(Clearwisdom.net) August 22, 2001 was the sixth day of the hunger strike held in front of the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C. by ten US Falun Dafa practitioners. Mike Chen from Birmingham, AL, appeared very weak and close to losing consciousness. However, the Chinese ambassador Yang Jiechi still refused to open up a peaceful dialogue.

It has been reported that Chinese governmental officials sent out instructions that they would rather break laws than release Falun Gong practitioners from prison. Over the past two years, the Chinese government's persecution against Falun Gong has escalated to an extreme level. In order to rescue and support 130 practitioners who have been holding a hunger strike at the Masanjia Labor Camp in China and to condemn Jiang Zemin and his followers' escalated persecutions against people's wills and societal rules, the ten practitioners started a hunger strike on 3:00PM, August 17, 2001 here in Washington, D.C. Several days have passed, and rain or shine, practitioners have quietly endured, appealing to the Chinese Embassy for an open, peaceful dialogue. The two letters they sent to the Embassy officials were rudely rejected. Facing those kindhearted practitioners and their appeals from the bottom of their hearts, the embassy responded only with monitoring, scrutiny, and secret agents. This afternoon, several practitioners felt weak and fatigued due to the multiple-day hunger strike. They lay under the shade of the trees on this hot day.

The practitioners continued their hunger strike to appeal to all kind-hearted people to offer a hand -- please write to or make phone calls to the Chinese Embassy to request a peaceful dialogue. They also hope that through their hunger strike, they can allow people of all walks of life to clearly understand the evil persecution in China and its seriousness and urgency.

Please take action, tell everyone around you the truth of the persecution, help appeal to your government, various organizations, media, and all kind-hearted people -- urgently rescue those 130 Falun Dafa practitioners who were illegally detained and have been on hunger strike for more than three weeks. They are in critical condition in the Masanjia Labor Camp in China. Let us all stand up to stop Jiang Zemin and his followers' program of national terrorism.