This article was first published in April 2003.

(Minghui.org) On April 25, 1999, approximately 10,000 Falun Gong practitioners went to appeal to the State Council's Appeals Office on Fuyou Street in Beijing. They requested the release of more than 40 Falun Gong practitioners who were illegally arrested earlier by police in Tianjin. This incident captured the world's attention and triggered a large-scale, still ongoing persecution, launched by dictator Jiang in China. Four years later, carefully examining this incident from a broader perspective, we should now have a better understanding about some fundamental issues.

First of all, Falun Gong practitioners were exercising their rights by appealing as a group. The constitution of China clearly states that citizens have the right to appeal. Tianjin police illegally arrested these practitioners and refused to release them. It was therefore perfectly legal, logical and rational for the practitioners to state their case at the State Council's Appeals Office. They were completely peaceful, shouted no slogans and carried no banners, and did not block traffic. The so-called charge of "besieging Zhongnanhai" was a trumped-up accusation concocted by Jiang's regime to persecute Falun Gong.

In a democratic society like the U.S., more than 10,000 people protested on the day of president Bush's inauguration, yet none of them was charged with "besieging the White House" or "besieging the president." The false charge from Jiang shows exactly his nature.

Secondly, Jiang's regime repeatedly emphasized that the Falun Gong practitioners' appeal had "political motives." This is a typical example of a thief crying, "Stop the thief!" After the Chinese ruling Party came to power, it started numerous political persecutions in the name of "political struggle" or "class struggle." The victims were usually called "enemy of the people with political motives," but those who truly had political motives were the dictators themselves. Facts during the past four years have proven that Falun Gong has no designs on political power, the political party or on the political system. They don't have any political agenda. They never retaliated with violence when they were brutally persecuted, abused and even murdered. All they asked for was the right to practice Falun Gong and to be good people. How can this be a "political motive"? In the eyes of this fanatical dictator, all he sees is power, and all things and people he imagines to be possible threats to his dictatorial rule are seen to have "political motives," so they must be nipped in the bud at all costs. This is the true nature of a paranoid dictator.

The Jiang regime's reports about this incident and Falun Gong have no credibility. The recent handling of the SARS crisis is further proof of the Jiang regime's lack of credibility. The Chinese ruling Party first concealed the truth. It then ordered the health minister to falsify case numbers. Afterwards, the hospitals in China transferred SARS patients to deceive WHO inspectors. What is more shameless is that the state-run media in China angrily accused the overseas media of "being politically motivated" and "making up news with evil intentions" after its own facade was torn down. Although Jiang's regime lied repeatedly out of concern for political power, it furiously attacked the foreign media by calling them "politically motivated" after its lies were exposed. Just like the lies about SARS have cost numerous lives, the lies about Falun Gong have poisoned hundreds of millions of minds. Falun Gong practitioners in China and abroad have persistently clarified the truth to the public during the past four years, counteracting the Jiang regime's lies.

Through the appeal on April 25 and four years of peaceful protests, Falun Gong practitioners have shown themselves to be people who will persist in their faith and will never compromise in the face of violence and dictatorship. We resist the brutal persecution but will never resort to using violence against violence. We will remain peaceful, rational, and unshakable, because we share a firm belief in "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance."

April 21, 2003