
Prime Minister of Canada
309-S Centre Block
House of Commons
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6
Dear Jean,
I have recently been contacted by a number of Canadians concerned with
Chinese persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, including ten Canadians who have family members currently enduring unjust and inhumane treatment in Chinese prisons and labour camps because of their beliefs. These detention facilities are notorious for the brutal torture practices inflicted on Falun Gong practitioners, thousands of whom have already died from such abuses.
It is imperative that Canada urge China to cease its practice of subjecting Falun Gong practitioners to unlawful persecution and torture, and to respect international human rights law. Furthermore, Canada must condemn Chinese efforts to spread hateful propaganda, and other forms of persecution, conducted by Chinese embassies and consulates in Canada and around the world. I urge you to publicly raise the issue of Falun Gong persecution with President Jiang Zemin of the People's Republic of China at the upcoming APEC meeting in Mexico.
President Jiang must be informed that torture and unlawful imprisonment, as well as persecution based on religious beliefs, are not acceptable to Canadians. As well, I urge you to request the immediate release of the thirteen imprisoned family members of ten Canadian residents, and indeed all Falun Gong practitioners being held in Chinese prisons.
I look forward to your earliest possible reply on this urgent issue.
Sincerely yours,
Svend J Robinson, MP
Burnaby-Douglas
cc: Bill Graham, Minister of Foreign Affairs; Falun Dafa Association of Canada
Peace and Justice Commission
Resolution Regarding Falun Gong and President Bush's
Planned October Visit with Chinese President Jiang Zemin
Passed at the Berkeley City Council on October 22, 2002
WHEREAS, in accordance with Berkeley Municipal Code section 3.68.070.A, it is
the function of the Peace and Justice Commission to "advise the Berkeley
City Council and the Berkeley Unified School Board on all matters relating to
the City of Berkeley's role in issues of peace and social justice, including ...
support for human rights and self-determination throughout the world"; and
WHEREAS, section 3.68.030 of the Berkeley Municipal Code defines "peace and
justice" as "the goal of creating a world community in which the
relations between people are based on equality, respect for human rights, and
the abhorrence of exploitation and all forms of oppression"; and
WHEREAS, section 3.68.070 (H) of the Berkeley Municipal Code say the Peace and
Justice Commission shall "[a]ct as a liaison between community groups
organizing around issues of peace and social justice and City government";
and
WHEREAS, Berkeley residents who are Falun Gong members have reported to the
Peace and Justice Commission about actions by the Chinese government taken
against them and other Falun Gong practitioners living in the United States,
including arrest and beating of a Berkeley resident when he visited China, and
the naming of Berkeley residents on a list used to interfere with their freedom
of international travel ; and
[...]
WHEREAS, President Jiang Zemin is reportedly responsible for suppression of
religious and ethnic groups such as Tibetans, Buddhists, and Christians; and for
a vicious campaign since July 1999 to targeting practitioners of the Falun Gong
meditation practice ; and
WHEREAS, Falun Gong is a practice for improving the body, mind, and spirit
through exercise, meditation, and teachings that are rooted in ancient Chinese
culture ; and
WHEREAS, Falun Gong practitioners have peacefully appealed to the Chinese
government for over three years, but have been met with incarceration and
torture in return, resulting in at least 200 confirmed deaths, and thousands
being put into labor camps.?In February 2002, the Chinese police in
Tiananmen Square beat a Berkeley resident for peacefully appealing for civil
rights for Falun Gong practitioners ; and
WHEREAS, Falun Gong supporters allege that on March 5, 2002 President Jiang
Zemin ordered police to shoot Falun Gong practitioners who were caught
distributing flyers, banners or posters ; and
WHEREAS, in June 2002, Berkeley residents who are Falun Gong practitioners were
apparently put on a blacklist and barred from entry to Iceland as the
practitioners sought to appeal directly to the President of China during his
visit to Iceland ; and
WHEREAS, Amnesty International named President Jiang Zemin a "human rights
scoundrel" in 2001?due to the worsening human rights situation in
China; and
WHEREAS, on July 24, 2002, the United States Congress unanimously passed House
Concurrent Resolution 188 , condemning the persecution of Falun Gong
practitioners in China and calling on the United States government to use every
appropriate public and private forum to urge the government of the People's
Republic of China to end such persecution; and
WHEREAS, the City of Berkeley has sent letters to the head of its "sister
city," the Haidian District in Beijing, and to other Chinese officials
(Attachment B) regarding the persecution of the Falun Gong; and
WHEREAS, prior to President Bush's visit to China in February, 2002, 94 members
of Congress sent a letter to him asking him to raise specifically the issue of
the treatment of Falun Gong in China , but he made no such mention during his
public speech there ; and
WHEREAS, President Bush has extended an invitation to President Jiang Zemin to
visit his ranch in Crawford, Texas during President Jiang Zemin's visit to the
United States this October ;
NOW THEREFORE, be it resolved that the Council of the City of Berkeley send this
resolution and the attached letter (Attachment A) to President George W. Bush
expressing concern regarding inviting Jiang Zemin, President of the People's
Republic of China, to visit the United States and President Bush's Crawford
ranch, and asking the President Bush to specifically raise the issue of human
rights abuses against Falun Gong members in his discussions with President Jiang
Zemin, with copies to Berkeley's Members of Congress and the U.S. Secretary of
State.
Peace and Justice Commission
Resolution Regarding Falun Gong and President Bush's
Planned October Visit with Chinese President Ziang Zemin
ATTACHMENT A
President George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President:
It has been reported that you have invited Jiang Zemin, President of the
People's Republic of China, to your ranch in Crawford, Texas, during his visit
to the United States this October. The Berkeley City Council voted on [date] to
express its deep concern about this invitation, and to urge you to speak with
President Jiang specifically about the treatment accorded Falun Gong
practitioners by his government.
President Jiang Zemin is a leader whose power is based on violence and tyranny.
He supported the declaration of martial law during the 1989 student
demonstrations in Tiananmen Square, which led to the massacre of many innocent
people. A report from Amnesty International in May 2000 reveals that those who
try to seek justice for the victims, or even commemorate the anniversary of the
massacre, continue to be subjected to detention and harassment over a decade
later. In one instance, a man was sentenced to three years in a labor camp for
collecting signatures on a petition that called for an inquiry into the 1989
crackdown.
In addition to suppressing religious and ethnic groups such as Tibetans,
Buddhists, and Christians, President Jiang has waged a vicious campaign since
July 1999 to target and "eliminate" the Falun Gong meditation
practice. He has established an agency to oversee this persecution, known as the
"610 Office." By the end of 2001, more than 1000 people had reportedly
been tortured to death, and thousands are currently imprisoned in labor camps,
mental institutions, and detention centers where they are beaten and tortured.
