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Falun Gong is freely practiced in more than 50 countries around the world, but relentlessly persecuted in China. The peaceful courage of practitioners there has shocked their oppressors and moved the people of the world. While China continues to block all information, FGMtv brings you the stories you may not hear anywhere else.

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Hello, and welcome to FGMtv on May 21st, 2002

I'm Susan Mitchell.

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In this week's update from China...

• The number of Falun Gong practitioners verified to have died while in detention is 415. However, reliable sources inside China put the actual death count at more than 1,700. One government source advised that 40 were killed in April alone.

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Our top story this week:

• China's Propaganda Minister is served with a class-action law suit for his role in the persecution of Falun Gong

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Some of the other stories we're following:

• Over 3000 Muslims attend a Falun Gong convention in Jakarta, Indonesia and 2000 Practitioners attend the Annual Experience Sharing Conference of Canada held in Toronto
• Falun Dafa wins the hearts of parade spectators at the Hiroshima, Japan May Flower Festival
• Prison sentences for Chongqing practitioners who tapped into the local cable TV network,
• Details of another death in custody, and...
• more beautiful, unexplained lights in the sky!

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China's Propaganda Minister is Served with a U.S. Class-Action Lawsuit for his part in the Persecution of Falun Gong:

• The Falun Dafa Information Center reports that Ding Guangen, Propaganda Minister of China, who is also a Politburo Member and Deputy Chief of the "6-10" Office, was served with a class-action law suit filed May 16, 2002 in a U.S. District Court. He is charged for his role in overseeing and executing severe human rights abuses against Falun Gong practitioners in China and overseas.
• Terry Marsh, an attorney assisting with the case said, "As the Propaganda Minister of China, Ding is directly responsible for the deadly propaganda, fabrication and lies to grossly distort Falun Gong's teachings and slander its founder and students with the purpose of bending public opinion to support the government's persecution of Falun Gong."
• Ms. Marsh continued: "As the Deputy Chief of the "6-10" Office -- an office established by Jiang Zemin specifically to carry out the persecution against Falun Gong practitioners -- Ding has directly aided in the murder, torture and hate of Falun Gong practitioners all across China and in propaganda campaigns overseas."

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Over 3000 Islamic People from Jakarta, Indonesia Attend Falun Gong Introduction Convention and Learn Falun Gong Exercises

• On May 12, 2002, the Indonesia Falun Dafa Association was invited to attend the Falun Gong Introduction Convention sponsored by Indonesian Islam Pesantren Assiddiqiyah.
• The Islamic Presbyter said to everyone that Falun Gong is the righteous Fa, or Law and Principles of the Universe.
• In his opening speech, he told the audience that the purpose of inviting the Indonesia Falun Dafa Association was to introduce Falun Dafa to them because the Indonesian people carry so much Karma.
• Most people in the middle and lower classes there are very poor. How happy they would be, he said, and how many medical expenses they would save if they practiced Falun Gong and had their health, mind and heart nature (Xinxing, in Chinese) improved, and if they were to quit smoking and abusing drugs.
• He said that it was mentioned in their scriptures that one had to go to ancient China if he wanted to pursue profound principles, but now they don't have to go to China because the profound principle is precisely Falun Gong right in front of them!
• More than 3000 Islamic people started learning the exercises right on spot and listened intently to the introduction of the principles.
• The presbyter mentioned several times that he hoped Falun Gong could become the bridge of union for the Chinese and Indonesian nations.

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On the other side of the world, in Toronto, Canada...

• Approximately 2,000 practitioners gathered from around the world at the Annual Falun Dafa Experience Sharing Conference of Canada held in Toronto over the Victoria Day holiday weekend.
• There were thoughtful recounts of working to expose the persecution in China and to break through the information blockade on the mainland;
• A concert by some of the professional musicians and talented newcomers amongst the practitioners;
• A one-day exhibit of Falun Gong artists, joined by other artists in solidarity with Falun Gong;
• The launch of the SOS in a bottle campaign -- an outreach project to the entertainment industry
• And of course... a parade!

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Moving now to Argentina...

• While Falun Dafa practitioners around the world celebrated the tenth anniversary of Falun Dafa's introduction to the public, it was announced that the Argentine Falun Dafa Association has been founded.
• FGMtv extends congratulations to the new Argentine Falun Dafa Association and wishes the practitioners there every success in their study and practice.

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and further west in the Pacific to Saipan...

where the recently established Falun Dafa Association practitioners also celebrated the 10th Anniversary

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Falun Dafa wins the hearts of the people of Hiroshima, Japan, during the May Flower Festival parade...

