Jinyu Li's Letter of Appeal to the World of Art

August 27, 2001

My name is Jinyu Li. I am a professional artist living in Montreal. I have 20 years of experience in canvas drawing. Up to this day, I have been on a hunger and thirst strike for 6 days in the front of the Chinese embassy in Ottawa. I do this to show my maximum support for Falun Gong practitioners in China. Currently there are 200 of them that were forced on a hunger strike 28 days ago. They are on the verge of death, and they need the help of the world's people. I hope all Canadians, especially people in the field of art, can show their support, as we are the group in society that has always been the vanguard in seeking intellectual and spiritual freedom.

Like the millions of Falun Gong practitioners in China, these 200 people are suffering from tremendous physical and mental torture for their beliefs. Their sole motive for going through so much pain is for the welfare of humanity. There is nothing selfish in what they do, as they are not interested in material gains or politics. The principle they strive so much to uphold is "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance", which is a summary of the finest nature of mankind, and from which emerges the best deeds and thoughts of the human race. At the same time, the principle of Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance transcends all religions, philosophies and cultures, because it encompasses all of them.

But why does Jiang Zemin treat Falun Gong with such madness? The reason is that Falun Gong is like a mirror that shows all demons' true colors. The values of Falun Gong cover the cultures of all civilizations in history and are the quintessence of virtue. In the past 50 years in China, under Communist rule, people's mind have been distorted so much because of the iron-fisted policies carried out by the totalitarian regime. The communists' way of controlling people is to combine both spiritual torture (endless brainwashing) and physical abuse. They have done so much damage to the people that many of them act like zombies. In 1992, Falun Gong came out and became gradually widespread in China. As many as 100 million individuals took up the practice and regained their lost consciences following the guidance of Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance --- that took only 7 years. As a matter of fact, Jiang is fully aware that Falun Gong would only benefit the people of China. Still, he ordered the vicious crackdown against this practice to vent his anger and jealousy. In the past 2 years, Falun Gong practitioners have done everything they could to tell people the truth, while at the same time peacefully enduring the great sufferings heaped upon them. As of today, 271 of them have been killed because they attempted to protect people's lost consciences.

My husband and my whole family have suffered enormously because of the crackdown. My husband was sentenced, shortly after our marriage, to 18 months in prison in the absence of a trial, and recently they arbitrarily extended that sentence for 6 more months at the end of his jail term. Also, his brother was recently caught and sent to the same labor camp where he is incarcerated.

If you are willing to show your support, please write to the Prime Minister and/or the Department of Foreign Affairs, demanding that they raise their voices in this matter. And, if possible, please send me a copy. Thank you very much for your help.

Contact information omitted.