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Falun Gong is freely practiced in at least 57 countries around the world, but relentlessly persecuted in China. The peaceful courage of practitioners there has shocked their oppressors and moved the people of the world. While China continues to block all information, FGMtv brings you the stories you may not hear anywhere else.
Hello, and welcome to FGMtv on July 23rd, 2002
I'm Susan Mitchell.
The number of Falun Gong practitioners verified to have died as a result of mistreatment by Jiang Zemin's regime is 437. However, sources in China put the actual number in the thousands.
Our top story this week:
July 20th, 2002 marked the third anniversary of the day Jiang Zemin began the persecution of Falun Gong in China. We have photo coverage from activities in major cities around the world.
And some of our other stories:
- Condemnation of China's new Internet regulations from the Committee to Protect Journalists
- Canadians launch a campaign to rescue their Falun Gong relatives in China illegally detained by Jiang Zemin's regime
And finally...
- A work unit supervisor in China helps a practitioner regain his withheld salary.
First, our top story: The Third Anniversary of the beginning of the Persecution against Falun Gong
- In cities around the world Falun Gong practitioners came out on July 20th to honour those who have been murdered by Jiang Zemin's regime, to appeal for the hundreds of thousands still suffering in forced labour camps, jails and detention centers throughout China and to thank the millions of people who have supported their efforts to end the persecution.
- On July 22nd in Washington DC, the founder of Falun Dafa, Mr. Li Hongzhi, addressed 2,000 of his students at a conference where they had come to share their experiences of dealing with the current persecution by the Jiang Zemin regime.
- Mr. Li stressed the importance of being compassionate to everyone including each other, and said again that each person must walk their own path with righteousness.
In Hong Kong...
at least 200 practitioners appealed for an end to the persecution, not only during the daylight
hours, but also, well into the evening with a candlelight vigil.
Excerpts from the New York CPJ Press Release of 15 July 2002
- The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is gravely concerned by the passage of new regulations restricting online news in China. The regulations, together with a voluntary pledge signed by more than 300 companies and organizations including the US-based Yahoo! - to prevent distribution of "harmful" material online, indicate a clear step backward for freedom of expression in China.
- "We condemn the government's efforts to force private Internet companies to censor themselves," said CPJ executive director Ann Cooper.
In Tokyo...
Practitioners stand for hours in the sweltering heat on the 3rd Anniversary of the beginning of Jiang Zemin's persecution against them.
In Munich, Germany...
Practitioners from all over central and southern Germany walk solemnly through the streets of downtown Munich to bring attention to the third anniversary of Jiang Zemin's crackdown against their spiritual practice.
Canadian Practitioners launch a campaign to rescue their relatives in China
On Thursday, July 18, joined by M.P. Scott Reid, Chinese Canadians whose family members are incarcerated in China held a press conference inside the Parliament to present stories of the brutal suppression their loved ones are enduring.
Out of hundreds of thousands detained, fifteen are family members of twelve Canadian citizens and residents. One of them has been missing for over a year; three have been persecuted to death; twelve are still in jail or labour camps. Here are brief details of four of their stories:
29 --year old Torontonian Tianying Peng said, "Falun Dafa brought harmony into my twin sister's life, so she told her friends and colleagues that all the propaganda defaming Falun Dafa is a lie. She was taken away from her young baby and was sent to a labour camp."
Shenli Lin thanked Canada for assisting in his release from a Chinese labour camp. He said "My brother Mingli was kidnapped and sent to a labour camp because he still refuses to give up his belief even after repeated brainwashing classes and detention. I hope Canada can help gain the release of my brother and other Falun Gong practitioners just as Canada has helped me."
Yanying Wang said, "My husband Zhaojin Qiu was a chief art editor of a major newspaper in Jinan City. He and my son went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. They were both arrested and sent to labour camp for three years. Freedom of belief and expression are guaranteed by China's constitution. The Chinese authorities broke this law."
Li Zhang's husband is an award winning structural engineer who was imprisoned for sending truthful information about Falun Gong to friends. She said, "When I last saw him in a prison hospital, he was so weak that he could not stand by himself. The healthy and energetic Lizhi was barely with us. My heart was broken," said Zhang. Li Zhang immigrated to Canada last year. Last month, Amnesty International launched a campaign calling for the release of Lizhi He, a "prisoner of conscience."
Member of Parliament Scott Reid, who helped with the successful rescue and return of Canadians or the relatives of Falun Gong practitioners said, "I know that I am backed up by all members of parliament of all parties, that the Canadian government should do what it can to represent its willingness to accept these fine people as residents of Canada and to encourage the Chinese government to once again act upon the principles of 'Truth, Compassion, Forbearance' which motivate Falun Gong and which are at the heart of the ancient Chinese civilization."
and still in Canada...
