July 20th marked the 10th anniversary of the day when Jiang Zemin's Chinese Communist government decided to wipe out the then 7 year-old Falun Gong religious/spiritual movement, founded by Li Hongzhi in 1992.
Jiang and his army, secret police and government elements had set a timetable of three months to destroy the pacifist Falun Gong by ruining their reputations, bankrupting the movement and destroying them physically by throwing hundreds of thousands of them into prison. Subsequently thousands have been killed and others have had their organs harvested for sale
Instead Falun Gong have managed to spread the word all over the world with their publication "The Epoch Times" and their television network "New Tang Dynasty Television”.
The Chinese Communist Party has found it hard to defame Falun Gong. They are very peaceful, believing in and practicing "truthfulness, compassion and tolerance". The organization has no paid members.
To mark the event there have been candlelight vigils and rallies held in Washington D.C., Australia, Japan, Israel, Taiwan, and England.
Alex Neve, Secretary General of Amnesty International Canada said "the ten-year anniversary is a very somber and troubling one that marks a decade of severe systematic human rights violations against Falun Gong practitioners throughout China."
As of July 22, 2009 Falun Gong count 57,701,143 Chinese who have quit the Chinese Communist Party. Of that number 10% are from the main leading communist party whereas the rest are from other elements of the party.
Falun Gong hope that one day their motto of "truthfulness, compassion and tolerance" will guide the direction of China.
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kathy gillis06 Aug 2009 18:32
What can we do? We can tell everyone we know the truth about this matter. We can stop buying China's products which are often made in "labour camps", in other words, forced labour. We can refuse to believe anything the Chinese Communist Party says and instead take it for granted that whatever they say is the opposite of the true situation. And we can behave like compassionate humans .
west esto05 Aug 2009 18:08
I don't know what the situation is like in Toronto, but in Vancouver the Falun Gong have become very familiar to Vancouverites driving past south Granville Street, where they have held 24/7 silent protest and vigil since 2001.
The Falun Gong protesters have maintained their vigil throughout the years, even after a young protestor in 2007 was attacked and beaten at gun-point by 3 Asian men, whom many believe were involved with the Chinese communist government.
Early this year, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Stromberg-Stein ruled in favour of the City of Vancouver, which had taken the Falun Gong to court demanding that they dismantle their signs of protest and a small sheltered hut they had built to protect them from during rain. Stating 3 complaints had been received of their "aesthetic nature".
It had been received with mixed emotion in Vancouver. Vancouverites had come to support and become attached to this vigil. It was something that was not only important to our very large Chinese minority but to any Canadian and most certainly any landed immigrant who has suffered under the hands of any communist or oppressive regime.
Many, including former Mayor Campbell, found it very strange that with all of the City Bylaw infractions in Vancouver why this one was of such high concern.
Although the signs and the shelter have now been dismantled, luckily, the Falun Gong are still holding strong and continue their silent protest 24/7 on Granville Street. Although, in times of rain, an umbrella now replaces that small little hut that Vancouverites eventually became accustomed to.
When I think of Estonians and their struggle for keeping hope alive through the communist regime, I don't for a second think any differently for the Chinese people and those who seek the the same for their country and countrymen.
kathy gillis31 Jul 2009 13:59
This is the most accurate report that I have seen yet on the%@!#$&'of Falun Gong and its practitioners.
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