News and Events Around the World
Shen Yun Performing Arts
Organ Harvesting in China
Accounts of Persecution
Practitioners Exchange Insights and Experiences
Articles from Experience Sharing Conferences
(Clearwisdom.net) The Queensland Performing Arts Center (QPAC) and Brisbane Enterprising Multicultural Arts Centre (BEMAC) hosted a Melting Pot multicultural event on February 13 and 14 in the Cultural Centre, South Bank, Brisbane, Australia for the first time. Falun Gong practitioners in Brisbane were invited to participate in the event.
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The two-day event focused on Asian culture. As it was the Chinese New Year, the event was jubilant and exciting. Falun Gong practitioners taught visitors the exercises and the art of folding paper lotus flowers.
A girl named Milca from Chile and her Brazilian friend were studying English in Brisbane. She was interested in the practitioners' stories of improving morality. Another two German girls were very interested in the Falun Gong principles. They folded the flowers for quite a long time and were reluctant to leave.
A theater designer became interested in the five exercises while folding the lotus flowers. He learned the exercises on site. A British man had just arrived in Australia with packages on his back. He also learned the exercises on the spot.
The Falun Gong practitioners' booth was highly praised by the hosting organization. The organizers said that Falun Gong was the most welcomed group in the two-day event. A local TV station also came to the booth to take footage and cover the activities.
(Clearwisdom.net)
SUWON, South Korea--Renowned Korean violinist Ji Dong-sam saw
Shen Yun's last show in Suwan on February 18. "What I have learned
became so insignificant after I saw Shen Yun's show. Shen Yun's
orchestra makes the combination of musical instruments from the
East and West sound so sacred and harmonious. I am speechless in
all my admiration," Ms. Ji said excitedly after the show.
At one time, Ms. Ji held the first chair in the violin section of
the most renowned orchestra in Korea. She has performed all over
the world.
She especially loved the erhu performance. She was amazed by how
harmonious the combination of Eastern and Western instruments
sounded. "To make the combination sound three dimensional is very
hard to do. Shen Yun did it perfectly."
Ms. Ji wanted to introduce Shen Yun to her friends so they get to
see the shows next year. "This kind of cultural experience is rare
and valuable."
Curtain call at the Gyeonggi Arts Center Grand theater
Mythical Legend Researcher: "I saw the beauty that transcends all times"
The previous evening, February 17, Professor Kim Sun-Ja went to
the Gyeonggi Arts Center Grand Theater to watch New York-based Shen
Yun Performing Arts' first performance in Korea.
Ms. Kim very much enjoyed the Dance of the Dai. "I saw a beauty
that transcends all times. Every artist was extraordinary. I have
seen many dance performances and Shen Yun's show is certainly of
high quality."
Kim Sun-Ja, mythical legend researcher and professor at Yonsei University
As for the dances depicting the persecution of Falun Gong, Ms.
Kim believed that for any society to develop healthily, "it must
acknowledge the existence of every group and keep them in balance.
There are many problems in China currently."
Ms. Kim thinks what makes Shen Yun's show stand out is the charming
classical Chinese dances and the beauty of Chinese culture from
ancient to modern time. It includes the rich and colorful cultural
art of all ethnicities in China. "I see the beauty in different
spaces and times."
Ms. Kim wished Shen Yun could perform in Seoul next year because
more people would get to see the show.
Sources:
http://theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/30075/
http://theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/30024/
(Clearwisdom.net)
SUWON, South Korea--The New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts
hosted its final show in South Korea's historic city of Suwon on
February 18. Suwon Mayor Kim Yong Seo was one of the audience
members who was captivated by Shen Yun's performance.
Mayor Kim stood up to applaud for a long time in expressing his
appreciation for the Shen Yun artists. He gasped with admiration.
"It is indeed very hard to see such an excellent show here in South
Korea that demonstrates such lingering charm," he said. "It would
be so great if this show can be seen by all 1.1 million Suwon
residents, and let them all feel the happiness."
Shen Yun has come to Suwon for the first time, a beautiful cultural city that assembles cultural heritage from around the world. "It is worth treasuring to see here such a show that demonstrates Chinese history and culture," Mayor Kim said. "I am very happy about Shen Yun coming. It is just a pity that (Shen Yun) is performing here only for such a short time period."
Suwon Mayor Kim Yong Seo.
He believes that Koreans will be very happy and longing to learn
traditional Chinese culture. "China and Korea are in the same
cultural circle. We are all custodians of our ancient traditional
culture. Especially, we have gotten the Confucian culture from
China, and the Confucian culture allowed us to learn how to
cultivate manners, ... and nations need to respect and love each
other. I believe China and Korea are the same in this aspect in
history. I think it is a very good phenomenon that Chinese and
Korean history and culture could coexist in the same oriental
cultural circle."
Mayor Kim expects that more Koreans will come to see Shen Yun.
"Such a performance is rare," he said. "I hope people will come to
watch, if given the chance. It will be great help for you to learn
Chinese history and culture and for you to understand China. I hope
more Koreans can come to see this show."
Orchestra Director: "One can see the performers' rich spiritual and Chinese cultural essence"
Among the renowned artists attending Shen Yun's previous show on
February 17 was prominent Arirang Orchestra director Oh Ji Yoon.
She said, "You cannot find a flaw in this performance, it is
absolutely perfect, the whole world should come to a consensus to
invite Shen Yun to their country."
Oh Ji Yoon is the director of the Arirang Orchestra, an orchestra
enriched with Korean colors. After watching the show, Ms. Oh said:
"In Korea, I am also involved in traditional music. There are so
many things we can learn from Shen Yun shows, I really don't know
how to express my feelings right now. I have so many thoughts right
now that words cannot describe them ..."
At present, Ms. Oh has plans to promote Korean national music
internationally. She said: "Indeed, Shen Yun has given me many
valuable sources of inspiration. ... Chinese people are a race with
spirit and strength, there are so many things I have to learn from
them."
Korean Arirang Orchestra director Oh Ji Yoon
Ms. Oh also said that from the costumes to the stage effects,
the show is impeccable. Most of the opera shows in Korea adopt
staging techniques from their Western counterparts but today Shen
Yun exhibited a different characteristic. She said: "I learned many
things. The costumes and stage layout are excellent. Furthermore,
one can see the performers' rich spiritual and Chinese cultural
essence. This kind of spirit cannot be expressed using technical
means."
Oh Ji Yoon said that the cooperation between the emcees, as well as
all the movements in the show are perfect. "Through their
performance, I realized that they aspire to bring Chinese culture
to the whole world. Such integrity is what I think should be passed
down."
Ms. Oh was most impressed with the spirit and essence of Chinese
culture brought to life through the form of arts by Shen Yun. She
commented that this is the most remarkable part of the show and
reflects the traditional spirit.
She was impressed at how the Shen Yun New York Orchestra is able to
combine both Western and Chinese musical instruments--turning it
into something of its own. Yet at the same time, it is able to
retain its own spiritual connotation, which is also most
important.
"Especially through the medium of arts, the realms, or spirit, or
soul, Shen Yun presented to the audience, the highest value given
by arts ... this kind of art should not be artificially segregated
into Western or Oriental arts."
Finally Ms. Oh said, "Today's performance has a great effect on my
future work, it has helped me tremendously. The show is absolutely
gorgeous! It has traditional spirit and is an excellent show. I am
very touched."
Sources:
http://theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/30034/
http://theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/30045/
(Clearwisdom.net)
SUWON, South Korea- The second show of Shen Yun Performing Arts
concluded successfully in South Korea at the Gyeonggi Arts Center
Grand Theater on Thursday, February 18. Jeon Moo Song, a prominent
Korean TV actor, president of Gyeonggi provincial arts group and
university professor, watched the show as well. He said, "Before, I
was very curious to know what the heavenly world looks like. Today,
Shen Yun Performing Arts has shown me the scenes of the heavenly
realm."
Jeon described his many feelings about the show. "The show brought
me to many beautiful places in China. It also prompted me to
reconsider the teachings of Buddha. Through the performance, I saw
the realistic portrayal of how one can stand up amidst huge
adversities. The stage design is very exquisite. Although the show
is short, it has left my heart full of good memories. I think it
will be very difficult for me to forget today's show. I applaud
everything of Shen Yun."
Jeon explained why he felt the show would stick with him: "The
dance and music is sublime. At the same time, the items in the show
can inspire one's heart, the music open one's ears, the dance
movements open one's eyes. Together, these three aspects blend into
one to leave a lasting impression. I think Shen Yun is such a
perfect show."
Speaking more about how the show affected him, he said emotionally,
"The show also portrayed values of filial piety and brought all
these good virtues into my heart."
Finally, Jeon wished all the members of Shen Yun a successful tour.
"I hope every one of you will always have such healthy, bright
faces, and beautiful hearts. This is a lovely production that will
beautify people's hearts. I sincerely congratulate everyone in Shen
Yun on your performance in Suwon."
Dreamlike Beauty Draws the Impulse to Paint
Also attending the performance was South Korean painter, Park
Yong Jae. It was his second year seeing Shen Yun. He said with
emotion: "People from any country watching it would say, 'Ah. It is
truly beautiful like a dream!'"
Mr. Park is the president of Korea Hyundae Sketching Association.
He is also on the panel of judges for the Korean National
Exhibition of Fine Arts, and a member of the Korean National
Committee of International Association of Arts. He has had several
personal exhibits, and has won the Order of Service Merit-Yellow
Stripes awarded by the President of South Korea.
Mr. Kim Sun Won, a renowned South Korean calligraphist
The show was so beautiful that it made him want to pick up his
paintbrush. "Today when I was watching the show," he said, "I had
the impulse to paint quite a few times, or to shoot every scene so
that I can learn and try to present each move."
From watching Shen Yun, Mr. Park realized the principle that
justice will ultimately prevail. "Though we have an evil side as
humans, we have the peaceful and original philosophy of life that
one has the inherent right to maintain one's own right to life. I
think it is wrong to have evil groups ravaging these peaceful
people," referring to dances depicting the situation in present day
China.
In the end, Mr. Park said emotionally, "It would be great if many
artists can all come to enjoy this show. If it were not for the
long distance, I would really want to bring several students to
watch the show together tonight."
Sources:
http://theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/30074/
http://theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/30057/
(Clearwisdom.net) In 2006, The Epoch Times newspaper broke a stunning story about what is undoubtedly one of the most horrible atrocities to be committed by any government, not only in modern times, but in all of recorded history. As documented in the investigative report, "Bloody Harvest," by noted human rights lawyer David Matas and former Canadian Secretary of State for the Asia-Pacific region David Kilgour, there is overwhelming evidence of the Chinese Communist regime's chilling role in systematically murdering Falun Gong practitioners, harvesting their organs while they are alive, and making huge profits from doing so. In response to the international outcry, the Chinese regime has attempted to explain away one of the main pieces of circumstantial evidence--the meteoric rise in the number of organ transplantations in recent years and the extremely short wait times in a culture notoriously averse to organ donation--by stating that it has harvested organs from executed criminals after their deaths. Faced with undeniable evidence, it has attempted to escape culpability for a monstrous atrocity by admitting to a lesser crime. In this report, we will show evidence that directly contradicts this claim and lends further credence to the serious charges leveled against the Chinese regime.
