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LONDON (FDI) - A Falun Gong practitioner in UK is currently being held at a deportation center in Manchester Airport, waiting to be deported back to China. As a Falun Gong practitioner, she could face incarceration, torture, or even murder should she be really sent back to her home country.
Lili Lin, 28, applied for asylum in Manchester in October 2001 on grounds of being a practitioner of Falun Gong. In April 2002, Lili Lin was married to Jinfei Zhang, a PhD student at Liverpool University, who is also a Falun Gong practitioner. She moved from Manchester to Liverpool to live with her husband, and informed the Home Office of her change of address. Since then she has reported to the Home Office in Liverpool regularly.
However, the Home Office refused her asylum application and sent the refusal letter to her old address; therefore she was not aware of the refusal letter at all until it was too late. Failing to appeal against the Home Office decision in time, she was listed for deportation. At 3pm, February 26, 2003, as usual, Lili went to report to the Home Office in Liverpool. Out of the blue, an immigration officer announced that she was to be deported immediately.
She asked to see her husband, but was refused. Four tall and strong policemen came up and pressed her down to the floor, and dragged her into a room, where she was locked until 8:30pm. She was not given any food or water when she was locked up. They then sent her to a deportation center in Manchester, where she was still not provided with food or water, and was not allowed to contact her husband. It was not until 1:20am, February 27th that she was able to get in touch with her husband with the help of a kind-hearted staff member. By that time, her husband had become extremely worried about her whereabouts, as she had failed to come home.
Lili would be put in a dangerous situation if she were deported back to China. Lili has been an active Falun Gong practitioner in UK, and voluntarily runs a free Falun Gong exercise-teaching class in Liverpool together with her husband. Her husband's name appears in Falun Gong's leaflets and website, which are widely and openly distributed. She frequently went to the Chinese consulate in Manchester and Chinese Embassy in London to appeal.
Undoubtedly the Chinese Government knows of this family's involvement with Falun Gong. The British Government and public must not fail in their responsibility to protect this family.
Further Contact: Mr. Jinfei Zhang (husband of Lili Lin): 07789 914 701 Ms. Zhengfang Mo: 07818 037 273
(Clearwisdom.net)
Memory V
Every day since July 20th, 1999, has seemed like a year. From longing for an end to the persecution to validating the Fa openly and nobly, we have gradually become more and more mature during this period. The rumours and defamation against Dafa on TV made me more clear and firm in my belief in Dafa. I remember a time when the director and secretary of the neighbourhood committee came to my home to try to force me to give up cultivation. I pointed to the TV and told them: "I watch the news on television every day. What is said is completely different from what I have experienced. Practitioners are the ones reading Zhuan Falun every day and who are the most knowledgeable about what is written in that book. We are practicing Falun Gong and cultivating our Xinxing (moral character) each day. We are also the ones who are most clear about what we do every day. For example, I eat a pear every day. Who should describe how a pear tastes, me, or someone who has never eaten a pear? How could I believe and follow you?" They immediately became speechless. I then sternly told them, but with a peaceful attitude, that if they wanted to ask me what Falun Dafa and cultivation were like, they were welcome to do so anytime. However, if they wanted to speak to me about other things, then they should not waste their time. Ever since then, they have not returned.
Whenever I saw the rumours and defamation against Master Li on television, I could not stop my tears. With the Fa spreading in the human world, I had witnessed the tribulations that Dafa had experienced and the hardships Master Li faced while spreading the Fa. How could the vicious rumours not deeply hurt a Dafa disciple's heart?
I remember that the International Health Show of 1992 I attended was held in the International Trade Building. When I entered the hall, various different forms of Qigong dazzled the eyes. I saw that the waiting line for Falun Gong was the longest and had the most people, so I hurried to the front to have a look. Enormous excitement rose from my heart. At first glance, I saw a "young man" with a tall stature and a kind face speaking to a journalist. At that moment, I told the friend I was with, "He must be the Master of this Qigong."
"How do you know that?" she asked me.
"I have a feeling." I replied.
It was very strange, and as I stared at him I felt that I had seen this person (Master Li) before somewhere, or we had done something together, but I could not remember, no matter how hard I tried. He really looked familiar! I looked at him carefully, from head to toe. He was wearing an ordinary coat, with an old, light brown sweater inside (which looked hand-woven, but later I found out that the sweater was mended). His pants and shoes were also old, but very clean. He seemed very approachable.
Memory VI
I remember when I attended the lecture in Tianjin, I noticed Master Li always stayed at an inexpensive hotel. He was always busy. After the lecture, Master often had a lot of things to take care of. When he returned to the hotel, it was always around 9 or 10 pm, and each night Master only ate instant noodles for dinner.
I also noticed (I naturally noticed this because I attended many lectures) that Master seldom changed his clothing, but paid attention to appearance and dressed very simply. Except for changes in the weather, Master Li always dressed in the same clothes. Once, I asked one of the practitioners who knew Master about this, and I learned that Master washed his clothes every night, and wore them again the next day. I observed that Master seldom bought new clothes, for he had very few articles of clothing. When Master Li gave lectures in Tianjin, his old shoes, which had been worn for years, were worn out. However, he didn't want to replace them with a new pair. Several disciples strongly insisted in accompanying Master to the department store, and brought a new pair of shoes for him to wear.
Whenever several of our veteran practitioners gathered together, we couldn't help mentioning Master. Once we talked about the Tianjin lecture. I complained about the practitioners who worked with Master: why didn't they take good care of Master rather than let him eat instant noodles every day? However, one practitioner told me that this happened not only in Tianjin. Master Li often ate instant noodles. She also mentioned that when Master came to the public to spread the Fa in the very beginning, it was very hard. The funds collected during the lecture sometimes were not enough to pay the rent of the lecture hall (the rent was fixed regardless of how many people attended the lecture). The budget was very tight. She also told me: "Master never told us how high his level was. I only saw Master be a teacher and example, benevolent and peaceful. I felt Master was not an ordinary Qigong master. In my heart, I knew that Master Li was so much more than that. When Master hosted lectures in my hometown, I invited him over again and again to have a meal in my home (Master stayed far away from the lecture hall, which took several hours to commute). Master didn't like to eat meat. Vegetarian food was enough. While cooking and asking Master Li what he would like to have, Master always said: "I will eat whatever everyone else eats. Don't go to a lot of trouble, keep it simple." Once Master humorously said: "I like the Shandong steamed bread you make." As he said this, he bit into the hot steamed bread and said that it tasted good. Actually Master Li was always thinking of the disciples. He didn't want to bother anyone, and he didn't want us to spend money."
She also told me that once after lunch, there was some leftover food in a dish as well as some vegetable soup. That evening when they returned from the lecture, she said to Master: "It is very easy to cook a vegetarian dish."
However, Master said, "I'll just eat the leftovers."
She tried to tell Teacher that they usually did not eat so simply. She thought, "How could we let Master eat leftover vegetable soup?"
However, Master's expression was serious and pointed to the leftovers (the remaining vegetable soup) and said, "I'll just eat the leftovers." Master's mood was very firm, which, at that moment, seemed like an order that no one could contradict. Master Li poured the vegetable soup into his bowl, along with some other food and calmly ate.
When we heard about this, everyone felt very remorseful. My eyes were wet with tears. Master, you suffered! Your disciples could not express their respect even with thousands and thousands of words. Your every word or deed was so moving. I felt that if I didn't do well myself, I would really be unworthy of Master's instruction and teaching.
Memory VII
Chinese Central Television and the "610 Office" [an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems.] spread the rumour that Teacher was not capable of writing Zhuan Falun, and that the book was actually written by so and so. When I heard that CCTV would go so far as to spread such wicked lies, I really felt that the Chinese Government was losing face. I am a witness! I was honoured to have been able to participate in transcribing the lectures recorded in the initial stages. Zhuan Falun was transcribed word by word from Master's lectures in Changchun, Jinan, Zhengzhou, Dalian, etc., which took us 5 to 6 days to finish. In the summer of 1994, I accepted this sacred task and did not slack off one bit. Due to the fact that my level of education was not high, I did not know how to write many of the characters in Master's lecture. Even so, I checked the dictionary while playing the lecture sentence by sentence. Then I transcribed them word by word with a tape recorder in the absence of any better transcribing equipment. Next, I copied them into characters without missing a word. Working day and night for dozens of hours, over ten practitioners finally finished the task of transcription on time. The transcript was later sent to other practitioners to type up and then it was handed to Master for correction. I knew the importance of this task. Recalling how I knelt on the floor and bent over the sofa to do this because my family was sleeping and I had to work on the sofa in the hall, and then seeing all the shameless lies on TV, I have no choice but to write down what I had experienced.
