L'Est Republicain (France): "A Repressed Practice" (Photo)
(Clearwisdom.net) This is an article published on May 28, 2008, in L'Est Républicain, a daily newspaper from the eastern part of France.
The article was written following a conference on Falun Gong in Nancy on May 19, 2008. A Falun Gong practitioner who escaped the persecution in China, Feng Yajun, was invited, as well as Michel Wu, former head of the China branch of Radio France International, and Alain Tong, president of the Falun Gong Association in France.
L'Est Republicain
May 27, 2008
A repressed practice
The emotions are strong. Memory revives fragile scars left by torture, prison, and death. But in spite of it all, Feng Yajun, 39 years old, born in the province of Liaoning in China, is determined in her new fight to testify as a witness of the genocide associated with a practice that is now banned in China.
Hard to remain indifferent
The story begins in 1992 with the introduction of Falun Gong, a physical and spiritual movement inspired by Buddhism. "My family and I were practicing this traditional qigong method that is similar to Tai Chi and yoga. In 1997 my parents bought the Paradise Bookstore, where we used to store documents linked to the method, which is practiced by more than 100 million people around the world."
The general enthusiasm however unnerved the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
The practitioners were more numerous than CCP members, not to mention group
gatherings that worry CCP leaders. There were also CCP members who themselves
practiced. With the interdiction in July 1999, paradise turned into hell. The
610 Office set up by the authorities has one goal: eradicate all
these "dissidents" in the country.
"Our bookstore went bankrupt, our home was ransacked, my parents were put
in jail and tortured to death, my brother is wanted, and I myself spent two
years of forced labor in a place stained with blood."
Her voice choking with emotion, Yajun will not stop telling her story with
powerful yet very real words: persecution, arrests, torture, organ trafficking,
and brainwashing. The facts are overwhelming.
By her side for the evening conference organized by the Maitreya Association,
Michael Wu from RFI China, and Alain Tong, president of the Falun Gong
Association in France, who said, "As of today, 3150 people have been
tortured to death. The movement is called a sect. It's pure defamation by the
regime to justify its repression. One of our missions to fight injustice is to
clarify the truth. With such acts, human rights are trampled and many innocent
people suffer. This has to stop."
It is hard to remain indifferent in the face of such a presentation, whose fight defends a cause born of three fundamental values: Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance.