Falun
Gong is freely practiced in at least 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 25th, 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 428. 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:
Chinese
Embassies in Indonesia and London, England show their utter disdane for their
host governments.
And some of our other stories:
¡¤
A CNN report on Jiang Zemin's history of bullying Western
countries
¡¤
Details of one of the seven deaths of practitioners reported
in the last week
¡¤
Putting a face to the persecuted ¨C
from Canada and Sweden
¡¤
A display of Falun Dafa historical photos in Durban, South
Africa and other cultural activities of practitioners in Japan, the USA and
Australia
And finally¡
Iceland¡ the small country with a large heart.
Our
Top Story: Chinese Embassies demonstrate their flagrant and utter disdane for
governments outside China:
¡¤
In Indonesia, Falun Gong practitioners filed a lawsuit
against the Chinese Embassy after the Embassy seriously disrupted and slandered
two lawful activities: an experience-sharing conference, and a parade.
¡¤
On Thursday, June 13, 2002, the Judge of the South District
State Court held court to bring the case to trial.
¡¤
The trial began without the Chinese Embassy.
¡¤
They refused to attend, stating that since Falun Gong was
not registered with the embassy, they would not appear in court.
¡¤
The Judge ruled that because the Chinese embassy had not
fulfilled their responsibilities, the court would reconvene again on Thursday,
June 27.
¡¤
The Judge also ordered that the Chinese embassy be summoned
again to appear in court on that day.
and
in London, England¡
¡¤
The tabling of an Early Day Motion, or EDM, in the British
Houses of Parliament is a device to
draw attention to an issue, and to elicit support for it by inviting other
Members of Parliament to add their signatures to the motion.
¡¤
One UK MP mailed the following letter to a practitioner:
"Please find enclosed a copy of the Early Day Motion tabled by Dr. Lynne Jones concerning the Chinese Embassy's Policy of Ignorance towards MP's letters concerning the plight of Falun Gong practitioners. I am optimistic that this will draw a reply from the Chinese Ambassador to the letters he has received from hundreds of MPs (including me) and has so far failed to respond to."
¡¤
31 MPs have already signed the EDM.
¡¤
The Member of Parliament's name has been witheld to prevent
the Chinese Embassy from sending out more of their defamatory propaganda.
¡¤
Is there another diplomatic mission in the world so impolite
as to refuse to reply to correspondence from the government of the country who
is their host?
¡¤
The Mayor of the City of Brimbank opened proceedings, warmly
welcoming everyone who attended. He spoke with words that cherished the
principles of truthfulness-compassion-forbearance and the unity of all
cultures.
and over to
Tokyo, where on June 22nd, practitioners were invited to participate
in a "Pray for World Peace Concert"
¡¤
The concert was one of the events organized by the World
Christian League's "First World Christian Peace Conference" held to
commemorate the joint hosting of the 2002 World Cup (Football) by Japan and
Korea.
¡¤
Artists from Japan, Korea, China and other countries gave
performances.
¡¤
On June 7th, a one-week "Journey of Falun
Dafa" Photo Exhibition opened at the Horton Gallery near the famous
Liberty Bell O
¡¤
Over a thousand people attended
Details of one
of the seven deaths of practitioners reported in the last week:
Every
week, we announce the number of practitioners known to have died as a result of
mistreatment by Chinese authorities who have violated their country's
constitution by persecuting Falun Gong. Here are three more faces of the
persecuted:
Amnesty
International has just issued an appeal as follows:
¡¤
In December 2000, Lizhi
He, senior civil engineer with the Construction Ministry of the Chinese
Government, was sentenced to three and a half years in prison for his peaceful
activities as a member of Falun Gong, a spiritual practice combining Chinese
qigong exercises, meditation and moral teachings. His wife, Li Zhang, is a
permanent resident in Canada.
¡¤
The Canadian government had already issued the necessary
papers for Mr. He and Ms. Zhang to immigrate to Canada. After unsuccessful
attempts to appeal for her husband's release and under threat of detention
herself, Ms. Zhang made the difficult decision to travel to Canada alone.
and a
Swedish practitioner writes¡
¡¤
"After the persecution started I often wondered what
happened to the friends that I met during my three visits to China. Are they
still cultivating? Have they suffered from torture? Are they still alive? Why
are such good people being persecuted?
¡¤
I remember, especially well, one young man that I met every
year. Since July 1999 I have been wondering how he and his wife are doing.
Recently I saw the picture of a family on Clearwisdom, and under the picture it
said "Child is missing her mother." It was them, my Chinese friends!
¡¤
In December 1997, practitioners from many countries
celebrated Christmas Eve together with the Chinese practitioners. At my table
there was a man that I recognized. It was that young man who led the Fa study
group in which I had taken part the previous year. His name was Lin Chentao and
he was a scientist. Later we had shared experiences at our hotel together with
practitioners from different countries. I was very glad when Lin proudly
presented his wife. They had recently married. She was that helpful, smiling
woman I had met in 1996.
¡¤
I have now heard that he has been tortured so severely in
Tuanhe Labour Camp that he has became mentally disabled. His wife Zhang
Xiaojie, a music teacher, is now suffering in a female labour camp. Meanwhile
their 2-year-old daughter is missing her parents.
¡¤
The Swedish practitioner continues¡ "Lin Chentao and
his family have been torn apart. Sadly to say, there are many, many others who
have suffered like this and it makes my heart bleed."
Falun
Dafa practitioners who went to Iceland manage to legally lift their banners
very prominently, as the Chinese President drives past on his way to the
airport, beating a hasty retreat from the country whose people so openly
condemned their government's initial decision to block entry to practitioners.
The small group with the red and white banners were a cheering squad hired by
the Chinese government, who ¨C obviously unsuccessfully! - tried to block the
Chinese president's view of the much larger, brighter Falun Dafa group of
banners and people.
¡¤
The Chinese Communist Party may have effectively trampled
upon international human rights, but in the end Beijing's actions only helped
publicize the Falun Gong's cause.
¡¤
On June 13 -- the day of Jiang's arrival -- 450 Icelandic
legislators and other notables published four full-page newspaper
advertisements -- with the word "Sorry" emblazoned in Chinese
characters at the top of the page.
¡¤
On June 14 local human rights groups organized an anti-Jiang
demonstration in Reykjavik that attracted about 1,000 people. Given that
Iceland has a population of about 250,000, getting 1,000 people to a protest is
no small feat.
¡¤
Falun Dafa practitioners took these photographs of the
Icelandic protesters, who sealed their mouths with black fabric to let their
government know that their democratic rights had been violated.
¡¤
Over the few days that the small country of Iceland became
the focus of world concern, many people came to learn the exercises, and
¡¤
Many friendships were formed.
Thanks for watching FGMtv, dedicated to breaking through China's information blockade, revealing propaganda, and bringing you the truth of Falun Gong.