Falun Dafa Illuminates Taiwan: People Learn the Truth (Photos)
By Chen Zhenghong
(Clearwisdom.net) The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Jiang Zemin
misused the government machinery and launched the nationwide persecution of
Falun Gong on July 20, 1999. The media, the judicial system, the administrative
system, the national security bureau (spy network), and diplomats abroad were
instructed to propagate slanderous information about Falun Gong, while all Falun
Gong publications and websites were banned. To date, more than 100,000
practitioners have been sent to labor camps and prisons, and more than 3,000
practitioners have been tortured to death. Despite everything that has happened,
Falun Gong practitioners nevertheless persevere in their belief and peacefully
oppose the persecution. They have withstood the most fanatical smear campaign by
a group known for its tendency toward mass slaughter and ruthless political
movements. In the past nine years, practitioners' efforts to end the persecution have
included distributing flyers and holding parades, candlelight vigils,
anti-torture exhibits, press conferences, artistic performances, and
face-to-face talks with government officials. They have established media
outlets of their own and filed lawsuits against Jiang Zemin, Li Lanqing, and Luo
Gan, top Party bosses responsible for directing the persecution. They have also
broken through the information blockade set up by the Communist Party and
directly transmitted information about Falun Gong to people in Mainland China.
The contrast between the brutality of the Party and the peaceful resilience of
Falun Gong has become one of the defining struggles of our time--the age-old
battle between good and evil. In Taiwan, the government, the legislative branch, and numerous social groups
have publicly denounced the persecution as a transgression against humankind. According to an April 27, 2006, report by Central News Agency, on
orders from the Communist Party, certain individuals have harvested organs from
living Falun Gong practitioners and sold them for transplant surgeries. They
cremate the bodies afterwards to destroy the evidence. The report attracted
international attention. Taiwan President Chen Shui-Bian said that same day,
"The Party's suppression of Falun Gong only generates more aversion toward
totalitarian Communist rule, as freedom of belief is a universally accepted
value. Instead of covering up organ harvesting in vain, the Party should conduct
investigations and bring all involved to justice. The Party should also make
amends to its human rights' record and prevent future encroachments in this
area." Vice President Lu Xiulian appeared on TV on July 20, 2002, and voiced her
support for Falun Gong as well as opposition against the Party's persecution and
blatant disregard for the practitioners' rights. She solemnly condemned the
Party, saying, "Falun Gong is innocent, the persecutors are the true
criminals." She also wished the practitioners well. Taiwan's Legislative Yuan Passed a Resolution The Legislative Yuan is similar to a parliament in European countries, and
the function of the members of the Legislative Yuan is similar to that of US
senators. On June 8, 2004, 126 members of the Legislative Yuan, across party
lines, proposed a resolution demanding that the Chinese government immediately
release all arrested and detained Falun Gong practitioners and end the
persecution of Falun Gong. The resolution was passed unanimously. 10,000 practitioners gathered on Kaidagelan Boulevard in front of the
Presidential Office Building in Taipei on November 15, 2003. They called for a
public trial of Jiang Zemin and an end to the persecution. Also present were
legislators Lin Zhuoshui, Lin Chongmuo, Guo Rongzong, and Sun Guohua; Taiwan
Solidarity Union (TSU) Legislator Liao Pen-Yen; Wei Qianfeng, deputy director of
Taiwan's Human Rights Improvement Association; and Wu Huilin, Chairman of the
Chinese Association for Human Rights, all of whom took a public stand against
Communist tyranny. 10,000-people rally in front of the Presidential Office
Building on November 15, 2003 Freedom Times report: 10,000 people practice the Falun
Gong exercises and support the lawsuit against Jiang Zemin The Taiwan National Bar Association, the largest association in the Taiwanese
legal arena, published a resolution on October 25, 2003, to support Falun Gong
practitioners' global lawsuits against Jiang Zemin and to urge the regime to
immediately release all illegally incarcerated Taiwanese practitioners. This was
the first bar association in the world that openly expressed support for Falun
Gong practitioners' lawsuits against Jiang Zemin. The Taiwan National Bar Association (TNBA) has more than 4,000
members. The board of directors at TNBA held a meeting on October 25, 2003, to
elect a new chairman and supervisor. After the election, they discussed the
resolution that 18 members had proposed to support Falun Gong. After an
enthusiastic discussion, they unanimously voted for the resolution and
subsequently made a public statement announcing their decision. To voice support for six lawyers in Beijing who
were defending Falun Gong practitioners, lawyer Chiu Huang-chuan, deputy
director of the Coalition to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong (CIPFG)
Asian Delegation and Director of the Cheng Nan-jung Foundation, invited human
rights lawyers in Taiwan to take part in a press conference on May 5, 2007. The
press conference called on the international community to condemn the Communist
Party's deprivation of lawyers' rights, supported the six lawyers in Beijing who
stood up for their principles, and demanded that the Party immediately release
Falun Gong practitioners unlawfully imprisoned and stop the suppression of
religious freedom in China. SOS Walk and Bike Tour SOS Walk to rescue incarcerated fellow practitioners in China Youth Bicycle Tour, August 2004 Candlelight Vigil and Signature Collection Candlelight vigil during December 2000 Taiwan Falun Dafa
Conference In July 2004, people signed a banner to oppose the persecution
after a shooting incident in South Africa on June 28. Anti-torture Exhibit People signed petitions to help end persecution Taiwanese practitioners lending a hand at a Falun Gong booth
in Hong Kong Several hundred Taiwanese practitioners in an anti-persecution
parade in Washington, DC Condemning Organ Harvesting Tainan County Councilor Wang Yayun (woman in the center with
long hair) stands with Falun Gong practitioners. The banner reads, "Falun
Dafa, 'Truth-Compassion-Tolerance.'" Curator explaining the paintings to the public The "Falun Dafa Practitioners Validating the Fa" photo
exhibition was first presented to the public at the Taibei Municipal Social
Education Hall in August 2005 and subsequently visited counties and cities
throughout Taiwan. The exhibit included 140 photographs, which recorded many
precious and significant moments, including how practitioners carried out their
anti-persecution efforts and the difficult the path of Fa-rectification. It
presented the Fa's compassion and beauty and showed how the Fa
had brought harmony to many. The stories presented in the pictures reflected the
ancient principle, "Good will be rewarded with good and evil will meet with
retribution." CIPFG and the One-Million Signatures Movement
Taiwan National Bar Association (TNBA) supports lawsuits against Jiang Zemin
Lawyer representatives signed an open letter to international human rights
organizations, legal associations, and Chinese President Hu Jintao
Several practitioners started an SOS Walk in Taiwan to help rescue fellow
practitioners jailed in China. Two groups set off from Taipei and Yilan and
ended in Kaohsiung two weeks later. In 2003 and 2004, practitioners held two SOS
Bicycle Tours to raise awareness of the persecution.
