Canada: Newspaper Columnist Suggests Athletes Practice Falun Gong Exercises During the 2008 Beijing Olympics
(Clearwisdom.net) On December 13, the National Post (Canada) published
an article by a freelance columnist which suggested that athletes practice Falun Gong exercises during the
2008 Beijing Olympics to show support for Falun Gong. The article said, the government in Beijing wants the 2008 Olympics to
do for China what the 1964 Olympics did for Japan: Display the country's best
qualities and prove that it deserves a place in the family of nations. This
means that the Olympics offer a once-in-a-century opportunity to anyone hoping
to nudge China toward freedom. Assuming that Chinese human rights remain at
their present level, international activists could make the Olympics an occasion
to reveal all the grim details. [...] The article said, members of Falun Gong are the most famous among the several
classes of officially persecuted Chinese. Falun Gong members have been beaten,
tortured, sent to work camps, and imprisoned in mental hospitals. All over the
world they stand silently outside Chinese consulates and embassies, living
symbols of opposition to a regime that smugly believes it can get away forever
with arbitrary cruelty. In their vigils the Falun Gong appeal, peacefully, for
help from the part of humanity that's free. The columnist further pointed out, Falun Gong practitioners deserve support. Why shouldn't the
athletes of the world, who will probably contribute to China's prestige in 2008,
adopt the Falun Gong as their personal cause? They could begin by indicating
sympathy through frequent visits to Falun Gong vigils. They could write letters
of support to members imprisoned in China, request talks on the Falun Gong with
every Chinese diplomat in the world, and raise the subject whenever meeting
Chinese officials for any reason. The article proposed that the athletes could announce that if China doesn't change its
ways, they'll march into the Beijing Olympic Stadium on opening day in 2008,
congregate on the field, and perform slow-movement meditation in the style of
Falun Gong while several billion TV viewers look on. They could start practicing
it at athletic meets right now, as a sign of solidarity. [...]
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