Over the past three years, the Falun Dafa Association of Canada -- made up of volunteer practitioners -- has received several hundred letters from Canadian government officials at various levels, calling on China to stop persecuting Falun Gong and expressing their support for the freedom of speech and the freedom of belief.
Some of those who wrote are:
three successive Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Lloyd Axworthy, John Manly and Bill Graham;
Governor General Adrienne Clarkson, who, through her secretary, expressed her sympathy and support
in this and every matter that involves the denial of human rights,
Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, Ms. Anne McClellan;
Secretary of State (Asia-Pacific) of Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Mr.
Raymond Chan
Minister for International Trade, Mr. Pierre S. Pettigrew, and
Prime Minister Jean Chrétien
At a gathering on July 20th in Dublin, Ireland...
Graduate student Ming Zhao, in the forefront of this picture, who was recently released from almost two years of torture in a Chinese labour camp joins other practitioners and dignitaries who spoke out in support of Falun Gong, including
Dr. Chris Neilson from the Irish Foundation for Survivors of Torture.
Condemnation of China's Use of a Blacklist to Persecute American Citizens
On July 8, American Falun Gong practitioners held a news conference in Times Square in New York
City.
A representative of the Falun Dafa Information Center explained that the governments of Iceland and Hong Kong recently utilized a blacklist, provided by the Jiang Zemin regime, to deny entry into their countries to American citizens who practice Falun Gong.
They pointed out that this indicates that Jiang's regime has imported its state terrorism against Falun Gong to America, as well as to other democratic nations.
Visitors to Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada...pause to read about the Falun Gong practitioners who have been murdered by the Jiang Zemin regime, while practitioners from Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal perform the graceful exercises and, activities continued into the evening with a solemn lotus-light vigil in front of the Chinese embassy.
And over to Germany, where a Dortmund newspaper reported that whatever activities are banned in China, they were not allowed in Dortmund either.
The article said that in the past week, nearly a thousand Chinese workers who were working on the smelting furnace equipment in the Westfalen Smelter of Dortmund were under the so-called "protection" of their Chinese company supervisors.
A Chinese Falun Gong practitioner who was studying in Dortmund attempted to provide the workers with some newspapers containing information about Falun Gong. She successfully passed out two hundred newspapers before being kicked out.
- At one exit of the smelter, a supervisor threatened the workers: "Accepting any information or CDs on Falun Gong is strictly forbidden, anyone who does this will be punished severely."
- This Falun Gong practitioner stated however, that although the workers were threatened with "being sent back to China" as the punishment, many still accepted the newspaper when no one was looking.
Swarms of locusts invade Beijing
- In its weekly item "Earthweek: Diary of the Planet", the Toronto Star reported that swarms of locusts invaded Beijing as temperatures soared to 40 degrees Celsius. Professor Zhang Long of Beijing's Agriculture University said that he has lived in Beijing for 20 years and never seen so many locusts.
while in Taiwan...
Falun Dafa practitioners in the Yilan area quietly study their Teacher's books and send forth
righteous thoughts around the clock on July 20th.
and more candelight vigils...
in San Francisco USA, and Melbourne, Australia
And finally...
A work unit supervisor helps retrieve a practitioner's withheld salary:
- A report has been received from a practitioner in China who was sentenced to forced labor "re-education" in the year 2000 for distributing Dafa truth clarifying materials. He served his sentence outside of a labor camp.
- Because he refused to give up practicing Falun Gong, the "610 office" of his work unit reduced his salary after July 2001, allowing him only basic living expenses.
- The practitioner related the second conversation he had with a new supervisor, who said, "On the issue of belief, let's put it aside. The reason I asked you to come here today is to ask if you have any difficulties in your life and work. What can I do for you?" His intention was kind. From the bottom of my heart, I felt happy for him that he could position himself correctly. I mentioned about going back to work and retrieving the deducted salary. He said, "Don't worry. Let me take care of this."
- Soon I went back to work again. Seeing that the chief did not make any trouble for me at all, nor did he mention the propaganda against Dafa shown on television, my colleagues all felt very sympathetic toward me. There were no longer many obstructions when I clarified the truth to them. The behavior of a leader plays a very important role in the behavior of his or her subordinates
- It seems that it was not very easy to retrieve my deducted salary. The chief made phone calls and also wrote reports. However, A few days ago, another leader from my work unit told me, "Your salary has been reinstated. Go to the bank to claim it. Your work is excellent. There's nothing to pin on you. Our words were powerful. Everyone spoke for you, and nobody said anything against you."
- The practitioner's report ended with the words, "Even in the most chaotic society, there are always people who will stand up to uphold justice. It is better to be a good person openly and with dignity, thus we can win people's hearts. It also helps to establish people's righteous thoughts and their confidence that truth and justice will prevail."
Thanks for watching FGMtv, dedicated to breaking through China's information blockade, revealing propaganda, and bringing you the truth of Falun Gong.
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