I have never written an article before. However, as a Dafa disciple, I strongly feel that it is my duty to record the glory of Master and Dafa, to help more people learn the truth, and expose the deceitful lies. If I had no deep impressions left by Master's teachings or the example he set, my righteous thoughts might not be so strong. I suggest that more veteran disciples write down their personal experiences and let Master's true greatness be made public, so that our fellow practitioners can become more diligent, and the people of the world more clear.
2003-2-12
Please see Parts 1 and 2 on
http://www.minghui2000.org/emh/articles/2003/2/25/32540.html
http://www.minghui2000.org/emh/articles/2003/2/18/32266.html
February 27, 2003
Via Fax: 0044 20 7273 3965
Right Honorable David Blunkett MP
Secretary of State for the Home Department
Re: Ms. Lin Lili
Home Office Reference No. L1053356
Dear Secretary Blunkett:
I am counsel to the World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong ("WOIPFG"). WOIPFG is dedicated to protecting the human rights of Falun Gong practitioners around the world, to investigate and expose violations of those rights, and to restore and uphold justice in society.
As has been reported, Ms. Lin Lili, a citizen of the People's Republic of China and Falun Gong practitioner, is being held at Owington Detention Centre awaiting deportation to China scheduled for 7 March 2003. As more fully detailed below, WOIPFG is asking for your assistance in (i) enjoining the deportation, and (ii) furthering Ms. Lin's application for political asylum. The relevant facts are as follows:
In October 2001, Ms. Lin applied for political asylum1 to the Home Office in Manchester. In April 2002, after her marriage to Jinfei Zhang, a doctoral candidate at Liverpool University and also a Falun Gong practitioner, Ms. Lin moved from Manchester to Liverpool. There, she continued her spiritual practices and became a volunteer at a free exercise class. In compliance with regulations, she duly informed the Home Office of the change of address and reported in person on a regular basis.
The Home Office declined to proceed favorably with Ms. Lin's asylum application citing, among other things, a lack of hard evidence that the persecution of practitioners is severe in Fujian provinceLin's hometown. WOIPFG respectfully disagrees with the finding, and asserts that there is ample evidence that establishes the severity of the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in Fujian. Please refer to this web site for details: http://media.minghui.org/gb/d-stats/death_namelist_province.htm#Fujian.2
Notification of the denial of Ms. Lin's application was mailed to her former address in Manchester.á Unaware of the existence of the notification because she had long since moved to Liverpool, Ms. Lin failed to appeal the denial in a timely fashion subjecting her to deportation. As was her usual practice, on 26 February, Ms. Lin dutifully reported to the Home Office in Liverpool whereupon she was restrained, denied food and water, and held incommunicado. She was finally allowed to contact her husband the following morning. This treatment pales in comparison to what lies in store for Ms. Lin upon her return to China particularly since she is pregnant and does not want to give birth in prison.
Although efforts are underway to secure legal representation for Ms. Lin, we implore you as a representative of Her Majesty's government, to delay deportation in the interest of justice and compassion. Once counsel presents Ms. Lin's case, I am confident that her application for asylum will be granted.
Thank you for your attention to this most important matter.
Very truly yours,
Stewart L. Weisman, Esq.
SLW/sw
cc: Distribution List
á
DISTRIBUTION LIST
1) Prime Minister Tony Blair
Fax: 011 44 20 7925 0918
2) Ms Beverley Hughes MP
Minister for Citizenship and Immigration
Fax: 0044 20 7273 2043
3) Ms Jane Kennedy MP
Liverpool, Wavertree
E-mail: kennedyj@parliament.uk
4) Sir Christopher Meyer, KCMG
HM Ambassador to the United States
Fax: (202) 588 7870 Chancery
5) Mr. George Fergusson
HM Consul-General British Consulate-General, Boston
Fax: (617) 621 0220
1 Ms. Lin rightly fearing the likely prospect of forced labor, torture, and even death if returned to China. See: Human Rights Watch, "Dangerous Meditation -- China's Campaign Against Falungong" at: http://hrw.org/reports/2002/china/
2 Additional summaries of confirmed deaths by Province can be viewed at: http://media.minghui.org/gb/d-stats/province_en.htm
(Clearwisdom.net)
Mr. Shang Kunfeng, a 51-year-old college graduate, was the former deputy county supervisor of Zhengding County, Hebei Province. After July 20, 1999, he was demoted because he practiced Falun Gong. Then in July of 2001, he was forced to leave home and go from one place to another to avoid further persecution. His story was revealed in the international media and caught the attention of high level authorities in China. Since then, the Chinese Ministry of Public Security has regarded him as a main target. They issued a warrant for his arrest and 60,000 Yuan reward as part of a nationwide manhunt. [An average Chinese urban worker's monthly wage is about 500 Yuan]
On October 21, 2002, the police in Lincheng County, Hebei Province arrested Mr. Shang. The Ministry of Public Security is handling his case. It has been reported that Mr. Shang was secretly sentenced to three years in prison, and his whereabouts are currently unknown.
February 16, 2003
(Clearwisdom.net)
United States citizen Charles Li has been detained a month since he went back to China during the Spring Festival holiday season to visit his family. We call for a nationwide effort to collect signatures to rescue Charles. All the signatures are to be faxed to all levels of governments in the United States. Please send your signature forms to your Congresspersons, President Bush, or Governor of California. (Web signature site, see: http://rescuecharles.org/signature/index_gb.php) (Download signature from: http://pkg2.minghui.org/mh/2003/02/23/Rescue_CharlesLi_signatureform.zip).
During the process of collecting signatures, we have seen more and more kind-hearted Americans are learning about the unbending, peaceful spirit of Falun Dafa practitioners who practice Truthfulness, Compassion, and Tolerance. More and more people are learning about the tragic inhuman persecution happening in China; more and more people are seeing the severe damage to mankind from this fierce persecution. We want the U.S. government to hear the people's voice, and defend American citizens' basic human rights.
The evil fears being exposed the most. Its conduct cannot bear the light of the day. We want all Americans and all kind-hearted people in the world to know that the Chinese government's persecuting and brutally killing Falun Dafa practitioners is a violation of basic human rights, and is a disgrace to humanity.
As of now, almost ten thousand signatures have been collected to rescue Charles. Every signature carries a sincere mental force. The persecution of Charles will awaken all Americans and people worldwide to stand up and stop this vicious persecution and genocide.
We repeat: we will use all our strength to rescue Charles. We will not stop until Charles is rescued!
February 22, 2003
February 25, 2003 - 10:00
(Clearwisdom.net) Zhaojun Wang and his family had found mental and physical health and happiness
in Falun Gong, but his beliefs led him to a labor camp in China.
"He was arrested in 1999, and in the labor camp he made chopsticks. He was forced to sit in
front of a television and watch Communist propaganda," said his wife Yanying, 60, in an
interview in North Bay Monday.
"He couldn't sleep when he was being brainwashed, and if he did they beat him. They said he
would be set free if he denounced Falun Gong."
Yanying's story is one of thousands that have come out of China since the Communist government
clamped down on Falun Gong in 1999, seven years after it began.
Speaking through a translator, Yanying stopped to wipe tears from her eyes.
"We used to have such a wonderful family," she said, explaining that she lives with her
daughter in Toronto while her husband of 33 years and her son, Bai Qiu, 27, remain in Jinan, a city
of four million in eastern China.
Falun Gong is a peaceful self-improvement and exercise system which aims at harmonizing mind and
body while guiding people to upgrade their morality by following the principles of truthfulness,
compassion and tolerance.
Four Falun Gong practitioners were in the city Monday as part of a Northern tour aimed at helping
people understand the situation in China.
The problem with Falun Gong was that it became popular too quickly.
The spiritual ideas were all right with Communist Leader Jiang Zemin until its numbers reached 100
million, more than the membership of the Communist Party.
Since Jiang started his persecution, international agencies, such as the United Nations, have
estimated that 100,000 Chinese have been illegally sent to labour camps and another 100,000 have
been arrested and detained.
The four on an automobile tour of Northeastern Ontario cities this week are Yanying, Peijong Hsieh,
Cecilia Xiong and Ming Zhai.
They had a meeting with Mayor Jack Burrows and also visited the constituency offices of Nipissing MP
Bob Wood and Nipissing MPP Al McDonald.
"Every letter, every phone call helps to get the Chinese government to change its mind,"
Xiong said. "Six months ago, we did the same and it helped to free five people with relatives
in Canada from Chinese jails."
