On the morning of Thursday, July 20th, Oakland practitioners went to the Chinese Consulate in order to deliver a public letter stating our concern. Unfortunately, the main entrance of Consulate was closed. A door beside it was locked and guarded by a Consulate employee. Anyone going inside had to state his or her reasons. After we explained our purpose, we were told the Chinese Consulate was closed today and nobody was in. However, we could see that there were many people inside. We had tried on several occasions to hand out materials to the person who was on guard, but he would not accept anything nor allow any practitioners to enter.
Finally, a Western practitioner proceeded to deliver the letter. Possibly because she is a Westerner, she was allowed entrance to the Chinese Consulate. She did not return for a while, however, when she did she described her experiences inside.
Upon entering the consulate, she told the receptionist: "I am a Falun Dafa practitioner and would like to deliver a letter to the Chinese Consulate General." "The receptionist asked me to wait for a moment. Then a woman came out yelling and pointing at me, then ordered me to leave the premises immediately. She was quite rude and verbally abusive."
Although, we could not enter the Chinese Consulate, the activity of introducing Falun Dafa in front of it was very successful. There were a couple of interesting moments that occurred.
Getting Photographed:
When two of our practitioners arrived very early at the consulate, they noticed a car parked across the street. After several more practitioners arrived, they noticed a middle-aged man hiding in the car while taking photographs and videotaping our group. Several practitioners brought some materials, containing the truth of Falun Dafa to him. From their hearts, they hoped he would get to know the positive aspects of Falun Dafa directly. When they walked to the car, the man refused to accept the materials and tried waving them furiously away with his hand, while keeping the window tightly closed.. When they tried to speak with him, he was so afraid that he suddenly grabbed for his cell phone with trembling hands.
Giving Material to Visitors at the Consulate:
Many people who came to the Chinese Consulate to have their personal matters handled were very open about accepting our materials. However, when they wanted to enter the Chinese Consulate, the guard refused to let them in unless they left the material outside. Therefore, they had to return and ask us to hold the materials for them so they could pick them up on their way out.
The Falun Dafa introduction activities began at 8:30am and ended at noon. Although it was raining the entire day, the Falun Dafa music, "PuDu" and "JiShi," kept playing. Our practitioners held up banners showing "Falun Dafa" and "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance" in the rain.
We appreciated the great support given to us by the Oakland Police Department.
We give our thanks to the Australian practitioners, for preparing Falun Dafa introduction materials for our activity.
Category: Rallies & Protests