VIII. Evolution of live organ harvesting
1. Isolated cases
Over the years, the process of harvesting organs from living Falun Gong practitioners evolved. The initial alleged cases of organ harvesting occurred on those practitioners who died in forced labor camps as a result of torture. As early as 2000 there were reports of death cases related to organ harvesting. This could explain why the number of organ transplants in mainland China began to increase in 2000.
On December 22, 2000, the Minghui/Clearwisdom website posted the following news from China: "According to insiders, some police officers in Mainland China are plotting with doctors and looking to sell the organs of Falun Gong practitioners for huge sums of money." "One source indicates that a certain hospital in the city of Shijiazhuang specializing in Chinese medicine has received six such requests." [47] This might have been the earliest report of the CCP's organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners.
On February 16, 2001, Ren Pengwu, male, 33, a technician at the Harbin City Third Thermal Power Plant in Heilongjiang Province, was arrested for distributing informational materials exposing the staged Tiananmen "Self Immolation" incident. He was detained at the No. 2 Detention Center in Hulan County. Before dawn on February 21, he was tortured to death. Without obtaining the family's permission, the police authorities removed all of Ren Pengwu's organs before hastily cremating his body. [48]
Hao Runjuan, female, a practitioner from the Baiyun District in Guangzhou City, was arrested in late February 2002. She died on March 18, 2002, after suffering brutal torture in the Baiyun Detention Center. The police autopsied the body while the family members were unaware of anything at all. When the family was notified to identify the body, it had been rendered unrecognizable. [49]
Sun Ruijian, male, 29, a practitioner from Ningde City, Fujian Province, was arrested in November 2000 when he went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. On December 1, 2000, his family was notified that Sun Ruijian had died from "jumping out of a moving car" while under public security escort. When his wife saw Sun's body, it had been autopsied, and Sun's eyes had a noticeable bulge. [50]
Fu Keshu, 53, a practitioner and a retired teacher from the No. 1 Elementary School in Kaiyang County, Guizhou Province and her nephew, 34-year-old Xu Genli, disappeared in the Jinggang Mountain area in November 2005. In late April 2006, their bodies were discovered in the Wuzhi Peak area of Jinggang Mountain. Their heads had been shaved, and there were no eyebrows on their faces. Their eyeballs were missing. Xu's chest and abdomen had been cut open. Their families believed that their organs might have been harvested and their bodies disposed of. [51]
According to a person who was detained in the Baiyun District Drug Rehabilitation Institute, several drug addicts beat up a Falun Dafa practitioner, which was seen by the Institute's doctor. The doctor said, "Don't hit his kidneys, they're useful!" On several occasions he heard doctors there tell the drug addicts when they were suffering from withdrawal, "If you want some drugs, go beat up those Falun Dafa practitioners, but be careful not to touch their eyes and abdomens." [52]
2. Large-scale live organs harvesting
The transition of individual organ harvesting cases to large-scale live organ harvesting was enabled by the following conditions:
Condition 1: The appearance of "concentration camps"
We have discussed in previous sections that many practitioners who refused to reveal their names or addresses were detained in undisclosed locations. These military-controlled concentration facilities provided the physical conditions needed for large-scale, live organ harvesting.
Condition 2: Policy to "defame their reputations, bankrupt them financially and destroy them physically"
The persecution of Falun Gong was initiated by Jiang Zemin, who mobilized the entire state apparatus in his campaign. The 610 Office adopted a policy to "defame their reputations, bankrupt them financially, and destroy them physically" in an attempt to eradicate Falun Gong.
According to Li Baigen, former director of the Reconnaissance and Design Administration Division of the Beijing Municipal Commission of Urban Planning and Design, and who currently lives in the United States, on November 30, 1999, three senior officials at the 610 Office summoned 3,000 government officials and held a conference in the Great Hall of the People to discuss the persecution of Falun Gong, since more and more Falun Gong practitioners had continued to come to Beijing to appeal, despite several months of harsh suppression. During the conference, Li Lanqing, head of the central 610 Office, verbally relayed the new policy from Jiang Zemin, which was to "defame their reputations, bankrupt them financially, and destroy them physically."
This policy was never communicated as a written document. The outside world learned of this through practitioners who were detained in the brainwashing centers, forced labor camps, or prisons. Many of them stated in articles published on the Minghui website that, while in detention, they had heard the police or 610 Office personnel mention this policy.
A derivative of the policy is "beating them to death counts as suicide," another common practice of some police officers in dealing with practitioners who refuse to give up their beliefs. Although the number of death cases of practitioners who died as a result of the persecution continues to grow (by 2009, at least 3,300 practitioners are confirmed to have died), the police officers responsible for these deaths were never punished by the CCP regime. On the contrary, they were recognized as model officers of the anti-Falun Gong campaign and rewarded with promotions and financial incentives.
Condition 3: Huge financial profits from the organ transplants
As stated earlier, expensive fees make organ transplants tremendously profitable, which is a powerful motivating force, particularly in an officially atheist country.
Condition 4: Hatred instigated by slanderous propaganda, from the staged "Tiananmen Self Immolation" incident to live organ harvesting
Since the beginning of the persecution, the CCP regime has fabricated countless lies to slander Falun Gong. A typical example is the "Tiananmen Self Immolation," staged by the CCP regime in an effort to instigate nationwide hatred of Falun Gong. Live organ harvesting is part of the physical genocide of Falun Gong practitioners, driven by this hatred and the temptation of financial gain.
During the 53rd session of the Sub-Commission on the Promotion
and Protection of Human Rights, International Educational Development had discovered that the self-immolation cited by the Chinese Government, which was being submitted as "proof" that Falun Gong was an "evil cult," had in fact been staged. [53]
The CCP's overwhelming deceptive propaganda indeed instigated hatred among the general public in China, paving the way for those who participated in the live organ harvesting of Falun Gong practitioners several years later, but who otherwise may have refrained out of moral concerns.
It was the persecution by the CCP and the huge financial incentives that drove the individual cases of organ harvesting to large-scale live organ harvesting. According to insiders, large-scale live organ harvesting of Falun Gong practitioners began to surface in late 2001.
The following diagram illustrates this evolution:
At present, there are still a large number of Falun Gong practitioners detained in the hundreds of forced labor camps in China. Many reports published on the Minghui website reveal that families of those who died from torture could not see their loved ones' bodies, which were forcibly cremated by the police. We have enough reason to believe that organ harvesting still continues on practitioners who die from torture, and it will not end until the persecution stops and all detained practitioners are released.
3. A small step from "using death row organs" to "live organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners"
The initial reaction of many people when they first heard of the live organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners was, "How could that be possible? How could doctors do such a thing?"
If China had an organ donation system as many western countries do, and if there had never existed the practice of organ harvesting from death row inmates, then the allegations of live organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners might indeed seem far-fetched. However, organ harvesting from death row inmates has been in practice for several decades. Some executed death row inmates were not completely dead when their organs were removed. Their cases were close to live organ harvesting. With this as a backdrop, and after the CCP regime labeled Falun Gong practitioners as "enemies of the state" ( a worse situation than that of death row inmates), moving from "using death row organs" to "live organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners" was but a small step.
Testimony of Annie, whose ex-husband participated in live organ harvesting
In Bloody Harvest, The killing of Falun Gong for their organs, one of the authors, David Kilgour, interviewed Annie (pseudonym), the ex-wife of a Chinese surgeon who removed corneas from Falun Gong practitioners.
According to Annie, her ex-husband began to take corneas from Falun Gong practitioners at the end of 2001. His hospital was only responsible for the removal, not the transplant. He was a neurosurgeon but was asked to remove corneas. Before being pushed into the operating rooms, the Falun Gong practitioners were given an injection to cause heart failure. Initially he did not know these living people were Falun Gong practitioners. In the beginning, fearing information could leak out, different organs were removed by different doctors in different rooms. Each time after the surgery he would receive a large sum of money, and given cash awards several dozen times his normal salary. Later on, as the doctors continued to get money, they no longer feared repercussions. They started to remove the organs together. During one operation when he collaborated with other doctors, he learned that the bodies were Falun Gong practitioners. Annie learned this information in 2003. Later that year they divorced.
We can see that the customary practice of harvesting the death row organs played a key role in live organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners. With the policy of "beating them to death counts as suicide," plus the deceptive and slanderous propaganda against Falun Gong, doctors became insensitive towards the "donors," treating them as death row inmates.
Flowchart of Live Organ Harvesting
Based on information provided by Annie, the following diagram illustrates the flowchart of live organ harvesting.
Different parties are involved in different steps, as seen on the flowchart. The doctors who perform organ harvesting may or may not be the ones who do the organ transplant surgeries. Therefore not every doctor is likely to know the whole picture. If asked where the organs come from, different doctors may provide different answers due to their involvement at the different steps in the process. More importantly, given that the source of organs is controlled by the military, it is very difficult for the outside world to know the entire procedure.
"Death row inmates" used as an excuse to shirk responsibility
From what we have learned, the common mentality of most organ transplant surgeons in China is that they are unwilling to ask questions about the true identities and backgrounds of the donors. The more surgeries they do, the more money they make, the better they get recognized, the more research papers they can publish, the faster they get promoted, and the less they want to learn about the source of organs. They do not have any qualms as long as they can make themselves believe that the organs were indeed from death row inmates. They follow the process to perform surgeries and do not give too much thought to whether the donors are indeed death row inmates or Falun Gong practitioners.
Every party in this process chooses to believe that the organs were harvested from death row inmates to shirk their responsibility:
As a result of CCP brainwashing, the military police have treated Falun Gong practitioners as mental patients or death row inmates.
Doctors who performed organ harvesting chose to believe that the donor lying on the operating table was a death row inmate, even if the donor was still alive, since they were accustomed to harvesting organs from executed death row inmates who were not completely dead.
Doctors who did not participate in organ harvesting but performed organ transplant surgeries were more likely to believe that the organs they received were from death row inmates instead of Falun Gong practitioners.
In Annie's ex-husband's case, he initially believed that the donors were death row inmates. By the time he learned that they were Falun Gong practitioners, he had become indifferent and was driven by the desire to make more money. Since death row organ harvesting has become a common practice, participants in the live organ harvesting of Falun Gong practitioners tend to treat them as death row inmates.
Yet, those Falun Gong practitioners whose organs were harvested alive are not traditional "death row inmates." Live organ harvesting amounts to cold-blooded murder. As the truth became known, out of fear, those participants decided to keep silent, and this has added to their crimes.
