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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 Zhen, Shan, Ren - being true, good, and enduring, which is also translated as Truth, Compassion and Tolerance.

§        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:

Jiang's persecution of Falun Gong exposed on Chinese TV

 

§        According to a statement received from Falun Gong practitioners in China, when hundreds of thousands of residents of a southern Chinese city settled down to watch a popular TV program recently, they were unexpectedly treated to two short movies reporting on human rights abuses against Falun Gong practitioners in China. This is something their former president Jiang Zemin has gone to great lengths to conceal. The programs also debunked much of the anti-Falun Gong propaganda spread by the Jiang regime. 

§        The practitioners in southern China had employed high-powered transmitters controlled by timers to remotely transmit the programs to televisions throughout an entire city, and then automatically shut down to resume regularly scheduled, state-controlled programming.

§        In New York, Mr. Erping Zhang, a Falun Dafa Information Center spokesman, commended the practitioners in China, saying they "have discovered a non-violent means – one that harms neither people nor equipment – to break through the information blockade, and let the people see programs that openly show the human rights violations happening in their own country, and expose the loopholes in the regime’s propaganda.”

§        Using this method, in the last year and a half, practitioners in China have broadcast more than twelve programs in different cities throughout China.

 

 

§        And on the other side of the world, another exposé, this time of the persecutory nature of Hong Kong's Article 23, was broadcast to a possible 8 million Swedish people.

§        The 25-minute film included comments from Members of the European Parliament, professors, VIPs, representatives of human rights organizations, and social groups. They reported on the danger of the proposed subversion law, the Hong Kong people's opposition to it, and their desire to preserve freedom and human rights. Many believe that Article 23 directly targets Falun Gong practitioners.

§        When Hong Kong was returned to China in 1997, the Chinese Government promised to uphold the "One Country, Two Systems" policy for 50 years. However, after only six years, Hong Kong is being pressured by the Beijing government to enact a law that the people of Hong Kong do not want.

 

Drums are the order of the day for Falun Gong practitioners in summer parades this year.

§        Along with the beautiful lotus dances and golden banners proclaiming that Falun Dafa is Good, parade goers around the world have come to hear a new sound: vibrant Chinese waist drums!

§        They first appeared in great numbers in this year's Independence Day parades in Philadelphia

§        and on Constitution Avenue in Washington, DC.

§        Recently, they also turned up in Hunter's Hill, a small town on the northern edge of Sydney, Australia,

§        and during the world famous Edinburgh International Arts Festival in Scotland.

 

In many cultures around the world, people believe that good deeds will be rewarded and evil will be punished.

§        There are many small reports coming out of China advising that things are happening to those who have persecuted innocent Falun Gong practitioners. Here's a short story received last week:

§        Mr. Zuoheng Wang, the former Police Station Director of Erdao Town in Heishan County of Liaoning Province, had actively persecuted local Falun Gong practitioners. He kidnapped them from their homes and detained them in prison without reason. Last month, he was involved in a car accident and was pronounced dead at the scene.

§        In the last 7 days, the Falun Dafa Information Center received reports of the torture deaths of 8 practitioners, and the sudden deaths of 4 officials who had persecuted practitioners.

 

 

And finally, out of Orlando, Florida. . .

§        Marcus Green, an artist who practices Falun Gong, wanted to do something to bring together an awareness of human rights and the beauty of art.

§        Inspired by the many huge yellow banners that people are covering with thousands of signatures in support of Falun Gong, he has initiated the "Yellow Paper Project".

§        Here is the first fruit of his labour: an artwork with tiny Chinese shoes walking on gold tiles over imaginary bridges and countryside – just like the millions of Falun Gong practitioners in China who walked thousands of miles to appeal in Beijing – and at the top of the frame, a small piece of beautiful yellow paper containing, believe it or not, 100 signatures of people concerned about human rights.

§        The goal is to have an artwork for many major cities around the world – each with a yellow paper containing 100 signatures of people concerned about human rights in that city.

§        We can then look forward to a travelling exhibition of Marcus' work and the signatures of many hundreds of people speaking out for  justice.

 

Thanks for watching the FGMtv weekly news review.

I'm Susan Mitchell. See you next week!

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