The Independent: Letter to the Editor

Monday, October 08, 2001

Dear Sir:

Re: Falun Gong proponents seek support in struggle against suppression in China (Sept.19)

Thanks so much for your front page photo and extensive report of the 5 walkers who came through Brighton on their way from Toronto to Ottawa, as part of the SOS Global Walk to urgently rescue millions of practitioners of Falun Gong who are being persecuted in China. It's great that your readers who weren't able to actually meet the walkers in person could learn about this global initiative.

I wasn't surprised to read that the Chinese Consul General in Toronto had, the day before the walkers arrived, delivered a letter to Mayor Lou Rinaldi slandering Falun Gong. Chinese officials have been pressuring Canadian officials from coast to coast. Their rhetoric has become more and more far-fetched as their crackdown has intensified.

In a recent report, the United Nations calls the Chinese government's action against Falun Gong "State Terrorism", adding that (unlike the conversation The Independent staff had with Chinese Consular staff), the only people that have died were killed by Chinese government authorities who beat or tortured them to death.

Throughout the brutality of the last two years, practitioners of Falun Gong have never retaliated with violence, even though millions (according to the UN) have been affected and more than 1000 (according to Chinese government sources) have been murdered. Governments around the globe have condemned China for this action and the Nobel Committee has placed Falun Gong Founder, Mr. Li Hongzhi, on its short list for the Nobel Peace Prize to be announced this Friday, October 12^th. Would they have done that if this practise based on the universal principles of truth, compassion and forbearance was not worthy?

Sincerely,

Susan Mitchell