Falun
Gong is freely practised in 40 countries around the world, but relentlessy
persecuted in China. The peaceful courage of practitioners there has shocked
their oppressors and moved the people of the world. While China continues to
block all information, FGM-TV brings you the stories you may not hear anywhere
else.
Hello,
and welcome to FGM-TV on
September
25th, 2001. I'm Susan Mitchell.
In International news:
§ SOS walks
around the world support the plight of practitioners persecuted in China
§ Special report
of the introduction of Falun Gong to the three Baltic countries, Estonia,
Latvia and Lithuania
In Canada:
§ More SOS walks
and encouragement from city officials
This
week's update from China:
§ The number of
Falun Gong practitioners known to have died while in detention is 282 as of
today, although credible sources in China say that the actual number killed
exceeds one thousand.
§ A Falun Dafa
conference is held successfully in a Beijing suburb
§
Terrorist Attacks and PRC National Day: new excuses for a
massive roundup of Falun Gong practitioners
§
PRC
Propaganda departments order Chinese state media organizations to describe the
self-immolation incident in Tiananmen Square on January 23 as 'terrorist' acts
Retribution Stories of those who have persecuted Falun Dafa and then suffered personal misfortune
and…
Beautiful
coloured lights appear during a group practice in Japan
Special Report from
an introduction of Falun Gong to the Baltics
And
now, a special brief report about a recent initiative in Europe.
For
two weeks in September, I had the privilege of representing Canadian Falun Gong
practitioners in the Baltic countries. We had been invited by the President's
Office in Estonia to introduce the practice to their country. The Policy
Consultant to the President, Margit Tombek, wrote saying that she thought many
Estonians would be interested in Falun Gong. We decided to team up with
Swedish, Finnish and Latvian practitioners and travel to the capital cities of
the three Baltic countries, spending a few days in each.
While
in Talinn, Estonia, the tragic events in New York and Washington unfolded,
making it impossible for foreign news editors to devote air time or newspaper
space to a peaceful practice. However, the producers of the Estonian State TV
Breakfast Program thought that their viewers would appreciate a few meditative
moments to balance the horrific images being broadcast from the US, and we
performed the Falun Gong exercises and discussed their benefits to a wide
audience.
Over
a three-day period, our team of nine people walked through Talinn, distributing
thousands of flyers explaining the truth of the persecution in China and giving
a brief overview of the practice of Falun Dafa. We presented a set of books and
music to the National Library of Estonia and shared information and exercises
with hundreds of people in the parks.
Other
media promised to cover the SOS Global Rescue Walk scheduled to arrive in
Talinn the following week. Before leaving the city to drive south to Riga, we
were able to meet with Margit Tombek at the President's Palace and present her
with the Falun Dafa books and music.
In
Riga, the capital of Latvia, the practitioners had arranged a meeting with the
Policy Adviser to the State President, Andrejs Pildegovichs. When he saw the
route for the SOS Walk, he said it reminded him of ten years ago when citizens
of the three countries stood side-by-side and hand-in-hand for 600 km, singing,
to tell the Russians that they wanted their freedom. He told us that people in
the Baltics would be sympathetic to those who are being persecuted in China.
And he was right. People opened their hearts and minds to us. Mr. Pildegovichs
also affirmed that his President is firmly committed to championing the cause
of human rights around the world and that she had just returned from the
conference in South Africa.
My
Swedish and Finnish friends stayed in Riga for one more day, while I went on to
Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, to be joined the next day by my friends from
Riga. We had not had time to organize any government meetings before leaving
Canada, but fate would have it that my companion on the bus, Kestas, was the
son of a member of parliament in Lithuania. He was very willing to help me and
immediately called his father, who said he would be happy to meet with me on
Monday! He expressed interest in the health benefits of Falun Dafa and promised
to pass on the information to his colleagues in health, sports, and Chinese
medicine. Kestas offered to translate for any other meetings I wanted to have
and we were able to arrange to talk with the Mayor's Advisor, who offered to
facilitate meetings with any of the institutions in Vilnius.
