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Script:
Falun Gong is freely practiced in more than 50 countries around the world, but relentlessly persecuted in China. The peaceful courage of practitioners there has shocked their oppressors and moved the people of the world. While China continues to block all information, FGMTV brings you the stories you may not hear anywhere else.
Hello, and welcome to FGMTV on December 24th, 2001.
I'm Susan Mitchell.
Our top story this week:
Fulfilling the prediction reported last week on FGMtv, the Chinese government begins a new propaganda campaign against Falun Gong. CCTV, China's state television, broadcast gruesome video footage of a murdered family and falsely claimed it to have been a crime committed by a Falun Gong practitioner, despite the fact that the teachings of Falun Gong strictly prohibit suicide and killing.
And some of our other stories:
In this week's update from China:
Associated Press reported on Friday, December 21st that five of the Western practitioners of Falun Gong who had gone to Beijing's Tiananmen Square on November 20th held a news conference in Hong Kong. They told media that, contrary to Chinese news reports saying they were treated with 'humanity and fairness', in actuality, they had been beaten, bloodied and bruised by mainland police.
"When I was sitting in meditation, I was lifted by my hair and pulled by my arms,'' said Lilian Staf, a 25-year old Swede who works in London, England.
Ms. Staf said police had dragged her into a minivan, holding her so tightly it felt like her skin was being penetrated and leaving her in pain, (quote) ''so intense it made my whole body numb.''
Zenon Dolnyckij was one of the five foreigners in Hong Kong on Friday. Zenon's photo was featured on major Web sites and on the front pages of major newspapers around the world as Chinese police pulled him off his feet in Tiananmen Square. He is shown here being interviewed by FGMtv and Radio Free Asia on his return from Beijing.
The 35 demonstrators in Beijing included people from Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Sweden, Switzerland, Spain, England and the USA.
The Chinese government has told its citizens that Falun Gong is persecuted all over the world. The group of 35 said they wanted Chinese citizens to see that the group practices freely in more than 50 countries.
After practicing their slow-motion meditative exercises in a Hong Kong park early Friday, the five foreigners and local practitioners delivered a letter to the Hong Kong government.
The South China Morning Post, Hong Kong's leading English-language newspaper, reported on Saturday, December 22nd that Falun Gong members have filed a multi-million dollar defamation lawsuit in a Canadian court against a Hong Kong newspaper group for carrying an article that likened its members to September 11 terrorists. The article appeared in Hong Kong and overseas editions of Sing Tao Daily.
The suit, filed in Toronto on Wednesday by Falun Gong lawyer Rocco Galati, is against Sing Tao's Canadian operation, jointly owned by the Hong Kong Sing Tao group and the Toronto Star newspaper group. Sing Tao publishes editions in major Canadian cities. Mr. Galati is representing 156 Falun Gong members -- including the three Hong Kong residents whose photos appeared in the article.
Public court documents show the claimants are demanding more than C$13 million, or C$85,000 each, in damages. The plaintiffs are also demanding a front-page apology and a court order banning Sing Tao from publishing defamatory articles against Falun Gong.
Mr. Galati said he would seek to turn the lawsuit against Sing Tao into a class action that could involve thousands of claimants.
When contacted by the South China Morning Post, Sing Tao declined comment.
Moving now to South Africa
On December 15 and 16, 2001, Falun Dafa practitioners from Sweden, South Africa, and Lesotho gathered together in Chinatown in Johannesburg. They set up a Photo Exhibition, played videos and answered questions to clarify the truth of Falun Gong and distributed flyers and newspapers to local Chinese citizens. They also demonstrated the five Falun Gong exercises.
And now to New Zealand...
where practitioners in the sunny east coast city of Napier invited their friends from other parts of the country to help them establish a new practice site. On the same day, there was going to be a Christmas parade and they quickly received permission to walk with their Christmas hats and bright banners, distributing about a thousand bookmarks with Falun Dafa contact information to sightseers along the route.
And in this week's update from China:
The Falun Dafa Information Center in New York, issued a news release on December 24, 2001 saying that eyewitnesses have reported two more female Falun Gong practitioners killed in custody in separate incidents. These deaths bring the current toll of confirmed deaths to 329, although reliable sources inside the Chinese government say the actual number exceeds 1,600 as of October 2001.
Ms. Zuo Shuchun was killed during the act of force-feeding in Baimalong Labor Camp in Hunan Province in March 2001. On the fourth day of a hunger strike by a number of mistreated Falun Gong practitioners, guards shoved down her throat a long bamboo tube that had been cut and sharpened. She died shortly thereafter.
In the second reported death, Ms. Li Xiumei, 58 from Dalian City, Liaoning Province died on December 16, 2001. She was detained in Yaojia Detention Center in Dalian City, where she went on a hunger strike. She was sent to a hospital when she was near death, and died after rescue attempts failed.
"These two incidents happened in two different regions of China," said Falun Dafa Information Center spokesperson Gail Rachlin. "But they demonstrate the pervasive mentality of extreme reaction to non-violent behavior, such as hunger strikes." Ms. Rachlin continued, "Jiang Zemin and the 610 Office have emboldened police to act recklessly against good people. As the information finds its way outside the labor camps, prisons, and detention centers, good people all over China and throughout the world are having their eyes opened to the evil of this persecution."
