Protesting the Shame of a Chicago Sister City
Epoch Times Chicago Staff
Epoch Times Apr 17, 2006 Athens, Casablanca, Delhi and Dublin: all of these cities have the honored
distinction of being paired with Chicago as a part of the International Sister
City Program. Chicago's Sister City Program began in 1960 when then Mayor
Richard J. Daley established a friendly connection with Warsaw, Poland as part
of the "People-to-People Initiative" launched by President Eisenhower.
Since then, Chicago has teamed with a total of 25 cities in a diplomacy network,
inspiring global cooperation, cultural understanding and fostering economic
development. At its best, the Sister City Program builds bridges to cultures,
where participants can take pride in the reflection of its counterparts. In some
cities, however, devastating secrets can come to light and it becomes the
responsibility of its "sisters" to voice concern. In 1985, Shenyang, a
city in northeastern China, joined the growing list of Chicago's sister cities.
Known throughout the world for its nimble acrobats, Shenyang is the site of an
ancient city that was once the country's governmental center during the Qing
dynasty. This now modern city of industry was recently revealed to house a
deadly secret: a concentration camp where prisoners, arrested for their faith,
face having their organs harvested and sold. Last Wednesday, the Falun Dafa
Information Center-- a news service dedicated to exposing the truth about Falun
Gong--released shocking information brought to them by a Chinese investigative
reporter collecting documented evidence from outside the prison camp. The camp
is said to hold over 6,000 Falun Gong adherents at any given time, and nobody
has yet to come out from it alive. According to the source, the camp has an
on-site crematorium, and an unusually large number of doctors working there--
suggesting the camp's practice of killing prisoners for their organs, which are
then sold for profit. On Tuesday, Chicago area Falun Gong practitioners staged a
protest in front of the Chinese Consulate on Erie and Clark. Their mission, like
similar protests staged world-wide, is to bring attention to the Shenyang prison
camp--letting the world know of the unspeakable crimes carried out not only at
this facility, but also the several detention centers throughout China dedicated
to eradicating peaceful Falun Gong practitioners. "In the past nearly seven
years of insidious persecution, numerous reports have surfaced regarding Falun
Gong practitioners whose organs were harvested after they were tortured to
death, and their bodies were secretly cremated," said Falun Gong
practitioner, Tommy Xu, to passersby during the Tuesday protest.
"Authorities at many persecution locations hastily cremated the
practitioners' bodies soon after they were tortured to death in order to cover
up the persecution. Even the practitioners' families were not allowed to see
their bodies." Zhang Tianxiao, a Falun Gong practitioner in Chicago, was
saddened by the concentration camp report. She cried for an entire day.
Tianxiao's family was severely persecuted in China for practicing Falun Gong. On
November 3, 2000, her 28-year-old brother-in-law Zou Songtao was tortured to
death at the Wangcun Forced Labor Camp in Zibo City, Shandong Province. In
February 2002, Tianxiao's sister was arrested in Qingdao City along with several
other Falun Gong practitioners. Held at the detention center for at least six
months, Tianxiao's sister disappeared after her supposed release. She has not
been seen or heard from in the past four years. Even as late as last year, upon
contacting officials responsible for her sister's incarceration, Tianxiao
received no mention of her whereabouts. Tianxiao said, "I can't imagine
that such inhumane violence exists, where the CCP can carry out such villainous
and Nazi-style persecution." She mentions that that the persecution only
serves to brutalize Falun Gong practitioners, while turning the perpetrators
into beasts. While many are profoundly concerned for friends and family members
practicing Falun Gong in China, adherents the world over refuse to be
intimidated by the CCP's horrific tactics. Tianxiao says that 'worry' does not
adequately express her feelings of her sister's disappearance over four years
ago. Instead, she calls on all people, including Falun Gong practitioners who
are persecuted to, rather than passively endure these crimes, actively resist
the evil CCP's persecution. http://www.theepochtimes.com/news/6-4-17/39429.html
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