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Hello, and welcome to the weekly FGMtv news review. I'm Susan Mitchell.
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Here at
FGMtv we focus on programs and news that illuminate the truth of Falun Gong,
which is also known as Falun Dafa.
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Falun Dafa is a traditional Chinese spiritual discipline that
includes exercise and meditation. Its principles are based on being true, good,
and enduring.
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The practice began in China in 1992 and quickly spread by word of
mouth throughout the country.
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In 1998, a government survey concluded that the number of
practitioners exceeded membership in the communist party.
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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:
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50,000
protest in Hong Kong on July 9th,,2003
50,000 Protest in Hong Kong on
July 9th
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On
July 9, 50,000 Hong Kong residents took to the streets and marched to the
Legislative Council Building.
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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."
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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.
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Many believe that the legislation is unnecessary and are lobbying to have
it dropped completely.
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Just
days earlier, on July 1st, 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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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This
is the time to stop the persecution.
Susan:
Thanks, Maria.
Activities planned in Washington DC to mark 4th
anniversary of the persecution.
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July
20th, 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 22nd.
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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.
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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
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On
July 6th and 7th, Falun Gong practitioners from
Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia held the first Falun Dafa Experience Sharing
Conference on Batam Island, Indonesia.
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Only
two months earlier, at the beginning of May, the local government had supported
registration of the Indonesia Falun Dafa Association Batam Island Branch.
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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.
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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
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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."
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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.
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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!