Doctors addicted to organ transplant surgeries
On January 26, 2005, Jiefang Daily published a story entitled "Nine-Hour Miracle," on Xia Qiang, director of the Organ Transplant Center in the Shanghai Renji Hospital, who was "addicted to liver transplant surgeries." On one occasion, Xia drove 140 kilometers to take a 72-year-old patient to the hospital for a liver transplant. The patient had several life-threatening illnesses - cirrhosis, liver cancer, stones in both kidneys and renal failure, and had been bedridden for a couple of months. The patient needed a liver-kidney transplant. Xia was driven to break the liver-kidney transplant record in Asia, where the oldest recipient was 65. Xia told the reporter: "I am crazy about liver transplants. I am addicted to them. I have to see patients every day, otherwise I do not feel settled. I have to do at least two to five liver transplant surgeries a week, and I am not afraid of failures. I'll learn my lessons and continue the next day." [54]
It is a good thing for a doctor to be so committed, and there is nothing wrong with pursuing success. However, when a doctor is addicted to organ transplants and has to do several surgeries a week to get satisfaction, all he will care about is how to get endless organ supplies. In that case, how many of them would care whether the donors are death row inmates or Falun Gong practitioners?
"Life unworthy of life" - How the Holocaust happened
Many historians believe that the Holocaust was a natural result of Hitler's promotion of racial cleansing under the Nazis. In 1920, Karl Binding and Alfred Hoche introduced a new concept, "Life unworthy of life," in their book, Allowing the Destruction of Life Unworthy of Life. Those considered to be "deviant" or a "source of social turmoil" in Nazi Germany and the occupied areas of Europe fell under this designation, which included the mentally ill, people with disabilities, political dissidents, criminals, Jews, and "non-whites" or non-Caucasian peoples. [55]
According to psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton, the author of Medical Killing and the Psychology of Genocide, the policy went through a number of iterations and modifications: "Of the five identifiable steps by which the Nazis carried out the principle of 'life unworthy of life,' coercive sterilization was the first. There followed the killing of 'impaired' children in hospitals; and then the killing of 'impaired' adults, mostly collected from mental hospitals, in centers especially equipped with carbon monoxide gas. This project was extended (in the same killing centers) to 'impaired' inmates of concentration and extermination camps and, finally, to mass killings in the extermination camps themselves." [56]
While it is a huge step from "respect of all lives" to "mass killing of Jews," it was only a small extra step from "destruction of life unworthy of life" to "mass killing of Jews."
Similarly, it would have been a huge step to "live organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners" had there never been organ harvesting from death row inmates. But it was only a small extra step from "harvesting death row organs" to "live organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners."
The following graph depicts the environment and conditions under which live organ harvesting could exist.
References
[47] Clearwisdom.net, "Policemen Scheme to Sell the Organs of Jailed Falun Gong Practitioners," December 22, 2000, http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2000/12/22/5759.html (English version: http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2000/12/31/3661.html)
[48] Clearwisdom.net, "Falun Gong Practitioner Ren Pengwu Was Murdered and All His Bodily Organs Were Removed by the Hulan County Police in Heilongjiang Province," April 19, 2001, http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2001/4/19/10084.html (English version: http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2001/4/21/6812.html)
[49] Clearwisdom.net, "Further Facts Regarding the Death Case of Dafa Practitioner Hao Runjuan, Fatally Tortured at Baiyun District Detention Center of Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province," July 6, 2002, http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2002/7/6/32910.html (English version: http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2002/7/11/24004.html)
[50] Minghui.net, "Request to Investigate the Cause of the Death of Sun Ruijian," December 16, 2000, http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2000/12/16/4707.html
[51] Clearwisdom.net, "Organ Harvesting Suspected in the Murders of Ms. Fu Keshu and Mr. Xu Genli, Practitioners Visiting the Jinggang Mountain Area (Photos)," August 8, 2006, http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2006/8/8/135079.html (English version: http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2006/8/12/76758.html)
[52] Clearwisdom.net, "International Community's Immediate Attention Needed: Bodily Organs Removed and Sold From Falun Dafa Practitioners Tortured to Death in China," June 16, 2004, http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2004/6/16/77099.html (English version: http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2004/6/25/49505.html)
[53] United Nations Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, "Terrorism, Transnational Corporations, Traditional Practices Discussed," Press Release by United Nations Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, 53rd session. August 14, 2001,
http://www.unhchr.ch/huricane/huricane.nsf/0/D1D7C610CB97B340C1256AA9002678B0?opendocument
[54] Jiefang Daily, "Nine-Hour Miracle," http://old.jfdaily.com/pdf/050126/jf05.pdf (content no longer accessible)
[55] Karl Binding and Alfred Hoche, Die Freigabe der Vernichtung Lebensunwerten Lebens (Allowing the Destruction of Life Unworthy of Life), 1920.
[56] Robert Jay Lifton, The Nazi Doctors: Medical Killing and the Psychology of Genocide, 1986.
(Clearwisdom.net) When Falun Gong practitioners are sent to the Shanxi Women's Prison, the guards there directly confine practitioners in a solitary confinement cell, where practitioners are forbidden to sleep, wash themselves or even use the restroom. Moreover, the guards allocate tasks to other prisoners, ordering them to "'Transform' practitioners no matter what methods you use." This encourages prisoners there to unscrupulously persecute Falun Gong practitioners in order to curry favor with the prison administration.
The following is what Ms. Guo Yunzhi stated about her experience of persecution at the Shanxi Women's Prison.
I was sent to the Shanxi Women's Prison on January 16, 2005, and was imprisoned in Group No. 8 on January 18. This group is the evilest group in persecuting Falun Gong practitioners. Whoever firmly insists on practicing Falun Gong is usually sent there for "transforming." Lei Runxiang, the political head of this group has "transformed" more than eighty practitioners with the help of collaborators Chou Lihua and Du Xueqing.
After I was sent to Group No. 8, I was confined in a solitary confinement cell where the windows and doors were all covered up with newspaper. The guards sent prisoners to watch me, and forbade me from sleeping, washing myself or even going to the toilet. They forced me to keep standing for an entire night, and also kept playing videos, such as "the Self-immolation in Tiananmen Square," to slander Falun Gong. I clarified the truth about Falun Gong to those prisoners. They punched and kicked me, slapped my face, and slammed me into the wall by seizing my hair. They beat me so viciously that my face was badly bruised.
A drug addict named Wang Jinhua, who claimed to be a skilled soccer player before she was imprisoned, deliberately kicked my private parts and severely beat my breasts, and caused injuries all over my body. Their goal is to stop practitioners from practicing cultivation. If we don't cooperate with them, they persecute us every day. In winter, prisoners forcibly stripped off our outer clothes, poured water over us from head to feet and then made us stand in dripping wet clothes for a whole night.
When they beat me, I called out, "Falun Dafa is good." They worried that people outside could hear it; therefore, they beat me to the ground, and prisoner He Suling stomped on my nose. Because she stomped so heavily I became unconscious. After I awakened, she started to curse me. He Suling said, "If you don't accept 'transformation,' we can beat you to death and we will not be held responsible. We may just say that you died of a heart attack or suicide." They follow the guards' orders in whatever they do; therefore, they can act so lawlessly, and severely persecute us.
On February 18, 2005, during the Chinese New Year holiday, prisoners had to give performances. Before they left, they used ropes to tie my hands and feet, stuffed towels into my mouth and then shoved me under the bed.
Whenever the prisoners beat me, they used bamboo canes or other hard tools instead of using their hands because they hit me so hard, their hands would be very painful afterwards. They not only severely beat me, but also used ropes to tie me up all day long, which caused my skin to become broken and fester for quite a long time. Moreover, they even knocked my teeth out; but in order to clean away any evidence, prisoner Du Xueqing forced me to throw them out.
Practitioner Ms. Zhou Kejin was once forcibly coerced into being "transformed," but afterwards she wouldn't go along with it. Then, prisoners prevented her from sleeping and going to the washroom. They forced Ms. Zhou to write two reports every day, in which she was forced to slander Master and Falun Gong.
Group No. 9 is for imprisoning elderly and disabled prisoners. After Ms. Dong Fenxiang (62 years old) refused to be 'transformed,' political head Wei Yu ordered prisoners to watch her, forbidding her to sleep and forcibly making her stand from 5:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.. She was persecuted this way for one hundred and forty days.
Ms. Guo Suling was a 67-year-old retired teacher. In winter, prisoners opened all the windows in her cell and poured water on her blanket and bed. They even mixed drugs in her meals.
Another practitioner (69 years old) lived at the dormitory of the Shanxi Military Zone before she was arrested. The police did not dare to openly arrest her at the military dormitory. They sent officials from the neighborhood committee to trick her into coming out, and then directly took her to the prison. The practitioner's children couldn't find their mother and finally looked for her at the prison. Prisoners had kept on mixing drugs into her food while she was detained there, and she was unaware of that.
Political head Lei Runxiang was later transferred to Group No. 2. She ordered prisoners to severely beat Ms. Cao Shuangmei. Ms. Cao was already 56 years old; she could not withstand the vicious beating and wrote the "Four Statements" against her will (similar to the Three Statements). She felt deeply regretful to Master and Dafa after doing this. Therefore, she denied the "transformation." As a result, she was beaten to death.
(Clearwisdom.net) The Clearwisdom report about Qinghua University graduate Ms. Liu Zhimei who was persecuted to insanity in prison (see http://clearwisdom.net/html/articles/2010/2/18/114775.html), has many people shocked by the cruelty of the Chinese police. How could these guards be so vicious toward a young, female college student? The experience of another Falun Gong practitioner, an older woman from Beijing, further illustrates how these low means are utilized.
Ms. Yue Changzhi, 70, was an electric apparatus engineer employed by the China Aerospace Ministry. She twice appealed for justice for Falun Gong, and was arrested and detained multiple times. After being forced to leave home to avoid being arrested again, the police put Ms. Yue on a nationwide wanted list. Later, the State Security Ministry arrested her younger daughter in Beijing, tortured her, and finally arrested Ms. Yue Changzhi at her younger daughter's home. They sentenced her to four years in the Beijing Women's Prison. Due to the many tortures she endured, Ms. Yue's life was frequently in danger. Her spine was fractured in two places and because she received no treatment or rest, her spine was seriously bent, and her lower back twisted severely.
Ms. Yue firmly believes that the guards put drugs in her meals. She told a journalist that she has always been a very clear-headed woman, no matter how difficult her life was. For example, when her husband was in the hospital due to being tortured during the Cultural Revolution, her 11-year-old son told her his head ached, then died within minutes. She was able to keep a calm mind to handle the situation. But when she was in prison, she became foggy-headed, and her whole body ached.
Ms. Yue related, "I began cultivating Falun Dafa in June of 1996. In July 2003, Domestic Security officers arrested me and sentenced me to four years in prison. On March 11, 2004, I was taken to the Tenth Ward of the Beijing Women's Prison, where there were nearly 50 practitioners. The guards assigned prisoners to torture the practitioners. They stomped on me and pinched my body, causing bruises. My spine had two fractures. They forced me to stand overnight, deprived me of sleep, beat me, and cursed at me.
"I persisted for one month, but later felt I could not bear it physically any longer, and announced that I accepted the brainwashing, against my will. Another month later, at the beginning of July 2004, I declared my intention to resume cultivation. I endured huge suffering over the next four months. Although I went through a lot, my mind was clear, and my determination never moved.