In the past nine years, the Party and Jiang's clique have detained, beaten,
raped, electrically shocked, and injected Falun Gong practitioners with
psychotic drugs and have even harvested organs from living practitioners. The
brutality defies imagination. It has been verified that at least 3,150
practitioners have died from persecution, while countless others have been sent
to detention centers, forced labor camps, prisons, brainwashing centers, and
mental institutions all across the country.
to commemorate fellow practitioners tortured to death
Taiwanese practitioners have reenacted tortures employed by the Party
against Falun Gong practitioners in China at public places in Taipei, Hsinchu,
Taichung, Nantou, Jiayi, Tainan, and Gaoxiong since 2004. There are more than
100 reported torture methods, including use of electric batons, dungeons,
force-feeding with brine and feces, sleep deprivation, rape, the Tiger
Bench, and many others.
Reenactment of torture methods
Exposing the Persecution All Over the World
Many Taiwanese practitioners experienced improved physical and mental
well-being after practicing Falun Gong, and they traveled to other parts of
Southeast Asia, the US, and Europe to share the wonder of Falun Dafa with others
and also to expose the persecution.
Council members who represent different counties and cities also condemned
the Party's atrocities. By February 18, 2007, among the 23 counties and cities
of Taiwan, 18 councils of Chiayi County, Yilan County, Eelung City, Hualien
County, Tainan City, Yunlin County, Pingtung County, Penghu County, Changhua
County, Hsinchu County, Taichung City, Taitung County, Kaohsiung City, Taoyuan
County, Taichung County, Miaoli County, Taipei County, and Kaohsiung County
passed resolutions condemning the Communist Party's atrocity of harvesting
organs from living Falun Gong practitioners. The councils of the other five
counties and cities are in the process of cosigning the resolutions.
Pingdong County Councilor Pan Yulong, who initiated the proposal, declared his
support for Falun Gong practitioners
Truth-Compassion-Tolerance Art Exhibit and Picture Exhibit
The sponsors of the "Truth-Compassion-Tolerance" Art Exhibit
toured Taipei for the first time in February 2005, followed by 23 counties and
universities, including Taiwan University, Chengchi University, Tsinghua
University, Jiaotung Unversity, Chungyang University, Science and Technology
University of Yunlin, Chungcheng University, Haiyang University, Tunghua
University, Education College of Hualian, Yilan, and Chungshan University. The
paintings were warmly welcomed by the general public as the artists, all Falun
Gong practitioners, expressed their understandings of life and the universe, as
well as exposing the brutality of the persecution, through the works.
Contemplative crowd inside the exhibit hall
More than 400 individuals from different walks of life formed the Coalition
to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong (CIPFG) on April 4, 2006, for the
purpose of independent, direct, and unimpeded investigations into the
persecution of Falun Gong and the organ harvesting issue in China. The
organization launched the "One-Million Signatures against the
Persecution" campaign on January 1, 2008. The signatures will be submitted
to the United Nations and foreign governments in hopes they will call on the
Chinese Communist Party to end the persecution of Falun Gong. As of May 11,
2008, nearly 290,000 Taiwanese have signed the petition, including seven county
chiefs, 13 legislators, 108 councilors, 18 township chiefs, 30 aboriginal
representatives, 52 village chiefs, 104 administrative chiefs, 14 lawyers, 95
school principals, as well as doctors and public prosecutors.
The widespread support for Falun Gong in Taiwan is in sharp contrast to the
brutality in Mainland China, although both places speak the same language. The
persecution will not last, and as more and more people around the world rise up
and voice their opposition to the tyranny, justice will prevail and those
responsible will be held accountable for their crimes. Falun Gong practitioners
in Taiwan have persevered for the past nine years in following
"Truth-Compassion-Tolerance," and they will continue to expose the
persecution until it is brought to an end.
Chinese version available at
http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2008/5/11/178179.html
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