Meeting with the Icelandic Ambassador in Washington DC

By a practitioner in Norway

Practitioners from Europe and the US met with the Ambassador in Washington DC. The purpose was to help rectify what happened during the state visit of the former Chinese leader to Iceland in June last year, when practitioners were illegally detained according to a blacklist supplied by Chinese security. The blacklist was also used to bar practitioners from boarding flights to visit Iceland during this state visit. Here is a report from the meeting:

Initially, we brought the Ambassador's attention to what happened during last year's state visit and told him that we hoped this situation could be rectified. We also expressed our gratitude for the friendly reception we had received from the Icelandic people.

We were very concerned to convey what Falun Gong really is, thinking that a good understanding of our practice would be necessary. Earlier experience has shown that intellectual descriptions alone have failed to convey a real understanding of our practice. We therefore wanted to show the exercises in the Ambassador's office - with his permission.

Showing and explaining the exercises created a very trustful atmosphere. The Ambassador asked questions and could relate the answers to his own life experiences; we explained that the core principle of Falun Gong is to live according to Truth-Compassion-Tolerance in everyday life, and we talked about how this can be done.

We told him the facts about the persecution, explained how the propaganda and lies deceived and poisoned people's minds, and revealed that the former Chinese leader bears full responsibility for this persecution. The Chinese practitioner touched the Ambassador's heart when she told him how her relatives and friends are being treated by officials in China.

We also shared how Icelandic people had the view that the actions of their own government served to accept the persecution of Falun Gong, and how this, against the will of its people, positioned Iceland in support of the persecution. It is important that the Icelandic government rectify this situation. Therefore we have taken several initiatives with the government.

We therefore continue our efforts. Last June, we filed a complaint with the Ombudsman. Shortly before the filing, the Data Protection Agency in Iceland, responding to a complaint from a practitioner, made a decision that distributing the blacklist to embassies abroad and to Icelandair was unlawful.

Practitioners are concerned about upholding values and ethics in society. Leaders in a democracy play an important role in this regard. Setting bad examples can be a threat to good values and have bad effects in society. In addition, we note that the view that a government takes on Truth-Compassion-Forbearance is the view of a nation, regardless of the people's opinion. We hope that Iceland's view will become positive.

The ambassador gave us a very friendly reception and said he was very pleased with our visit. He would report home on our talks.

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