"By the end of 2004, I suddenly had a foggy head. My body was in extreme pain, but I never imagined the guards would have put drugs in my meals! Three section chiefs tortured me in person. They interrogated me 24 hours a day, pulling me to stand at each cell, forced inmates to criticize me, beat me, cursed me, and tore my clothes. In wintertime, they did not allow me to wear warm clothes, or warm shoes, and forced me to stand in military style; otherwise they would force the whole prison - over one hundred prisoners - to stand for a long time. They did this to make me accept the brainwashing,
"Around December 2004, the guards instructed the prisoners to abuse me in the cell while shouting slogans. The content of these slogans were meant to force me to give up Dafa, and to check and see if I still was in a clear mind. I found my situation not normal; I could not control myself. My heart told me these slogans were wrong; however I could not stop my mouth from repeating them.
"They forced me to stand all day long, for many days. My unclear mental condition became worse at night, to the degree that I felt strangeness around me, and was unclear where I was. I was in the Tenth Ward on the fourth floor all the time, but I felt I was in a basement. I could not find my way to the restroom after being there tenth months. The most serious thing was that I had severe pain all over my body. It was like every cell was in pain; I could not bear to stand, and felt that life was worse than death.
"About 2 a.m., the 'nice' Warden came. I wanted to squat down due to my extreme pain. She would not allow me, but sternly ordered me to write a statement to dissociate with Falun Gong. I did not want to do that, and said to myself in my heart, no way! But my hand didn't follow my mind. Another guard came and ordered me to write, 'Do not want eternal life!' I said in my heart, 'How can one not want eternal life?' But this voice in my heart was too weak compared with the force controlling my hand. I was writing like a puppet.
"They did not let me rest for 30 hours. They did not even allow me to sit, squat, hold onto something, or lean on anything. I had to write while standing, and they forced me to write the same statement repeatedly. After 36 hours, they let me rest a little bit. I immediately regained a clear mind, and realized I did a shameful thing when my mind was unclear! I was so regretful, I did not want to live any more. This kind of psychological/spiritual persecution is damaging beyond description.
Later, I read a Clearwisdom article titled 'Labor Camp Guards Admit They Put Drugs in Falun Gong Practitioners' Meals, (http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2008/12/11/191392.html). It made me recall when I was in the prison, and I had exactly the same symptoms. I firmly believe I was drugged."
February 16, 2010
(Clearwisdom.net) On September 17, 2009, Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Yu Lianhe from Tonghua City, Jilin Province, was sentenced to three years' imprisonment. He was sent to the Shiling Prison in Siping City, Jilin Province, on October 2. At 9 a.m. on November 22, four prisoners severely beat Mr. Yu and he died as a result of the beating.
Mr. Yu's family hired a forensic medical expert, who was also a professor from Shenyang City, Liaoning Province. The expert performed the autopsy with two other experts, who were appointed by the prison, in front of the family members and prison guards. The experts found that Mr. Yu had blood in his right ear and bruises in his eyes. Mr. Yu's chest cavity was full of blood, approximately 1.5 liters. His spleen was ruptured in three places and the tissue surrounding the spleen was injured and had hemorrhaged. The forensic professor concluded that the cause of Mr. Yu's death was spleen rupture.
Mr. Yu's family demanded that the prison officials and the prisoners be held responsible for Mr. Yu's death. When the family members demanded to know what had happened, a prison guard pointed at an office door with the name tag "Hao Yulin" and said to the family, "Remember this name." Hao was in charge of the prison ward where Mr. Yu was killed.
Name: Xie Chunlan (谢春兰)
Gender: Female
Age: 46
Address: unknown
Occupation: PhD Medical Student in Jilin University
Date of Most Recent Arrest: September 29, 2009
Most Recent Place of Detention: Harbin City Second Detention
Center (哈尔滨第二看守所)
City: Harbin
Province: Heilongjiang
Persecution Suffered: Illegal arrest, interrogation,
detention
(Clearwisdom.net) Xiangfang District Court in Harbin City opened its trial of Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Xie Chunlan at 10:00 a.m. on January 13, 2010. The presiding judge had intended to hand down an immediate verdict, but failed to do so after Ms. Xie's lawyers convincingly argued for her defense.
Before the trial, the local authorities in the Xiangfang District made numerous troubles for Ms. Xie's family, attempting to force them to drop her lawyers. As a result, her family had to change lawyers three times. The court also kept changing the trial location, eventually settling on a very small courthouse in the district. Moreover, they didn't notify the defense lawyers of the location until 30 minutes before the trial was to begin. Despite the court's despicable ploys, Ms. Xie's lawyers still made a rigorous defense on her behalf.
Arrested for Applying for a Passport
Ms. Xie previously had many illnesses. After she began practicing Falun Gong, all her illnesses disappeared.
On September 26, 2009, she went to the Port of Entry Authority of Harbin to inquire about a passport application for her work needs. She was told that she needed to get a proof of residence from her local police station. That same day she went to the Xiangfang District Police Department to request a proof of residence. An employee told her that it couldn't be processed during the weekend, so she had to wait until Monday. The following Monday, after 8:00 a.m., when she arrived at the Xiangfang District Police Department, she was arrested and illegally detained by officials from the Domestic Security Division in the Xiangfang District until 1:00 p.m. She was then detained at the Yaziquan Detention Center without any right to a due process of law.
After Ms. Xie was arrested for her passport application, her family went to the police department numerous times requesting her release. Wang Dianbin, Yuan Zhaoxiang, and Li Xiaowei from the Domestic Security Division threatened to hand her a heavy sentence.
Communist Regime Police and Legal Departments Set Obstacles for Lawyers
Ms. Xie's family hired Mr. Du, a lawyer from Beijing, to defend her. He was not deterred by intimidation from the Beijing Judicial Bureau and Xiangfang District Judiciary Bureau and went to Harbin City Court to review the documents of the interrogation of Ms. Xie and visited her at the detention center. In the end, he decided to defend her with a "not guilty" plea.
As the lawyer got more involved in the case, the Beijing Judicial Bureau, the Xiangfang District Judiciary Bureau, and the Xiangfang District Court intensified their harassment of Ms. Xie's family and Mr. Du. Seeing that their threats failed to work, they forcibly closed the law firm Mr. Du belonged to and suspended his license.
Mr. Du then transferred the case to another Beijing lawyer, Mr. Liang. However, the Xiangfang District Court, the Harbin Judiciary Bureau, and the Beijing Judiciary Bureau kept making phone calls to prevent Mr. Liang from getting involved. They didn't notify him of the trial date until Friday, just three days before the scheduled date. They told him the trial was set for Monday and asked if he would still come to Harbin to review the case. If he couldn't come on Friday, then he had to arrive on Monday, the trial date. They didn't want to allow Mr. Liang any time to review the files so that he would drop the case. Given the circumstances, Mr. Liang had to quit.
According to insiders, Xiangfang District Court had planned to follow the order from the 610 Office to hand down a heavy sentence for Ms. Xie. But the trial wasn't held on Monday. When Ms. Xie's family went to inquire about the trial, they were told that it was re-scheduled for Wednesday at the Liming Courthouse in the Xiangfang District.
Realizing they still had two days before the trial, Ms. Xie's family immediately hired two other lawyers from Beijing. Lawyers Mr. Lan and Mr. Zhang rushed to Harbin on Tuesday and went to the court and the detention center in order to get their legal paperwork completed so they could defend Ms. Xie.
Due to the time limitation, the two lawyers weren't able to see Ms. Xie in the detention center on Tuesday. They had to go back to the detention center at 8:00 a.m. on the morning of the trial. Right after the meeting was over, the police from Xiangfang District Court arrived to pick up Ms. Xie for the trial. The lawyers' car simply followed the police car, but found they were not headed to Xiangfang District Court, but Liming Courthouse. At 9:30 a.m. when the trial began, the court then notified the lawyers that the trial had been changed to Liming Courthouse. In spite of the court's efforts to disrupt the trail, they were unable to prevent Ms. Xie's lawyers from defending her in court.
Defense Lawyers: Belief in Falun Dafa Is Not a Crime
The court stationed police officers and unidentified personnel outside the courthouse, not allowing anyone to enter. Inside, around 26 people occupied the seats in the gallery, and no one knew who they were.
During the proceedings, Ms. Xie said, "I used to be an average worker with poor health. After I began my practice of Falun Gong, my slipped disk was cured. Falun Gong helps people improve their morality. How can I not practice something so outstanding? Everything we do is voluntary. Whoever wants to practice practices and whoever wants to learn learns. I practice Falun Gong because it makes me a good person. I was arrested simply because I went to apply for a passport. I didn't commit any crime and you shouldn't have arrested me!"
The defense lawyers explained below from a legal perspective why believing in Falun Dafa is justified and that clarifying the facts is not a crime.
The Xiangfang District Prosecutor's charges lacked evidence and were not clear. They also failed to cite proper laws, meaning the indictment was not based on legal grounds. By all appearances, the court should have acquitted Ms. Xie.
The court and the prosecutor presented the job Ms. Xie had at Harbin City Ziya School as evidence. What she taught at Ziya School involved traditional Chinese culture, which by no means violated any law. Moreover, she did not sign any documents during her initial interrogation.
According to Criminal Law, she did not commit any crime even though items related to Falun Gong were found at her home and she clarified the facts in public. During her truth clarification work, she also awakened people's kindness and enabled them to choose to side with justice and conscience, which was not only free of wrongdoing, but also helped to improve their morality.
"It is with regret that we see law-enforcement personnel violate numerous citizens' right to freedom of belief, which is granted by the Chinese Constitution. Especially on the issue of Falun Gong, law-enforcement personnel have seriously violated the freedom of belief established by the constitution.
"The investigations and trials of Falun Gong practitioners contain numerous loopholes. For instance, the authorities impose restrictions on the degrees of lawyers getting involved in Falun Gong cases, neglect to respect defendants' right to defend themselves, and fail to open the trials to the public. Moreover, the various 610 Offices often intervene, and, with the help of legal and judiciary departments, extort confessions by means of torture. It is also not uncommon for practitioners to be detained beyond their terms. We feel that the political and radical campaign against Falun Gong practitioners is unlawful and has violated fundamental legal procedure."
The defense lawyers ended their argument by asserting: "The case appears to be a normal criminal case, when, in fact, it is an unusual constitutional case that concerns citizens' freedom of belief. We hope all the judges will respect citizens' constitutional rights and rightfully uphold their historic responsibility. We'd like to see you accept the facts and make a fair verdict in acquitting our client."
After the lawyers' arguments, the police stationed inside the courthouse were rendered speechless and looked defeated. The public prosecutor still attempted to argue against Ms. Xie but was stopped by the presiding judge. In the end, the court did not pass down a verdict and ended the trial around noon that day.
Xia Jinsong, Xiangfang District Judiciary Bureau:
86-451-82105190
Bureau of Education: 86-451-53920009
Liming Street Committee: 86-451-82681262, 86-451-82681258
Related report: "Ms. Xie Chunlan from Harbin Arrested, Family Hires a Lawyer to Appeal" http://www.clearwisdom.net/html/articles/2009/12/3/112796.html
(Clearwisdom.net) Mr. Liu Deyu is a Falun Gong practitioner in Jingmen City, Hubei Province. On February 4, 2010, his wife went to the relative department to ask about his situation, but was told that Dongbao District Court in Jingmen sentenced Mr. Liu to a four-year prison term on February 3, 2010, and he could only appeal until February 8, 2010. Actually the court had made the decision long before but never informed her. It was a lie to claim that he had been sentenced the day before, leaving only four days to appeal.
