By John Nania

Epoch Times New York Staff

Jan 18, 2006

TORTURE VICTIM: Amy Lee, a fashion designer and persecuted Falun Gong practitioner who escaped from China in 2001, speaks out against the "Same Song" performance being held at Radio City Music Hall on Jan. 23. (Benjamin Youngquest/Epoch Times)

(Clearwisdom.net) NEW YORK - Three women who survived the torture and brainwashing of communist China's slave labor camps stated their case about why the musical performance "The Same Song" should be banned in the U.S.

They spoke Tuesday on a street corner opposite Radio City Music Hall, where the prospect of a Jan. 23 showing of "The Same Song" triggers excruciating memories for the three.

Amy Lee, Huimin Wang, and Weixun Li each told of how they were incarcerated for their practice of Falun Gong--a hugely popular spiritual and meditation practice in the 90's that was made illegal and violently persecuted starting in 1999--and what role "The Same Song" played in the persecution.

"My heart is bleeding when I see 'The Same Song' coming to New York," said Lee, a fashion designer who escaped from China in 2001. "It is a symbol of brainwashing and torture of Falun Gong practitioners."

"The Same Song" is a Chinese pop song employed in the slave labor camps to break the will of prisoners and mark the renouncing of their beliefs. Prisoners are subjected to repeated recordings of the song, and are forced to sing the song together with their torturers and prison guards after they have signed a renunciation statement.

"They sing the song to celebrate their victory," said Wang, who escaped from China this past November. "Singing it would amount to selling my soul."

"We are not here to protest Radio City Music Hall. They are victims of deception of the Chinese communist regime," said Levi Browde, spokesperson for the assembled group, which included more than 20 Falun Gong practitioners who were meditating, handing out information to passersby, and re-enacting scenes of torture from China's prisons.

The organizers of "The Same Song" paid for the date at Radio City in cash, according to a reliable source.

Browde stated three requests by the assembled group: to have the U.S. government not permit the "Same Song" show performers to enter the country, to encourage Radio City to "not allow its prestige to be used by China's communist regime to lend legitimacy and grandeur to its despotic rule over the Chinese people," and to ask all New Yorkers and all Americans to oppose the show.

They were also concerned that the show would be filmed and used in propaganda videos in China to show implied support by Americans for what the song represents.

"We should refuse to allow this show, which promotes communist ideology, to come to a democratic country," said Wang.

Outside Radio City, a banner held on the corner summarized the group's purpose: "Torture Songs from Communist Regime Not Welcome Here: Keep 'Same Song' Out."

Source http://www.theepochtimes.com/news/6-1-18/37098.html

Posting date: 1/19/2006
Original article date: 1/19/2006
Category: News & Media Reports

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