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Falun Gong Practitioners Gather in Mexico During APEC Meeting to Protest Jiang's Persecution

Oct. 30, 2002

October 28, 2002

(Clearwisdom.net) Clearwisdom Net report from Mexico (New York time) on October 28, 2002 - From 11:00 a.m. yesterday until 9:40 a.m. today, Falun Gong practitioners from all over the world held around-the-clock peaceful protest activities in Los Cabos, Mexico. They received support from the local police, the local citizens as well as national leaders from various countries who attended the APEC meeting.

Yesterday, a "stop" traffic sign was set up at a major intersection leading to the airport, not far from the city government compound. Falun Gong practitioners from different countries and regions gathered there to do the Falun Dafa exercises, send forth righteous thoughts and study the Fa, also to distribute truth-clarification flyers to passersby. Practitioner were clad in yellow-colored T-shirts and held up banners of all sizes that read, "Falun Dafa," "Jiang's Group: Stop Persecuting Falun Gong!" "SOS! Urgent: Rescue Our Family Members" and "Jiang Cannot Escape the Responsibility for Persecuting Falun Gong." The lettering was in both English and Chinese. At times the number of assembled practitioners reached around 200. Even Mr. Shou in his 80s who had traveled from Canada and a 2-1/2-year-old girl, Fadu, from Australia, came to take part. Five or six media representatives interviewed them.

Both of Fadu's parents are Falun Gong practitioners. Her father, Chen Chengyong, whom Jiang's villains murdered, had lived in Haizhu District, Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province and had worked as an electrician at a Guangzhou Paper Factory. Chen Chengyong had been arrested numerous times. The police brutally tortured him for persisting in the practice of Falun Gong. Around July 2001, he was tortured to death and his body was dumped at a remote site. He was only 34-year-old. At the time of his death, Fadu who was living in Australia with her practitioner mother, Dai Zhizhen, who was only one year old at the time. The authorities even went so far and denied Ms. Dai's request to receive her husband's ashes. It was not until eight months later through intervention by people in the Australian government that she finally obtained her husband's ashes.

During the past week, many Mexican people have learned about the peaceful and kind nature of Falun Dafa and the reasons why Falun Gong practitioners are peacefully protesting the presence of Chinese leader Jiang. On October 26, when Mr. Chen, a U.S. Falun Gong practitioner and computer engineer, entered Mexico, customs computer alerted the personnel with beeping sounds and the computer screen displayed a blacklist. The customs officer asked him to wait and called another officer. They asked whether Mr. Chen was a Falun Gong practitioner. He answered, "Yes." They immediately smiled and let Mr. Chen pass through, giving him the thumbs up as he walked past.

According to Ms. Gu, a Falun Gong practitioner from Canada presently in Los Cabos, Mexico, the customs computer made beeping alert sounds and immediately displayed a blacklist when some Falun Gong practitioners passed through customs. Some practitioners clearly saw their names on the list, and some saw the phrase "dangerous person" after their name.

Ms. Gu said, "We learned through a private inquiry of certain Mexican government officials that a blacklist with names of Falun Gong practitioners does exist, and it had been provided by the Jiang government. Since Jiang is here to attend the APEC meeting, his regime put pressure on the Mexican government, citing "safety concerns." Ms. Gu added, "Although there is a blacklist, the Mexican government has not blocked the entrance of any Falun Gong practitioner into Mexico so far."

Yesterday afternoon, passing cars often honked friendly manner, with people giving the "V" sign for victory and thumbs up. Some smiled and waved their hands in greeting the practitioners who were waiting to appeal to Jiang at that intersection. All police officers on duty, whether high or low ranking, smiled at the practitioners whenever meeting them. One police officer said to a reporter, "Mexico is a free country, and you absolutely have the right to do this." When the reporter mentioned the persecution that is taking place in China, the officer shook his head, sighed and showed disdain.

Around 2:00 p.m., after the tenth informal APEC meeting, leaders from various countries departed one after another and drove toward the airport. The first motorcade passing the practitioners was that of U.S. President Bush who waved and smiled at the practitioners from inside his limousine. Some of his entourage also waved. People in the motorcades from other countries displayed similar gestures.

According to news from Associated Press, during Chinese leader Jiang and President Bush's meeting, "Bush did not specifically mention Falun Gong."

During the daytime, the sun makes Los Cabos scorching hot; at nighttime, a chilling wind blows in from the sea. Practitioners who sent forth righteous thoughts throughout the night wore heavy clothes to keep warm, and practitioners without warm clothes bundled themselves in sleeping bags.

Yesterday, around 40 to 50 Falun Gong practitioners displayed dozens of banners outside the APEC conference hall and delivered the message "Falun Dafa is good" to people when the media passed by. They also exposed Jiang's persecution against Falun Gong. The Chinese consulate sent two large buses to block the view of the practitioners.

Jiang's motorcade still had not shown up by the time this report was written. It was learned that Jiang's motorcade planned to go to the local airport and leave Mexico this morning. According to reports aired on October 17 from Zhongxin Net and some other Chinese ruling Party affiliated websites, Jiang would "also visit San Francisco to meet with U.S. government officials, local Chinese people and students."

For the past several days, although research showed that Jiang has used a stand-in, Falun Gong practitioners were not moved and persisted to hold peaceful protests wherever "Jiang's" motorcade went. They also made good use of time to send forth righteous thoughts, to eliminate the evil elements in other dimensions that Jiang had brought to Mexico and the U.S.

Throughout the entire time, Falun Gong practitioners around the world continued to frequently send forth righteous thoughts. Some practitioners from Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, Europe and Houston persisted in sending forth righteous thoughts outside the Chinese consulate in Houston from last Friday until today. They have remained there daily until 11:00 p.m. before returning home to rest. On Saturday, the number of practitioners increased to more than 200. When asked how long the activity would last, Ms. Chen, a practitioner from Houston, said in a gentle tone, "Practitioners from other countries will return today. No matter what news we receive, we will keep on doing what we are supposed to do until the situation of evil in other dimensions we are getting rid of is completely eliminated, an event that will be clearly reflected in this dimension."

Falun Gong, also called Falun Dafa, is a practice with teachings based on the principle of "Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance." It teaches people to be good and compassionate and improves their health, both mentally and physically. It has been enthusiastically embraced by millions of people all over the world, but in 1999, it was banned and suppressed in China.

Jiang directly instigated and escalated the persecution of Falun Gong in China. From July 20, 1999 on, the Chinese government has followed his decree to "Totally defame the practitioners' reputations, deprive them of economic resources, and physically eliminate them." Thousands of Falun Gong practitioners have been illegally detained, sentenced to forced labor, imprisoned and tortured. Some female practitioners have been raped and several thousand healthy practitioners have been detained in mental hospitals. According to Chinese government internal records, by the end of October 2001, the number of practitioners who have been murdered stands at over 1,600. By October 29, 2002, 509 death cases had been verified and reported outside of China.