News and Events Around the World -- September 9, 2005

Issued by Clearwisdom Net

On the eve of Chinese president Hu Jintao's visit, a letter signed by more than 100,000 Canadians was delivered to Canadian Prime Minister Martin. The letter requested Martin to urge Hu to stop the persecution of Falun Gong in China during their meeting.

During the past two weeks or so, practitioners from Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa have repeatedly come to Canadian Capitol Hill, Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Citizenship and Immigration to raise awareness of the ongoing persecution of Falun Gong by holding anti-torture exhibitions and collecting signatures. Meanwhile, practitioners have been holding various activities in all major Canadian cities to clarify the truth of the persecution.

MP Kilgour signs letter to Prime Minister

Anti-torture exhibition on Parliament Hill attracts media attention

A Canadian signing the letter

According to local practitioners, many Canadians were shocked by the brutal persecution against good people after watching the anti-torture exhibitions. From the bottoms of their hearts, some even in tears, a lot people told practitioners that the Canadian government should take immediate action, and such a persecution should not have lasted for one day.

Besides the general public, many MPs also wrote to the Prime Minister calling for an end to the persecution. They include Scott Reid, Libby Davies, Rob Anders, Peter Julian, Bill Siksay, Pierre Poilievre, Tony Martin and Alexa McDonough. A Catholic Bishop, Peter R. Coffin, also wrote to the Prime Minister urging the government to take the responsibility to end the persecution.

Chinese-origin Canadians' View on Patriotism

Chinese Embassies and Consulates in Canada have used various means including money and gifts to organize local Chinese residents and students to "welcome" Hu. Regarding this issue, the reporter interviewed Falun Gong practitioner Li Xiaoce who was present at the exhibition site.

Ms. Li said: "Overseas Chinese should know what real patriotism is. It is very normal for overseas Chinese to welcome the Chinese president. However, it is really a shame for Chinese officials to buy overseas Chinese for welcoming the visiting Hu, and for overseas Chinese to comply with the officials. If overseas Chinese really want a strong and promising China, they should have the courage to let the president learn the truth, and to hear people's voices and wishes. Only if everyone from the top leader to the general pubic has a healthy mentality, can a country really grow to prosperity."

"The Chinese Communist Party's persecution against the belief in 'Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance' is the most serious issue in the world. The persecution is a planned campaign to eliminate humanity's fundamental belief and conscience. Without belief and morality, the society will become a den of evil in which humans can't survive. The practitioners' appeal is not against Hu's visit. They just want to let Hu know the truth and urge him to take the right action to make meaningful contributions to China, the general public and human welfare."

Montreal practitioner Yanyu Gao said: "China is not the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). We hope that China will develop prosperity, however the CCP's persecution of Falun Gong is a crime against China, all Chinese and all human beings. During Hu's visit to Canada, we hope that he can see the truth and consequently stop the persecution."

(Clearwisdom.net) In order to rescue Falun Gong practitioners taken into custody and persecuted illegally in China and also their relatives and orphans, on September 1, several British practitioners went to London to the British Prime Minister's office at 10 Downing Street to submit a petition together with more than eight thousand signatures. They also presented a human rights report on Falun Gong by the United Nations.

Practitioners submit a petition to British Prime Minister's office

Prime Minister Blair is scheduled to participate in the Sino-British and Central European summit in China on September 5. Practitioners hoped to take this opportunity to submit the petition, draw the Prime Minister's attention to the persecution of Falun Gong by the evil Chinese Communist Party (CCP), expose the truth to him, and urge him to rescue Falun Gong practitioners taken into custody and persecuted illegally in China, along with their relatives and orphans. A practitioner who participated in this event said: I hope Mr. Blair will protest against the CCP's persecution of more than 100 million people's righteous beliefs. In the past years, many western countries have remained silent regarding the atrocity for political and commercial interests. Such attitudes actually fostered the persecution. The practitioner also stressed that history will judge upon everyone, and Blair should take the right action during his trip to China.

