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Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Vancouver Chinese Consulate vs Falun Gong

Well said Mark!

Mark Hasiuk, Vancouver Courier

Published: Wednesday, May 27, 2009

THE CHINESE CONSULATE

Van Courier: Last February, following years of legal wrangling, Falun Gong practitioners dismantled their shack outside the Chinese consulate on Granville and 16th Avenue.

Yet the consulate still stands--a grim and grey reminder of China's many sins, which include censoring political speech, silencing government critics, controlling the press, limiting Internet access, detaining without trial, torturing prisoners, restricting freedom of speech and assembly and association and religion, beating Tibetan monks and leading the world in capital punishment. With the possible exception of B.C. Place, the Chinese consulate is the most offensive structure in Vancouver.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Six thousand Falun Gong practitioners form 3-D ‘Zhuan Falun’ book

Taiwan Celebrates World Falun Dafa Day

By Ao Manxiong
Epoch Times Staff
May 10, 2009


In the morning of May 9, over six thousand Falun Gong practitioners gathered at the Puding Prairie in Kenting, Taiwan, and lined up to form the book Zhuan Falun. (Wu Bohua/The Epoch Times)
World Falun Dafa Day
PINGTUNG, Taiwan—May 13, 2009, is World Falun Dafa Day and the seventeenth anniversary since Falun Dafa's founder, Mr. Li Hongzhi, began teaching in China. There will be celebrations all around the world.

Six thousand Falun Gong practitioners in Taiwan gathered at the Puding Prairie in Kenting, in southern Taiwan, on the morning of May 9—lining up to form an image of Mr. Li’s book Zhuan Falun. The activity was to celebrate and commemorate the spread and blessing of Falun Dafa as well as to show their respect and gratefulness to Mr. Li.

Cheng Chi-Mei, organizer of the activity said, “Lining up to form the book Zhuan Falun is the first time practitioners in Taiwan composed the three Chinese characters ‘Li-Hong-Zhi’ and formed a three-dimensional Zhuan Falun book. Also, we have broken the record with the largest number of people joining in an activity of forming these Chinese characters.”

Chen Gui-lin was in charge of location planning. “Many Falun Gong practitioners went three days without sleep to decorate the area in gusty winds. The Puding Prairie has Mt. Tajian in the background and the Pacific Ocean in the front. One can see the Eluanbi Lighthouse from afar. The Lighthouse symbolizes Zhuan Falun being a guide of hope and light.

More than six thousand Falun Gong practitioners gathered at the Puding Prairie in Kenting, southern Taiwan, and did the five Falun Dafa exercises together, May 9. (Wu Bohua/The Epoch Times)



















“In previous years, the celebrations of World Falun Dafa Day were often held at the Chiang-Kai-Shek Memorial Hall in Taipei or tourist spots in central Taiwan. This is the first time we have moved the celebration to the southern tip of Taiwan,” said Chen.

At 10 a.m. on May 9, in the Celestial Marching Band played music, while 6,000 practitioners wearing white and yellow lined up and wished Mr. Li Hongzhi a happy birthday. They then did the five Falun Gong exercises and participated in a parade through the streets. The celebration ended at 6 p.m.

Hong Ji-hong, member of the Falun Dafa Association in Taiwan, said that everyone came to the prairie out of gratitude. “They joined the sacred and meaningful activity to celebrate Mr. Li’s birthday and World Falun Dafa Day.”

The practitioners that joined the character-forming activity came from all walks of life. The oldest was 98-year-old Ma from Tainan city, and the youngest was 4-year-old Hsu Fa-En. Before Ma practiced Falun Gong, his health was poor, “I spent my days taking pills and injections. I was better dead than alive. My greatest fortune came when I had the opportunity to learn Falun Dafa 10 years ago. Shortly thereafter I was pain and illness free.”

Four-year-old Hsu came with his father from Taipei. He sat with his legs crossed among other practitioners and said, “I am a young practitioner. Falun Dafa is good. I wish Teacher happy birthday.”

Mr. Li Hongzhi started teaching Falun Gong on May 13, 1992, in Changchun city, northeastern China. Seventeen years later, Falun Dafa has spread to over 80 countries in the world. On May 13, 2000, practitioners celebrated the first World Falun Dafa Day to let the people of the world understand the significance of this day.

