Member of the Swedish parliament, Harald Nordlund's Speech at the Falun Gong Media Event in Stockholm

I was in Gothenburg on 15 July. I came walking in towards the Avenue. From the opposite direction came a procession of 150 people dressed in white and yellow. Peace and tranquility spread over the Avenue. The police were heard to say: you should have come earlier. These peaceful people, guided by the universal principles of Truth, Compassion and Forbearance are regarded as a threat in China. And there the totalitarian power does not listen; it orders, commands, and demands. And when it is met by silence it becomes frightened and feels threatened; and power that feels threatened is dangerous and threatening.

Of course, silence can, when faced by power and claims to power, pose a threat to the power itself. We have many examples of this. Mahatma Gandhi shook the British Empire and Martin Luther King questioned justice in what is usually referred to as the greatest democracy in the world. Self-chosen modesty and poverty are unconquered and powerful forces, which those who lay claim to power and wealth cannot meet.

The regime in China has a great need not only of displaying power but also of creating fear among its people: fear which is a prerequisite for its being able to exert its power. The regime in China is brutal.

Falun Gong is banned in China. Despite this, the number of practitioners is rising. Many practitioners have been unlawfully arrested, tortured, and killed. Many have been put in labour camps and in prisons. And the persecution is worsening by the day. A while ago Chinese leaders said that they will become better at satisfying human rights if only they are allowed to arrange the Olympic Games. Now they have received a positive answer and the violence and the brutality is continuing.

I have very great admiration for your, Falun Gong practitioners', struggle for human rights. Your manifestation is important, but we must all take part in putting our foot down. And where are the party leaders in the struggle for obvious human rights? The silence is too great and must be broken.

We have an example from our own world of culture, a long way west of the Great Wall of China. It is of the son of a carpenter from the town of Nazareth in Galilee about 2000 years ago. Only once did he raise his voice, as well as his hand. That was when he turned on the profiteers and money-lenders who exploited people, including vulnerable people, for their own gain in a temple where peace and tranquility were meant to reign. This man declared, time and time again, that he had no claim to earthly power. "My kingdom is not of this world" he said, and he was put to death.

Member of the Swedish parliament, Harald Nordlund