These eight thousand signatures have been collected by practitioners in a rescue effort launched in various places in Britain. Behind these signatures are the practitioners' spirit of perseverance and the kind hearts of thousands of people, and they are also a sign of coming victory of justice over evil.

Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Wang Xiaoyang recounts various methods of torture used in China's Labor camps. Attendees are moved.

A video program exposing the persecution of Falun Gong in China is featured at the meeting.

(Clearwisdom.net) On August 25, 2005, the first conference of a series on China, organized by la Maison des Associations, took place in Geneva. These conferences, held at the suggestion of the Geneva Tibet Support Group (la Porte du Tibet), with the main theme being "For True Democracy in China," offer a series of debates on the Communist regime in China. Representatives of several NGOs were present, notably, Reporters without Borders, Human Rights Watch, the Geneva Tibet Support Group (la Porte du Tibet), and the Swiss Falun Gong Association. Despite the holiday period, the conference was well attended.

To open the evening, two short films were shown. One was about the persecution of Falun Gong raging in China for the past six years, the other was about Chinese occupied Tibet. During this presentation a deep silence could be felt, thus showing the profound impression it made on the public.

A representative of the Swiss Falun Gong Association briefly recalled the escalation of the repression in China which accounted for more than 1,017 deaths from torture over the past six months, bringing the total number of deaths of Falun Gong practitioners from torture to 2,800. This was followed by the most moving moment of the evening when Miss Wang Xiaoyang, a young student from Saint Gall, spoke of her mother who has been in detention in China for the past eight months. She was sentenced to three years in a forced labor camp. Miss Wang reminded the audience of the various cruel methods employed in the camps to transform Falun Gong practitioners. Emotion showed through her voice when she shared with the public her concern over the treatment that her mother must in fact be receiving. She launched a poignant appeal that touched several members of the audience who then offered her their sympathy and best wishes for a positive outcome to the situation.

The next conference will be about the wave of resignations of members of the CCP which will soon amount to 4 million, and which were triggered by the publication of the Nine Commentaries by the independent newspaper Epoch Times International.

In response to Hu's state visit to Canada on Thursday, independent member of Canadian Parliament, Mr. Kilgour accepted that trade was important, but insisted it could not be divorced from human rights issues. Kilgour believes that human rights are more important than trade. Kilgour stated that it was a shame that Hu will be kept well away from a series of demonstrations planned in Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver.

Kilgour said that it was a shame that Hu will be kept away from a series of demonstrations

According to reports from Cybercast News Service on September 7, 2005, judging from past visits by Chinese leaders to Canada, Hu will be kept well away from a series of demonstrations planned in Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver.

A lawmaker who formerly served as Canada's point-man for China, former secretary of state for Asia and the Pacific, David Kilgour, said that was a shame.

According to the report, Falun Gong and Tibetan campaigners, Chinese evangelists and Taiwanese representatives said they were still working out plans for demonstrations during Hu's visit.

Kilgour told Cybercast News Service that human rights issues would be swept under the carpet during the state visit, so Hu and his hosts could concentrate on drumming up more trade and investment.

In an interview Tuesday, Kilgour said it was "...distressing to see how many human rights issues there are ... Tibet, Falun Gong, the treatment of Muslims and Christians. I think we should be giving them a lot more attention than trade."

Kilgour, now an independent member of parliament, accepted that trade was important but insisted it could not be divorced from human rights issues.

Kilgour, who visited China when he was minister responsible for relations with that region, said he was hopeful that when Hu took over as president, there would be advances on human rights issues.

Instead, "Since March 2003, he has been moving more into authoritarian directions, despite our early hopes."

Kilgour noted that both Martin and Governor-General Adrienne Clarkson (who represents Queen Elizabeth II as head of state in Canada and is of Chinese origin) will be hosting lavish dinners for the visiting Chinese leader.

"But he won't meet with Falun Gong, Amnesty International, and the Tibetan people."