Mr. Liu, 54, works in the Epidemic Prevention Station in Jingmen City, Hubei Province. He was arrested six months ago, and has been detained in Huyaguan Detention Center since.
Since July 20, 1999, the CCP has been persecuting Falun Gong and Mr. Liu has been persecuted many times. He was once sentenced to Shayang Forced Labor Camp for three years. After his release, the Jingmen 610 Office pressured Mr. Liu's department to threaten him with firing. He was forced to undergo brainwashing and was detained many times. He suffered greatly from continuous abuse and persecution. His family is also very stressed.
At around 10 a.m. on June 23, 2009, when telling people about Falun Gong, Mr. Liu was beaten by police and was injured. He then was forced into homelessness. Mr. Liu went to Zhijiang City, Hubei, and earned a living selling socks. He was then detained in Huyaguan Detention Center in Jingmen City. The arresting officer on the arrest warrant is Xu Yue, an instructor for the National Security Division in the Dongbao Branch of Jingmen City Public Security Bureau.
On July 17, 2009, an arrest warrant was issued for Mr. Liu. He was detained in Huyaguan Detention Center by Jia Zhenjun, the director of Dongbao District National Security Division in Jingmen City. Jia is highly implicated in the death of Falun Gong practitioner Chen Qiji in Jingmen City.
From the end of 2009 to early 2010, Dongbao District Court secretly tried four Falun Gong practitioners in Jingmen, including Mr. Liu. Not permitted an attorney, Mr. Liu had to defend himself. The Falun Gong practitioners' defense was reasonable and sound, and the judges were rendered speechless. They hastily announced an adjournment and met secretly to incriminate them.
People leading the persecution of Mr. Liu include Tian Changbing, Jia Zhenjun and Xu Yue.
Tian Changbing, 48, is a key figure in persecuting Mr. Liu. He
lives in Xiantao City, Hubei Province and is a member of the
standing municipal party committee in Jingmen City, Secretary of
the Politics and Law Committee, and Director of the Public Security
Bureau of Jingmen City: 86-15972669999 (Cell), 86-724-2335219
(Home), 86-724-8882222 (Office).
Jia Zhenjun is the director of National Security Division in the
Dongbao Branch of Jingmen City Public Security Bureau. This team is
the main department directed to persecute Falun Gong practitioners:
86-13971836399 (Cell).
Xu Yue is an instructor for the National Security Division in the
Dongbao Branch of Jingmen City Public Security Bureau:
86-13593798599 (Cell).
(Clearwisdom.net) Today's News from China includes incidents of persecution that took place in 17 cities or counties in 7 provinces. In this report, 22 practitioners were subjected to mistreatment during their detention and at least 18 practitioners were illegally arrested.
1. [Changle County, Shandong Province] Ms. Meng Zhaomei Sentenced to Fifteen Months of Forced Labor
At 6:00 p.m., on October 17, 2009, police officers from the National Security Division, Changle County, Shandong Province, led by Zhao Shisheng, and officers from the Chengdong Station stormed into Ms. Meng Zhaomei's home, located at the residential building of Changle County Agriculture Bank. They arrested Ms. Meng and members of her family. Later Ms. Meng's husband and daughter were released. Ms. Meng was held at the county detention center until November 20, 2009. Later, she was taken to the Wangcun Women's Labor Camp and was sentenced to fifteen months of forced labor.
Guo Xingjun, chief of county 610 Office: 86-1380536818
(Cell), 86-536-6299603
Zhao Shisheng, National Security Division: 86-13863629388 (Cell),
86-536-6299255
Tao Jiagang, Chengdong Police Station: 86-15905369669 (Cell)
2. [Shuangyashan City, Heilongjiang Province] Mr. Yang
Chengjiang Arrested and Held
Mr. Yang Chengjiang was arrested and held. His 60-year-old
mother tried to have him released, but was denied.
3. [Fuxin City, Liaoning Province] Ms. Zhang Jie Sentenced to Prison
Ms. Zhang Jie was arrested on September 18, 2002 and was sentenced to thirteen years in prison. She is held at the Liaoning Province Women's Prison.
4. [Shenzhen City, Guangdong Province] Details of the persecution of Ms. Liu Bitao and Two Other Practitioners
Ms. Liu Bitao and her sister Ms. Liu Jintao have been missing for many days. Ms. Pei Hong lived at the Fulian Building and was previously employed as a mathematics teacher at the Luofang Middle School. She is currently unemployed due to the persecution. On January 19, 2010, police officers broke into her home and her whereabouts are unknown.
5. [Chengdu City, Sichuan Province] Ms. Liu Suzhen Arrested by Police
Ms. Liu Suzhen, 65, a retired employee of Chengdu City Engine Co., was arrested by the police while she was clarifying the truth on January 25, 2010.
6. [Jiamusi City, Heilongjiang Province] Mr. Yu You Brutally Beaten
Mr. Yu You, held at the Beixing Farm, Hongxinglong, No. 1 Subward, No. 1 Ward, Jiamusi Prison, was brutally beaten in October 2009. His debit card was also cancelled.
Liu Renli, No. 1 Ward, Jiamusi Prison: 86-454-8816198,
86-13845450555 (Cell)
Jia Gaoting: 86-454-8816197, 86-13512699967
7. [Shenzhen City, Guangdong Province] Ms. E Yiying was arrested on January 21, 2010
8. [Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province] Mr. Liu Hongdian Sentenced to Two Years of Forced Labor
Mr. Liu Hongdian was sentenced to two years of forced labor in October 2009. Because he had high blood pressure at the detention center, he has been held at the Shawan Detention Center, Fanyu, Guangzhou City.
9. [Yingkou City, Liaoning Province] Four Practitioners' Families Swindled
In the first six months of 2009, four practitioners from Xiongyue area, Yingkou City, went to Yangyun Township, Gaizhou City, to deliver truth-clarifying materials. They were arrested by Yuan Jianhui, the director of the Yangyun Police Station. Yuan extorted 100,000 yuan from the four practitioners' families. Zhao Zhichun from the Gaizhou City Police Department and some agents from the Legal Affair Section have twice extorted at least 150,000 yuan from the four families. Each practitioner was also made to pay 10,000 yuan. In total, the four practitioners' families lost at least 300,000 yuan.
10. [Changchun City, Jilin Province] More Information about Ms. Sun Xiuxia and Mr. Wang Zhihong
The files of Ms. Sun Xiuxia and Mr. Wang Hongzhi, who were arrested by police officers from the Jinqianbao Station, Erdao District, Changchun City, have been moved to the procurator at the Erdao.
The Jinqianbao Police Station: 86-431-84733639
Erdao District Procurator: 86-431-84643086
11. [Miyi County, Sichuan Province] Ms. Gong Shunhui Taken to Sichuan Province Women's Prison
On Sunday, January 24, 2010, the original judgment for Ms. Gong Shunhui was upheld by the Panzhihua Middle Court. On the same day, she was secretly taken to the Sichuan Province Women's Prison. On January 25, 2010, her husband was notified of the court's decision.
On January 25, 2010, the home of Falun Dafa practitioner, Ms. Yao Yuanfang, located at Yakou, Miyi County, was ransacked. Plainclothes police officers took pictures of the interior of the home.
12. [Luzhou City, Sichuan Province] Mr. Luo Qingsheng Arrested
Mr. Luo Qingsheng, in his sixties, a peasant from Dachun Town, Gulin County, Luzhou City, has been persecuted many times. He was arrested by police officers who were led by Liu Qiang, from the National Security Division, and is held at a detention center.
13. [Tianjian] Ms. Gao Xiuhong Arrested
On the morning of January 25, 2010, Ms. Gao Xiuhong, 37, from Zhougezhuang Village, Ji County, Tianjin City, was arrested. On the afternoon of February 25, 2008, Ms. Gao and her daughter, Ms. Cui Quanlai, 18, went to Zhuzhuangzi Village to distribute truth clarifying materials. They were reported and arrested by police officers from the Guanzhuang Police Station. Later the mother and daughter escaped but never went home to avoid being arrested. Recently, Ms. Gao went back home to see her children and was arrested. In addition, police officers were looking for Ms. Cui Quanlai, whom they were planning to arrest.
Zhao Qingguo, chief of the Ji County 610 Office: 86-13821526060
(Cell), 86-22-29032630
Fang Jianzhong, former chief of the Ji County 610 Office:
86-22-29142111
Zhao Guanfu, director of police department: 86-13342089688
(Cell)
14. [Weifang City, Shandong Province] More Information about Mr. Ding Yuezhao
Mr. Ding Yuezhao, in his seventies, from Anqiu City, Weifang City, went to the Labor Protection Department and was followed and arrested. The truth-clarifying material site at Liangjiawantou was destroyed. Ms. Lin Shuling, 37, Ms. Zhang Guixiu, over 40, and Ms. Zhang Yuying, over 60 years old, were also arrested.
At approximately 8:00 p.m., on December 19, 2009, Ms. Zhang Guixiu went to Liangjiawantou and was arrested by police officers who were stationed there waiting. The police grabbed the key to her home, and took the hard drive from her computer. At the Danshan Brainwashing Center, she was hung from the back to an iron window frame. Later, she was hung with one hand to the window frame. She was beaten with an electrical baton to force her to confess. She was then taken to Wangcun Women's Forced Labor Camp after being detained for 15 days at the Anqiu Detention Center.
Because of health problems, the labor camp rejected her twice. She was to be released on bail for medical treatment; however, she was taken back to the Anqiu Detention Center, but was refused admission. Currently, she is at home. Ten thousand yuan was extorted from her family.
Ms. Wang Xiuyun, 53, from Zhongzipo Village, belonged to the Xing'an Neighborhood Administration. She was arrested by police officers when she was distributing truth-clarifying materials at the Anqiu Store and is detained at a detention center. The key to her home was confiscated, and some Dafa books were taken away by Li Shouchen, the director of the police station.
Mr. Ding Yuezhao, Ms. Zhang Yuying, Ms. Lin Shuling, Mr. Sun Zongxu, and Mr. Tang Peiwu are still being held at the Anqiu Detention Center. Mr. Sun Jianzhong was released from the Jidong Prison on January 26, 2010.
15. [Shenzhou City, Guangdong Province] Ms. Zhang Hui's Home Ransacked
At approximately 8:00 a.m., on January 21, 2010, seven to eight police officers from the 610 Office went to Ms. Zhang Hui's home and destroyed a security door to gain entrance to ransack her home. All her Dafa books were taken away. Ms. Zhang escaped and her whereabouts are unknown. At same time, Mr. A Gan's home was also ransacked.