Amnesty International awarded President Jiang the title "human rights
scoundrel of the year" in 2000.
The House of Representatives on July 24, 2002 unanimously passed House
Concurrent Resolution 188, which condemns the persecution of Falun Gong and
urges your administration to investigate allegations of Chinese government
interference with the lives of Falun Gong adherents on American soil.
Before you visited China earlier this year, you received a letter signed by 94
members of Congress asking you to raise the issue of Falun Gong with the
President of China. During your speech there, while you did mention human
rights, a creditable inclusion, you did not mention Falun Gong by name.
Your invitation to President Jiang in the context of continued Chinese human
rights violations is troubling. Should you go forward with this meeting, we
strongly urge you to specifically raise the issue of human rights abuses of
Falun Gong members during your discussions with President Jiang.
(Clearwisdom.net)
(Clearwisdom.net)
(Clearwisdom.net)
(Clearwisdom.net)
(Clearwisdom.net)
At 6 a.m. on October 23rd, 2002, Falun Gong practitioners from North America and around the world arrived and stood on both sides of the road that is opposite the Houston Intercontinental Hotel. For about half-a-mile along both sides of Highway 610, bright yellow T-shirts could be seen everywhere. Various sized banners in both Chinese and English dotted the roadside. There were bright and eye-catching banners reading "Falun Dafa is Good" bearing red characters with a yellow background, "SOS - Rescue Falun Gong Practitioners Persecuted In China" bearing red and blue characters with a white background, and a number of banners reading "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance." Susan, a western practitioner from New Jersey, was wearing a yellow T-shirt, quietly standing among other Falun Gong practitioners. From time to time they practiced the exercises and sent forth righteous thoughts. (Using the power of pure thoughts to purify our mind and harmonize the environment around us)
At approximately 3 p.m., a bus carrying the "welcoming team" for Jiang stopped at the roadside, and quite a few people came out. After a while, Susan noticed a loud conversation between a policeman and a member of the welcoming team. She became concerned and approached the two.
A member of the welcoming team who was wearing green and looked to be about 30 - 40 years old was arguing with a policeman. Everyone could hear the policeman answering loudly, "You can't do that! This is a free country! They can stay wherever they want!" He stopped and then added, "Do you always argue with the police?"
The guy in green continued to talk. The policeman then said loudly, "You want us to segregate them? Segregation went out a long time ago!"
Susan laughed. The guy in green turned around and shouted at her, "What are you laughing at?!" Susan calmly looked at him and did not answer his question. The policeman took over the conversation, "She's laughing because she can! This is a free country!"
Afterwards, a reporter from Clearwisdom.net remembered that Susan was from New Jersey during their interview and asked her, "Traveling always takes a lot of time and money. How do you deal with it?" Susan sincerely smiled and said, "I asked for a leave of absence from work and spent my own money." Then the reporter asked, "Can you describe the appearance of the police?" Susan smiled again, "I think all the policemen here looked the same: handsome, square face, tall and strong." The reporter and Susan laughed together.
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At 11:40 a.m., the morning of October 25th, Falun Gong practitioners held a press conference at the Old Amstler building in Crawford, Texas.
John Nania, a spokesman for Falun Gong practitioners, gave a speech at the press conference. He expressed Falun Gong practitioners' immense gratitude towards the U.S. House of Representatives for unanimously passing House Concurrent Resolution 188 with a 420-0 vote. (Resolution 188 urges the Chinese government to cease its persecution of Falun Gong.) He also emphasized that Falun Gong practitioners' peaceful appeal is not against the Chinese government, but to strive for the freedom of belief.
Mr. John Nania also stated that Falun Gong practitioners love the traditional culture of China. It is the existence of the Chinese traditional culture - cultivation that deeply benefits Falun Gong practitioners around the world.
At the press conference, Australian Falun Gong practitioner Jane Dai told of how her husband was detained, fined, and eventually tortured to death merely because he persisted in his practice of Falun Gong. Mrs. Dai was carrying her two-year-old daughter, Fadu, and showed the guests their family photo before her husband was tortured to death. She said that because her husband, Chen Chengyong, persisted in practicing, he was arrested and tortured many times, and eventually led to his death. His body was abandoned in the wilderness. He was only 34-years-old when he was taken away from his young wife and little daughter. What is more inhumane is that Mrs. Dai's request of retrieving her husband's ashes was denied. Eight months after Chen's death, Mrs. Dai and little Fadu were finally able to obtain their loved one's ashes with help from the Australian government. Mrs. Dai said there are many more innocent people like her husband still suffering from this illegal persecution in China. Tears poured down her face as she said, "This persecution should not continue! Falun Gong is rooted in people's hearts, Falun Gong is good!" Her speech moved many audience members to tears.
Crawford is a small city in Texas, U.S.A. Its population totals about 700 people. Crawford is well known because it is the hometown of two Presidents, George Bush Sr. and George W. Bush. The Old Amstler building is located at the entrance of Crawford, and is normally used for public activities and cultural exhibits. Today in this building, besides the press conference held by Falun Gong practitioners, there is also a Falun Gong photo exhibit. An eye-catching 87-yard long banner reading "Falun Dafa" was hung from the top of the building.
After the press conference, about 200 Falun Gong practitioners started to quietly send forth righteous thoughts inside and outside of the Old Amstler building. They used their pure thoughts to continuously purify their own minds, and eliminate the evil elements in other dimensions brought to U.S. and serene city of Crawford by Jiang.
Starting from 10 a.m., more than 1,500 Falun Gong practitioners gathered at Tonkawa Falls Park in Crawford, sent forth righteous thoughts every 15 minutes on the broad lawn, and practiced the exercises between the righteous thoughts. Practitioners spent much of the night traveling but still were very energetic. The temperature in Crawford was less than 50 í F (10 í C), the ground was wet, and there were many dark clouds in the sky. Falun Gong practitioners quietly sat on the lawn in a dignified manner. The entire "welcoming group" left their Chinese flags and hats on the lawn, and hid in the bus to keep warm.
One security guard of the park said to the Falun Gong practitioners: "Your appeal is very peaceful, very good, and the accounts of persecution in China are very sad."
That day, a truck sent by the Chinese Amnesty International was driven slowly through Tonkawa Falls Park. The front of the truck displayed these words: "Jiang sold out the country." On all four sides of the truck, large yellow banners read: "Jiang, return my motherland" "Traitor of the people! Infamous criminal!" "344 square hectares of Chinese soil sold to Russia!" "Infamous criminal, you can't escape punishment!"
At the same time, approximately 150 Falun Gong practitioners quietly meditated and sent forth righteous thoughts in downtown Crawford and outside Tonkawa Falls Park .