Yanying said she was in Singapore helping her daughter with her first child when the Chinese
government changed its mind about Falun Gong, which calls itself neither a religion nor a sect.
Yanying, an artist like her husband, has not been able to return home and it is breaking her heart.
She said Falun Gong helped her husband to heal stomach problems and it helped her son to stop the
drinking of alcohol and other bad habits.
She talked to her husband a few days ago but she knew the line was tapped by the Communists so she
had to be careful about what she said.
Xiong, 23, has a story that is as sad as Yanying's.
She left China in 1998 to study at a university in Brussells and was in Belgium when the terror in
her homeland started. Like her, her parents were believers in Falun Gong, now practised in more than
50 countries.
"My mother was beaten until she was blind and deaf," she said. "My dad was placed in
jail."
International pressure resulted in both being freed and now they are living in exile in their own
land.
"You can't even mention the words Falun Gong because you are put in jail or tortured in a work
camp," Xiong said.
http://www.nugget.ca/webapp/sitepages/printable.asp?paper=www.nugget.ca&contentID=23762&annewspapername=North+Bay+Nugget
Feb 26, 2003
Valentine's Day would have been a sweet day for my friends Yeong-ching Foo and Charles Li since they
were recently engaged. But something happened to Charles, and now Yeong-ching is heartbroken.
Yeong-ching is a software engineer and a graduate of the University of California-Davis. She spent
this year's Valentine's Day without her fianc?Charles because he is thousands of miles away in a
Chinese detention center.
Li, whose Chinese name Xiangchun means auspicious spring and whose birthday falls on the second
day of the Spring Festival of the Lunar Chinese New Year, is a U.S. citizen and lives in Menlo Park,
California. He immigrated to the United States in the early 1990s and was employed at Harvard
University as a medical researcher before going into the business of importing and exporting Chinese
traditional medicine. He wanted to give his elderly parents the best gift for the Spring Festival by
going home to celebrate the Lunar New Year with them. But he never made it.
Charles was arrested immediately after he landed in China's Guangzhou airport on January 22 and was
then transferred approximately 1,000 miles away to Yangzhou Detention Center in Jiangsu Province.
Two days later, Chinese authorities officially notified the U.S. consulate in Shanghai that Charles
will be formally charged.
Yeong-ching knows that her sweetheart is innocent. Charles has done nothing wrong. No matter what
hyperbole will be offered by the Chinese authority in response to inquiries made concerning Charles,
the simple fact is that he was arrested, detained, and now faces the possibility of spending the
next 15 years in prison simply because of he is a practitioner of Falun Gong, a spiritual practice
based on universal principles of "truth, compassion and tolerance" that has attracted over
100 million people in more than 60 countries since its public introduction in May, 1992, by its
founder, Mr. Li Hongzhi.
Chinese authority, concerned that the peaceful practice was making significant inroads, outlawed
Falun Gong in July, 1999, and launched a brutal persecution of Falun Gong and its practitioners.
Since then, China has systematically attempted to eradicate the practice and those who follow it by
reeducation through forced labor, torture, psychiatric incarceration reminiscent of the discredited
practices of the former Soviet Union, and murder. As of February 10, 2003, more than 570
practitioners have been verified as being tortured to death. However, according to internal
government statistics, the actual death toll had reached 1,600 by the end of 2001.
Yeong-ching and I have enough reasons to fear for Charles' well being and safety. But we know that
we simply cannot let the fear intimidate us.
I wrote to the Secretary of State Colin Powell and asked him to do everything possible within his
power to demand and secure an immediate and unconditional release of Charles; I called my
congressperson and senators and asked them to co-sponsor a letter from Charles' Congresswoman Anna
Eshoo to the ambassador of the People's Republic of China. I also faxed my request to the U.S.
Ambassador to China, Mr. Clark Randt in Beijing (86-10-6532-6929). And I called President Bush and
Mr. Cheney at (202) 456-1111.
I know that these letters and phone calls, along with other rescue efforts carried out by our
friends, will make a difference.
Nancy Chen, an Australian Falun Gong practitioner who is also a friend of mine, was kidnapped by the
Chinese National Security Department in Chengdu, China on the same day of Charles' arrest. She was
released eight days later on January 30 as a result of the tremendous rescue effort put forth by her
family and friends, the local and international communities, and the media. Most notably, the
elected government officials and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Australia played a key role in
securing Nancy's release.
Your voice counts, too. You can make the same phone calls and help my friend.
http://can.bits.baseview.com/can_templates/webster/search/277123068739836.can
(Clearwisdom.net)
As everyone knows, the human rights of Falun Gong practitioners have been subjected to serious infringements. These infringements have not only endangered the lives of Falun Gong practitioners inside China, but to varying degrees, Falun Gong practitioners overseas are also persecuted.
For the more than three years since July 1999, when Jiang's regime began to unreasonably suppress Falun Gong, the number of verified cases of practitioners being persecuted to death has reached more than 570. In China, there are currently thousands of Falun Gong practitioners still suffering brutal torture in detention centers, forced labor camps, prisons and mental hospitals. Some female practitioners have been sexually abused; several hundred practitioners have been illegally sentenced to prison or labor camp terms, and hundreds of thousands of practitioners have been forced into the brainwashing centers. Millions of practitioners' homes are under surveillance and many have been ransacked. Falun Gong publications, including audio and video materials, are routinely confiscated and burned.
Jiang's regime implemented the policy of "defame their reputation, destroy them economically, and eliminate them physically" to persecute Falun Gong practitioners. To accomplish these ends the regime has instituted the "610 Office" throughout China [the "610 Office" is an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems]. This body has undertaken all means to carry out a carefully organized, yet insane suppression of Falun Gong, through the implementation of a program that essentially amounts to state terrorism. Furthermore, in its attempts to eradicate Falun Gong, the Jiang regime seeks to provoke general hatred towards Falun Gong through a viciously negative propaganda campaign.
Not only are Falun Gong practitioners inside China under persecution, practitioners outside of China have also suffered all manner of human rights violations. Some Chinese nationals were deprived of the right to return to China to visit relatives, while practitioners of other nationalities were denied entry and some were forcibly detained and expelled; others were illegally arrested and detained for long periods of time. Other Chinese nationals' applications were refused when applying for passport extensions or renewals, thus causing many of these Falun Gong practitioners to become stateless. Some had to apply for asylum in the countries they were visiting. But even after they were recognized as legitimate refugees under United Nations laws, some were forcibly deported to China under pressure from the Chinese authorities and were immediately detained.
When Jiang was recently visiting foreign countries, because of a blacklist provided by his regime, many Falun Gong practitioners were denied entry to the countries Jiang was visiting and therefore couldn't take part in the peaceful protests against the persecution. Most recently, under pressure from the Chinese government, Hong Kong unreasonably prosecuted, sentenced and fined Falun Gong practitioners (including practitioners of foreign nationality). Further, they are also pushing to legislate Article 23 of Hong Kong's Basic Law, with the ulterior motive to lay the groundwork for a ban and persecution of Falun Gong in Hong Kong.
In their efforts to destroy Falun Gong's reputation overseas, Jiang's regime often uses strategic propaganda to defame Falun Gong. At the same time, it uses trade benefits to try to spread its despotic power in various countries overseas. Using money as a bribe, the regime pays lip service to the issue of human rights, and flaunts the legal banner while trampling international law. From all of the facts above, it is not difficult to see that the Jiang regime's brutal suppression of Falun Gong has not only violated the constitution of its own country, but it also violates the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (which China has signed), as well as the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
According to incomplete statistics, more than sixty Falun Gong practitioners in Japan have suffered different forms of persecution. These include the following cases: eleven practitioners had their passports cancelled; twenty-eight were denied entry to China and were forcibly expelled; twenty-eight were forcibly detained after entering China, and were later expelled; twenty were illegally arrested and detained; four were sentenced to heavy prison or forced-labor camp terms; seventeen had to apply for asylum overseas. The wife of a Japanese citizen is still in detention in China. The number of cases of direct persecution is over 170.
From the above instances, it is clear that Jiang's regime has created a blacklist of Falun Gong practitioners in Japan. The blacklist is used to deny entry of Falun Gong practitioners into China, so as to prevent them from coming to peacefully appeal on behalf of Falun Gong. At the same time, it has caused Chinese Falun Gong practitioners in Japan to become refugees; they have family in China but they cannot return home; they have a country but cannot go back. This is a devastating attack on an individual. These actions have severely violated the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Article II (b), "Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group" and (c), "Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part").
The persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in Japan provides ironclad evidence in support of the lawsuit against Jiang. In the meantime, we ask the World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong to research all the related departments, organizations and individuals who have persecuted Falun Gong practitioners in Japan, and to fully expose the persecution against Falun Gong practitioners overseas.
Feb. 18, 2003
(Clearwisdom.net)
BRUSSELS, Belgium, Feb. 27 (UPI) -- A U.N. criminal court in The Hague Thursday sentenced former Bosnian-Serb President Biljana Plavsic to 11 years imprisonment for committing crimes against humanity.
Sentencing judge Richard May told the U.N. tribunal that Plavsic participated in "a crime of the utmost gravity, involving a campaign of ethnic separation which resulted in the deaths of thousands and the expulsion of thousands more in circumstances of great brutality."
Plavsic, dubbed the "Iron Lady" of the Balkans, was President of Bosnia-Herzegovina from November 1990 to December 1992 and was a prominent leader of the breakaway Serb part of the country throughout the civil war.
May said that during her time in power, the former biology professor "planned, instigated, ordered and abetted persecutions of the Bosnian Muslim, Bosnian Croat and other non-Serb populations" and "disregarded widespread reports of ethnic cleansing."
Around 200,000 Bosnians were killed between 1992-95 in Europe's most-bloody conflict since the World War II.
Plavsic, once a hard-line Serb nationalist and enthusiastic supporter of ethnic cleansing, handed herself in to The Hague tribunal in 2001 and last year issued an extraordinary mea culpa in which she apologized to "all the innocent victims of the Bosnian war."
May said the former president's voluntary surrender, admission of guilt and advanced age -- she is 72 -- were "substantial mitigating circumstances."
The British judge also hailed the "considerable contribution to peace" made by Plavsic in the mid-1990s and said that her plea "should promote reconciliation in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the region as a whole."
However, May rejected the defense's argument that any sentence more than 8 years would effectively mean life imprisonment for the woman who was once photographed stepping over the body of a dead Muslim to kiss Serb warlord Arkan.
Summing up, the judge told a stony-faced Plavsic: "No sentence which the Trial Chamber passes can fully reflect the horror of what occurred or the terrible impact on thousands of victims."
Plavsic is the highest-ranking figure to be sentenced by the Netherlands-based court since it was set up a decade ago to try suspected war criminals from the former Yugoslavia.
On Wednesday, nationalist Serb politician Vojislav Seselj appeared before the tribunal for the first time since surrendering to the court Monday. The former deputy leader of Serbia refused to plead to the eight charges of crimes against humanity made against him.
http://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20030227-120801-3731r.htm
(Clearwisdom.net)
Ms. Xu Lijuan is a 41-year-old Falun Dafa practitioner. She lives in the 4th unit, 3rd Alley, Zhiguo Street in Shuangcheng City, Heilongjiang Province. She was a good wife and mother in excellent health. One day in the spring of 2000, while she was doing Falun Gong exercises in Chengxu Park in Shuangcheng City, the local policemen arrested her and sent her to the Second Detention Center. There she was tortured and abused so severely that she suffered a mental collapse. The "610 Office" didn't release her until more than ten days after her breakdown [the "610 Office" is an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems].
Ms. Xu had lost her memory and did not remember where she lived. The police therefore looked up the interrogation notes and found her address. When they took her home, her husband wasn't there, so the police just left Ms. Xu in the care of her teen-age daughter. When Ms. Xu's husband came back and found that his wife had been groundlessly persecuted to a state of mental collapse, he said angrily, "If I had known they had turned her into this, I would never have just let them walk away!"
Ms. Xu Lijuan and her husband are both laid-off workers, and are therefore in considerable financial difficulty. They have had to spend close to 10,000 Yuan to treat Ms. Xu, [500 Yuan is the average monthly income for an urban worker in China] who remains listless, and has lost part of her memory. She cannot take care of herself. Because Ms. Xu's husband has to take care of her and also their daughter who is in school, he cannot go out to work to earn money. He is extremely distressed and exhausted. The family has to rely on the financial help of their relatives in order to survive.
Ms. Xu Lijuan believes in Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance. But just because she practiced some peaceful exercises in a park, she has been abused to the point of mental collapse, bringing a catastrophe to her family. We hope that the international community, human rights organizations and all kindhearted people in the world will work together to end this evil drama of persecution that is so cruelly devastating innocent people.
Feb. 19, 2003
(Clearwisdom.net)
Guard Li Zhe from the Third Detention Center in Changchun incited a criminal to take Dafa practitioner Song Li, who holds a master's degree, into a restroom and beat him. Song Li was covered with cuts and bruises after the beating. They force-fed him and used electrical batons to shock him. As a result, Song Li's body was covered with injuries. Song requested an official appeal, but the intermediate court in Changchun refused.
Ms. Tian Shufang, a 69-year-old Dafa practitioner, can no longer walk because she was forced to sit on a board motionless for long periods of time in the prison cell. The authorities still conducted an illegal trial despite her terrible physical condition.
Police in the detention center also stapled Dafa practitioners' hands, stabbed their hands with toothpicks and then tore out the staples and toothpicks. They enjoyed torturing the practitioners and called it "acupuncture."
They also used a liquid containing nitric acid to rub onto the Dafa practitioners' philtrums. [The philtrum is the indentation directly below one's nose.] The practitioners' upper lips were burned badly. In addition, the nitric acid severely affected practitioners' respiratory tract after being inhaled.
The detention center not only tortured Dafa practitioners' physically and mentally, but also tried to ruin them financially. They took away clothes and money sent from Dafa practitioners' families, even confiscating the practitioners' underpants that their families sent. One practitioner deposited 600 Yuan with the detention center in December 2001. After being released, his family member went to the detention center to get the money back, but the police altered the records and took possession of the money.
2003-2-12
(Clearwisdom.net) On November 21, 2002, Beijing Dafa practitioner Pan Xu and his girlfriend Li Shufeng, also a practitioner, were arrested from home and later sentenced to two years in a forced labor camp. Currently Pan Xu is detained at the Tuanhe Forced Labor Camp. Li Shufeng may have been sent to Beijing Women's Forced Labor Camp. Pan Xu's elderly father has been left at home to care for himself.
After July 20th, 1999, Beijing University officials carried out a series of severe persecutions against Dafa practitioners. They even boasted, "No one can do anything to stop us." They organized seminars to slander Falun Dafa. They forced practitioners to attend and tried to make them denounce Dafa. Whenever they saw three practitioners together, the officials would label them as "having a Fa-conference." These practitioners would then be arrested and sent to labor camps. On "sensitive" days such as days leading up to festivals or national holidays, police would round up practitioners and send them to detention centers or labor camps. They tried to force Dafa practitioners to abandon "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance." Professors and students who refused to renounce their beliefs would face forced retirement or expulsion. Their intention is to destroy practitioners' spirit, health and financial security. The following is a brief report regarding several practitioners.
Quan Gaoxi, male, 69, former Associate Professor of Biology was sentenced to one and a half years of forced labor. He is currently detained at the Tuanhe Forced Labor Camp.
Wang Suyun, female, 58 years old, retired librarian at the University Library was detained in 2001 and sentenced to one and a half years in a forced labor camp.
Yuan Lin, female, 48, former lecturer at Beijing University's Graduate School was expelled from the Party and detained twice, lasting two months. In December 2001, Yuan Lin was illegally arrested. She was severely tortured during the nine months following her detention. In September 2002, she was sentenced to eight years in prison. She also lost her civil rights for two years.
Yang Fengling, female, 63, former lecturer at the Department of Applied Physics. In November 2001, Yang was detained after she appealed for Dafa in Tiananmen Square.
Li Zhanjin, female, 52, former senior engineer at the Qingniao Company affiliated with Beijing University. Because of her beliefs, Li Zhanjin was forced to quit the Party and her job. She was detained twice, lasting one and a half months. In October 2001, she was sentenced to one and a half years in a forced labor camp. She is now detained at the Beijing Women's Forced Labor Camp.
Chen Xulin, female, 52, former engineer at the Qingniao Company affiliated with Beijing University and deputy director of the training department was forced to quit the Party and retire, and she was detained for a month. After that, she was forced to leave home and go from place to place to avoid the persecution.
Duan Hongxia, female, 33, former Beijing University's Fangzheng Company employee: In July 2002, Duan was sentenced to one year in a forced labor camp.
Lei Xiaoting, female, 32, former graduate student in the English Department was sentenced to two years of prison because she participated in a press conference in October 1999 to clarify the truth about Falun Gong.
Luo Xiang, male, Ph.D. candidate in the Philosophy Department: In March 2001, Luo was sentenced to one and a half years in a forced labor camp.