On December 23rd, 2001 a United States District Court handed down a judgment against a senior official of Hubei Province, China, for his role in instigating and carrying out the persecution of Falun Dafa (Falun Gong) practitioners in China.
United States District Court Judge Denise Cote entered a default judgment on December 21, 2001, against the Communist Chinese Head of Public Security for Hubei Province, Mr. Zhao Zhifei. The complaint charged Zhao with wrongful death, torture, crimes against humanity, and other gross violations of international human rights law against Falun Dafa practitioners in his home province of Hubei. Zhao was served with the summons and a copy of the complaint last July in New York City while traveling in the U.S.
The day after Zhao Zhifei was served, he boarded a plane for China and did not return to the U.S. According to reliable sources inside China, soon after Zhao's return to China, a massive hunt for the plaintiff, Mr. Peng Liang, and other Falun Gong practitioners in Hubei Province began, particularly for those believed to have assisted Peng Liang "transmit information over the internet." These sources say that many Falun Gong practitioners in Wuchang district whom the police thought to be associated with Peng Liang were arrested and tortured.
The plaintiff, Peng Liang was arrested on August 30th, 2001 and then disappeared. His whereabouts are still unknown.
Peng Liang had entrusted Falun Gong practitioners in the U.S. to sue Zhao Zhifei after both his brother and mother were tortured to death by police. Numerous eyewitnesses confirmed that police beat Peng Liang's younger brother, Peng Min, on January 9 of this year, causing a fracture in his fifth vertebra and a compression bone fracture in his neck vertebra, resulting in complete paralysis. He died on April 6, 2001. Peng Liang's mother Li Yingxiu died in the same hospital on April 29, 2001. Her husband, the senior Peng, discovered numerous injuries on his wife's head and thickened, dried blood in her mouth while inspecting her body. The police told him the reason for Li Yingxiu's death was that she "talked too much" after her son's death.
In early October during the China-US human rights dialogue in Washington DC, a propaganda campaign initiated by Chinese state-run media attacked the lawsuit claiming that Peng Liang's brother and mother both died of natural causes.
Carey R. D'Avino, attorney for the plaintiff, declared "The default judgment today proves that the barbarous allegations in the complaint are true. The defendant and the Chinese Government do not have the courage to face a fair trial in a free country. The United States Department of State will be notified of the Judge's decision and we will discuss with them an appropriate diplomatic response."
Voice of America has now reported the beating to death of Ms. Zhang Min, a Falun Gong follower who was arrested November 28th, 2001 while distributing literature explaining the truth of the persecution against Falun Gong. Sources have advised that Han Yunjie, head of the Yilin County Police Department and some of his officials beat her for 60 hours while she was hung from a heating pipe by her handcuffs. Afterwards, she was sent to the Yilan County No. 2 Detention Center to be force-fed salt water. During the force-feeding, she drowned from salt water entering her lungs.
Short stories of those in China who didn't believe that good is rewarded and evil is punished:
Western viewers might think it strange that we would link fatalities and calamities to the persecution of Falun Gong. Orthodox cultivation paths and religions from both East and West teach that good will be rewarded and evil will be punished. Falun Gong is an ancient traditional path to enlightenment that stresses moral goodness -- just like traditional Western teachings. According to government sources inside China, more than 1,600 Falun Gong practitioners have been tortured to death. Those who persecute goodness will suffer.
A special appeal is being made to the Taiwan Overseas Association and World Human Rights Organizations to rescue
Ms. Xiang Lijie, a Chinese woman who is married to a Taiwanese citizen. Ms. Xiang benefited a great deal from practicing Falun Gong. On travelling to Beijing to appeal to the Chinese government she was illegally arrested and sent to a forced labor camp for one and a half years.
After being released from the labor camp, she asked for permission to return to Taiwan to join her family. The "610 Office" of Changchun City, Jilin Province, refused to process her request. Ms. Xiang was forced to leave her home to avoid constant harassment by police. On December 5th, 2001, she was again arrested by the police while distributing literature and is currently imprisoned in the Liaoyuan Detention Center. No one is allowed to visit and her situation is very dangerous.
Telephone numbers of the relevant authorities are posted on the ClearWisdom Web site. Just search for 'Xiang Lijie' and you will find the article to access.
and finally...
More than 600 proclamations, citations and resolutions honoring Falun Gong and its founder have been issued in the United States. On a New York State Citation dated December 19, 2001 it is written:
Whereas a great State is only as great as those individuals who perform exemplary service on behalf of their community, whether through unique achievement in professional or other endeavors, or simply through a lifetime of good citizenship; and
Whereas Master Li Hongzhi teaches Falun Dafa, a high-level personal cultivation system from China and Master Li Hongzhi's teachings are helping to improve our society and has worked tirelessly to bring Falun Dafa to the rest of the world; now therefore be it
Resolved, That this legislative body pause in its deliberations to pay tribute to Master Li Hongzhi on his commitment to Falun Dafa; and be it further that a copy of this citation be transmitted to Master Li Hongzhi.
signed by Assembly member Jacob E. Gunther III
A second Citation signed by Senator Ada L. Smith honoring Falun Dafa Week in Orange County of New
York was also presented to Falun Dafa practitioners at the same time.
Thanks for watching FGMtv, dedicated to breaking through China's information blockade, revealing propaganda, and bringing you the truth of Falun Gong.