Falun Gong, also called Falun Dafa, is a meditation practice based on the principles of "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance." It teaches people to be good and compassionate, and improves their health both mentally and physically. It has been embraced by millions of people all over the world. However, in 1999 it was banned and suppressed in China by Jiang.
Jiang directly instigated and escalated the persecution of Falun Gong in China. From July 20, 1999, China has followed his policy to "Totally defame the practitioners' reputations, deprive them of economic resources, and physically destroy them." Millions of Falun Gong practitioners have been illegally detained, sentenced to forced labor, imprisoned, and tortured. Some female practitioners have been raped and thousands of healthy practitioners have been detained in mental hospitals. According to the Chinese government's internal records, over 1,600 practitioners were killed by the end of October 2001. By October 23, 2002, 505 death cases had been verified and reported outside of China.
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| Falun Gong practitioners peacefully appeal outside the Chinese Consulate | |
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| ABC interviewing a practitioner | Truck from Amnesty China exposes how Jiang sold off Chinese land |
When Jiang arrived in Chicago, several hundred Falun Gong practitioners peacefully protested outside the Chinese Consulate, and over one thousand practitioners appealed peacefully outside the hotel where Jiang was staying.
When an older lady came to the Consulate to apply for a visa, and she saw so many people of all ages meditating quietly to protest the brutal persecution, she stopped and raised her thumb and said, "Great! Absolutely non-violent." She talked to the practitioners for a long time. She said she went back to China often and knew a lot about the corruption among Chinese government officials. She expressed her sympathy to Falun Gong practitioners and said, "What's wrong with practicing (Falun Gong)? I know many people with master's and doctorate's degrees practice these exercises, so it must be something beneficial. Otherwise so many people would not continue practicing it under such persecution." When she saw the truck about Jiang selling off Chinese land, she was surprised and said angrily, "Why didn't I hear any thing about this before?"
(Clearwisdom.net) Dafa practitioner Wang Hongtian was from Chalukou Town, Dehui City, Jilin Province. After being brutally tortured by the Yinmahe Labor Camp in Jiutai City, Jilin Province, he passed away on September 20, 2002.
According to Wang Hongtian's brother, the labor camp informed Wang's family to pick him up on September 19, the day before Wang's death. When they saw Wang, he was emaciated and near death. It was clear that the labor camp did not want to take responsibility for their actions, so they asked Wang's family members to take him home. Because the labor camp is tightly blocking the news, the details of the torture against Wang Hongtian are not known yet.
The death of Wang Hongtian is another crime committed by the Yinmahe Labor Camp and Dehui City Police Department. We hereby once again sternly warn the perpetrators of these crimes: good will be rewarded with good, and evil will be met with evil. When the Fa rectifies the human world, what awaits you is eternally paying for the sins you have committed against Dafa and Dafa practitioners.
(Clearwisdom.net) On the afternoon of February 25, 2002, ten individuals from my workplace and the residence committee dragged me from my home and sent me to the "Law Education Center," which is in fact a brainwashing center.
In the large hall of the brainwashing center, a supervisor from my workplace paid 6000 Yuan in cash that would be deducted from my future earnings. [This amount is equivalent to the average annual salary for an urban worker in China.] The brainwashing class required that I have someone from my workplace accompany me at all times, even while sleeping and eating. They referred to this one-on-one surveillance as "accompanying education." The policewoman from my workplace who kept me under surveillance was called Peng Rong. I was assigned to Room 118 on the ground floor. There was a fluorescent light on the wall over my bed, which was so bright that it kept me awake for most of the night. However, I was never allowed to turn it off. The officer on duty checked the room once every hour.
All the police officers in the brainwashing class had been transferred from the Shayang Farm Forced Labor Camp, also in Hubei Province. Every day, besides cursing Teacher and Falun Dafa in front of me, Peng Rong was always watching me to make sure that I did not practice the exercises. Every night, no matter what time it was, whenever I sat or lay on the bed, she required that I always kept my legs straight. I was not allowed to bend even one leg, or she would say that I was doing the exercises. For several nights, I had high blood pressure (which only occurred after being forced to come to the brainwashing center). Because I felt somewhat nervous, I sat up. She immediately came over to take away my blanket and told me to lie down. When I refused, she asked the armed military police to come over.
A police officer in her twenties with the surname of Zhang was the head of the brainwashing class. On the third day, she took me to a room on the third floor, where there were five collaborators [former Falun Gong practitioners who had gone astray due to brainwashing and torture] who tried to brainwash me. They had all come from the Shayang Farm Forced Labor Camp. At first, they tried to hide their status as collaborators and still represented themselves as Falun Dafa practitioners, but when they saw that I was so determined, they showed their true colors. The tall one who called herself Liu Hai'ou hit me hard over the head with a book, and then circled a space that was only as big as a square stool for me to sit in. She did not allow me to move or speak. If I spoke, she hit me with the book again, and the only thing I was allowed to do was listening to her brainwashing lecture. Liu Hai'ou is from Laohekou City, Hubei Province, and she routinely followed up her threats with beatings.
Later, I was transferred to the second floor to a room that was empty except for several square stools and a table. Every day, I was forced to listen to the collaborators' brainwashing speeches. There would always be at least three collaborators, and sometimes up to a dozen of them. I was forced to sit on a little square stool with my feet dangling above the floor, which was very painful. They took shifts watching me at all times. In the evening, they would stay as late as 10:00 p.m. or midnight. After I returned to my room, they still forced me to listen to the police and the collaborators' brainwashing lectures.
On the tenth day, my blood pressure went up, ranging from 120 to 190. I felt dizzy that day, and could hardly open my eyes. All I wanted to do was sleep. Ignoring my increased blood pressure, they took me upstairs. A collaborator from Xiangfan City, who was of average height and dressed in a gray and black-checked spring suit, with reddish-black skin, said something insulting to me. When she saw that I did not respond, she started to pinch and grab at my ears, eyes, nose and shoulders. The collaborators spat on my face and into my mouth. When I spit it out, five of them immediately spat on my face, head and mouth while yelling at me. They began hitting me, knocking me to the ground. Although I had collapsed, they picked me up again, just to beat me some more. This attracted the attention of the military police, so they turned the story around, saying that I had spat upon them and had tried to hit them. The police were also helping the collaborators, so it was certain that we would have no justice in this place.
On the thirteenth day, a dozen more collaborators came from the Shayang Farm Forced Labor Camp to brainwash me, but I remained determined. There was a 36-year-old collaborator from Huangshi City named Yang Huizhen who took a container of water and poured it over my head, completely drenching my hair, sweater and underwear. By evening, when my sweater had somewhat dried, Yang Huizhen brought another container of water and was about to pour it over my head again. This time, I snatched it from her hand. They used another ploy and asked me to stand straight beside the wall for one hour, with one leg raised forward. Meanwhile, a young collaborator from Xiangfan City asked me to answer her questions, but I ignored her. Later, when I felt tired from standing, I sat down on the stool and sent forth righteous thoughts.