Xue Weiwei, female, 33, former Ph.D. candidate from the Department of Remote Sensing Technology: Because of her beliefs, Xue was expelled from the Party, the military and the university.
Miao Naiyi, male: Because of his belief in Dafa, he was sentenced to an undisclosed jail term.
Ma Ang, male, 29, graduate student in the Department of Telecommunications was sentenced to an undisclosed labor camp term.
Written on February 16, 2003
(Clearwisdom.net)
(Clearwisdom.net)
(Clearwisdom.net)
(Clearwisdom.net) On the morning of December 17, 2001, I received a call from a friend of mine in China. He told me that personnel from the "610 Office" had arrested my mother while she was on her way to a police department to apply for her passport. ["610 Office" is a bureau specifically created by the Chinese government to persecute Falun Gong. It has absolute power over each level of administration in the Party, as well as over the political and judiciary branches.] Her whereabouts were not known. I felt like the sky was collapsing. It was a Saturday when I had to work overtime in my job. At the office, no matter how I sent forth righteous thoughts, I could not work normally. After I finished sending forth righteous thoughts as part of a group in front of the Chinese Consulate that afternoon, I discussed what to do with several practitioners. I didn't even know the names of most of the other practitioners at the time. Although some other Toronto practitioners' relatives were being illegally detained or had become homeless in order to avoid the persecution in China, and one practitioner's mother was in the notorious Masanjia Forced Labor Camp, no local practitioner was in charge of coordinating rescue work. We weren't sure how to go about it. We all realized, however, that we should use our personal experiences to clarify the truth to the world. My mother's arrest would be a powerful piece of evidence of the Jiang regime's cruel persecution of innocent practitioners. Individual practitioners had many different thoughts regarding this. When we decided to start by collecting signatures to present to the government to help release my mother, some practitioners kindly reminded us that we should not add more pressure to the practitioners in China.
Back then, I did not participate in many Fa-rectification activities, other than weekly group study and some large-scale practice activities. I didn't know the other practitioners well, but after learning of my mother's arrest, many gave me a hand. A practitioner from Taiwan immediately made two display boards with pictures and stories of my mother and I. Knowing that I would take the boards to often-rainy Europe, the practitioners laminated them and encouraged me over the phone. Once they knew where my mother was detained, some practitioners started to make phone calls to the police there to clarify the truth.
During the Spring Festival, large numbers of letters were sent to many government agencies, worker's unions, and non-governmental organizations. One of the non-governmental organizations in Ontario posted my mother's story on its website and called on readers to send letters to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs asking the government to rescue her. Practitioners in Taiwan also started collecting signatures and soon sent many of them. In May, Mr. Bill Graham, the Canadian Foreign Minister, wrote to me and stated that he had informed the Canadian Embassy in China so they could contact the Chinese government.
Things started to change. My friends in China told me that they had started to visit my mother in the labor camp and communicate with her by the means of simple notes. During this period of time, several Toronto practitioners' relatives were arrested in China and illegally sentenced. After the Falun Dafa conference in Boston, all practitioners realized the change in the cosmic climate. Teacher said in "Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa Conference in Boston,"
"Every Dafa disciple is doing things proactively to validate the Fa and save sentient beings, and Master sees this. This is something that today's everyday people couldn't do. The students outside Mainland China are devoting themselves fully to this, and everybody is doing what they're supposed to do in this Fa-rectification period. Meanwhile, the students in China have their ways of doing things, while you, the students outside of Mainland China, have your ways of doing things. All of you are remarkable. It's not that everyone has to do the same things; every person is doing in his own environment what a Dafa disciple is supposed to do at this time. You're doing it from your heart, and each disciple is safeguarding the Fa and saving sentient beings really just like a particle of Dafa."
At this time, some practitioners spontaneously stepped forward and suggested the formation of the Rescue Our Family Members project.
We had previously often held discussions about the whole body of practitioners in Toronto. If one looks at us practitioners individually, extraordinary people seem to be rare. However, our strength is that once we have made a decision, everyone will devote themselves to it wholeheartedly regardless of any differing opinions individuals might have. This fully manifested again during the initiation of the Rescue Our Family Members effort.
Practitioners in charge of making display boards made one board for each family member who was persecuted in China. The elderly female practitioners who had been clarifying the truth in Chinatown hung the pictures of family members being rescued on their arms and walked to every corner of the city to collect signatures. The TV group made documentary films about the rescue project and uploaded them to the Internet so that our voice was spread all over the world. The media group held press conferences again and again so that the English and Chinese media were shocked by there being so many persecution cases in their area. Practitioners doing government work made many contacts in the provincial governments and the Parliament. The practitioners with relatives being persecuted in China spoke on Parliament Hill and exposed the bloody persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China.
The mainstream media, including Voice of America, Radio Free Asia, and CBC, started to cover the stories often, and in a supportive way. Many MP's condemned the bloody persecution and asked the Canadian government to directly call upon the Chinese government to stop the persecution. Some practitioners designed postcards with the pictures of persecuted practitioners and distributed them to people. Soon, these signed postcards were sent to the Canadian Prime Minister and the Bureau of Foreign Affairs. All of these are sending a strong and clear voice, "Immediately stop the persecution and let our relatives come back home soon!"
At that time, I joined the volunteers at the radio station. In order to make a program that showed the magnificence of many practitioners safeguarding and validating Dafa with their lives in the face of brutal oppression over the past three years, some other practitioners and I interviewed many practitioners who had been illegally detained in prison and who had relatives being persecuted in China. Their selfless persistence in the truth while facing evil deeply moved my heart. During the process of making this program, my heart was purified and my cultivation level moved up. I have practiced Falun Gong for a year. Having not experienced the period of self-cultivation, I stumbled along the Fa-rectification process with the help of other fellow practitioners. Then I felt that the proud mission of every one of our practitioners during the Fa-rectification period is to truly position oneself in the tide of the Fa-rectification, to melt oneself into a Dafa particle, and, before the enormous Fa-rectification force comes, to realize the great vow that we made with Teacher. As I step deeper into the Fa-rectification process, I can put down more and more attachments that I had been tightly holding onto.
Since I began doing work for the radio station, I have not had much time to participate in the rescue project. Since I am a relative of a persecuted practitioner, I always felt uneasy. The practitioner in charge of the rescue told me, "We are a whole body in which everyone is manifesting the effect of a Dafa particle in his position. Media work is also an important part of the rescue project. Furthermore, there is no you and me in Dafa -- anyone's business is everyone's business." Feeling relieved, I could more easily devote myself to the media work.
In August, Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Graham questioned the Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Tang Jiaxuan about Falun Gong at the conference for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
In September, at the suggestion of Canadian practitioners, the Global Mission to Rescue Persecuted Falun Gong Practitioners (GMRPFGP) was established. This marked the spreading of the rescue project from Canada to countries around the world and formed a powerful body calling for rescue by all practitioners around the world. The T-shirt with the picture of hands holding a loving heart can be seen everywhere. The rescue cases increased from 12 to today's 100 plus. Advancing from the principles of the Fa, more and more practitioners are able to put down their previous concerns, to step forward, and to clarify the truth with their personal experiences so that more kind people can wake up to the lies of the slandering media and evil is effectively stifled.
Practitioners in the telephone group make flyers about the cases of persecution and fax them to the relevant agencies in China. They also call the labor camps in China and tell them about heaven's law of retribution. All of these actions not only seriously strike at the evil, but they also greatly encourage the practitioners in China. My mother was detained at Beijing Female Forced Labor Camp. Every time Minghui.net reported the news it would cause a great impact there. The police guards were extremely scared and repeatedly asked my mother for more information. My mother later said that she found out about the overseas practitioners who were rescuing her from the police.
One of my relatives was very excited to hear the Voice of America interviewing me over the short wave radio. He called the labor camp and wanted to tell my mother about this news. The result is obvious. You can just imagine, in a prison that had blocked all information, what huge encouragement this kind of news would bring to the fellow practitioners. My mother told the police, "I am proud of my son and his friends!" A practitioner's mother was detained at the notorious Masanjia Forced Labor Camp. The practitioners in her hometown saw the information about the overseas rescue and posted flyers on all the streets in the city. The treatment of many detained practitioners improved. Fearing further anger from the international community, the Beijing Female Forced Labor Camp started to register all the detained practitioners with higher education and who had relatives overseas. At this time, Wu Yanying, the sister of Toronto practitioner Wu Yanxia, was released from Tianjin. This was the first case of early release since we started the rescue project, which greatly encouraged all practitioners in Toronto and in the world. This proved that the truth can't be overcome and the evil is actually not a worthy foe regardless of how crazy it seems.
