News and Activities from Around the World -- January 18, 2006

Issued by Clearwisdom Net

Falun Gong practitioners in Thailand see Huang Guohua and his daughter off at the airport

At 4:00 p.m. on Jan. 15, 2006, in the waiting hall of the Bangkok International Airport in Thailand, Falun Gong practitioners held a farewell ceremony for Huang Guohua and his four-year-old daughter, Huang Ying, who would soon fly to New Zealand. Prior to this, Huang Guohua had been illegally detained at the Bangkok Immigration Detention Center for a month for protesting in front of Communist regime' embassy in Thailand over the Chinese police's acts of violence. Through Falun Gong practitioners' efforts and with help from the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) and the New Zealand government, Huang Guohua and his daughter were eventually freed to be resettled by the UNHCR in New Zealand.

Huang Guohua makes a speech

Huang Guohua said in his short speech, "I hope that the Thai government can stand on the side of righteousness and bravely release the four Falun Gong practitioners still detained. Thailand should repent of its unethical actions."

Falun Gong practitioners' representative Chen Hua said, "Today, I'm happy and sad. I'm happy because Huang Guohua and Kaixin (nickname of Huang Ying) will ultimately head for true freedom! I'm sad because they were escorted to the airport by the Thai Immigration police, and deported like criminals, which, by succumbing to the CCP and participating in the persecution of Falun Gong, has been a big disgrace for Thailand. Here I express my appreciation to New Zealand for embracing Falun Gong practitioners with her broad bosom."

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Background of the incident: On December 10, 2005, Falun Gong practitioners in Thailand came to the Chinese embassy in Bangkok to protest Chinese policeman He Xuejian's recent torture and rape of two women practitioners who were in detention in China. After going in and out of the Chinese embassy, several dozen Thai police came across the street and manhandled some of the peacefully protesting practitioners. The police forcibly dragged some of the practitioners away, searched their bags, took away their banners and checked their IDs, causing injury to the practitioners and their personal belongings. Some Thai police officers expressed that they did not want to interrupt practitioners' peaceful protest, but the Chinese embassy pressured them to do so. On December 15, at the behest of the Chinese embassy, Thai police unreasonably arrested eight Falun Gong practitioners who were peacefully protesting in front of the Chinese embassy. Four practitioners are still being detained to this day.

From January 4 to 14, 2006, the "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance" Fine Art Exhibition was held in Hillhead Library, Glasgow, Scotland. On display were a total of twelve paintings. Five of the paintings depicted the persecution of Falun Gong in China, four showed some of the beauty and grace experienced by people who practice Falun Dafa and the remaining three depicted justice and the efforts to stop the persecution. In the two weeks running up to the exhibition, practitioners in Glasgow posted many invitations to universities, councilors and the media, as well as put up posters and handed out leaflets. On the morning of the 4th we hung the paintings and set out a table decorated with lotus flowers, informational VCD's, leaflets and a book for comments.

Over the course of ten days the paintings touched the hearts and souls of many people. The Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance Art Exhibition really allows people to understand the truth on a deeper level. While explaining the paintings to the people of Glasgow, we were able to introduce to them the idea of the existence of gods with the painting, "Fulfilling Vows," the true beauty of the practice with "In Harmony," the principle of karmic retribution with "Justice" and the courage of the practitioners in China with "Uncompromising Courage." This is not possible simply with petitions and handing out leaflets.

What struck us most was how happy and peaceful people were after viewing the pictures. We had a comment book on a table asking people to write their thoughts and feelings about the persecution. One comment read, "This exhibition touched me, it cannot be underestimated for its importance in spreading the awareness of this torture. The artists are very courageous people with beautiful hearts.....thank you."
Another comment stated, "I have gone through the CD which I got through the exhibition, it really touched my heart. It's very painful to see people being tortured in China. I will pray to God to help people come out of this dilemma."

Several people expressed their wish to learn Falun Gong, so we gave them information about the classes. One Chinese man approached us and said, "After leaving China I feel a sense of freedom. I am free to think what I want, believe what I want and say what I want. I support you Falun Gong people; you're doing a good job."

We also invited our family members to view the paintings. My dad was fairly pessimistic about the idea and said, "It better not be religious." After viewing the paintings and learning the inner meanings behind them he said, "Torture will never change people's hearts." I noticed the happiness and brightness in my family's eyes when they were leaving. We are now planning to hold as many art exhibitions in Glasgow as possible. The Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance Art Exhibition is a sacred gift given to the world's people in Fa-rectification. We practitioners in Glasgow feel proud to have had the chance to show local people the power, beauty and grace of Falun Gong through this exhibition We hope to touch many more people's hearts in the future.