There were now over thirty collaborators from Shayang Farm Forced Labor Camp, who surrounded me every day. Late at night, they would literally pull on my hand to get me to write the guarantee letter. [A statement to declare that he or she 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.] On the evening of the sixteenth day, because of my own attachment that I had not eliminated, the evil took advantage of my omissions and I wrote the guarantee letter. Now, I have finally become clearheaded again, and I feel very regretful for what I had done. Once again, I will step forward into the current of Fa-rectification and righteously walk my own path.
Finally, I want to tell the practitioners, both inside and outside the brainwashing classes, one thing through my own nightmarish experience. No matter what devices the evil regime may use, if we have the Fa on our minds and remain determined in our righteous thoughts, we can surely walk out of the demons' dens openly and with dignity.
The address and a description of the so-called "Law Education Center" are as follows:
Pingzui Lake
Jiangxia District
Wuhan City
Hubei Province
This "Law Education Center" is in a three-story house, with a courtyard and an entry door that faces east. There is no sign in front of the locked, iron gate that is guarded by military police. By its side there are two vacant cottages, positioned to form a triangle with the house. On the left hand side of the lake lay several houses, a fishing pond, and a vegetable garden.
(Clearwisdom.net) At the end of September 2002, Pingdu police escalated their persecution of Dafa practitioners again. They entered private homes without warrants and kidnapped Dafa practitioners.
Dafa practitioner Ms. Zhang Qingfang is a native of Zhugou Town, Pingdu City. Because of harassment from the local police, she and her husband had left home for a period of time and were planning to go back home in mid-September. As soon as she entered her home, Zhang Qingfang was kidnapped and taken away by police, who had broken in earlier and were waiting for them. Her husband got away.
Dafa practitioner Zhang Xiufen and Wang Yuying were employees of a local company. On September 26, police officers kidnapped them at work and sent them to a brainwashing class. They refused to cooperate with the police in the brainwashing class and went on a hunger strike to protest the their crimes. Nevertheless, the police kept torturing and abusing them. Currently, they are extremely weak and their lives are in grave danger.
Meanwhile, police all around the city frequently harassed families of Dafa practitioners who were forced to leave home, and caused severe mental anguish to the family members of the practitioners. For example, in order to find the whereabouts of Dafa practitioner Zhang Yan, the police came to her home multiple times within one day in September, and used all the means they could against her husband. Zhang's husband was terrified, and was hospitalized on October 10 due to his deteriorating mental condition. At this point he is unconscious and in critical condition.
Police arrested Dafa practitioner Gui Zheng while he clarified the truth. His whereabouts are unknown.
All Dafa practitioners: please send forth righteous thoughts, reject all the arrangement made by the old forces, help fellow practitioners who were illegally imprisoned to reinforce their righteous thoughts and be free as soon as possible! Meanwhile, let's study the Fa carefully and safeguard Dafa.
(Clearwisdom.net)
Dafa practitioners tell of their own experiences.
1. Chi Hailong: male, 36 years old, lives in Bafenchang.
In 2001 police officers Wang Wenzhong and Li Zhigang from the Bafenchang Police Station illegally searched my home and took away my Dafa books and audiotapes. In the spring of 2001, they took away my exercise music tapes also. In March of 2001, Wang Wenzhong took me to the Hongguanju Detention Center and illegally detained me there for two months. In 2002 they confiscated Master's photo and my tape recorder. Also in 2002, Wang Wenzhong and two other police officers appeared in a police car to get me, saying the higher authorities wanted me, but I escaped. Now I have been forced to leave home to avoid being arrested.
2. Zhu Guilan: female, 38 years old, lives at Sub-District 22 in the Lingdong District
On April 5, 2000 I went to Shuangyashan City's Appeals Office to appeal for Falun Gong. Li Naijin from the Lingdong Mine Security Office took me to Kuangwuju Detention Center and detained me there for one day and night. I was forced to pay 200 Yuan for food and boarding expenses.
On June 22, 2000, I was illegally arrested at a fellow practitioner's home while studying the Fa. I was sent to a detention center by Wohongqiao Police Station personnel and illegally detained there for seven days. I was forced to pay 100 Yuan for food. On December 22, 2000, I was abducted by rail police at Harbin's East Station on my way to Beijing to appeal, and was extorted 200 Yuan. Lingdong Mine Security Office people extorted another 900 Yuan from me for travel expenses for the people who took me back. This amount was deducted from my wages. Later, Zhang You and Xiao Yang took me to the Kuangwuju Detention Center where I was detained for 15 days. I was forced to pay 200 Yuan for food there.
On January 5, 2002, Kuangwuju Detention Center authorities sent me to Jiamusi Forced Labor Camp where I was detained for three months. On the morning of May 4, 2002, Wang Jun and other police officers from the Lingdong Nanshan Police Station illegally searched my home. Now I have been forced to leave home to avoid being arrested.
3. You Shuqin: female, 60 years old, lives at Sub-District 19 in the Lingdong District
In November of 1999 I went to Beijing to appeal, but was detained in the Shuangyashan Detention Center for about a month. I was forced to pay 300 Yuan for food there. Zhongshan Office clerk Tian Yuan and director Yang extorted 2,000 Yuan from me for travel expenses. On May 9, 2000, I went to Beijing to appeal, and was sent back and detained at the Shuangyashan Kuangwuju Detention Center for two weeks. After I went to Beijing to appeal in December of 2000, I was sent to a forced labor camp on January 5, 2001 and detained there for seven months.
On May 3, 2002, police officers Wang Bin and Cao Zhenzhuang from the Lingdong Zhongshan Police Precinct in Shuangyashan City illegally sent me to the Shuangyashan City Detention Center and detained me there for 73 days. In 1999, authorities from the Lingdong Police Department extorted 6,000 Yuan from me and another 6,000 Yuan from my son. They later returned 3,000 Yuan to my son, but never returned my money. Policeman Wang Bin from the Lingdong Nanshan Police Precinct often threatened and persecuted me and harassed my family using all manner of threats and excuses.
(Clearwisdom.net) Shayang Forced Labor Camp authorities hold a special brainwashing class to force Dafa practitioners to give up their belief. Drug-addict criminals are assigned to monitor practitioners and serve as hatchet men, day and night. The ones who exert their efforts are rewarded with an early release from their detention term. Dafa practitioners here must work over 12 hours a day and are allowed only five minutes for lunch; otherwise, the drug-addict criminals will drag them out. Most practitioners have no choice but to perform their bodily functions into their clothing. Dafa practitioners also suffer physical torture. They are forced to squat more than four hours, or even up to six hours. Some practitioners were tortured to death or to the point of becoming disabled.