16. [Benxi City, Liaoning Province] Ms. Wang Lihua Taken to Masanjia Forced Labor Camp
On the morning of January 25, 2010, Ms. Wang Lihua was fooled by police officers from the Cuidong Station and taken to the Masanjia Forced Labor Camp, Shenyang City. Previously, Ms. Wang Lihua was arrested because she had clarified the truth by the Cuidong Police Station. She was released because of poor health.
17. [Luannan County, Hebei Province] Mr. Qi Zhenjiang Arrested
Mr. Qi Zhenjiang, from Hongying Village, Luannan County, was reported when he was clarifying the truth at the market of Bachigang Town on the morning of January 26, 2010. He was arrested by police officers from the Bachigang Town Station. He is detained at the county detention center and has been subjected to fifteen days of detention.
Wang Zhongchun, deputy director of the police department, mainly
in charge of persecution of Falun Gong: 86-315-4121007,
86-13832987279 (Cell)
Wei Yuandong, deputy secretary of county committee of CCP:
86-13703379268 (Cell)
Zhou Lishun, deputy chief of 610 Office: 86-315-4165206,
86-131026129999 (Cell), 86-315-4169778, 86-13832987278 (Cell)
18. [Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province] Family Members Not Allowed to Visit Mr. Xiao Hailong
Mr. Xiao Hailong, from Harbin City, was arrested by police officers from the Dalai Station, Daowai District. Officers stormed into his home and ransacked it. He was detained for fifteen days. From October 10 to 15, 2009, he was held at the Wanjia Forced Labor Camp and sentenced to one year in prison. On October 16, 2009, he was taken to the Changlinzi Forced Labor Camp. Mr. Xiao Hailong's wife went to the camp but was denied visitation.
Liu Yi, the director of the Donglai Police Department, Daowai
District, Harbin City: 86-15304806090 (Cell)
Sun Lifu, instructor: 86-15104605670 (Cell)
Liang Bingmou, police officer: 86-15104605660 (Cell)
19. [Dalian City, Liaoning Province] Ms. Yu Fanglin Persecuted
Ms. Yu Fanglin, 38, from Dalian City, went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong on July 20, 1999. On the way, she was arrested and taken to a brainwashing center. Five thousand yuan was extorted from her by local police officers.
In 2003, she was reported when she clarifying truth in Changhai County. She was tortured at the Changhai County Police Department. Then, she was taken to a detention center and was tortured to force her to confess. After being brutally beaten, she had internal organ damage and a dislocated jaw (mandibular dislocation). Two months later, she was sentenced to four years in prison. When she was at the Yaojia Prison, Dalian City, she again endured four years of inhuman torture.
On July 24, 2009, when Ms. Yu Fanglin hung a banner at the Fumin Plaza which said "Heaven Will Destroy the CCP," she was beaten to the ground by police officers led by the instructor from the Hongqi Town Police Station. She was taken to the Fumin Police Station. Five to six police officers went to Ms. Yu Fanglin's workplace and grabbed a notebook, a computer, and 1,000 yuan in cash. The employees present were threatened, and then forcefully taken to the police station. As a result, normal business did not resume for several days. When the house was empty, the police broke in and grabbed a digital camera. Ms. Yu was tortured for two days and nights to obtain a confession. She was beaten until she was black and blue, and had a swollen and bruised eyelid. Her jaw was fractured and dislocated. She could not eat and did not receive medical treatment. Ms. Yu Fanglin is still held at the Yaojia Detention Center and can only eat with a straw.
Ms. Yu Fanglin was tried on January 25, 2010.
20. [Jianping County, Liaoning Province] Ms. Fu Jinghua Sentenced and Ms. Li Xiuzhi Subjected to Forced Labor
Ms. Fu Jinghua, from the Bajia Farmer, Jianping County, was sentenced to eight years in prison at the Zhaoyang City Court. Her family did not agree with the court's decision, but had no way to appeal.
Two days before the 2010 New Year, Ms. Li Xiuzhi, from Heishui Town, Jianping County, was arrested when she was distributing fliers at a market and was taken to the National Security Division. On January 14, 2010, she was taken to the Masanjia Forced Labor Camp.
21. [Tianjin] More Information on Mr. Zhao Gang and Ms. Li Donglian
Falun Dafa practitioners in Tianjin City including Mr. Zhao Gang, Ms. Li Donglian, Mr. Sun Yanliang, Ms. Wang Yujing and Ms. Zhang Shuxiang, were arrested in May 2008, and taken to the Nankai Detention Center. They have been held for 20 months. They have been tried three times at the Nankai Court.
Wang Hongshui, National Security Division, Nankai:
86-13011300682
Sun Weiqi: 86-22-89815298
22. [Xuechang District, Shandong Province] Ms. Guo Yanxiu and
Ms. Liu Xuying Arrested
Ms. Guo Yanxiu and Ms. Liu Xuying were arrested when they
distributed truth clarifying materials on the night of January 22,
2010, and are held at the Xuecheng Detention Center.
23. [Linyi City, Shandong Province] Ms. Zhang Binglan and Mr. Sun Dejian Sentenced
On November 11, 2009, Ms. Zhang Binglan and her husband Mr. Sun Dejian were tried at the Tancheng County Court, Linyi City. Two attorneys form Beijing defended the practitioners with a "not guilty" plea and requested their release. After New Year's Day 2010, the family learned that Mr. Zhang Binglan had been sentenced to eight years in prison. Mr. Sun Dejian was sentenced to three years, with a five-year suspended sentence. The family has already appealed to a higher court.
Linyi City Middle Court: 86-539-8128025
610 Office: 86-539-8304601
January 27, 2010
(Clearwisdom.net) Today's News from China includes incidents of persecution that took place in 10 cities or counties in 9 provinces. In this report, nine practitioners were subjected to mistreatment during their detention and at least five practitioners were illegally arrested.
1. [Shaoyang City, Hunan Province] Ms. Wang Wuxiu on Hunger Strike
On April 18, 2009, Falun Dafa practitioner Ms. Wang Wuxiu from Shaoyang City was arrested and detained at the Shaoyang City No. 2 Detention Center. She is on a hunger strike to protest her illegal arrest and detention.
2. [Zunyi City, Guizhou Province] Ms. Gao Qiying Tortured and on the Brink of Death
Before the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Ms. Gao Qiying from Zunyi City, Guizhou Province was arrested. She is still detained and being tortured in the Yangai Prison in Guizhou City. She is near death.
3. [Chaoyang District, Liaoning Province] Ms. Rong Yulan Sentenced
At noon on October 4, 2009, Ms. Rong Yulan went to visit her relatives, when Li Changxing and Wang Gang, police officers from the Qidaoquanzi Developing Zone Police Sub-Bureau, arrested her. Ms. Rong is still detained at the Wujiakou Detention Center. On the morning of February 5, 2010, she was put on trial in the Chaoyang District Longcheng Court and sentenced to a four-year prison term.
4. [Kunming City, Yunan Province] Ms. Cai Wenhui Arrested
On August 10, 2008, Ms. Cai Wenhui, 39, was arrested when distributing materials about Falun Gong in Yiliang County. She was sentenced to a three-year prison term.
5. [Yichun City, Heilongjiang Province] Additional Facts about Ms. Shi Lijun's Detention
On the evening of January 11, 2010, a dozen police officers, under the direction of Cao Chunlin, deputy head of the Cuiluan District, Yichun City Police Station, broke into Ms. Shi Lijun's home. They arrested her and her husband.
Ms. Shi's husband was detained for 10 days. After seven days, he was set free on bail, paid by his workplace. Ms. Shi was sentenced to two years in a forced labor camp, and is detained at the Harbin Women's Drug Rehab Center.
6. [Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province] Mr. Xu Sheng and Mr. Sun Tienong Arrested
On the evening of January 24, 2010, when Mr. Xu Sheng and Mr. Sun Tienong were putting up flags that read "Falun Dafa is Wonderful" in Sanyang Village, Shuangfeng Township, Acheng District, they were reported by someone to the 610 Office. Police officers from the Shuangfeng Police Station arrested and took them to the Acheng No. 2 Detention Center. On February 8, the practitioners were transferred to the No.1 Detention Center.
Wang Tigang, head of the Shuangfeng Police Station: 86-15945125169
Wang Lixin, deputy Head of the police station: 86-18745041456, 86-15945125170
7. [Benxi City, Liaoning Province] Ms. Zhao Guiying Arrested
On November 12, 2009, when Ms. Zhao Guiying from Niuxintai was telling people about Falun Gong, she was arrested. She was not detained as she didn't pass the medical examination. However, she was arrested again by police from the Niutxintai Police Station on February 10, 2010.
Niuxintai Police Station: 86-414-4715352 (Tel.)
8. [Laixi City, Shandong Province] Additional Facts about Mr. Wang Shan's Arrest
Mr. Wang Shan from Laixi City was tortured at the Pingdu Detention Center. On February 7, 2010, he was transferred to the detention center. Police officers from the Jiudian Police Station extorted 4,000 yuan from Wang's family.
Cui Xuwei, head of Laixi Detention Center: 86-13370818885
Jiudian Police Station: 86-532--85359123
9. [Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province] Ms. Chen Xueqing Arrested
When Ms. Chen Xueqing from Zhuhai District of Guangzhou City was telling people about Falun Gong in her hometown, Taishan City, she was reported by the village CCP (Chinese Communist Party) cadres. In January 2010, Ms. Chen was arrested by the Haizhu District 610 Office.
Yu Qiang, head of Haizhu District 610 Office: 86-13802547842, 86-13802777302, 86-20-84395156
Haizhu Detention Center: 86-20-84176963
10. [Chongqing City] Ms. Liu Zhongqiong Sentenced to Forced Labor
Ms. Liu Zhongqiong, a senior citizen from Liangping County in Chongqing City, was arrested and detained at the county detention center. She was sentenced to one year of forced labor. On January 7, 2010, Ms. Liu was taken to Chongqing City Women's Forced Labor Camp.
11. [Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province] Ms. Liang Qingning Detained
On February 3, 2010, Ms. Liang Qingning from Guangzhou City was arrested when distributing materials about Falun Gon at Zhoumenbei Road. She is still detained at the Lizhiwan District Police Sub-Bureau.
(Clearwisdom.net) A "Solemn Declaration" is a person's public statement to the world that whatever he or she has done or said under duress or deception that was against Falun Dafa is null and void. These statements have come from Falun Dafa practitioners in China who wish to express regret that, in the face of physical torture and brainwashing, they signed documents renouncing Dafa and guaranteeing not to practice again. Now, they hereby declare their intention to resume practicing Falun Dafa. Here are some examples of the Solemn Declarations: Please click here for more Solemn Declarations.
(Clearwisdom.net) Doctor Gao has a clinic and is famous in our town for her medical skills. She is very busy and treats many patients per day. As her practice grew, she could not attend to all her patients and thus hired two nurses to assist her. I met Doctor Gao just a short time ago for the very first time. Together, another practitioner and I went to her clinic and talked to her about coordinating truth clarifying activities to awaken the local police. During our visit to the clinic, we met another practitioner there who was troubled and suffering from illness karma. While we exchanged experiences with that practitioner, we learned that Doctor Gao has been validating the Fa constantly and solidly throughout the years.
