Falun Gong Practitioners Call for an End to the Persecution During Human Rights Dialogue Between China and Canada (Photos)

(Clearwisdom.net October 11, 2003) The annual human rights dialogue between China and Canada was held in Ottawa in October 2003. Like previous dialogues, the talks between the governments occurred in private. The spokeswoman of the Foreign Ministry, Ms. Kimberly Philips said that the talks started on October 6 and ended on October 10, 2003. She did not mention details, however, she mentioned Falun Gong. She said that Canada had raised the Falun Gong issue to the Chinese Government at different occasions in Canada or Beijing and would continue doing so.

Falun Gong practitioners hope that the Chinese delegates will bring back the righteous voice of the Canadian government and people: for the sake of the Chinese people, stop persecuting Falun Gong immediately and release all Falun Gong practitioners being illegally imprisoned, including 14 family members of Canadians.

From early morning to 6:00 pm on October 9, 2003, Falun Gong practitioners from Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal gathered in front of the Foreign Ministry and held a peaceful appeal by practicing the exercises. The practitioners overcame various difficulties; most were senior practitioners in their 60s and 70s. They took turns practicing the exercises and holding banners.

More than 10 practitioners from Toronto drove overnight to Ottawa to participate in the appeal. Ms. Chen, in her 70s said, "The Jiang regime's persecution of Falun Gong practitioners harms not only Chinese people but also people all over the world, because Jiang extends the persecution overseas through various means to spread lies and generate hatred. The persecution aims at the moral foundation of human beings."

Canada's Foreign Ministry is the main government agency communicating with Chinese Government to urge it to stop persecuting Falun Gong. The Ministry is also the main target of mass lies and pressure from China. It is a precious opportunity for Falun Gong practitioners to send forth righteous thoughts and explain the facts. On this day, the practitioners took advantage of the opportunity of dialogue to not only deliver the message of "Falun Dafa is good," "Stop the Persecution," "Global Public Trial of Jiang" to Chinese delegates, but also to demonstrate the gracefulness of Falun Dafa to officials of Canada's Foreign Ministry and expose the persecution. The practitioners distributed flyers and explained the facts to staff passing by. Many showed support and respect to the practitioners. A lady walking out the building said in Chinese after accepting a flyer, "Thank you." At the end of the event, two staff members walking out of the building thanked the practitioners holding the large banner for letting the people inside the building see clearly the words on the banner. They said that many people looked out at Falun Gong practitioners practicing the exercises and some browsed the Internet right away to inquire about Falun Gong.

An unexpected thing occurred. The National Science Academy across from the foreign ministry rehearsed a fire drill, and several hundred people from the academy suddenly appeared behind the practitioners. Many of them obtained information about Falun Gong.

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