In October, practitioners Lin Shenli and Li Jinyu from Montreal and I went to Texas to assist with the rescue project for American practitioners. In a week's time we visited government and media in the important cities in Texas. We were excited to see the great outcomes from every press conference. We sighed, "The cosmic climate has indeed changed!" Soon enough, the "Rescue Our Family Members and Get Them Home" road trips started. Four groups of cars started from different cities in the United States and Canada traveling to Texas. This great action and the practitioners with persecuted family members became the focus of the media. Right before the cars started from Toronto, a practitioner's father and brother from Shandong Province were released. In the United States, the stories about Wang Zhiwen and Zhou Xuefei became well known. The Japanese practitioners who went to China with Yoko Kaneko came. Dai Zhizhen and Zhang Cuiying came from Australia. I interviewed Li Jinyu from Montreal, "This time last year, you were doing the SOS Walk in order to rescue your husband. Today, both of you are walking in this march calling for the rescue of the practitioners in China. What do you want to say to the audience?" She said, "This scene makes me feel that kindness and righteousness can't be overcome!"
More encouragingly, at this time, the Canadian Parliament unanimously passed a motion requesting the release of thirteen Canadian Falun Gong practitioners' family members, including my mother. In the meantime, the rescue action also started in countries outside North America. In Australia, Japan, and Europe, the voices that support us have become stronger and stronger as more and more practitioners join. We realize that this is not just a matter of a few family members. The persecution still continues: over 100,000 practitioners are still detained in China. A greater rescue plan is under consideration.
Several pieces of good news have come in succession. Before Christmas, adding to our New Year's happiness, Peng Tianxiong, the sister of Toronto practitioner Peng Tianying, was released early. On the fifth day of the Spring Festival in 2003, my mother, after 14 months of imprisonment, was finally home safely. When we were connected on the telephone, we did not know what to say. After a moment of silence, my mother said, "I knew that Minghui.net [1] was rescuing me. Please thank everyone for me!" At that moment, distance did not exist. I felt that mother was right beside me. Behind her, there were hundreds of thousands Falun Dafa practitioners in China. It was 1 in the morning, yet I clearly felt bright lights surrounding me! Looking back over the more than four hundred days and nights that had passed, it seemed like a split second. I saw myself growing up little by little in Dafa and in the whole body of Dafa practitioners as a family. Under the eyes of our benevolent Teacher, among the lines of footprints walking towards the new era, one of them is mine.
[1] Referring to the important information published by the Global Rescue Group on Minghui.net
(Clearwisdom.net) On a day last June, I decided to offer Wu, an 80 year-old intellectual, some truth clarifying materials to take home to read. He kept nodding and said, "Thank you!"
A few days later, Wu looked for me and asked, "Do you have any books that I may borrow to read?" I promptly delivered a copy of Zhuan Falun to him, and impressed upon him the importance of cherishing and protecting Dafa books. I could see his joyous frame of mind when he received the book. After taking the book home, he read Zhuan Falun seven times in a very short period of time, and was reading it deep into the night.
Several days later, when I went to collect the book from him, he asked, "I would like to read it a few more times. Can I return it to you in a couple of days?" Seeing that he had such a steadfast belief in Dafa, I replied, "Let me give the book to you as a present." He firmly declined the offer, saying, "I have read countless books but none is as precious as this and I cannot accept it without paying for it." He said from the bottom of his heart, "I will treasure this book with the utmost care."
One day, when he came to my house wishing to learn the exercises, I played the videotape of Teacher demonstrating the exercises for him and at the same time coached him once on the exercises. When he was leaving I gave him a copy of The Great Consummation Way of Falun Dafa. It was in this way that he began to look upon reputation and fame as trivial matters. He practices the exercises daily and can basically perform the five sets of exercises, and though he is 80 years old, he can perform the sitting meditation with both legs crossed.
There was another occasion when he told me: "Such good gong, such good Fa; it is not good for me to be practicing it alone. The public should know about it. What must I do?" He really moved me. So I asked him to let his family, his friends and relatives, and as many people as possible know that "Falun Dafa is great, Falun Dafa is the true way," and help them understand the facts and benefits of Dafa. Thereafter, he distributed more than one hundred copies of the truth-clarifying materials. Wu's cousin is a Party official of his town, and when he heard that Dafa is good, he traveled over 20 miles to borrow Zhuan Falun to read at home. It was passed on to his good friends and relatives to read, and all agreed it was a most precious and rare book. They asked to purchase seven copies of Zhuan Falun, but if that was not possible, they would accept seven photocopied volumes and even hand-copied volumes would do. They managed to photocopy the seven volumes of Zhuan Falun after much deliberation.
When we are clarifying the facts about Falun Dafa, the important point is to let the other party understand what Falun Gong is, and likewise we must let our friends and relatives know, so as to provide more with the opportunity of salvation.
(Clearwisdom.net)
We often talk about the old forces arrangements. When we see other practitioners going through disease karma or other tribulations, we clearly realize where the practitioners have gaps in their cultivation which leave loopholes for the evil to exploit. However, when the tribulations happen to ourselves, we may not soberly realize that they are actually persecution arranged by the old forces, and we follow these arrangements unknowingly. I think the reason for this is that our main consciousness and righteous thoughts are not strong enough.
Recently, a lot of thought karma surfaced in my mind. Sometimes I even followed these bad thoughts for a while before I suddenly woke up and realized what it was. I was very surprised: how could these bad thoughts appear for no reason? When I carefully examined the issue, I realized that it was because my main consciousness was not strong enough. When the bad thoughts appeared in my mind, I did not fight them with my righteous thoughts. Instead, I tolerated them and thus allowed them to become stronger. This is another form of persecution arranged by the old evil forces. They want the thought karma and bad thoughts to take control over our righteous thoughts. The only way to break these arrangements is to study the Fa well and leave no loopholes for the old evil forces to exploit. When we study the Fa well, thought karma rarely appears in our minds, and even when it does surface we can soberly eliminate it with our strong main consciousness. If we do not study the Fa well, the bad thoughts can appear frequently, and it is very hard to deal with using an ordinary human being's will power.
We all know the importance of studying the Fa, yet many of us make excuses for ourselves and do not study the Fa with a calm mind. I know some practitioners who have not read the book, practiced the exercises, or sent forth righteous thoughts for a long time. The three things that Teacher asked us to do apply to every Dafa practitioner. In "To All Students at the Nordic Fa Conference" (Essentials for Further Advancement II), Teacher said, "Pay attention: no matter how busy you are, you cannot neglect Fa-study. This is what fundamentally assures that you move toward Consummation and do Dafa work well." Through studying the Fa, I realized that the environment around me is a reflection of my cultivation state. The reason I encountered these problems is that I was not diligent in my cultivation and I had not studied the Fa for a long time.
In my cultivation, I used to divide fellow practitioners into categories, and base my judgment of situations on their words or deeds. Sometimes when I saw other practitioners' improper deeds, I followed them instead of correcting these improper deeds with my righteous thoughts. When my main consciousness was not strong enough, I was easily controlled by the old forces and even by ordinary human sentiments and notions. I think the basic reason for this is that I did not use Dafa to judge everything. When I lacked righteous thinking based on Dafa, I naturally wanted to see what other practitioners' words or deeds were.
There was another big obstacle in my cultivation: I often thought that I had not cultivated well. On the surface, it seemed like I was looking inward and trying to find my shortcomings. In fact, I was making up excuses for not being diligent and responsible in my cultivation: "See, I have not cultivated well. If I make any mistakes it is because of that and the mistakes SHOULD happen." When conflicts and interference occurred, I did not truly look in my heart for the reason, let alone clearly realize the persecution by the old forces. I depended on others in my cultivation. Now I realize that cultivation is up to oneself. When I study the Fa a lot, treat the Fa as teacher, follow the Fa in every thought and deed, and clearly differentiate Fa rectification cultivation from personal cultivation, I can strengthen my main consciousness and righteous thoughts, and do the three things well as a Dafa disciple, clearly recognizing all the manifestations of the old forces and breaking their arrangements. I should not wait or rely on others, but should soberly walk on my path of Fa rectification.
My own level is limited, so please kindly point out anything improper.
02/21/2003
(Clearwisdom.net)
Ever since Jiang's regime started persecuting Dafa, my family has been repeatedly fined. I earn only minimum wage and my wife has been unable to find a job. In addition, my children need to go to school. As a result, my family is living a very thrifty life. At this crucial moment, one fellow practitioner gave me a hand during this difficult time. During the Spring Festival, several other practitioners also brought my family some things that we needed. This made me feel that we have many brothers and sisters caring about us, that we are like one big "family." I truly felt the enormous power of Dafa.
