News and Activities from Around the World -- January 6, 2006

Issued by Clearwisdom Net

The wet weather receded in time for the 20th anniversary of the London New Year's Day Parade. With more than 10,000 participants this parade is considered "the greatest annual street parade in Europe." The event was attended by an estimated 450,000 Londoners and was also broadcast around the world for Live Satellite Coverage, as well as being covered by the BBC, CNN, Fox news, SKY and CBS.

UK Falun Gong practitioners were back by invitation this year. Their performance was praised as beautiful and peaceful and received applause from the spectators as they passed. The group showed the beauty of Falun Dafa through traditional Chinese music, costume, dance and theater as well as demonstrating the five sets of graceful Falun Dafa exercises.

Leading the group were medallions of "Truthfulness", "Compassion" and "Tolerance", followed by a lively dragon chasing a golden ball. Two golden lions came next - chasing their wagging tails, chasing each other and enchanting the audience with their joviality. Following the lions came the beating tempo of the waist drummers and cymbals, inspiring onlookers to clap in rhythm.

After the drummers came a finely decorated float containing heavenly beings among the clouds. Dressed in stunning classical Chinese costumes, the beautiful women waved and smiled to the audience who were waving and smiling back. In the centre of the float a dignified person dressed as a Buddha was meditating in a lotus flower surrounded by bright srivatsas and taijis. Along with these heavenly beings the Dafa exercises were also being demonstrated.

Following the float came the fan dancers in pastel pink, green, peach, blue and gold costumes. Dancing with delicate elegance to the music of "Falun Dafa Hao", they inspired many photographs and video recordings to be taken. Behind the dancers came the colorful Falun Dafa banners with bright Falun emblems.

Practitioners in the UK respectfully wish revered Master a Happy New Year

Thousands of hand-made lotus flowers and leaflets were distributed to the crowd. The leaflets explained what Falun Gong is and about the brutal persecution which is still happening in China. When the parade passed near London's Chinatown, many Chinese people received informational Video-CDs about the persecution. Even many westerners asked to have more than one leaflet or a VCD, stating that they had Chinese friends or neighbors with whom they wanted to share the information.

On December 29, 2005, residents of San Diego celebrated the holidays with a grand Big Bay Balloon Parade. This is the largest balloon parade in America.

The Big Bay of San Diego is one of the most visited tourist sites. With its blue sky, inviting tide and white sails, it is the must-go place for most tourists. It was a sunny day and the parade teams began to assemble as early at 8:00 a.m.. By 10:00 a.m., the parade started. Thirty-three large colored balloons floated in the air; 15 bands and cheerleaders, as well as funny clowns turned Harbor Drive into a bustling and festive place.

Along the streets from the port to seaport village, about 100,000 spectators watched the parade. The parade was broadcast live on local and national television. The Falun Gong procession stood out among all the parade teams. Their contingency was led by two banners reading, "Falun Dafa is Good" and, "Truthfulness Compassion Tolerance." Next came the waist drum team with all the drummers dressed in golden yellow exercise suits and yellow headbands, carrying their bright red drums. Behind the waist drum team was the Celestial Maiden dance team. The young Falun Dafa women practitioners were dressed in colorful costumes like those in the Dunhuang Murals and danced elegantly to the music. The spectators raised their cameras and camcorders to capture the beautiful scene.

The Big Bay Balloon Parade is regarded as the most prominent parade of San Diego. All participating teams were selected under stringent requirements. The Falun Gong team had participated in a parade in Hollywood on November 27 and was the only Chinese culture team in that parade. Because of its outstanding performance, the TV station gave it three minutes of live broadcast to the whole nation. After that, the Falun Gong team received invitations to some important invitation-only parades. This is the first time that Falun Gong was invited to take part in the Big Bay Balloon Parade.

On December 20, 2005, two Western Falun Gong practitioners visited Thailand's royal representative office in Munich to present an open letter to the Thai Government protesting the human rights abuses against Falun Gong practitioners in Thailand since December 10th.

The letter pointed out that the reason for Falun Gong practitioners staging a protest at the Chinese Embassy in Thailand was that a Chinese policeman in Hebei Province raped two female Falun Gong practitioners in front of his co-workers. However, something unbelievable happened in Thailand on December 6 and 15: under official instruction from the Chinese Embassy, Thai police officers and plainclothes agents forcibly ransacked Falun Gong practitioners' bags, arrested them and confiscated their banners. Their actions resulted in physical injury to the practitioners and damage to their possessions. Some Falun Gong practitioners were unreasonably detained, including women and children.

The letter especially stressed that a free country should not be controlled by Communist China. Bowing to China brings shame to Thailand. Just as the Chinese policeman's coworkers turned a blind eye to the rape, Thailand is impeding legal protest activities against the Chinese Communist regime.

Finally, the letter called on Thailand to immediately release all Falun Gong practitioners who are being illegally held, and compensate for their material losses. They also urged Thailand not to bow to the Chinese Communist regime's intimidation.

The practitioners explained the facts about the persecution against Falun Gong in China to the spokeswoman for the representative office. They also talked about the huge wave of nearly seven million Chinese people withdrawing from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The representative listened to them attentively, and stated that she would definitely forward the information to the Consul. Finally, she wished the huge wave of withdrawing from the CCP a great success, and hoped that the situation concerning the Thai police's ill treatment of Falun Gong practitioners could be resolved.