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Hello, and welcome to the weekly FGMtv news review. I'm Susan Mitchell.

§ Here at FGMtv we focus on programs and news that illuminate the truth of Falun Gong, which is also known as Falun Dafa.

§ Falun Dafa is a traditional Chinese spiritual discipline that includes exercise and meditation. Its principles are based on being true, good, and enduring.

§ The practice began in China in 1992 and quickly spread by word of mouth throughout the country.

§ In 1998, a government survey concluded that the number of practitioners exceeded membership in the communist party.

§ One year later, dictator Jiang Zemin began a brutal persecution that violates not only the Chinese constitution, but also international treaties signed by China.

Our top story this week:

§ 50,000 protest in Hong Kong on July 9^th,,2003

50,000 Protest in Hong Kong on July 9^th

§ On July 9, 50,000 Hong Kong residents took to the streets and marched to the Legislative Council Building.

§ It was a peaceful rally organized by The Civil Human Rights Front. Many in the crowd waved fluorescent glow sticks and sang the song, "Heart to Heart", to express the Hong Kong people's wish to "Oppose Article 23, and Return Power to the People."

§ Many human rights groups are concerned that the Beijing government could use Article 23 to suppress peoples' fundamental rights of freedom of speech and freedom of belief.

§ Many believe that the legislation is unnecessary and are lobbying to have it dropped completely.

§ Just days earlier, on July 1^st, half a million Hong Kong residents had filled the streets to protest the voting on Article 23, anti-subversion legislation. Hong Kong Chief Executive Tung Chee-Hua was forced to defer passage of the bill, and no new timetable has been set for it. It was the largest protest since the Tiananmen Square massacre in Beijing in June, 1989.

§ Approximately 200 Falun Gong practitioners participated quietly in the rally. They carried large banners with the characters for Truth, Compassion, Forbearance – the guiding principles of their practice, and waved posters with photos of the persecution in China.

The genocide against Falun Gong practitioners currently taking place in China has been likened to the Nazi concentration camps during World War II. FGMTV recently spoke with the daughter of a Polish woman who survived one of the German concentration camps. She refers to the lawsuit against former Chinese president Jiang Zemin.

§ My name is Maria. I cam here from Boston but I am originally from Poland. As a practitioner of Falun Gong and a citizen of the world I think that this lawsuit is extremely important because the world has seen genocide.

§ As a European my family witnessed genocide decades ago. My mother was a three year old child when she was placed into a concentration camp.

§ At that time no one could imagine the horrific crimes that were being committed. Right now we have the privilege of having the best media and technology to find out about those crimes that are being committed currently in China.

§ We have to learn from history and stop it immediately. We can not let our conscience go and just watch it, day by day, with people being tortured to death and families being torn apart. And for what? For following the most valuable principles in the whole world, for wanting to embody Truthfulness, Benevolence and Tolerance.

§ This is the time to stop the persecution.

Susan: Thanks, Maria.

Activities planned in Washington DC to mark 4^th anniversary of the persecution.

§ July 20^th, 2003 marks the fourth anniversary of the Jiang regime's persecution of Falun Gong. Thousands of practitioners from about 60 countries are expected to gather in Washington DC from July 19 through to the 22^nd.

§ They plan to hold a series of large-scale activities to present the facts of the persecution of Falun Gong, a persecution taking place not only in mainland China, but around the world because of hate literature disseminated by the Jiang regime and pressure by Chinese embassies on various governments.

§ The activities will include a "Peace and Light" concert, a parade, a candlelight vigil, a theatrical activity called "The People's Court Brings Jiang to Justice," and to end it all, a public rally with the theme, "Uphold Justice, Conscience, and Freedom, Let's End the Persecution of Falun Gong Right Now." Representatives from the US Congress, non-governmental organizations and various civil organizations will participate in the closing rally.

Falun Dafa Conference on Batam Island, Indonesia

§ On July 6^th and 7^th, Falun Gong practitioners from Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia held the first Falun Dafa Experience Sharing Conference on Batam Island, Indonesia.

§ Only two months earlier, at the beginning of May, the local government had supported registration of the Indonesia Falun Dafa Association Batam Island Branch.

§ During the conference, the local practitioners told of the good physical and mental effects they had experienced by practicing Falun Dafa. One young man told how the practice had given him a second chance at life, changing him from a person who had been plagued by many illnesses and fallen to hopelessness, to becoming a healthy and energetic person.

§ Over the past year, Batam practitioners have introduced Falun Dafa to the local people, and also explained to them the facts about the illegal persecution in China.

Health miracles in northern Alberta, Canada

§ At the beginning of July, the Lakeside Leader newspaper in Slave Lake, a town in northern Alberta, Canada reported on the rather miraculous healing of a couple of the local residents, saying, "Some Kinuso residents say they've found a new alternative to pain killers."

§ A few short months ago, 59 year old Bernice Smith of Kinuso was suffering from a host of ailments. They included fibromyalgia, high blood pressure, diabetes and osteoarthritis. She got around slowly and painfully with the help of a back brace and a knee brace. Although she took a variety of different medications, she lived with constant pain and discomfort – until 3 months ago, when she began to practice Falun Gong.

§ No more braces, no more medication, and she feels fine. "I have healed in mind, body and spirit," she says. "I am back at work and pain free. It's a miraculous thing, the most beautiful thing that's ever happened to me in my life."

§ "It seems almost too simple," writes the Lakeside Leader reporter. "The practitioner improves his or her physical health through a series of exercises, which include meditation. The other component of the practice is self-improvement through studying the teachings of the Falun Gong founder, Li Hongzhi. He urges the practitioners to let go of harmful attachments and to strive for truthfulness, compassion and forbearance in their lives."

§ Bernice explains, "We have to work on these things to be able to heal ourselves. It's all good. You just feel good. I'd recommend for people to practice (it)."

Thanks for watching the FGMtv weekly news review.

I'm Susan Mitchell. See you next week!