• The practitioners sent an account to Clear Wisdom Web site saying that Hiroshima in May is an ocean of flowers. People who have experienced the sufferings of war cherish the peace they now have.
• The May Flower Festival, hosted jointly by the China Broadcast Bureau and the City of Hiroshima, welcomed 1.4 million visitors. The theme of the festival was "Share life's magnificence and the dignity of peaceful coexistence."
• Midway down Peace Boulevard was a stage with broadcasting equipment, introducing the different parade groups to the spectators. The local TV station, NHK TV, broadcast the entire scene live.
• When the beautiful Falun Dafa parade group approached the broadcasting stage, the female M.C. announced in a kind and lively tone, "Now passing before us are Falun Gong practitioners in beautiful dresses. Oh, beautiful heavenly girls are present.
• Behind them is a beautiful float with three Chinese Characters, 'Zhen-Shan-Ren', 'Zhen' means truthfulness, 'Shan' means compassion, and 'Ren' means tolerance. That means, to be a good person one must be in accord with the principles of 'Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance'.
• Falun Gong is an advanced Qigong practice for obtaining excellent health and is widespread in many countries around the world. ... Each week, there is a 2-hour free lesson at Peace Park. Everybody, please go and learn!"
• This, from the NHK-TV announcer! Falun Gong is persecuted in China, but greatly appreciated in other countries.

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Crimes of the 610 Office in one city

• The 610 office in Yueyang Chengling Paper Factory has deprived retired people of financial resources by stopping pension payments, sent several dozen practitioners to the detention center, held others illegally in a private prison, and searched the homes of Falun Gong practitioners.
• In addition, they fined practitioners as much as ten thousand Yuan and no less than a thousand Yuan, which would be two months' income for an average urban worker in China.

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The founder of Falun Gong writes about world catastrophes that have been avoided.

• Many of you will remember seeing the satellite photograph released by NASA of the earth shrouded in a cloud formation that looked like a devil. Mr. Li Hongzhi, founder of Falun Dafa, has said that it was the manifestation of the evil elements that existed at that time.
• On May 19th, Mr. Li, sent a message of greeting to those attending the Experience Sharing Conference of Canada in Toronto.
• Entitled "The Blessings of Dafa", he advised that during the ten years that he has taught Dafa, "even predestined events in this world have been greatly changed. The catastrophe of the comet has passed, the third Great War has been averted and the risk in 1999 from the establishment, stasis, degeneration and destruction of Heaven and Earth will no longer recur."

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The Large Leshan Buddha Statue in Sichuan Province Emits a dazzling light, witnessed by Thousands of People

• Chengdu Daily Newspaper reported on May 7, 2002 that at 9:43 a.m. on May 6, after a day of heavy rain, a colorful ring of light appeared in the cloudy sky above the Leshan Buddha Statue.
• The ring had a diameter of approximately 300 meters with an interior red ring and an exterior purple ring. The color of the ring was sometimes clear and sometimes blurry, and circled the Buddha Statue while emitting colorful beams of light. The tourists around the Buddha Statue were very excited and eagerly watched this miraculous scene.
• At 11 o'clock, the ring started to emit a dazzling light. Such a magnificent sight impressed the tourists who had come from all over the world and prompted many people to press both of their hands together and close their eyes to pray.
• Around noon the Buddha light disappeared. The scene lasted for more than three hours.

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Another Falun Gong death by torture...

• It has been reported that in mid March, ten police in Shulan City held Sun Jianhua, aged 34, for seven days and nights, without food, water, or sleep.
• He survived the extreme cold even though he was wearing only thin clothes.
• However, the experience had been so tortuous that he collapsed after the police left, and died two hours later.

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Chongqing Practitioners Receive Prison Sentences for tapping into the city's cable TV network.

• The Associated Press reported on May 19th, that Xinhua state media said that four Falun Gong practitioners have been sentenced to prison terms for tapping into a cable television network and broadcasting information about the banned group.
• The four Falun Gong practitioners were sentenced Friday, May 17th by the Chongqing No.1 Intermediate People's Court.
• Jin Wei drew the longest sentence of 16 years. Li Xiangdong was sentenced to 15 years, and two others, Shu Jianqiu and Li Wei, were given prison terms of nine and seven years, respectively.
• A fifth practitioner involved in the broadcast, Liu Chunshu, has died of illness, the report said without giving details.
• When those details come to light through the efforts of practitioners who witnessed the events, we can be fairly certain they will say that Mr. Liu was tortured to death by the authorities.

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Colored circle of light surrounds the sun in Beijing:

Last week, we reported on a beautiful circle of colored light surrounding the sun in the Lichen District of Beijing.

• Today, we have a photograph taken at the Shilin (or "stone forest") Scenic Area in Kunming City of Yunnan Province at around 12:30 p.m. on May 14 2002
• Eyewitnesses say the ring looked bigger than a soccer field. Its position was just above "Ashima," a rock named after an ancient legendary lady who died fighting an evil landlord.
• Many visitors saw this phenomenon which lasted about half an hour and then faded away.

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And just when we thought that science had figured it all out... the universe presents us with another beautiful puzzle!

• The Chongqing Morning Newspaper reported that on May 15, 2002 at approximately 8:30 a.m., a mirage of a city appeared in the air above Chongqing City. It lasted about 20 minutes and then disappeared in the fog.
• One Eyewitness described it as a "floating city" above the city, while another said it was like a "traditional Chinese landscape painting."

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Thanks for watching FGMtv, dedicated to breaking through China's information blockade, revealing propaganda, and bringing you the truth of Falun Gong.