"We are here because our human rights are being violated -- otherwise we wouldn't be here." -- Appeal to Chinese Consulate in Gothenburg, Sweden
Chinese Consulate, Gothenburg, Sweden
Thursday, June 14, 2001
Thursday morning, US President George W. Bush arrived in Gothenburg, Sweden to attend the European Union-US Summit. World attention is focused on Gothenburg during this day and the next two, with the European Union Council meeting here following the summit. More than 500 Falun Dafa practitioners are in the city to tell the world about the persecution in China, including the 222 deaths from mistreatment.
About 150 practitioners from across Europe and beyond gathered opposite the Chinese consulate in Gothenburg Thursday morning. One hundred and fifty was the maximum number permitted, due to limited space. Practitioners performed the Falun Gong exercises to music. Some held signs, banners, and flags. A brief press conference was held in which practitioners read a statement on why they were there, like practitioners who go to Tiananmen Square; a short biography of Ireland resident Zhao Ming, now detained in a labor camp in China; and an open letter to the Chinese consul general in Gothenburg. After the press conference ended, practitioners began sending forth righteous thoughts.
Three European practitioners entered the Chinese consulate just after it opened. They were carrying the letter that they intended to give to the consul general. The letter requested that the government end the persecution and release all Falun Gong practitioners. Following behind them were five professional media persons, including TV and radio outlets and the TT-Reuters wire service.
An employee of the consulate met them, refused to accept the letter, and ordered them to leave the building. When they would not leave--and why should they leave, since they were in a public area where they had a right to be?--the man called in the police officers who had been observing the peaceful and upright behavior of the practitioners gathered outside. Four policemen entered and would not ask the practitioners to leave, but instead stayed to listen to the conversations that followed.
Then the man didn't know what to do, so he called someone on his mobile phone, and returned shortly with government propaganda, which he tried to hand out to the media. A reporter told him, "If you want us to accept your material, I think you should first accept their letter."
The man asked the practitioners why they practice Falun Gong. When one answered that he does it for health, to improve himself, and to have a harmonious mind, the man said, "I am harmonious now," but he was obviously anything but harmonious. A policeman commented, "If he's harmonious now, I don't want to see him when he's angry."
The man spoke loudly and was visibly agitated and upset. He kept talking and cut off practitioners when they tried to speak. He paced around, showing a mixture of anger and fear. In contrast, the practitioners were courteous, peaceful, and tolerant, maintaining righteous minds the whole time. The dramatic differences in behavior and xinxing were apparent to the watchful media and police.
The man said, "Because you are here, this shows you are political." A practitioner replied, "We are here because our human rights are being violated -- otherwise we wouldn't be here."
The standoff inside lasted for almost 40 minutes. When it was finished, the practitioners placed the undelivered letter into the consulate mailbox as they left the building. But the message was clear to any embassy staff who peeked out the windows: 150 practitioners with righteous thoughts, assembled quietly and peacefully, holding signs such as these: "An Appeal from Europe and the World to Release the Detained Falun Gong Practitioners Immediately."
Category: Rallies & Protests
