Press Conference Speech from European Friends of Falun Gong
(Clearwisdom.net) The following speech was made by the Vice-Chairman
of European Friends of Falun Gong - a non-profit organization of people who
support Falun Gong practitioners' freedom of belief - during a press conference
in London on Saturday January 15th. A written version of the speech was then
taken to the Chinese Embassy, where the staff refused to open the door and
accept the letter. For a full report on that event, please see http://clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2005/1/17/56648.html 15th January 2005 Dear Ambassador: We are here today to make an impassioned appeal to the leader of the PRC, Hu
Jintao, to end the severe persecution of the Falun Gong practitioners in China,
which has been taking place for more than 5 years now. During that time more than 1600 practitioners have been tortured to death
while in police custody, and the brutal regime of former president Jiang Zemin
has been responsible for the imprisonment of many thousands more practitioners,
for doing no more than exercising their constitutional right to freedom of
speech and belief. So far the persecution has shown little sign of improving
since the new government leader took over nearly two years ago. The continual
persecution casts a shameful shadow over mankind, which we must do our utmost to
expurgate. China must be made to realize that Falun Gong and its supporters can only
have a beneficial effect on the moral and social fabric of the country as a
whole, with their principles of Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance, and
that they are not seeking any political gain out of their practice. It is therefore vital that foreign governments, including that of the UK,
continue to put pressure on the Chinese government to change its attitude
towards Falun Gong. We are aware that those governments must have fears that, to speak out
against China could have a detrimental effect on the trade and economic links
with China in the future, but those fears must be overcome by a sense of higher
moral standing. We appeal to Prime Minister Tony Blair and Foreign Secretary Jack Straw to
lead the way in increasing the pressure on China to end the persecution. The
long-term gains in terms of higher morality and a sense of justice must be
allowed to prevail over short-term economic gain.
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