The book Zhuan Falun has been translated into over 30 languages and is the main text of Falun Gong.

Read original article in Chinese.

Prime Minister Harper Sends Greetings for Falun Dafa Month

Epoch Times Staff May 13, 2009


()
World Falun Dafa Day

Contents of Letter:

May 2009

Greetings from the Prime Minister

I am pleased to extend my personal greetings to the Falun Dafa Association of Canada as you celebrate Falun Dafa month.

Canadians are blessed to live in a country that embraces the many cultures and traditions of the world. Canada draws tremendous strength from its democratic heritage. As Canadians, we are grateful for Canada's shared values of openness and tolerance and the freedom of conscience and religion, which honour our unparalleled diversity and the foundations of our democratic society.

As you celebrate the 17th anniversary of the introduction of Falun Dafa to the public, I commend the Falun Dafa Association of Canada for sharing your practices and traditions with the public. On behalf of the Government of Canada, I extend my best wishes for a joyous and memorable celebration.

Sincerely,

The Rt. Hon. Stephen Harper, P.C., M.P.
Prime Minister of Canada

Rally and Grand Parade Celebrate Falun Dafa Day in Hong Kong

Epoch Times Staff May 13, 2009


Falun Gong practitioners of Hong Kong celebrate World Falun Dafa Day and wish Mr. Li Hongzhi a happy birthday. (Li Ming/Epoch Times)
World Falun Dafa Day
HONG KONG May 13, 2009 is the tenth anniversary of the World Falun Dafa Day, and the seventeenth anniversary of Falun Gong being taught to the public. Also, it is the fifty-eighth birthday of Mr. Li Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Gong. To celebrate the upcoming holiday, Falun Gong practitioners in Hong Kong staged a grand assembly and parade on Sunday, May 10. Many local people, mainlanders, and foreign tourists stopped to watch along the parade route.

According to the coordinator of the event, because Hong Kong is so close to mainland China, we hope that by having this event, they will want to tell their fellow Chinese in the mainland: "Falun Dafa is wonderful." In the meantime, they hope that more people will learn the facts and then step up to stop the Chinese Communist Party's persecution.

The harmonious music of the Falun Gong exercises rises over the Recreation Complex at Cheung Sha Wan in Kowloon at 10 am, as hundreds of Falun Gong practitioners start their group exercises there.

The resounding music of the Divine Land Marching band played during the afternoon marking the start of the celebration activities.

The Divine Land Marching Band parades through Hong Kong. (Li Ming/Epoch Times)
















Mr. Leung, a local resident came specially for the events. “I have participated many times!” he said, and he felt that “truthfulness-compassion-forbearance” is rooted in practitioners' hearts, so they're in perfect order. “Since there are Falun Gong practitioners, not only is there hope in China, but hope in the entire world. As long as the CCP still exists, the world won't be very promising,” he commented emotionally.

Tourist from Mainland China: 'Stunning! Super!'

Around 2 pm, the grand parade started with the Divine Land Marching Band, they routed through the busiest streets in Kowloon. All the practitioners in the float held all kinds of banners and flags, which drew attention from many local residents and tourists. Many tourists from mainland China expressed their surprise. A young female tourist told the reporter: “I am from the mainland, and have never seen this before, I feel stunned!” the other female tourist holding up Falun Gong related fliers and a DVD said happily: “Super!” and added few times: “I support Falun Gong!”
The parade drew the attention of Hong Kongers. (Li Ming/Epoch Times)

















Many people took pictures behind the scenes along the route. A young tourist from mainland China said excitedly: “I have never seen this in mainland China, it's my first time even in Hong Kong, this is very exciting, very interesting!” A senior tourist said: “It's a liberal and democratic society in Hong Kong, you can say whatever you want, people have freedom.”

A lady holding a child said she believed in her heart: “It's different in mainland China, and Hong Kong is different (from China), I feel they are two different worlds.” She also said that she's supportive of Falun Gong's peaceful efforts to stop the persecution.

Sunday, May 10, 2009

A Special Wish on Mother's Day

Asking for freedom of prisoners of conscience

Epoch Times By Jin Pang May 10, 2009


Jin Pang and her mother (left). (Jin Pang)

















If I knew this day would come, when I could not talk to my mom on Mother¹s Day, or even find out if she was safe and unharmed, I would have cherished every single moment I spent with her.