Doctor Gao had been severely persecuted multiple times. She was arrested several times for going to Beijing to speak to the authorities about the merits of Falun Gong. During her detention, she went on hunger strikes to protest the persecution and ill treatment of practitioners by the Chinese Communist Party.
At one point because of the stress of the persecution, her relationship with her husband had deteriorated so much that he threatened to divorce her. To face this situation, she kept her righteous thoughts steady and eliminated attachments. On the second day of her efforts, her husband suddenly gave up the urge to get a divorce.
The police officers in town all know that Doctor Gao is a steadfast practitioner, and many of them go to her clinic for their medical needs. There, Doctor Gao explains to them the truth about Falun Gong, just as she does with other people. Many people living outside of town also know about her clinic. They know that Falun Gong practitioners are kind-hearted people and would not charge unreasonable fees. They know that they will be taken care of at the clinic and their diseases will be cured faster and less expensively than at other facilities. Many children specifically ask to be treated at her clinic because they like the beautiful and colorful pamphlets about Falun Gong they can receive there.
Many patients who have attended Doctor Gao's clinic have been thoroughly rejuvenated. In addition to their diseases being cured, their spirits were lifted and their outlooks on life improved. Every day there are so many patients waiting to be treated at her clinic. One day, her clinic treated over one hundred and fifty patients.
Regarding curing people's diseases, Doctor Gao said, "Who can remove patients' illness karma? We can truly save patients by telling them the truth about Falun Gong." She will not give up on any patient who comes to her clinic. The only downside is that she is sometimes too busy to talk to each and every patient about Falun Gong. Thus, she gives them Falun Gong pamphlets and video discs. Her clinic is the only place where Falun Gong pamphlets and videos are publicly distributed. This was achieved out of benevolence.
I also can feel her gratitude towards Teacher. She talks about how in her cultivation process Teacher has created a lot of miracles for herself and her family. Her husband experienced Teacher's protection while driving. At the time of the incident, Doctor Gao and her husband saw sparks shooting out of one of the rear wheels of the car. They stopped to check the wheel, found nothing wrong and continued to drive until they reached a repair shop. As soon as the worker elevated the car with a jack, the tire rolled off the axle; the bolts that fastened the tire to the wheel were all broken.
Doctor Gao said, "I am very busy every day, but I feel very fulfilled. If I don't study the Fa every day, I feel empty and hollow inside." So no matter how busy she was, she also managed to study at least two chapters of Zhuan Falun per day. Regarding quitting the Chinese Communist Party and its affiliated associations, she persuaded about two dozen people to quit their memberships. At night, she often took fearful practitioners on trips to distribute Falun Gong materials.
In our small town, Doctor Gao is famous and quite wealthy, so many people respect her. Even during the Beijing Olympics, the local police did not dare harass her at all.
Practitioners must get rid of the attachments to fame, money and sentimentality. However, it does not mean practitioners do not have fame. Actually, it may mean that practitioners will have more fame because of the glory endowed by Falun Dafa to a student who is cultivating in this filthy human world. It also does not mean that practitioners do not have wealth, because it can be a blessing from adhering to cultivation principles while in this human world. After getting rid of sentimentality, even more sentient beings will respect you because you will have the benevolence of an enlightened being who belongs to the future cosmos.
February 2, 2010
(Clearwisdom.net) Once, a fellow practitioner said to me, "You are so attached to yourself." I did not understand why this was so.
One day I read another practitioner's article "Cultivating Away the Fundamental Attachment." What was mentioned in the article is exactly the fundamental attachment that I had tried to dig out for so long. As Teacher said in "Toward Consummation" (Essentials for Further Advancement II), "some people think that it agrees with their own code of conduct;" I had a tendency to measure everyone's conduct with my understanding of the Fa on my level and required them to conform to that.
Carrying such a notion, I was very strict with myself. I would not allow myself to make any move that would conflict with my current understanding of the Fa. Sometimes I went to the extreme, and felt I was lonely because I had a higher level of enlightenment. I looked down upon those morally corrupt people, respected and admired people who looked very honest, educated and capable, and I set high expectations for, and admired diligent practitioners. But whenever I noticed a fellow practitioner's shortcomings, I would directly point them out without considering other people's feelings or the surrounding environment. I was impatient when I found a practitioner with any attachment, and had an urge to persuade that practitioner to completely accept my understanding of the Fa. If the practitioner did not change after repeated sharing and discussion, I would feel discouraged and become pessimistic. Why was I discouraged upon seeing other practitioners' attachments? Now I understand that it was because my fundamental attachment was challenged by the practitioner's reaction. This fundamental attachment hindered me on the path of cultivation.
This fundamental attachment not only affected my understanding of the Fa, but also made me unintentionally measure others according to my view of "the principles of being a person" or "the principles that Dafa disciples should follow." I looked outward and forced my will on others. Consequently, conflicts kept coming one after another. I felt confused and hurt.
Teacher said in "Toward Consummation" (Essentials for Further Advancement II) that,
"Human beings acquire many notions in this world and are, as a consequence, driven by these notions to pursue what they yearn for. But when a person comes to this world, it is karmic arrangements that determine his course of life and what will be gained and lost in it. How could a person's notions determine each stage of his life? So those so-called "beautiful dreams and wishes" become pursuits that can never be realized, despite painful attachments."
All practitioners have different amounts of karma, tribulations and attachments, and live in different environments in everyday human society. None of us has the same cultivation path. We all know that different levels have different Fa. All the practitioners at different cultivation levels conduct themselves based on their own understanding of the Fa at their levels. I cannot change their course of cultivation or make them have the same understanding of the Fa that I do. When a practitioner has an attachment, it is for him to cultivate and improve. I should not hold on to the practitioner's attachment and conclude that this practitioner is not on the Fa or not diligent, or even think that this practitioner would possibly be persecuted sooner or later for his attachment.
While a practitioner has an attachment, what I can do, as a fellow practitioner, is be compassionate and tolerant, unconditionally look inward, and humbly share my understanding of the Fa with him. Improvement in cultivation depends on the practitioner himself. Teacher is always watching him and helping him. Being impatient, complaining, blaming, or being pessimistic are all reflections of the attachment to oneself. It adds pressure to the other practitioner. I myself do not cultivate in the process.
Another attachment of seeking deep understanding of the truth also bothered me and made me unable to stay composed with my cultivation state. In sharing with other practitioners, I could not truly look inward. I put more attention on figuring out whose understanding was better and higher. I spent more time reading sharing articles than reading Dafa books, and liked to discuss with practitioners rather than look inward. Consequently I was affected by practitioners' attachments and cultivation status, and even various comments from everyday people. This betrayed the cultivation principle of looking inward and cultivating xinxing.
Before I obtained Dafa, I had an unhappy relationship with my husband and felt lonely because our views of life were so different. It seemed to me so hard to find a person to talk with. After I walked into Dafa cultivation, the practitioners' noble and compassionate attitudes and behavior healed my wounded heart. Due to my short time of cultivation and limited understanding of the Fa, I failed to discern the difference between cultivation principles and the theory of being the noble everyday person that I pursued in my mind. While I diligently cultivated, I also mixed in my pursuit. I did not realize that cultivation and simply being a good person are not equivalent.
Without getting rid of the fundamental attachment, one's cultivation path will be hindered by human notions, and one will lose sight of the Fa. I would like to remind fellow practitioners who have not found or realized their fundamental attachments, to take time to think about what motivated us to walk into Dafa cultivation, and get rid of those fundamental attachments, so that we can walk steadily and better validate the Fa.
February 5, 2010
(Clearwisdom.net) Recently my daughter stayed at my home for two weeks. One night before she left, we stayed up talking until almost 3:00 a.m. She pointed out many shortcomings of mine. She spoke seriously and was very correct about everything she said. How could she know so much about me when we seldom spent much time together? I knew it was Teacher who used her words to tell me something.
She said to me, "Do you notice your bad temper lately? You often point out the faults of other people who are not practitioners. You are a practitioner. Weren't those opportunities for you to cultivate and improve? You did not look inward, instead, you tried to avoid the situation by changing your job. When you talked to others, you spoke so loudly and you were overbearing. Was there anyone in your Fa study group who pointed this out for you?" I answered no. Then she asked what it was then that our group talked about. I told her that we often counted how many people we advised to quit the CCP. She asked me, "What's the point of being in a group if you can't help each other to improve?"
Then she continued, "You are going to such extremes. You get up so early and you don't go to sleep until midnight. You often do things so secretly and it looks like you are afraid of others. If you are doing good things, why don't you do it openly with dignity? When you clarify the truth, you don't explain things well and you only tell people, 'Disasters will come, hurry up and quit the CCP so you will be safe.' Those people do not know the truth at all, so how can they believe you when you say that to them? And you don't accept any criticism. After 12 years of cultivation, you still do not cultivate well. How can you save others?"
I was suddenly jolted awake and said to her, "Yes, everything you said is true. Now I know why you stayed so long here. Teacher led you to help me."
Looking back on the past two years, I was so busy. I mistook this as a sign of cultivating diligently but in fact, I was doing none of the Three Things well. I studied the Fa but I did not remember it. When I sent forth righteous thoughts my mind drifted off and I fell asleep. I did not try to do as much truth clarification as I could. On the surface I was doing the Three Things. But what was the quality? One day my husband said to me, "You are so busy every day. What are you so busy doing?" I said that I had to do everything. He asked me which part of everything I did well. At that time I didn't understand Teacher was using him to give me a hint.
When I noticed other practitioners' shortcomings, I had no compassion. Just as my daughter said about me: I only wanted to change others but I did not want to change myself. I acknowledged that this is true and I will correct it.
The old forces arranged everything that they wanted, including our thoughts. If we do not study the Fa well and follow what Teacher told us, if we don't treat cultivation seriously, then we will walk on the path the old forces arranged for us. These are the last moments of our opportunity. The evil is trying everything. This situation requires us to strictly use the Fa as we walk our last path well. After I realized all of this, Teacher helped me to clean out the bad elements. My cultivation state improved right away and now I feel a strong energy field when sending forth righteous thoughts. My mind is clear. My environment has improved. My husband is happy too and my work now runs smoothly. I truly understood how important it is to cultivate ourselves.
(Clearwisdom.net) Both my wife and I are Dafa practitioners. One recent incident reminded me of the real benefits--for both mind and body--of looking within. Here I would like to share my experience with everyone.
In order to help our son, my wife and I went to the city to take care of our grandchild. We took all of Master's writings, including Hong Yin and Zhuan Falun, with us. We also brought our MP3 players with us for the exercises. We used to join the group Fa-study in our hometown. In the new environment, the two of us is a small Fa-study group.
In addition to taking care of the child, doing household chores including cooking, every day we steadfastly study the Fa, do the exercises, and send forth righteous thoughts. Since I haven't been able to get in touch with local practitioners here, I still go back to my hometown regularly to get copies of Minghui Weekly.
