New York: Peaceful Protest Outside the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel (Photos)

By Falun Dafa practitioner in the US

(Clearwisdom.net) During the UN World Summit held in New York, Falun Gong practitioners held a series of large-scale activities to call on people from all walks of life to help stop the persecution of Falun Gong taking place in China. One of the prominent activities was a 24-hour vigil outside the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel where Hu Jintao was staying.

During Hu Jintao's stay in New York, Falun Gong practitioners meditated through the night outside the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel

Huge banners reading, "Falun Dafa is Good," "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance," "Stop Persecuting Falun Gong," "Bring Jiang Zemin, Luo Gan, Liu Jing, Zhou Yongkang to justice," "Bring justice to vicious police and other perpetrators who persecute Falun Gong," and "Hu Jintao, the time given to you by Heaven and the people is limited," clearly expressed what Falun Gong practitioners wanted to say. Peacefully doing the exercises and sending forth righteous thoughts demonstrated that the Falun Gong practitioners' appeal remains peaceful. After having gone through over six years of brutal persecution, the practitioners sincerely called upon Hu Jintao to grasp this precious opportunity to learn about the truth of Falun Gong, stop the persecution and choose a bright future for themselves.

Falun Gong practitioners who took part in the activities were from different areas. They made great efforts to come to New York. Many of them continuously took part in the peaceful vigil during the night outside the hotel.

About 100 practitioners were from Taiwan. Ms. Hong said that her group was composed of over a dozen practitioners that arrived in New York on September 11. After the appeal, they would continue staying in Manhattan for a month to clarify the truth. During the night of September 14, Ms. Hong and Ms. Zhong, who is in her 70s, joined the night's vigil until 4:00 a.m. Ms. Hong was moved by the fact that when she got up at 8:00 a.m. the next day, Ms. Zhong had already gotten ready to take part in the whole day's activities.

Mr. Xu, a computer engineer who lives in Chicago, took a day leave from his busy schedule at work and arrived in New York at midnight on September 13. He directly went from the airport to the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel to join the activities. The next day, he continued participating in the vigil in front of the UN and the Falun Gong parade. In the evening, he came back to the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel again. He flew back to Chicago to work in the early morning on September 15.

Though the schedule was very difficult, Mr. Xu had no second thoughts at all. He said, "I hope to do my best to help Hu Jintao learn the truth about Falun Gong, let him become clear-headed, see clearly the situation and stop the persecution. This doesn't just mean himself, since he is in a special position right now, and his awakening will help save more Chinese people."

"In the past six years of peacefully resisting the persecution, Falun Gong practitioners have been tirelessly clarifying the truth. The Chinese regime should completely stop the persecution, allow a peaceful cultivation environment in Mainland China, and let people have a righteous understanding of Falun Gong, so as to embrace a beautiful future. That is our sincere hope. For the sake of these sentient beings' futures, we feel that our efforts are worthwhile."

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2005/9/16/110557.html

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