Falun
Gong is freely practiced in at lease 57 countries around the world, but
relentlessly persecuted in China. The peaceful courage of practitioners there
has shocked their oppressors and moved the people of the world. While China
continues to block all information, FGMtv brings you the stories you may not
hear anywhere else.
Hello,
and welcome to FGMtv on June 18th, 2002
I’m
Susan Mitchell.
The number of
Falun Gong practitioners verified to have died as a result
of mistreatment by Jiang Zemin's regime is 422. However, a new publication out
of China that seems to have access to privileged information puts the actual
number at over 7,000.
Our top story
this week:
Evolution
of a protest in Iceland and tremors around the world as Jiang Zemin's regime
provides airlines with a blacklist of Falun Gong practitioners.
And some of our other stories:
·
Successful press conferences in
the Baltic countries during the Chinese President's visit
·
2 Falun Gong practitioners from
Hong Kong have still not been released after being detained in mainland China
several weeks ago
·
Catastrophic floods in China
·
Trial begins in Hong Kong of 16
Practitioners charged with obstruction
·
Falun Dafa visits the Vatican in
Rome.
·
Jiang Zemin was in Iceland last week and in preparation for
his visit, all Falun Gong practitioners were denied entry to the country for
several days until an avalanche of support from within and without the country
brought about a change in the government's decision.
·
This included letters of concern to the government from
members of the European parliament about violating human rights treaties by
denying entry to citizens of Europe, Canada and the US who held valid passports
from those countries.
·
In a dramatic display of solidarity with the Falun Gong
practitioners who had been detained after landing in Rekyavik, on June 14 many
warm-hearted Icelandic people sealed their mouths with strips of black cloth
and paraded through the streets of Rekyavik.
·
Protesting against their government's bowing to Jiang
Zemin's request to prevent Falun Gong exhibitions during his visit, they held
banners proclaiming the basic principles of Falun Gong: Truth, Compassion,
Forbearance.
Apparent Lift
on Ban Proves Untrue
·
On June 13th, practitioners in Toronto held a
news conference outside the Consulate General of Iceland. They advised the
media that IcelandAir was continuing to screen passengers, including Canadians,
who have been blocked from boarding their flights because their names appear on
a list of Falun Gong practitioners provided to airlines by the Chinese
government. This action came as Chinese President Jiang Zemin was scheduled to
make a visit to Iceland.
·
Staff inside the Consulate refused to allow practitioners
inside the building to deliver an envelope containing background information
about Falun Gong, and a courier had to be hired to deliver the package.
·
After pressure from Members of the European Parliament, U.S.
Congressmen and many Icelandic people who are outraged by their government's
action, the Icelandic government made an announcement to the media that the ban
had been lifted.
·
However, even after the announcement was made, Falun Gong
practitioners, including ten Canadians, as well as Americans, Europeans and
Australians were not allowed to board planes heading to Iceland.
·
Two Canadians on connecting flights from London, England,
five in Copenhagen, two in Oslo and one in France were denied boarding due to
their names appearing on the blacklist.
Who Compiled
this International List of Falun Gong Practitioners?
·
Falun Gong has no membership, participation is voluntary and
free with no obligation of any kind and there are no lists of practitioners.
·
This leads one to ask how the names of Falun Gong
practitioners from around the world have been compiled and put on this
"blacklist" provided to IcelandAir by the Chinese government.
Canadian practitioners from all walks of life have been denied boarding because
the Chinese government has somehow gathered private information about their
personal spiritual beliefs and compiled a list.
·
IcelandAir officials in Europe report their orders came
directly from Iceland's Minister of Justice. We have no doubt that the
Icelandic government is under immense pressure from China to bar Falun Gong
practitioners from entering Iceland during Chinese president Jiang Zemin's
visit.
·
At noon on June 14, in spite of the rain, several human
rights organizations jointly held a rally in front of the offices of the
Permanent Representative of Iceland to the United Nations.
·
The purpose was to protest the Icelandic government's
accepting a blacklist provided by Jiang Zemin's regime which was used to
prevent Falun Gong practitioners from entering the country, even though they
held valid passports and airline tickets.
·
Just as the Chinese delegation was arriving in Tallinn,
Estonia, practitioners held a news conference in the Hotel Olympia, where the Chinese
delegation was also staying.
·
Although the news conference had been arranged only the
previous night by telephone from Latvia, it was a huge success.
·
More than 10 reporters came, representing all the major TV
and radio stations and newspapers. At 9 p.m., ETV the most popular TV station
in Estonia, broadcast an excellent report that clarified the truth about Dafa
and the persecution in China.
We
have some photographs of the news conferences:
·
Reporters in Talinn, Estonia, listen intently during the presentation.
·
Practitioners demonstrate the exercises during the Riga
press conference.
·
In Riga, Ms. Dai Zhizhen from Australia talks about the
persecution her family has suffered.
·
Channel 3 later provided extensive coverage – up to five
minutes – which was much more than the time allotted to the Chinese President's
visit.
·
With the Jiang's regime's illegal suppression of Falun Gong
going on, two Hong Kong Falun Gong practitioners Mr. Yu-Chong Cheung and Mr.
Suen (whose family doesn't want his full name to be disclosed) went to the
Mainland last month and were forcibly detained by the police under the charge
of carrying Falun Gong truth-clarifying materials. They have not been released
yet.