On January 15, 2010, five days after I came back to my hometown, when talking with my wife over the phone, I learned that her situation was not good. She had two blisters on her fingers after burning them while cooking. She was also sneezing, had a running nose, and had other symptoms of a cold. This looked like a karma-related tribulation. In addition, due to strong human notions, the environment around her also changed. After hearing that, I asked how was it when she was getting up in the morning--meaning doing the exercises in the morning. She said that she still got up early every day. I then asked how her Fa-study was. She said that it was not very good. I then suggested that we both look within for reasons for her tribulation.
After hanging up the phone, I began to look within. Every day, I have been squeezing out time for Fa-study. Sometimes when I started doing the exercises late and missed one set, I often made it up during the day. I often send forth righteous thoughts four times a day. What loophole did we have?
Then it was time to send forth righteous thoughts. I began to send forth righteous thoughts, and added one thought, "Both my wife and I are Dafa practitioners. We do not allow the old forces to interfere and persecute us with any excuse. Master is taking care of us." I also sent forth righteous thoughts to eliminate all the bad elements and to strengthen her righteous thoughts.
After sending forth righteous thoughts, I continued to look within and was surprised by what I found. I used to consider myself to be diligent concerning Fa-study and doing the exercises, while in fact I was doing them due to strong selfish motivations. Because my starting point was not right, it was no wonder that I was sleepy when studying the Fa and had pains in my lower back or stomach while doing the exercises. I only considered myself when doing Fa-study and the exercises, and did not care about my wife's Fa-study. Sometimes when changing a diaper for the child, my wife was very busy and she asked me to help get baby wipes or a diaper, I complained, using my Fa-study and doing exercises as an excuse. There were also occasions where I shouted at my wife and there was no compassion in my words. Without considering other people's feelings, I was doing things that a practitioner should not do. In fact I was walking on a path arranged by the old forces. Wasn't this dangerous?
In addition to these selfish thoughts, I also found my attachments to showing-off and competition. My wife did not receive much education. When studying the Fa together, sometimes she wanted to share her understanding to improve herself. Instead of supporting her, I stopped her, using "not interrupting reading the Fa" as an excuse. I also often showed off that I was reading faster and better than her. Because of this, sometimes it even led to an argument. As a result, we had to study separately, which made it difficult for us to share with each other and improve together. This was not following the Fa that Master taught us.
In Zhuan Falun, Master said,
"You should always be benevolent and kind to others, and consider others when doing anything. Whenever you encounter a problem, you should first consider whether others can put up with this matter or if it will hurt anyone. In doing so, there will not be any problems."
When we don't follow the Fa, how can we not encounter problems? I had pushed all the chores onto my wife and, out of attachments of selfishness and showing-off, I maximized the time for my own Fa-study. She hardly had time to study the Fa, let alone calming down when studying the Fa. The old forces were actually taking advantage of the barrier between us to persecute her, a fellow practitioner.
When noticing these attachments of mine, I suddenly remembered Master's words,
"Even now, in fact, there are some students who are doing very poorly with Fa-study. Being able to study the Fa well is the fundamental guarantee that you can head towards Consummation, it's the fundamental guarantee that you can emerge from here." ("Teaching the Fa at the 2003 Atlanta Fa Conference")
In these past several years, I did study the Fa; however, I did not study well, nor did I follow the Fa when doing things.
Through the process of examining myself, I dug out many attachments that had been deeply hidden for a long time, including showing off, competition, making a name for myself, and fame, personal interests, and desire. I then decided to let go of these attachments and share the workload with my wife so that she could have more time to study the Fa and improve together with me. By then, the understanding of selflessness, Fa-principles of the new cosmos, flowed throughout my body like a warm current. The feeling of being clear, heart lightened and capacity increased was beyond description.
By the time for sending forth righteous thoughts came the next morning, the pain that I had been experiencing in my legs and lower back, as well as the sleepiness, were all gone. Feeling energetic and relaxed, I truly understood the benefits of looking within. When I asked her how she felt, my wife said that all her illness symptoms were gone.
Through this incident, I came to understand that, whenever we hear that other practitioners have tribulations or are stuck during a karma-related tribulation, we should not forget to look within ourselves. We need to find our own attachments and get rid of them. With compassion and consideration towards fellow practitioners, all these problems will be resolved.
(Clearwisdom.net) Two months ago, three local practitioners were arrested for distributing truth-clarificationmaterials. Other practitioners in our area had a meeting to talk about what happened. During the meeting, a practitioner asked whether it was worth our efforts to continue distributing materials when people discarded them instead of reading them, threw them into trash cans, and even reported us to the police.
My understanding is, no matter what everyday people's attitudes are or how they treat practitioners' efforts to clarify the truth to them, we should never hesitate or give up our righteous thoughts to save them. Everyone should be given opportunities to determine what they want for their future.
We feel sorry for those who have reported us to the authorities or destroyed Dafa materials, and hope that there will be another chance for them to make the right decision. It is also important for us to not hold a grudge against such people.
Everyone came down to this world for the Fa, they are the people we should make every effort to save. We can imagine how noble it was when they initially decided to come to the human world, the sacrifices they have made and the hardships they have suffered in history, as well as the great expectations of the enormous number of sentient beings in their worlds. As the beings obtained the Fa and were created by this Fa, we must never give up on them even if there is only a slim chance of them being saved. To save us practitioners, Teacher watches every step we take on the path of cultivation, teaches us the Fa repeatedly, and helps us to improve our enlightenment bit by bit.
I hope fellow practitioners honor our vow to save sentient beings, are not defeated by anything that happens in the world, and can fulfill our responsibilities.
(Clearwisdom.net) When I clarified the truth to politicians at the very beginning, I did just like what Master has said: You usually don't contact them, and only go to see them when you want something from them. Therefore, my work of clarifying the truth to politicians was of course quite superficial. Later, I heard that some U.S. practitioners learned how to play golf in order to make friends with politicians and to better clarify the truth to them. Then I started to think about how to establish a long term relationship with politicians so as to further clarify the truth to them.
In this process, I broke through many human mentalities. Having grown up in mainland China, I very much disliked the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) subject of Politics in schools. I wasn't interested in its political system and never really understood what a political bureau or people's congress really was about and things like that. Now, in order to clarify the truth to the Australian government, I need to know something about its political system, parties and policies and many other things. I was really reluctant to learn about those things in which I wasn't interested. So even though I had been in Australia for so many years, I was still not clear about the structure and functions of the House and Senate. The main reason was that I didn't want to know and even was lazy about finding out, and couldn't remember it, either.
I looked within and found that I was only considering my own likes and dislikes, but did not consider how to make efforts to clarify the truth to parliamentarians. This was a manifestation of my selfishness and lack of compassion. When I realized this, I started to think seriously about how to approach politicians and build up a long-term relationship with them. I thought that I should treat them like friends. Therefore, I send greeting cards and small presents to them around Christmas time to show my appreciation of their help and support. Once, I sent an email to a senator wishing her Happy Birthday, she quickly replied saying that she was surprised that I remembered her birthday. In late 2007, during the ACT election, I thought I should make use of this opportunity to clarify the truth, so I started to make appointments and invited those candidates to our truth-clarification parties. I also thought that I should go and help those supportive MLAs with their election campaigns as a friend. But then there was a problem. Which one should I help? They all belong to different political parties and I didn't want to give them the impression that Falun Gong practitioners were supporting a particular party.
Then I wondered how I should deal with this issue from the point of view of the Fa. I realized that the reason why I had this question was because I had the mentality that this was getting involved in politics. I remembered Master saying in his article "Further Remarks on Politics":
"If "getting political" can expose the persecution, if "getting political" can stop the persecution, if "getting political" can help clarify the facts, if "getting political" can save sentient beings--if "getting political" can do all of this good, then why not do so? The crux of the matter, it would seem, is that a cultivator's motive is to stop the persecution, and not to "get political" for the sake of gaining human political power."
These words opened up my mind and all of a sudden I understood the issue: I don't have politics on my mind in the first place; why do I think I am getting involved in politics?
So I made arrangements with other practitioners and went to help different MLAs and candidates. When asked by others why I supported this particular MLA, I told them he/she was my friend and he/she helped me with the Falun Gong issue, so I supported him/her. I also took the opportunity to clarify the truth to them. I truly felt that without the bondage of those notions, my mind was free so that wisdom would come along naturally.
Some candidates we had helped got elected and they thanked us for helping them. Now, whenever I want to make an appointment to meet with them, all of them make arrangements to give me an appointment within a short time. Once, I went to meet with a parliamentarian and asked for help. When I thanked him, he said, "You are welcome. I thank you for what you did for me." What I did was only stand at his election booth for a few hours, but he remembered this. During Christmas, I received greeting cards from several parliamentarians. This makes me feel that when we treat others with compassion, they are able to feel it.
Several months ago, Canberra practitioners started the project of the "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance Arts Exhibition." A practitioner suggested that I apply to the ACT Government for holding the exhibition in the ACT Legislative Assembly building. I wasn't quite sure about that. Canberra and Beijing are sister cities, and besides, I myself, was originally from Beijing, so I have been using this relationship to clarify the truth to MLAs. But because of this sister city relationship, the ACT government has been keeping a distance from Falun Gong practitioners.
Yet I thought, I can't give up simply because of this reason. So I made an appointment with a supportive MLA. He told me that I should contact another MLA who was in charge of this issue. This MLA happened to be the one who came to our truth clarification party. Upon meeting with him, our application got approved smoothly. This made me realize that we should not have any notions in our mind no matter what we do, as the notions will create obstacles for us.
Several MLAs came to the first day of the exhibition. One of them opened the exhibition, giving a very supportive speech. The other MLA, whom I had helped during his election campaign, had gone overseas for a conference and could not make it to the opening ceremony. He emailed me a very supportive letter, and sent three staff members to attend the ceremony. On the last day of the exhibition, he came back from overseas and came to the exhibition room to look for me. When I showed him around and explained to him about the paintings, I saw tears in his eyes. Soon after he left, he came back with an assistant. He asked the assistant to take photos of me with him and said that he would email me the photos and that I could use them for any media reports. I felt so happy for this MLA, who was full of a sense of justice. He had chosen a great future for himself.
Although some MLAs did not come to attend the arts exhibition officially, they and their staff walked past the exhibition room every day and saw the paintings. Some came to tell us that those paintings were very powerful.
Through this art exhibition, I have come to realize that Master actually arranged everything well, and was just waiting for us to go ahead and do it. In the process of doing this, we were given the opportunities to let go of our attachments and notions, and in the meantime, Master arranged for those who had a predestined relationship with us to learn the truth from us. I now understand better what Master said in Teaching and Explaining the Fa at the Metropolitan New York Fa Conference in 2003:
"From my perspective, as your Master, I don't seek anything from Dafa disciples. Everything that they're doing today--be it validating the Fa, saving sentient beings, or studying the Fa and cultivating themselves--I can tell you that not one of these things is done for me. In the future, Dafa disciples will see that everything Dafa disciples did was for their own sake. What are saved are their own sentient beings, what they're consummating are their own paradises and sentient beings, and they're establishing mighty virtue for themselves--all these things are done for Dafa disciples' own sake. Not a single thing you've done is for Master, and not a single thing you've done is for anybody else."
I know that I will never be able to pay back what Master has given me, however I would still like to say: Thank you Master from the bottom of my heart!