Zeng Xiane, female, 37 years old, from Shiyan City in Hubei Province. On the evening of August 2, 2001, after being beaten by the police with an electric baton, she was forced to participate in military training. That night she was in very critical condition. She died the next day.
Liu Guangfeng, female, 47 years old; family member of an employee in Xiangfan Railway in Hubei Province. Her legs were disabled by shocks from an electric baton.
Han Lihui, female, 28 years old, from Shiyan City in Hubei Province. Her legs were disabled by shocks from an electric baton.
Wan Guifang, female, 37 years old, from Jianli Huangxie in Hubei Province. She was mentally traumatized after being shocked with an electric baton. The police informed her relatives to take her back home. She has not recovered yet.
Another female Dafa practitioner, around 47 or 48 became disabled from the waist down after being shocked with an electric baton.
Another female practitioner who had been on a hunger strike was tortured to death. Due to the news blackout, we do not know her name.
(Clearwisdom.net)
[Editors' Note: In both Western and Chinese culture, the principle of karmic retribution, that is, being held ultimately accountable for one's own actions, is widely accepted. The fundamental teaching of Falun Gong is the characteristic of the universe, "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance." The universe will reward actions that are in harmony with this principle, while actions such as beating, torturing and murdering people will incur karmic retribution. Stated another way, good deeds will be rewarded with good, while evildoings will meet due retribution. Articles such as this one are meant as a compassionate reminder of this principle to those who would commit wrongdoing. While many of those who persecute Falun Gong are merely "following orders," the universal law requires that they, too, be held responsible for their actions, and that only by reversing their course of wrongdoing may they escape retribution.]
An official responsible for persecuting Falun Dafa practitioners in Macheng City, Hubei Province, is arrested for corruption
Mr. Xu Kaiyan, the Secretary of the Longta Liaison Office of Macheng City, Hubei Province, persecuted Falun Dafa practitioners' many times. He personally organized the personnel who conducted searches in homes, levied fines, etc against Falun Dafa practitioners. Now, he has been arrested on charges of corruption, and all cadres of the four villages under his direction where Falun Gong was persecuted have been implicated as well. While in detention, Xu Kaiyan's past activities are being investigated.
Elementary School Administrators in Jianshan District, Shuangyashan City, Heilongjiang Province begin to suffer from serious health conditions after directing a campaign of defamation against Falun Gong
Elementary School Administrators in Jianshan District Shuangyashan City, Heilongjiang Province directed a campaign that incited all teachers and students at their school to defame and slander Falun Dafa. The Director, Secretary, and Principal all received karmic retribution soon after. After giving a speech slandering Falun Dafa over the loud speaker, the Director felt dizzy all day. One of the Secretary's legs turned black with a vasculitis condition. The Principal was recently diagnosed with pleurisy tuberculosis.
(Clearwisdom.net)
(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)
As the Chinese Consulate is under orders to organize a big lineup of welcoming groups for Jiang's visit to the US, the local Chinese groups and Chinese students are faced with this choice: should I go and welcome Jiang, or should I stay silent and maintain a neutral stance? Perhaps some have not thought too much about it -- or think, "I can get a free trip and free meals if I join the crowd just for the hype!" However, do you know what kind of a person you will be "cheering" for?
One monument of the Boston Holocaust Memorial carries a message from a Protestant pastor named Martin Niemoller, once a victim of Nazi persecution. This poem has touched many people's hearts. Speaking his repentence in his old age for the moral blemishes of his early years, the message applies equally today.
First they came for the Communists,
and I didn't speak up,
because I wasn't a Communist.Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up,
because I wasn't a Jew.Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn't speak up,
because I was a Protestant.Then they came for me,
and by that time there was no one left
to speak up for me.
How painful was the penitence! But it was too late, for he had already found himself in a concentration camp. Being audience to injustice without acting to correct it is complicity in the crime! Albert Einstein once said," In long intervals I have expressed an opinion on public issues whenever they appeared to be so bad and unfortunate that silence would have made me feel guilty of complicity." Whenever something that appears to be "so bad and unfortunate" happens, it is precisely because we stay silent over and over again that the vicious behavior is encouraged and runs rampant in the human world. In this way, we are not only the victims. There is a saying: "silence is not neutral".
For each cycle of political campaigns in China's recent history, the ruling government has always successfully implemented the "5% vs. 95%" psychology: At any time, in any political persecution, only 5% of the people are targeted, and the other 95% are safe. This brings out the very worst of human nature--clinging to the 95% side at any cost, even at the expense of others, and closing their eyes to the rights of the 5%. That 5%, of course, was rotated so often that the whole nation was suppressed into submission.
A Chinese writer once said, "During the Cultural Revolution in China, when it was time to stand up (for justice), every citizen kneeled down in submission. After the Cultural Revolution, however, when it was time to kneel down (to repent for their silence in face of the persecution), everyone stood up and claimed to be a victim!" After the Cultural Revolution, everyone blamed the "Gang of Four" for everything. Seldom would one reflect upon what he himself did when facing persecution and injustice like Niemoller. The whole nation has been audience, but only the writer, Mr. Ba Jin, had the courage to set himself on trial for his crime of "complicity" in the moral court.
Today, for the first time in Chinese history, Falun Gong practitioners have courageously broken out of this pattern. Thousands and thousands of them are not afraid to be that 5%. They stand up for their beliefs, and for a society with justice, regardless of whether they are on the side of 5%, 1%, or alone!
Throughout thousands of years of Chinese history, the response of the Chinese people to persecution has been one of two options: Armed uprising as with Chen Sheng and Wu Guang; or keeping in silence, sometimes even helping the persecutors. The Falun Gong practitioners' persistent and nonviolent resistance to persecution is creating a new choice and new history in China. They refuse to submit to tyranny and violence and they refuse to tell lies. In the face of persecution, they hold their heads high in order to let people know that "Falun Dafa is good", fully aware of the high price they may pay for doing so. They endure political persecution for their belief. But, telling the truth does not mean participating in politics; rather it is the moral action that all human beings should take. This is not about politics, but about justice, about freedom, and about every human being's dignity and conscience.
In detention centers, forced labor camps and prisons, each and every Falun Gong practitioner has been faced with the same choice: They could denounce their belief in "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance" -? just sign their names on the so-called "guarantee statement" against their conscience - and be immediately released or significantly reduce their sentences. They could have kept their status as registered students, their benefits from being a member of the Party, or their jobs. They would not have been arrested or put into various detention centers. They would not have become destitute or had to endure the hardships of eating in the wind and sleeping in the cold and damp. They would not have been tried or cruelly tortured in prison. They would not have been crippled or killed by brutal beatings. While the price for telling the truth is high, and the temptation to lie is strong, they chose the to pursue justice, never turning back.