Vilnius
was in the midst of its "Capital Days" Festival while we were there,
and the thousands of people walking through the Old City were very happy to
take our flyers and read our information. I returned to Canada with many rich
memories and the feeling that the seeds of Falun Dafa have truly been planted
in the ancient Baltic countries.
Canadians
are also joining the global SOS Rescue effort, and receiving encouragement from
city officials along the different routes.
In a letter dated September 22, 2001, the Mayor of
Prescott, Ontario, Robert Lawn wrote: "You are to be congratulated on this latest undertaking on behalf of all
of those people in China who suffer persecution at the hands of the authorities
because of their practice of Falun Gong.
The SOS "Global Walk" being held in
Canada, the United States, Europe, Australia and Asia is a worldwide
demonstration of commitment to human rights for all people.
I commend you in your efforts as you journey
from Toronto to Ottawa and I wish you well as you continue on to the United
Nations Headquarters in New York City.
Finally, I
join with many of my fellow Canadians in urging Prime Minister Chrétien to
encourage government officials in China to end the persecution of Falun Gong
practitioners.
And
now, some current news from China:
In early September, over fifty practitioners met secretly in
Beijing to share their experiences in speaking out for Falun Dafa, and
clarifying the truth to people. The meeting lasted two hours, during which
time, they also read aloud the latest articles published by their Teacher, Li
Hongzhi. Despite constant surveillance by security forces, everyone returned
home safely.
According to sources from the
Chinese judicial system, in early September, Luo Gan, head of the 610 Office,
secretly issued a command to detain until dead, all those Falun Gong
practitioners who refused to give up their beliefs in Truth Compassion and
Forbearance and the practice of Falun Gong. The 610 Office refers to a special
department established two years ago to coordinate the persecution of Falun
Gong and practitioners. It has set up offices in every city across China.
Increased
roundup of Falun Gong Practitioners
According to credible sources in Beijing, the
head of the Chinese Communist Party Jiang Zemin has ordered the Ministry of
State Security and the Ministry of Public Security to conduct a nationwide
roundup of Falun Gong practitioners. This new, large-scale operation against
Falun Gong is already underway in the name of "maintaining social stability"
for the PRC's National Day on October 1.
Those arrested have been immediately thrown into jail, labor camps, or mental
institutions, regardless of whether they are local residents or just visitors.
Sources say that Beijing has become much bolder about making arrests on such a
large scale because it believes that Western countries and international media
are currently too preoccupied with the terrorist attacks in the U.S. to notice
this human rights abuse.
Retribution Stories
People with a conscience all know that good will be rewarded with good and evil with evil, sooner or later. As the violence against Falun Gong practitioners escalates, so does the number of sudden deaths and personal misfortunes of those who have persecuted them:
Peng Kaifa, a vice secretary of the Communist Party Committee in Qiyang County, Hunan Province, passed out at a meeting while he was slandering Falun Dafa in front of colleagues, vice party secretaries from different towns and villages. Emergency hospital treatment failed and he remains in a coma to this day.
In Huanghua city of the Cangzhou area, Hebei province, a Falun Dafa banner was flying above a construction site. The policemen there wanted to take it down but were afraid of receiving retribution, so they asked two construction workers to do it. The two workers hesitated for a while, but in the end they took it down. Not long after that, one worker fell and broke his leg, and the other died in a car accident.
Qingyuan City, Guangdong Province
Shi Jinshui, an associate section chief of Qingyuan city police department, was the director of a case group that specializes in persecuting Falun Dafa practitioners. At the beginning of August, he went to report to the city council, had a sudden heart attack and died on the spot. His wife also became paralyzed.
Shi Guiping, a Women's Association officer from Fengcheng county,
Liaoning province, not only viciously slandered Dafa on TV during Chinese
New Year, but also gave lectures at the brainwashing classes in Fengcheng
county. Shortly before the second brainwashing class concluded, she suddenly
died in an automobile collision.
Very
often, when photographs taken of Falun Dafa group practices are developed, they
contain beautiful multicoloured lights and patterns such as these from Fukuoka,
Japan. The colourful circles often look exactly like the Falun Dafa emblem.
Thanks for watching FGM-TV, dedicated to breaking through China's information blockade, revealing propaganda, and bringing you the truth of Falun Gong.