I feel that my financial difficulties are a form of persecution imposed against me by the old forces. This is something we need to eliminate and reject fundamentally during the Fa-rectification. Teacher said: "Learning Dafa itself is beneficial. Why would you worry about losing anything?!" (Falun Buddha Fa: Lecture at the First Conference in North America). Everything we have is given to us by our Teacher and no other life has the right to deprive us of it. While we examine ourselves to prevent evil from taking advantage of our loopholes, we need to reject their arrangements with our purest righteous thoughts. Everything we have should be the best. The evil is not worthy of testing us. When this thought arises from my heart, I find myself becoming more firmly determined in my faith in Dafa, and the evil arrangements being eliminated layer by layer. As a result, the situation in my family also improves greatly.
From another perspective, we practitioners are one whole body. Teacher said: "The next person's things are your things, and your things are his things." ("Teaching the Fa at the Washington DC Fa Conference in 2002"). When I read Teacher's words, I think about our fellow practitioners and their families who have been detained or forced to leave their homes, as well as others who are bearing difficult situations at present. Don't they need more of our care and help?
For example, several practitioners and I went to visit one fellow practitioner who was sentenced to jail. Although we were unable to see him, we could tell from his letter that he was deeply touched and encouraged.
From the surface, all we are doing in such situations is saying a few words to help and encourage fellow practitioners. In fact, what we are giving are righteous thoughts and firm belief in Dafa. We also manifest the indestructible great compassion as well as the principle of one body. The magnificence of Dafa is shown in our actions, and fellow practitioners do not feel alone. It also enhances their determination and confidence. Furthermore, practitioners' families will further understand and support Dafa and will tell their relatives and friends about the compassion and kindness of Dafa practitioners.
From the perspective of the Fa, let us help those practitioners and their families who are enduring difficult situations at this critical time. They will feel the boundless power of Dafa no matter if the help is spiritual or material. In doing so, aren't we eliminating the evil's arrangement?
The above is just my personal understanding shared for your reference.
Feb 12th 2003
(Clearwisdom.net)
Lately, matters around here have been relatively smooth: the weather has been pretty cold, and my heart and body seem to be in states of hibernation. In the morning, I can't wake up to practice, and at night, I crawl under my warm covers and fall asleep soon after I start to read the Fa. I don't even care about not being on time to send forth righteous thoughts at the scheduled times. When the alarm goes off, I would reach out my hand to turn it off and then recite the verses under my covers. I would completely disregard whether there were any results or not.
This morning, when I attempted to reach out and turn off the alarm clock, my arm very naturally recoiled, and I thought, "I should warm myself a little and then get up." While my thoughts were conflicting, the flat floor in front of me started slowly caving in, right in front of my eyes. A hole appeared in the middle, and a creature that looked both like a dragon and a snake peeked out of the hole then drew back. The ground around the hole started to melt towards the outside and enormous amounts of bees and beehives were revealed. Every nest had countless newborn bees being bred. A very big evil creature stood by the side of the beehives, and numerous newborn bees would suddenly jump on it. After gaining its energy, they flew away and attached themselves to the dimension of human bodies to do various bad things of damaging Dafa, and persecuting practitioners and kind-hearted people. While I saw the ground melting, I realized it was an evil's nest. I sent forth righteous thoughts right away. When the tall large creature appeared, I became taller and larger, and had mighty powers without end. Saying the word "eliminate" when reciting the verses, the floor quickly renewed and became flat again.
Why are there so many newborn bees? As Fa-rectification has not arrived yet, the evil old forces can follow old cosmic laws, and can reproduce and develop to a certain degree. Dafa practitioners' relaxing themselves gives the evil a chance to catch its breath, which is complying with the old forces and is accepting the old forces' arrangements.
In the course of Fa-rectification up to today, Dafa practitioners have become mature, but we have not all finished our path of cultivation, and we still, more or less, have ordinary human thoughts. The evil forces will not easily give up persecuting Dafa and Dafa practitioners. Walking a righteous path and mutual encouragement is especially important.
(Clearwisdom.net)
On February 22, 2003, a forum entitled Community Reports on Human Rights in China was held in Vancouver. The forum was hosted by Friends of Falun Gong (B.C). Amnesty International Vancouver Branch attended the forum at invitation and delivered a speech on the current situation of Human Rights in China. The speech emphasized the brutal persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in the past three years. Three Falun Gong practitioners gave speeches at the forum.
During the forum, Mr. Dan Wright, representative of Amnesty International, first introduced evidence of the brutal persecution of Falun Gong practitioners over the past three years. This evidence was gathered by Amnesty International during the course of its own investigations. He said that death cases of Falun Gong practitioners are reported almost daily, and that practitioners are tortured to death simply because they refuse to give up their belief in "Truth Compassion and Tolerance." The Chinese government also mobilizes its entire propaganda machine against Falun Gong. Mr. Wright pointed out that freedom of belief is a fundamental human right. The Chinese government's persecution of Falun Gong practitioners constitutes infringement of human rights and seriously violates international conventions and China's constitution.
Member of Friends of Falun Gong (B.C) and Former director of British Columbia Human Rights Committee, Ms. Mary Woo showed a movie Terror in China to attendees. The movie disclosed how Jiang Zemin rose up the ranks to Party Secretary by controlling the media in Shanghai during the Chinese government's suppression of the student democracy movement in 1989. In 1999, Jiang used the same tactics to control media, flooding the country with fabrications and slander when he started the persecution of Falun Gong. The movie that was shown demonstrated the police brutality in beating and arresting Falun Gong practitioners peacefully appealing on Tiananmen Square. With graphical representation, the movie demonstrated all kinds of torture methods forced labor camps have been using on Falun Gong practitioners. Through comparison, the movie exposed the Jiang regime's brutal suppression.
Ms. Wu said that the Chinese government's propaganda against Falun Gong is not limited to China, but has already developed into an international propaganda campaign. It massively disseminates misinformation about Falun Gong around the world and attempts to mislead the public.
Falun Gong practitioners Wang Yuzhi, Zhang Tianxiao and Sophia Bronwen gave speeches at the forum on the persecution they or their family members have experienced. Wang Yuzhi said in her speech that the she had personally experienced torture when she was detained in a Chinese jail. The audience was astonished to hear the torture, including forced feeding, that Wang Yuzhi suffered in Wanjia Force Labor Camp because she went on hunger strike to demand her unconditional release.
Human rights expert Mrs. Sadie Kuehn emphasized at the seminar that each individual has the right of freedom of belief. Her life has been appealing and fighting for human rights. She expressed her deep sympathy to Falun Gong practitioners suffering in the persecution She appealed to the people in attendance to write letters to the Canadian government, related government agencies and their MPs, appealing to them to take more action to help rescue Falun Gong practitioners in Chinese prisons. She also suggested that people send letters to the Chinese consulate demanding that the Chinese government immediately stop persecuting Falun Gong practitioners, to release Wang Yuzhi's younger brother, Zhang, Tian Xiao's younger sister and tens of thousands of detained Falun Gong practitioners, and to appeal to the United Nations and to the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) to stop financial aid to China until it stops the persecution.
The organizations and persons attending the forum had an open discussion on the brutal persecution of Falun Gong practitioners launched by the Jiang regime. After the forum, many attendees signed their names to join the Friends of Falun Gong (BC)
(Clearwisdom.net) During the Christmas period and the New Year's festival, Spanish Falun Gong practitioners received more than 20 greeting cards and letters from the Spanish President. Also, the Chairman of the Madrid State government, the mayor of Madrid, the mayor of Barcelona, the chairman of the Catalunya State government, the Chairman of the Andalucia state government, the mayor of de Navarra, the President of the Senate, the President of the House of Representative, and the Minister of Domestic Affairs also sent cards. The following are a selection of the cards received.
Article from: http://clearharmony.net/articles/200302/10598.html
Script:
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Hello, and welcome to the FGM TV weekly news review on February 18, 2003
In this week's update from China...
Our top story this week:
And some of our other stories:
First, our top story:
Rally in U.K. to Protest Hong Kong's draft bill on Article 23
The Ministry of Domestic Affairs in Berlin Apologizes to Falun Gong Practitioners
Yoko Kaneko rescue efforts continue in Japan and Dr. Charles Li rescue efforts continue in the USA
Photo captions:
During the press conference, practitioners provided an exhibition of the graceful and meditative Falun Gong exercises.
Charles Li's fiancée Fu Yongqing addressed the media.