The following was written by a Ph. D student currently studying in the US, on the eve of Jiang Zemin's visit to Texas. Before he leaves for Texas to protest the persecution of Falun Gong by Jiang's government, this student would like to share with you these words from his heart:
"Indifference in Conscience of a Nation"
http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2001/10/23/14940.html
http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2001/10/25/14959.html
http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2001/10/26/14960.html
(Clearwisdom.net) In July 1991, Jiang's regime began persecuting Falun Dafa openly. I wanted to appeal by telling the real-life story of my experiences with practicing Falun Gong, but my work unit tried every means to stop me. Later, they even illegally deprived me of my personal freedoms and tried to isolate me in every way possible.
I felt that I should clarify the truth about Falun Dafa, even if I would only be able to say just one righteous word. So I decided to go to Beijing to appeal.
In November 1999, despite their every attempt to stop me, I arrived in Beijing. In front of Tiananmen Square, I held a loudspeaker and shouted from the bottom of my heart, "Falun Dafa is innocent! Teacher Li Hongzhi is innocent! Dafa practitioners are innocent!"
The policemen who were on duty at Tiananmen Square rushed up from behind me. At the same time, the tourists also crowded around. Policemen forced me into the police vehicle by pushing and dragging. I could hear them using walkie-talkies to communicate with their superiors and find out what to do with me.
At the beginning of 2000, I was sent to the Jinan Women's Labor Camp in Shangdong Province.
In the labor camp, the guards adopted vicious methods to deceive and torture Falun Gong practitioners. They used high-pressure methods to conduct the so-called "political transformation" and made use of those who turned against "Truthfulness-Benevolence-Forbearance" from earlier brainwashing sessions to attack and criticize Falun Gong. They used the media to publish slanderous propaganda against Dafa and Master. For those practitioners who remained steadfast and refused to give in to the evil, the police threatened them, saying that they would transfer them to jail or torture them. Regarding my personal experience, I suffered from all kinds of inhuman torture, just because I insisted on practicing Falun Gong and refused to write pledges denouncing Falun Gong. In order to expose the true face of the evil forces, I am now revealing the persecution I had personally experienced.
On a winter night in 2000, because I practiced Falun Gong exercises, the police ordered the criminals to use an instrument of torture called the "constraining belt", designed by the labor camp, to tie my hands and feet, with arms and legs widely stretched apart onto the two corner poles of a bunk bed (the victim is situated vertically against the side of a bunk bed, not laying down). Since the floor was very slippery and since they had intentionally pulled apart my two legs, I could not hold my weight and my legs were pulled further apart. In order to hold my weight, I had to draw my legs together with all my strength; otherwise all my weight would bear down on my upper limbs, which would cause my arms to be pulled tighter and tighter by the "constraining belt". After a very brief moment, I became so tired and the pain was beyond words. They then tied another "constraining belt" around my waist. When my legs split away from each other and slid down, they would suddenly lift up the middle belt and make my body bend unnaturally, with two ends of my body bending to the back. It was extremely painful. In order to prevent me from crying out or making any sound, they used another "constraining belt" to tie up my mouth. A strong criminal used her fists to hit me on my head and chest. The police ordered the inmates not to make any noise, not to watch and not to tell anyone anything ... During the torture, the police avoided the scene and pretended to not be aware of it.
After torturing me all night, they ordered me to go to work on time the second day. But they prohibited me from having rice soup. I was only given buns and salted pickled vegetables. The next night, I was hung up again and prohibited from going to the bathroom. They tried to force me to write the pledges to give up practicing Falun Gong. While I was tortured, they were also torturing other practitioners in other rooms. Some practitioners were old enough to be those criminals' mothers but they were still inhumanly hung up. Some practitioners lost consciousness on the spot. Those vicious people often searched practitioners' belongings for Dafa materials in order to keep people from studying the Fa. Some vicious people even said, "If you all became good people? What should we do then?" However, Dafa practitioners still tried to clarify the facts to them out of practitioners' benevolence and concern for their future.
During the summer of 2000, practitioners had been enduring the endless evil torture and desecration for a long time, and they refused to go to work and requested that their legal rights be respected. The labor camp began to frantically persecute them. This time, they put me in a "confinement cell" and sealed all the doors and windows to make the room completely dark. They also ordered two criminals to take turns watching me inside the cell. They prohibited me from sleeping or even taking a rest. They forced me to stand still and prohibited me from brushing my teeth, bathing, or going to the bathroom. On hot summer days, it was so stifling inside the "confinement cell" that I could hardly breathe. I was forced to stand still in the cell for over 20 consecutive days. Since I was not allowed to sleep, I felt so tired physically and mentally. My legs and feet were swollen and I was not able to put on my shoes or walk. The pain was like being cut by knives. During that period, the police also beat me with electric batons twice to try to force me to write those pledges to denounce Falun Gong. I refused and they just kept torturing me. Once, I became incredibly tired and lost consciousness. When autumn came, the "confinement cell" was not as hot and humid as in the summer. The police saw I still did not give in, so they had no other option but to let me out of the "confinement cell." They prolonged my term for another two months and asked other inmates to criticize me. From their series of vicious actions, I became even more clearheaded and was able to calmly look at everything. I truly realized that practicing Falun Dafa is the only hope for mankind.
Right after National Day [October 1st], a large number of Falun Gong practitioners were arrested. Jiang's dictatorship put more severe labels on us, such as "reactionary organization", "counterrevolutionary", etc. People detained in the labor camp suddenly increased from over 200 to over 700 and the number is still rising with 95% of the people detained being Falun Gong practitioners. However, the labor camp lied to the family members who went there for visitation, saying that not many Falun Gong practitioners were there.
The evil greatly fears the power of righteousness. They use criminal inmates to monitor, isolate, and persecute us. After National Day in 2000, a great many male and female prison guards persecuted and brainwashed practitioners.
In order to cover up their criminal activities, the guards play loud music to drown out the noise they make when they beat up, curse, and abuse practitioners with electric batons and to mask the screams of the practitioners who are being "worked on." Right after the Spring Festival of 2001, agents deceived me into going to the office in the name of "exchanging ideas." In this way they started another round of forced non-stop, day and night brainwashing. At one point, more than a dozen agents were trying to transform me at the same time. I was not allowed to sleep, to wash up, or even to use the restroom. After I protested determinedly, I was handcuffed and a washcloth was stuffed in my mouth to prevent me from talking. They forced me to write the "Three Letters" (a Letter of Regret, a Letter of Guilt and a Letter of Guarantee). When I refused, they beat me with their boots and benches, which left my forehead so swollen that my eyesight was affected for more than 3 days and nights. My back was so severely injured that I could not conduct my life normally. In the end they had to let me lie down on a bed. However, while I was bed-ridden, they forged the "Three Letters" as if they had been written by me and forced me to press my fingerprint on them while I was still handcuffed in bed. I could not bear such injustice and cried out loudly, "As an agent of the law, you are blatantly breaking the law yourself! Those letters you forged are not valid. You must tear them up right in front of me, otherwise you are accountable for all the consequences." Under my continuous protests, they were afraid that word might get out that they were forging things, so they complied with my demand and tore up the forged letters in front of me. At that moment, we could hear roaring noises, curses, and the sounds of cruel beatings by evil agents. We could also hear the painful sobbing of those who were regretting they had written the evil "Three Letters" under coercion against their own free will.
