AUDIO

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:

§ 5,000 Falun Gong practitioners from countries around the world meet in Washington DC on the fourth anniversary of the persecution in China

§ To mark the 4^th anniversary of Jiang Zemin declaring a crackdown against Falun Gong, approximately 5,000 practitioners travelled to Washington DC to hold several large scale activities.

§ They included 1,000 from Taiwan. The island of Taiwan now has over 300,000 practitioners.

§ Activities in Washington began on Saturday, July 19, 2003 with an outdoor "Peace and Light" Concert. Musicians and dancers from several different countries entertained with performances that varied from traditional Chinese works to modern English folk and pop songs about the persecution.

§ On Sunday, the anniversary, an International Falun Dafa Experience-Sharing Conference was held. Articles were presented by practitioners from many different countries. The founder, Mr. Li Hongzhi, arrived at 11:00 a.m. and talked to his students for about forty minutes. Since there were so many delegates, they had to be accommodated in more than one meeting hall. Mr. Li had a busy morning, visiting each place to see all the practitioners who had come to Washington.

§ The citizens of Washington were given many opportunities to learn more about the severity and extent of the persecution in China over the few days. On Monday, in particular, they witnessed evidence of those who had been murdered, as their photographs were carried solemnly through the streets of the city by practitioners wearing white clothing, the traditional Chinese colour for mourning the dead.

§ Practitioners love to do their exercises every day, so it was a great opportunity to practice together in front of the Capital Building.

Similar activities to those in Washington were held in cities around the world, only on a smaller scale. Under cloudy skies, Australians spent some of their time doing the meditative exercises on a grassy piece of land by Sydney Harbour, with the famous Opera House in the background.

News of the Conference and related activities was broadcast around the world, including in Singapore, where Channelnews Asia reported that Falun Gong members held peaceful protest in Washington.

A Special Parade in New York's Chinatown

§ On July 12, 2003, New York City Falun Dafa practitioners held a parade in Chinatown, under sunny skies, with the theme: "Celebrating American Liberty and Justice for All." Practitioners decided to hold the parade after two recent incidents that happened in Chinatown.

§ The first was a hate crime that took place on June 23rd in front of the Yidong Restaurant where Falun Gong practitioners were assaulted while peacefully exercising their rights to give out information in public.

§ In the week following that incident local Chinese media printed daily articles distorting the facts and slandering Falun Gong. One article said that Liang Guan Jun, head of the business association involved in the hate crime, was urging all associations to join in to "Fight Falun Gong to the end!" This clearly incites hate within the local Chinese community.

§ The second incident was the cancellation of the Chinatown 4th of July parade sponsored by several Chinese associations and co-sponsored by the American Legion (a veterans group).

§ An invitation for groups to join the parade was made in the Chinese press. However, when Falun Gong practitioners and the Minghui School submitted applications to march in that parade, their applications were refused.

§ Some of the groups participating in the parade had no problem with Falun Gong's application, but the association headed by Liang Guan Jun – that has close ties to the Chinese consulate – threatened to remove their support if Falun Gong was allowed to participate in the parade.

§ This move by a Chinese benevolent association to deny practitioners participation in a public parade based on their belief is illegal in America. When advised of this fact, the association pulled out its support, and the parade was cancelled.

§ New York practitioners then decided to sponsor their own parade in Chinatown in order to show the goodness of Dafa, to celebrate America's founding principles of freedom, and to let the local Chinese people know the facts about Falun Gong.

§ Permits had to be arranged, and a lot of work had to be done on short notice. As you can see from these photos, they succeeded!

§ The parade ended in a local park. The police officer in charge told practitioners that it was a very good parade and very orderly.

Introducing Falun Dafa in Luxembourg

§ On July 11, 2003 more than thirty Falun Dafa practitioners from Belgium, Holland, France, Germany and Italy gathered in front of the Chinese Embassy in Luxembourg. They were appealing for an end to the four-year persecution by the Jiang regime in China. It was the first time that European Dafa practitioners held activities in Luxembourg.

§ Two of the leading media organizations came to interview them. In their coverage of the story titled "They Came to Defend Falun Gong", the La Voix newspaper printed a half page photograph and mentioned that people were surprised to see this scene in Luxembourg.

§ The next day, practitioners went to Guillaume Square in the city to let more people have the opportunity to understand the beauty of Falun Dafa and the truth of the brutal persecution of practitioners in China.

§ After putting up some banners and photos, they demonstrated the Falun Gong exercises, handed out flyers, and collected signatures in support of bringing Jiang to justice.

§ Many people were interested in the activities. Some wanted to learn the exercises, whilst others listened attentively to hear about the genocide lawsuits against Jiang Zemin in the US and other countries. After learning the facts, many people signed their names to express their support for the lawsuits.

Sleeping on the Job: a true story!

§ Not all authorities in China obey Jiang's orders! A government clerk in a small town in China was sent to guard illegally-arrested Falun Gong practitioners. Many of his relatives and friends practice Falun Gong and have explained the truth of the practice to him, so he knows that Jiang's regime is persecuting good people.

§ Every time he was put on duty to guard Falun Gong practitioners, he would treat them nicely, give them food and water and secretly tell them that his relatives and friends also practice.

§ One night, he was assigned to guard two women practitioners at his local police station. In the middle of the night, he saw that they were preparing to escape, so he pretended to fall asleep. This let them get past him and go through the gate to freedom.

§ He gave them extra time get away before he started shouting to tell people that they had escaped. Later on, all his relatives and friends who practice Falun Gong praised him for doing a great job.

Thanks for watching the FGMtv weekly news review.

I'm Susan Mitchell. See you next week!

total approx: 9'