Eyewitness to the "4.25" Incident: "A Great Page Has Been Recorded By History"
By Clearharmony reporter Ming Yu
(Clearwisdom.net) Today is the 25th of April and once again Chen Gang
comes to the Chinese Embassy in Munich. He has been here countless times already
with fellow practitioners to peacefully appeal against the Jiang group's
persecution of Falun Gong in China. However, on this occasion he is here as an
asylum seeker in Germany. Chen Gang came from Beijing to Munich for further
studies in 1996, but he never expected that from May 2002 onward, he would no
longer be able to have a passport as a Chinese citizen. The Chinese Embassy
refused to renew his passport because he practiced Falun Gong. After that, he
was stripped of all his rights as a Chinese national unless he stopped
practicing Falun Gong.
Chen Gang began practicing Falun Gong in 1994. The reporter learned that Mr.
Gang had the good fortune to participate in the "4.25" peaceful appeal in
Beijing. At that time, he was visiting relatives in Beijing. On that day, he
went with his mother, who had been practicing Falun Gong since 1996. They agreed
to meet at the Central Appeals Bureau near Zhongnanhai at 9 a.m. He and his
mother were surprised to see that many Falun Gong practitioners had already
gathered there. Everyone stood quietly outside Zhongnanhai in an orderly manner.
All the practitioners had only one wish: to call for the release of fellow
practitioners detained in Tianjin. That evening, everyone left quietly after learning that the Tianjin practitioners would be released. Premier Zhu had
reached an amicable agreement with the representatives. Chen Gang further added,
"If the appeal activity was well organized just like the officials claimed, then
more people would have gone. From our practice site, only a small number went;
if everyone had planned properly, then many more would have gone. In actual
fact, before we got there, we had no idea where to go. Some wanted to go to
Tianjin to appeal, some wanted to go the Appeals Bureau. There were many
different ideas and everyone made his own decision."
However, after "4.25" the situation became tense. The practice site Chen Gang
usually went to was no longer allowed to be used for practice. The manager of
the mall had received orders from above. Many work units started to investigate
those who had participated in the Zhongnanhai appeal. After he returned to
Germany, Mr. Gang wrote a letter to the then party chairman, Jiang Zemin,
telling him that Falun Gong benefits everyone and that the country should give
full support to Falun Gong. He asked Jiang not to persecute Falun Gong. Mr. Gang
sent this letter to Beijing and had it published on Clearwisdom.net. Together
with fellow practitioners he also went to see the secretary of the Chinese
Embassy, Li Nianping, and a Mr. Dong who was in charge of the education
department in the Chinese Embassy in Munich. These people all claimed that the
Chinese government would not persecute Falun Gong and urged them not to believe
in rumors. However, not long after, Falun Gong was suppressed in China. "I was
very upset. I did not expect Jiang to be so despicable. The persecution is based on
fabricated lies. No one in his right mind would make such a decision." Chen Gang
continued, "When news of Falun gong practitioners tortured to death kept coming
from China, we started coming to the Chinese Embassy to peacefully protest. We
once again met with Li Nianping and other persons in charge. They gave us
fabricated information defaming Falun Gong from China and emphasized the
government's attitude, entirely forgetting what they had said before." Li
Nianping further published a lengthy article defaming Falun Gong in a
local German newspaper under the name of "media spokesman for the Chinese
Embassy in Berlin." About thirty Falun Gong practitioners tried to sue him for
slander and libel in the German courts. However because he was a foreign
diplomat, Li Nianping claimed immunity from the lawsuit. Chen Gang sighed, "This
is how a totalitarian country manipulates and oppresses the entire nation's
departmental apparatus. In order to obtain whatever it wants, it can adopt all
kinds of despicable ways."
The persecution in China is escalating and the number of deaths is
increasing. Chen Gang's mother and many practitioners continued to risk their
lives going out to distribute truth-clarifying materials. She was put under
surveillance by the police and regarded as an important criminal to arrest.
Since 2001, she had been forced to live away from home and had to continuously
stay on the move, in hiding. Fortunately, before the persecution began, she had
obtained a passport to go to Germany. Finally in February 2004, Chen Gang's
mother came to Germany. Chen Gang told reporters that he was happy that his
mother feels safe now. He also stated that after his passport was rejected for
renewal, he put in a lot of effort writing letters to the German Prime Minister,
The Foreign Affairs Ministry and Members of Parliament, hoping that they could
help him obtain a passport. A Member of Parliament with a sense of justice
personally went to the Chinese Embassy to negotiate on behalf of Mr. Gang, but
to no avail. Consequently, he has to report to the German immigration office
every two months to obtain a temporary pass in order to continue staying in
Germany. This has continued for two years. On several occasions, the German
department has told him that he cannot go on like this, that he needs to have a
passport. Not only that, because he has no identification documents, it has
created many difficulties for him in his work and studies. Some Members of
Parliament suggested that he seek refugee status. "I always wanted to have an
identity as a Chinese national in a dignified manner. I was born there and my
family is there. I love my country, but because I practice Truth, Compassion,
Forbearance and want to be a good person, I was stripped of my rights to be a
Chinese national. Finally I have only one road to take: to seek asylum. I feel
sad for my country." He gave a deep sigh. When the reporter asked what thoughts he had of "4.25," Mr. Gang said,
"Since the persecution of Falun Gong began, every year on this day I come to the
Chinese Embassy to protest peacefully. This is the fourth time. The persecution
is still continuing, it should have ended earlier. However, the efforts of Falun
Gong practitioners will awaken the conscience of many people. When I recall
April 25, 1999, I can clearly see that Falun Gong practitioners have created a
remarkable example for future people. Under such a dangerous mighty political
environment, so many people stepped forward willingly. When they were treated
with injustice, in order to uphold justice, uphold the truth, they selflessly
risked their lives to step forward, yet they adopted such peaceful and rational
means. They opened a peaceful path for future people. A great page has been
recorded in history!"
Chinese version available at
http://www.yuanming.net/articles/200404/30857.html
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