Saturday, October 19, 2002

San Jose del Cabo.- Due to the APEC [Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation] meeting to be held in Los Cabos from the 21st to 27th of this month, a large number of Falun Gong or Falun Dafa practitioners from different countries are arriving in Los Cabos to bring awareness to the international community about this practice and about the devastating effects of the persecution, launched by the leader of the Chinese Communist Party, Jiang Zemin. The persecution's effects are in the fundamental fiber of the entire Chinese society and its policy for future participation in the world and trade interactions with Mexico.

Francis Madore, Elizabeth Chung, Axtli Yiang, Martha Lyszyk and Fernan Chon, all Falun Dafa practitioners, arrived in Los Cabos from Canada, Panama, Argentina and China, [to help world leaders and local residents] to get to know the goodness of Falun Dafa. Falun Dafa, which is a spiritual practice and has gentle exercises, is rooted in traditional Chinese culture with its principle of Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance, the essence of all life and matter, and teaches its practitioners to become kinder people. More people join daily to practice in many countries of the world, and also bring awareness to an international issue that is having a devastating effect on the fundamental fiber of the entire Chinese society and its policy for future participation in the world and trade interactions with Mexico.

In a press conference conducted yesterday, they revealed that the leader of the Communist Party, Jiang Zemin, ordered the brutal and illegal prohibition of the practice of Falun Gong or Falun Dafa, due to the unprecedented popularity that this practice had reached.

A massive persecution campaign against the teachings themselves was launched in China, they said, affecting around 100 million practitioners in that country whose only crime is their belief.

The severity of this persecution, they say, is difficult for people in free and democratic societies to grasp. Since July 20, 1999, China's current party leader has spent millions if not billions of Yuans to persecute Falun Dafa through a state-organized terror campaign designed to rip apart the essential human fabric and ethics of the entire society and nation. Practitioners have been denied all rights to appeal. Hundreds of thousands have been detained. Tens of thousands are sentenced to labor camps and mental hospitals. Practitioners are beaten, electrically shocked, sexually abused, and tortured to force them to renounce their practice.

They denounced the State controlled media broadcasts unending hate propaganda and lies about Falun Gong. [The broadcasts are attempting] to turn public opinion against the group and all media outlets inside and outside China that could reveal the truth have been sealed off.

China was condemned for spending millions upon millions of dollars and a staggering amount of man-hours dedicated to eliminate Falun Dafa while AIDS is affecting millions throughout the country and lacks an adequate assistance program.

Falun Dafa practitioners arrived in Los Cabos due to the APEC meeting to appeal to the world leaders, top businessmen and CEOs to "Join In One Voice" to stop the irrational persecution of Falun Dafa which deals with life and death [of millions], motivated by the quest of prestige and power from the leader of the Chinese Communist Party, Jiang Zemin.

As a matter of fact, they said, countries from around the world such as Canada and the United States have forcefully condemned the persecution by Jiang's regime against Falun Dafa practitioners and have extended their helping hands to rescue persecuted practitioners in China.