After they realized that they were not going to get what they wanted from me, they transferred me to the more severe Wangcun Labor Camp. On May 1st, they escorted me to the office. I was dragged against the front of a window and made to lean with my back against the windowsill. My arms were stretched out horizontally, and I was handcuffed to the metal bars of the window. A group of practitioners-turned-collaborators was then sent to brainwash me, allowing me no sleep or rest. They were trying again to destroy my mental strength by exhausting me, forcing me to compromise. During the daytime, they would hold "criticism rallies," and at night they would go about brainwashing Dafa practitioners using high-pressure tactics. (It was said that agents would get a bonus of thousands of Yuan if they could "transform" a practitioner.)
After one month of cruel torture by the evil, they had still failed to move me. They had to send me back to Jinan Labor Camp. Even though my legs were now severely swollen, the prison guards still forced me to do hard labor.
On July 1st, 2001, the labor camp stepped up the persecution under the guise of holding ceremonies for raising the national flag. (This national flag-raising ritual had never been done before.) They forced those who had written a "Letter of Regret" and a "Letter of Guarantee" to lead the reciting of the oath under the national flag and the chanting of political slogans. They proclaimed, "Whoever does not take the oath does not love his country." As a righteous cultivator, I refused to take part in any of these political activities. They found out that I was not cooperating, so they shut me away again. This time, however, I was locked in a newly built, "airtight" cell. Except for a narrow door allowing only one person in or out at a time, there were only walls around me. It was pitch dark inside, without any light. Because it was summer time, it was very stuffy and hot in the narrow prison cell, with insects and bugs biting all the time. In one of the walls they had mounted a U-shaped metal fastener right over my head. After the guards tied my hands together, I was hung from the mounted metal stick in the wall. Later on they sent a criminal inmate to monitor me full-time. Because the guard would not loosen my bonds, I could not squat, making it hard to use the toilet. The only way was to let that person help me. But I tried not to, and, finally, I stopped taking food.
At night, the weather in Jinan City was extremely humid and hot. The labor camp was afraid of getting into trouble and being held accountable for its criminal acts, so they had to release me.
On July 4th, a prison guard sent two agents who had specialized for a long time in brainwashing practitioners to live with me so that they could brainwash me day and night. I decided to go on a long-term hunger strike to protest the illegal persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. At the beginning of the hunger strike, they force-fed me three times a day. They inserted the tube and pulled it out and inserted again and pulled it out, causing me to suffer extreme pain in my nasal cavity. Sometimes, they even inserted the tube into my windpipe by mistake. Finally, when they saw that my throat was swollen and that I was not even able even to talk, they had to stop. The labor camp stipulates that staunch Falun Gong practitioners are "not allowed to meet with their relatives" and then they turn around and tell the public, "Falun Gong practitioners renounce their family relationships." But this time, they opened the door for me to visit with my aged parents so they could persuade me to take food. Guards would also illegally open practitioners' private letters and hold them arbitrarily, even taking away practitioners' pen and paper, depriving them of the means to write.
During my long-term hunger strike, I was sent to a specially controlled labor camp hospital in Jinan to take forced infusion. Each time they would send two people to monitor me, not allowing me to do the Falun Gong exercises. They even controlled my sitting posture so that I would not sit cross-legged in a Falun Gong meditation pose. They jotted down notes about my words and actions. Whether in the labor camp or in the hospital, Falun Gong practitioners are all tightly monitored in a very controlled environment. For example, when practitioners were sleeping, a labor camp inmate would be sent to watch the door of your room. If a practitioner wanted to use the washroom, one monitor would stop you at the door while the other would check to see if there were any fellow practitioners in the corridor or washroom. If they found a fellow practitioner in there, they would not allow another practitioner to enter for fear that the practitioners would meet. The evil is really pathetic.
During my stay in the hospital, I was practicing Falun Gong exercises one time in the corridor when two police agents said to be the administrative section chiefs, one male and one female, approached me. The man, with a cigarette in one hand and a thumb-thick steel pipe in the other, started to beat my head heavily with his pipe. Later I was handcuffed for the whole night.
In the hospital, no matter how hard they tortured me, as long as I was not inconveniencing others, I still kept practicing Falun Gong. I was also very determined in keeping up my hunger strike. After 9 months, my weight dropped from 60kg to less than 30kg. I was very weak, and unable to go about my normal life, but I was still very determined in practicing Dafa. When the evil finally realized that they could not reach their vicious political goal and saw the terrible condition of my health, they started to worry that if I died in their hands, they would be held accountable. So they had my family come take me home. Nevertheless, the harassment is still ongoing: they still listen in on my telephone calls; they ask my family to report to them about the condition of my health; they regularly send officials from my work unit to my home to check on and harass me; they threaten my family members to keep me from having contact with the outside world, not even allowing my neighbours to know about this, etc. But eventually, they will fail. The light of the dawn is coming.
(Clearwisdom.net) I work as a technician in charge of productivity in a small company. In order to squeeze out more time, I increased my efficiency and tried to finish my work while still guaranteeing quality, so that I could spend all my remaining time on truth clarifying activities. In the recent years, there have been many Hongfa activities, and there are often urgent happenings that require me to take temporary leave from work. The whole year has been like this without any problem until recently: It was Orientation Day in which different community societies promote their own culture. Of course, Dafa practitioners also wanted to participate in the event. Unfortunately, there was nobody at work who could replace me. On the other hand there were sufficient practitioners to attend the event. Therefore, I made a consideration for the company and decided not to attend this activity. Yet there was very little work to do at work that day, and I finished before half the day was over. During lunch hour, I sat at my desk and a thought came into my mind: why not leave now? I then emailed my deputy manager to request half a day of leave, and hastily left before she could return to work from lunch.
When I returned to work the following day, my deputy manager said to me, "according to your contract, you should stay in the office for 8 hours a day. According to company rules, you need to give two weeks notice before taking leave. Your behavior has violated your contract and the company is very unhappy about it! The company has no interest in keeping such an employee." Our deputy manager is a strong woman at work. A few months after she joined our company, our department manager resigned due to conflicts with her; she complained that the department manager was low in productivity. Thereafter, I became the only worker in the department.