Sunday will be a sad day for me. It will be the first Mother’s Day in my life that I can¹t talk to my Mom. Instead, I will be worrying about her wellbeing, because she has been held for over nine months in a detention center in China, simply for her belief in Falun Gong, a spiritual meditation practice banned by the communist regime.

On July 9, 2008, to “prepare” for the Olympics, about a dozen police broke into my parents’ home in Weifang, Shandong Province, and confiscated three laptops, two desktop computers, a digital camera, some bank deposits, Falun Gong informational materials and other personal belongings worth an estimated 50,000 yuan (about $7,000). On the same day, about 100 other Falun Gong practitioners were also arrested in the same city.

Three weeks later, on July 29, 2008, just one week before the Beijing Olympics, the police took away my parents while they were at a friend’s house, and held them in the Weifang City detention center. Afterwards, they ransacked my parents' house again and took many valuable personal belongings, including the rest of the bank deposits. My father was released one month later because he doesn’t practice Falun Gong, but my mother has been detained ever since.

This isn’t the first time that my mother has been persecuted for her belief. She has been practicing Falun Gong and following the core principles of its teachings—Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance—since 1995, when people from all walks of life were performing the Tai-chi like exercises in almost every park in China. As with millions of others, Falun Gong benefited my mom both mentally and physically, curing her dermatosis and greatly improving her disposition.

But the Communist Party, irrationally fearing that Falun Gong’s increasing popularity could be a potential threat to its power, banned it in 1999, and has been carrying out a ruthless campaign against it since then.

In January 2000, my mom and eight other Falun Gong practitioners began practicing the exercises quietly in a public square. After a few minutes, all of them were arrested and taken to a local police station. That night, they were detained in a cold cement cell that was less than nine square meters, where they were shocked with electric batons and beaten with spiked clubs.

After 11 days of torture, my mom had lost a front tooth, the skin all over her body was burned, and her legs were full of bruises and covered in blood. She was released after the police extorted 2,000 yuan (about US $300, more than a month’s average salary in that city) from my father.

During the past 9 months of detention, no family members were allowed to see my Mom. I don’t have any information about her. I am afraid they may be torturing her again. On many nights, I have awakened in tears after dreaming about her.

My mother isn¹t the only one in this situation. According to the Falun Dafa Information Center, over 8,000 Falun Gong practitioners throughout China were detained before and during the 2008 Olympics, and 104 were persecuted to death, which brings the total death toll to 3263 in the ten-year persecution.

It may be hard for people who live in the free world to imagine someone being persecuted for doing things we take for granted here, such as reading religious teachings, doing yoga-like exercises and downloading information about human rights from the Internet.

But that has not stopped many kind-hearted Americans from lending their generous support. From the 3,000 Missourians who signed petitions to rescue my Mom, to the 18 state representatives and senators, to Congressman Blunt, Congressman Clay, and Senator McCaskill, who wrote to the Chinese government or Secretary Clinton about my mother's case, I can see the spirit and founding principles that make this nation truly great. I am deeply touched by all the support given to me.

There are also many other sons and daughters whose mothers have been imprisoned, tortured and even killed in this persecution. Most of them endure their grief silently, as they are not as fortunate as I to have this opportunity to tell their mothers' stories.

May all the mothers who are prisoners of conscience be set free! This is my special wish on this Mother’s Day.

Jin Pang is a graduating MBA student in Missouri State University in Springfield, MO.

Monday, May 04, 2009

China and the Falun Gong:Abraham L. Halpern

May 4, 2009 - Letter To the Editor:

Re “After 10 Years and 2,000 Deaths, China Still Presses Its Crusade Against Falun Gong” (news article, April 28):

NY Times: At a meeting of the World Psychiatric Association in 2004, the Chinese Psychiatric Society agreed to allow an independent review committee to investigate reports of involuntary psychiatric “treatment” of non-mentally ill Falun Gong practitioners.

In short order, however, the Chinese government forbade such interference in its internal affairs.

In subsequent years, many American and other foreign psychiatrists have visited China, but no inspection of any of the maximum-security psychiatric institutions has taken place. Reports of misuse of psychiatry in China persist.

Abraham L. Halpern
Palm Beach, Fla., April 28, 2009

The writer is emeritus professor of psychiatry at New York Medical College.