Respectable Mr. Jean-Pierre LAFON,

Greetings!

I am a Chinese citizen. Even though I have never been to your country, I know that France is home to many famous people including Napoleon and Balzac. It is home to famous wine, and also home to the Eiffel Tower, the Musée du Louvre and the Arc De Triomphe. Of course, I also know that France is home to the beautiful French language that French people are so proud of.

I have always considered France to be a very civilized country that embraces Freedom, Equality, and Fellowship. However, around the Chinese New Year, when the French government was promoting traditional Chinese culture, some appalling things happened in Paris. Falun Gong practitioners from various countries were arrested right on the Champs-Elysees, right under the Arc De Triomphe, right there in Paris! What was the reason? It was just because they wore yellow scarves imprinted with the words, "Truthfulness-Benevolence-Forbearance." I suppose you may also know that the basis of traditional Chinese culture is the compassion promoted in the Buddha School, the concept of returning to one's true self promoted in the Tao School and tolerance promoted in Confucianism.

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a mind-body cultivation method based on the principles of Truthfulness-Benevolence-Forbearance. Falun Gong originated in traditional Chinese culture and has played an enormously positive role in stabilizing society, improving people's health and elevating people's morality. Falun Gong has spread to over 60 countries and regions and is being practiced by people of different colors and ethnicities. Falun Gong books have been translated into 30 languages and Falun Gong has received over a thousand proclamations.

In July 1999, former Chinese Communist Party General Secretary Jiang Zemin single-handedly launched the persecution of Falun Gong, out of his greed to control the minds of the Chinese people and his jealousy of the Falun Gong founder. He uses the entire nation's apparatus to illegally detain, torture and kill Falun Gong practitioners. According to the Falun Dafa Information Center, since the persecution started in 1999, at least 870 Falun Gong practitioners have been tortured to death. In October 2001, officials from the Chinese government revealed that the death toll had well exceeded 1,600. Moreover, tens of thousands of practitioners have been illegally detained, and over 100,000 practitioners have been sent to forced labor education. Totally disregarding the call from international communities to end the persecution, Jiang's followers keep escalating the persecution of Falun Gong in China, and extending the persecution overseas. He attempts to change the general public's attitude towards Falun Gong by spreading slanderous propaganda and stirring up hatred. In doing so, he has directly damaged traditional Chinese culture.

In the face of such brutal persecution, Falun Gong practitioners have been using peaceful appeals to call upon the international communities to help end the persecution. With their endless efforts during the past four years, they have gained support from more and more countries, organizations and people.

My wife and I are both Falun Gong practitioners. We were detained and beaten and had our home ransacked many times because of our belief. As of now we are still being monitored. At present, numerous practitioners are suffering torture in Chinese forced labor camps, mental hospitals and detention centers. Falun Gong practitioners and people with a sense of justice all over the world are joining efforts to stop the human rights violations in China. However, at this time, several people in the French government ordered the arrest of Falun Gong practitioners, which was driven by economic interests. The arrests not only harm Falun Gong practitioners, they also disgrace France. We deeply regret that such an incident has stained the history of France. I believe you must also feel upset about this incident. As a matter of fact, anyone who has a sense of justice will feel the same way.

Christianity was persecuted for three hundred years. Instead of collapsing, it became more and more prosperous. The principles of Equality and Fellowship promoted by Christianity have become the foundations of western societies. Evil can never defeat righteousness. Those who ridiculed Christ have all become clowns in history.

We are not against any government. We are only against this persecution. We only target those who participate in the persecution. We do not have any political agenda.

I hope that the French government can conduct a serious investigation of this incident and reveal the truth to the world. I also hope they can apologize to those practitioners who were treated unjustly, and take measures to make sure similar incidents will never happen again.

Every person with a sense of justice in the world will pay attention to this incident. I would appreciate it if you could pass my thoughts on to the French government.

Thank you!

A Falun Dafa practitioner in Beijing

P.S. This letter will also be sent to other French institutions in China.