A practitioner performed songs he composed calling for Dr. Li's release
A long and colorful parade to draw attention to another illegal imprisonment in China of a medical doctor and U.S. citizen who practices Falun Gong.
Police at Gaoyang, Hebei Province Forced Labor Camp Bury Falun Gong Practitioners up to the neck in the ground to Torture Them
Peruvian practitioners hold their first Experience Sharing Conference
Seventy-Two Practitioners from the Aerospace Ministry are Missing
Peaceful Practice amidst violence in Israel
Founder of Falun Gong Attends Conference in LA
Thanks Christine.
In contrast to the photos and footage of Falun Dafa practitioners celebrating the Lunar New Year with musical performances and fine food in Europe and North America, this simple little banner, flying high above a back street in a Chinese city, celebrates the goodness and peacefulness of the practice in a country where one billion minds have been poisoned by their paranoid dictator, Jiang Zemin and his corrupt officials. It is the reason we bring you this weekly news review.
Thanks for watching FGMtv. See you next week!
(Clearwisdom.net)
To play music and see the exhibit, please click on the numbers at the bottom of the display.
To see another version that has the description of the pictures in English, please visit:
http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/special_column/fldf_journey.html
(Clearwisdom.net) A "solemn declaration" is a person's public statement declaring to the world that whatever he or she has done or said under duress or deception that was against Falun Dafa is null and void. Most of these statements have come from Falun Dafa practitioners in China who wished to express regret that, in the face of physical torture and brainwashing, they had signed documents renouncing Dafa and guaranteeing not to practice again. Also, as more and more people in China learn the truth about how they have been deceived and lied to by the Jiang regime, many non-practitioners are also submitting "solemn declarations."
Here are some examples of the Solemn Declarations:
Please click here for more Solemn Declarations.
(Clearwisdom.net)
[Editors' Note: Each time we publish news of this nature, we do so with heavy hearts. Some of these people started off as public servants, but under the intense pressure applied by the Jiang regime, they were pushed into persecuting Dafa disciples. In the process of destroying the lives of kind, law-abiding citizens, they have sealed their own fates and inevitably faced karmic retribution as punishment. If it weren't for Jiang's wicked orders, perhaps their fates would have been different]
Hu Zhiwen is the security officer in Beilian Village of Lianhua Town. Since July 20, 1999, he has defamed Dafa and persecuted Dafa disciples. In December 2000, following other policemen, Hu went to Beijing to kidnap local Dafa disciples who had gone there to appeal. In addition, he also extorted money and property. He felt unwell after returning home. In spring 2001, he went to the hospital and was diagnosed with bone cancer. Later, he often screamed because of the acute pain. Hu died in May 2002.
Li Jiwei is a resident in Nigou Village of Lianhua Town. In August 2001, he turned in two Falun Dafa practitioners to the local police station. He received a reward of 1000 Yuan [500 Yuan is the average monthly income for an urban worker in China.], and both practitioners were illegally sent to labor camp for one year. Within two months, Li Jiwei fell from the second floor of a building under construction. He became disabled and was bedridden for one year, during which time he suffered enormous pain. He died in November 2002.
Xu Zhiyu is the Party Secretary in Lizhuang Village of Jiuzhai Town. On New Year's Day of the lunar calendar (that is, February 1, 2003), he took down the truth-clarifying banner that Dafa practitioners had put up earlier that day. He then received retribution. On the next day, during an argument and fight among local residents, his arm was broken.
1. Li Yuchun, who is about 45 years old, is the Party Secretary in Wujiagou Village. She often organized people to damage banners and signs for Dafa truth-clarification. As a result, higher government officials praised her. In 2000, however, she was diagnosed with lung cancer. She required surgery, as well as radiation and chemotherapy, which cost her a large sum of money. She not only used up the money obtained through years of corruption, but also accumulated additional debt.
2. Tian Sanzi, 40 years old, had previously learned Falun Dafa. After July 20, 1999, he voluntarily turned in Dafa books to the vicious force. Then he went everywhere and told police and government official that other practitioners had more books. As a result, the persecution of Dafa and Dafa practitioners was very severe there. Several Dafa disciples were kidnapped, their homes were searched, and property confiscated. In 2000, Tian died of kidney failure and uremia, and left a debt of more than 10,000 Yuan for his wife.
Jiang Xianguo, who is over 50 years old, was the former Vice President of Hualian Instrument, Inc., in Chengdu City, Sichuan Province. Since July 20, she viciously defamed Dafa, and fired Dafa practitioners within her company. She also had negative feelings toward Dafa disciples' righteous action of saving worldly people, and turned them in to the police. Last year, she was diagnosed with uterine cancer, and had to undergo a major operation. As a result, she has to spend the rest of her life in bed while suffering in pain.
These are some documented facts of people that received retribution after persecuting Dafa and Dafa disciples. Here I have written them down to serve as a warning that good will be rewarded with good and evil will receive karmic retribution accordingly. I also hope those who do not know the truth will wake up.
February 18, 2003
(Clearwisdom.net)
Righteous Thoughts and Righteous Actions
In January 2003, eighteen Falun Dafa practitioners from Northern China went together to Tiananmen Square in Beijing to appeal for Falun Dafa. A few days later, another ten practitioners from the same area went to Beijing. Holding the strong righteous thoughts of assisting Teacher in rectifying the Fa and offering salvation to sentient beings, at Tiananmen Square, they shouted loudly, "Falun Dafa is good!" and "Falun Dafa is righteous!" Their earthshaking voices effectively frightened the evil. With their strong righteous thoughts and righteous faith in Teacher and Dafa, and using their wisdom obtained through cultivation of Dafa, all of these practitioners returned home safely.
The fifteenth day of the first month, in the lunar calendar, was "Falun Dafa Day" in a city of Northeast China. Dafa truth-clarifying banners, scrolls and small signs appeared everywhere on streets and avenues. Although the local "610 office" [a bureau specifically created by the Chinese government to persecute Falun Gong. It has absolute power over each level of administration in the Party, as well as over the political and judiciary branches] and the police spent great efforts attempting to stop practitioners from clarifying the truth, over the past month, more and more Dafa banners and posters have appeared on streets and avenues. In addition, more truth-clarifying materials were distributed from door to door.
Persecution Facts
I am a Falun Dafa practitioner from Shijiazhuang City. Because I persist in my belief, I have been enduring the persecution and now I have to leave my home and move about destitute in Shanxi Province in order to avoid further persecution. On October 1, 2002, the authorities formed the "101 Special Case Group", specifically aimed at Dafa truth-clarifying material sites. They abducted more than 100 practitioners. In the beginning of November, Wang Bo's father, Mr. Wang Xinzhong and other practitioners were abducted in Fenxi City. After I was arrested, I suffered different kinds of tortures including electrical shock with electric batons and force-feeding. I was later sent to a hospital, where around December 2, I overheard a discussion among some police officers and doctors that Dafa disciple Ding Lihong was tortured to death. At that time, snow fell in big feathery flakes, and it was extremely cold in Taiyuan City.
On September 25, 2002, Niu Minjie, a Dafa practitioner from Shijiazhuang City was abducted by police officers. He was secretly detained in Xushui County Detention Center in Baoding area, where he suffered cruel tortures and insults. Under these tortures, he lost his ability to walk, and currently his daily life is extremely difficult. It was reported that his brother, Niu Mingang, also a practitioner, was secretly sentenced to 12 years in prison.
On January 14, 2001, officials in Wujiabao Force-Labor Camp in Fushun City held a meeting to release some people who had been brainwashed. A Falun Dafa practitioner, Qin Zhongke, about 60 years old, shouted loudly during the meeting: "Falun Dafa is good. Teacher Li is great!" He was immediately taken away from the meeting hall. In the hall, leaders from the city and the labor camp boasted about the Party's "educating and persuading" Falun Gong practitioners. While all this was occurring, in a cell nearby, vicious police officers swung their batons, violently beating practitioners. This is what Jiang calls the "best period of human rights."
News from China
A Dafa practitioner who was forced to leave home in order to avoid further persecution wrote a letter to his mother: "You asked me why I will not give up my practice of Falun Gong? To put it simply, a person should treasure his health and his life. Dear mom, I understand that you are not willing to believe that the degenerates of the Party would deceive and persecute people. However, the facts have caused me to believe: all persecution measures against Falun Gong are based upon shameless deceit. The historical reality will be revealed soon to the public. Dear mom, please hurry up and find out the truth of all of these things and explain the facts to our family, and to all you know, so as to allow all of them to feel the wonderfulness and beauty of Falun Dafa."