·
Another Hong Kong practitioner, Chu O-Ming was illegally
detained in September 2000 for filing a lawsuit against Jiang Zemin for
persecuting Falun Gong practitioners. He is now known to be held somewhere in
Northern China.
and still in
Hong Kong…
·
Sixteen Falun Gong practitioners went on trial June 17th
for allegedly creating an obstruction by protesting in March outside the
Chinese government liaison office.
·
In Hong Kong's first criminal case against members of the
meditation group, prosecutor Robert Lee said the defendants obstructed the
public with their demonstration and created a potential obstruction by hoisting
a banner urging Beijing to stop killing followers in the mainland.
·
All 16 — including four Swiss nationals — face two counts of
obstruction. Nine face stiffer charges of obstructing police, a charge that
carries up to two years in prison.
·
In a statement read to journalists before the trial started,
the Falun Gong followers said they had a good case. Erich Bachmann, 40, who comes
from the village of Kreuzlingen in northern Switzerland said, "It was
impossible to believe that "our small, polite and peaceful appeal"
had run afoul of the law in a civilized society like Hong Kong. Hong Kong, with
its tradition of human rights, should be an example for human rights, law,
freedom of speech and freedom of assembly and freedom of belief," Bachmann
continued. "China is killing so many innocent, goodhearted people. Is that
right?"
·
The BBC reported that there have been catastrophic floods in
north-western China. Some local reports describe it as the worst in the area
for more than a century.
·
South of the city of Xian - normally an arid part of China -
close to half a meter of rain fell in two days.
·
The main east-west railway line linking China's coast to its
vast inland provinces has been cut, power supplies have been interrupted, and
about 4,000 acres of farmland are flooded, destroying at least 500 homes and
cropland.
·
The flooding in Shaanxi alone has washed out 13 bridges, 30
kilometers (20 miles) of highways and railway lines and has wrecked 29
hydropower stations, said a spokeswoman for the Shaanxi provincial flood
control center. At least 150 people are reported dead, 266 are missing and more
than 110,000 need emergency aid
·
Practitioners in China report that the notorious
"610" office has occupied a classic compound in the Changping
district of Beijing City to use as a brainwashing center.
·
The 610 Office is an agency specifically created to
persecute Falun Gong. It has been granted absolute power over each level of
government in China, including the judiciary system.
·
People who have taken up residence in the compound include
authorities known for their vicious behaviour, as well as former practitioners
who have succumbed to brainwashing and who now work for the 610 Office.
·
Practitioners are monitored so closely – sometimes with 7
people surrounding 1 person – that they cannot speak with each other.
·
As in other detention centers, they are tortured by often
being denied sleep, or by having to stand or squat for hours. If they close
their eyes or move, they are badly beaten.
·
In a disoriented state, when practitioners succumb to the
torture and submit to being forced to write statements denouncing Falun Dafa,
they are then put on television to spread lies that they have been converted.
·
This causes many viewers who do not understand the truth, to
harbor hatred towards Falun Gong.
·
In his recent writings, the founder of Falun Gong, Mr. Li Hongzhi,
has stated that if a person has negative thoughts towards Falun Dafa, the great
law of the universe that created him or her, then they have put themselves in
an extremely dangerous situation.
Throughout
history, all the world's true religions have taught that good will be rewarded
with good and evil with evil. Practitioners of Falun Dafa have
recently reported the following examples from China:
·
Mr. Qiang Wang, from the Zhangshi Forced Labor Camp of
Shenyang City, Liaoning Province, used to have heart disease, but it was cured
after he became a Falun Dafa practitioner. However, when he later turned
against Falun Dafa, his illness returned, and he now has to rely on multiple
forms of medication to survive. A formerly healthy and vibrant person is now a
shadow of his former self as a result of being poisoned by the persecution.
·
After turning against Falun Dafa and attempting to damage
Dafa, Zhaohui Yang, a former practitioner, contracted amyotrophic lateral
sclerosis -- also known as "Lou Gehrig's disease." It is a rare,
progressive, degenerative, and fatal disease that affects the spinal cord and
is characterized by increasing muscular weakness.
·
Yubo, an officer from the Huashan Police Substation in Jimo
City of Shandong Province was amongst those who persecuted Falun Dafa. One
month ago he was suddenly killed in a car accident.
·
Examples like these have been widely reported and have
increased as the persecution has intensified.
·
A couple working for the security department of a company in
Leshang City of Sichuan Province, had been suffering from diabetes and uremia ,
but after they learned the truth about Falun Dafa, they began secretly
protecting practitioners.
·
As a result of their righteous actions, both the husband and
wife have noticed that their health is getting better and better.
·
The Mayor of Beijing has used an overnight fire in Lanjisu
Cyber Cafe in Beijing June 16, 2002 to temporarily close all Cyber Cafes in the
city.
·
At least 24 people were killed and 13 injured during the
fire early on Sunday, the official Xinhua news agency reported. People were
unable to escape the blaze because of iron burglar bars across the windows of
the 2nd floor unlicensed business in the university district.
and finally…
· Falun Dafa banners grace St. Peter's Square at the Vatican in Rome. Practitioners also had the opportunity to speak with several of the priests in attendance about the brutal persecution of Falun Dafa practitioners in China.
and…
·
On June 8, 2002, Falun Dafa practitioners in Iowa and nearby
states participated in a parade held in two cities in the state of Iowa: Colo
and the City of Jefferson.
·
Things are a little more relaxed in the smaller cities of
the USA and people enjoyed taking flyers as they sat in the brilliant sunshine
amongst the trees and soft green grass.
Thanks for
watching FGMtv, dedicated to breaking through China's information
blockade, revealing propaganda, and bringing you the truth of Falun Gong.