Prior to my cultivation I was a hot-headed person. Unfortunately I did not change much after my cultivation. I had always thought that the company should reward me for doing the work of two people on my own. I already considered in favor of the company and decided not to take leave for the whole day. Furthermore, I had already finished my duty for the day. Why wasn't I allowed to take half a day off? Therefore, I told the deputy manager, "you should look back at the company records, I have finished in one day what other employees can finish in two days. My efficiency should win me some flexibility in work hours. What happened yesterday was only an exceptional case, so why should you take it so seriously?" She said, "after you finish your own work, you could help others with their work. While you are at work, all your time must be devoted to work-related duties; otherwise you have breached your contract." Since she put such strong emphasis on the matter of working hours while I was talking about efficiency, it was impossible for us to come to an agreement. Because of this, I suggested consulting the manger.
I could not help but associate the ferocious attitude of my deputy manager with the situation of other practitioners who have looked for a different job due to work pressure. I believe that this is a form of hidden persecution. Dafa practitioners doing Dafa work is the most righteous thing to do and we should not give way.
The next morning, the manager said to me openly, that as a rapid growing company, it was necessary for us to have strict requirements for management purposes. Every employee needs to adopt certain rules. Of course, on the other hand, the company is very respectful to employees' interests and habits. Take Falun Gong for example: we are very supportive of it. Yet it is not right for you to violate the company rules so often. I asked uprightly, if the company could list out my so-called 'often' violations in punctuality? "You couldn't. I have been in the company for over a year now, and all you could remember was just three or four exceptional cases. Why do other people have flexible work hours, whereas even when I have finished my duties, I am still not allowed to enjoy time flexibility?"
Therefore, both of us were stuck in the conversation and I could feel a strong substance field between us that disabled us from coming together. I thought this was probably what is called a "negative predestined relationship".
I calmed myself down and took a few deep breaths, which allowed my conscious to be more aware. I told myself, I am a practitioner, and master has taught us to be good employees at work. What is wrong with me today? Even if other people are trying to find fault in me, there must be something I have missed as a practitioner. We should look inside under all circumstances, and this is the fundamental difference between a practitioner and an ordinary person. Especially when all employees in our company are actually supportive of Dafa, I would stop work for 15 minutes twice daily to send forth righteous thoughts. I would also browse the Clearwisdom website every day, and our deputy manager had never accused me. What was the reason today?
Master's words suddenly came into my mind. We should consider others more under all circumstances. As overseas Chinese, we should respect the habits of westerners and the way they like to deal with things. For example, the Chinese would think it is not a big deal whether or not we hold the door for others; everyone should open their own door when they need to. Yet westerners take this as a sign of good manners and respect for others. I suddenly understood where the problem was: the deputy manager was angry because I did not inform her early enough before I left work. I did not respect her in this sense; I acted first and reported afterwards, which hurt her pride.
I immediately apologized to her sincerely, and explained the different connotations and habits between the east and west. I also promised to ask for her permission before doing something in the future, at the same time sending forth righteous thoughts directed at the substance that was between us. I also explained to her the purposes of our Hongfa activities and explained that time is the most urgent thing we need at this point. I stressed again that I had increased my efficiency but I did not expect any monetary returns; all I would like is to win some spare time to do Dafa work. Soon, I could feel an obvious change in the atmosphere; the deputy manager's attitude had softened a lot. At last the manager said to me smilingly, "you won the battle this time. Go and have your contract reworded, to allow you time flexibility. I believe you will do your work well."
Not only did I not expect the conflict to be resolved so quickly, but I had also won the special right to do Dafa work openly. Thinking back on this little story, I came to a clearer understanding of why it is important for us to act according to the cultivator's standard.
On the other hand, it is certainly necessary for those practitioners who do not have a flexible work schedule to treat their work correctly and spend their work hours on their work. We should be considerate of others and be respected by others anywhere we go. We should verify the Fa during our work, study and in our daily lives.
(Clearwisdom.net) One of the fastest ways to clarify the truth and suffocate the evil is by the use of telephones. Throughout my telephone conversations, Dafa music played in the background. The results were very good. The following are some examples:
I once called a former practitioner who had gone astray in his understanding. First, I played Dafa music for her and said, "You still remember the music, I am very happy for you." "Teacher said practitioners, within and outside China are one integrated body. Under the evil's persecution, you've chosen a deviated path but we don't blame you for this. Come back to become a practitioner. Teacher said He wouldn't let go of any genuine practitioners." I was too emotional, so I couldn't talk for a while. I later said I felt sad for her and the people in her universe. I could hear her crying. She repeatedly asked me to read teacher's articles to her and sincerely told me, "Thank you for giving me this opportunity, I will remember your words and become teacher's true disciple."
One time I called another former practitioner who had also gone astray in his understanding. He graduated from Beijing University. His father refused to let me talk to him. He told me that his son used to practice Falun Gong, but is not practicing any more. This is because of the government's help and he is grateful for that. I said to him, "You know your son is a well educated person and could not be easily misled. You also know Falun Dafa is good, otherwise you would've stopped his practice long before the government's persecution. Today because of the sufferings that your son has gone through, you made the choice you have, but you know what is right and what is wrong." The father was silent for a while and finally he said to me that "Thank you for your care, and I wish you have a good future in Canada." Later on some practitioners told me that this man was known to have had a very bad attitude and temper.
On one occasion I called the husband and son of a practitioner, both of whom feared the persecution. Consequently, they didn't help care for their family member who was being detained in a psychiatric hospital. I said to her son that because your mother cultivates "Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance" you didn't even care about her, and instead blamed society. To change society, you need to start with yourself. After the Fa-rectification period, you'll be extremely proud of your mother. I also talked to her husband about how his fearful behavior negatively influences his son, as he won't be able to face society. If you do not truly care about your wife and son, then you don't truly have any real friends or happiness in your life. Later on they went to see the practitioner, and also tried to help her. Her son also said that he talked to his mother about our telephone conversation and his mother was very happy about it.
After the Hong Kong event, I called the Hong Kong government and legislative department and told them that Falun Dafa has been widely spread worldwide. I also told them what the evil head had brought to Germany and that when he passed by the hot springs in Iceland, the steam from them turned black. The evil head had visited Hong Kong twice and every time he visited some plague had affected the country. Based on his age and commentary inside China and abroad, the evil head won't stay in power for very long. Would you really like to flatter such an individual, an evil dictator, and allow Hong Kong to become a second China? After they listened to me, they all felt this was a serious problem and thanked me for caring about them. They also told me I should call or write their bosses. Some of them even gave me their boss' phone or fax numbers. In the process of clarifying the truth, if we can let people know that this persecution endangers them, they'll then pay attention.
