(Clearwisdom.net) Falun Gong practitioners held a rally and parade on April 28, 2007 in London to commemorate the eighth anniversary of the "April 25 Peaceful Appeal." The rally and parade also condemned the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) eight years of persecution and its crime of harvesting organs from living people, and supported the 20 million people having withdrawn from the CCP and its affiliated organizations.

At 11:00 a.m. Falun Gong practitioners held a rally opposite the Chinese Consulate in London. Chairman of the UK Falun Dafa Association Mr. Peter Jia Hao, Vice President of the UK Falun Gong Friends John Dee, and Falun Gong practitioner representative Jiang Xinxia spoke at the rally. Lancaster TD MP, David Marshall MP and Mark Hunter MP and others sent letters to express their support.

Expose the CCP's Brutal Persecution

Peter introduced that Falun Gong is a peaceful cultivation method with an emphasis on "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance." In 1999, more than 100 million people practiced Falun Gong in China, the CCP regime could not tolerate Chinese people's belief in Falun Gong and launched a persecution campaign. The CCP has been brutally persecuting Chinese people. During Falun Gong practitioners' eight years of peaceful resistance against the persecution, there has never been a single case in which Falun Gong practitioners take violent action.

Mr. John Dee said that the CCP must be held accountable for launching the most serious persecution in human history. The CCP attempts to make use of the Olympic Games to propagate itself. He called upon all governments to exert pressure on the CCP, and ask the CCP to stop the persecution.

Ms. Jiang Xinxia, who was detained by the CCP, told of her painful experience of being persecuted in China. Ms. Jiang was arrested for going to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong on July 21, 1999. The CCP police deprived her of sleep for two consecutive weeks, forcing her to watch videos slandering Falun Gong. The police also went to her hometown to threaten her aging mother. When her mother learned that her daughter would be sentenced to eight to ten years of imprisonment, she was so worried that her hair turned white overnight.

Ms. Jiang was arrested for the second time in 2004 for spreading the facts about Falun Gong. The police brutally tortured her and poisoned her with unknown drugs. Ms. Jiang recalled, "The police put some unknown drugs into my food. After I ate it, I was unable to control myself, and felt very hungry. I drooled like an animal. Later, I was extremely weak, and collapsed to the ground." She said that the CCP's persecution once made her feel that she would rather die than live. She hoped the staff working in the Chinese Consulate would clearly see the CCP's evil nature, bravely quit the CCP and not longer be associated with it.

UK Citizen Calls for Rescue of Her Younger Sister

Ms. Liang Zhenni, who has recently calling for rescue of her younger sister who is illegally detained by the CCP, especially came from Nottingham to take part in this activity. Ms. Liang thought such an activity of exposing the CCP's persecution is very significant. She said that the CCP has turned its persecution of Falun Gong from publicly to covertly in order to avoid condemnation. But the persecution has continued over the past years. People who have not learned about the true situation had the misunderstanding that the persecution did not exist. Ms. Liang gave an example of how her younger sister and her brother-in-law were arrested prior to the 2007 Chinese New Year for practicing Falun Gong. Without going through any legal procedure, they were sentenced to two years of forced labor. This fact proves that the CCP has never stopped its persecution.

When talking about the relationship between exposing the persecution and supporting the withdrawals from the CCP organizations, Ms. Liang said that the CCP has denied its persecution of the Chinese people, particularly its heinous act of harvesting organs from living people that was recently exposed to the public. Since the CCP came into power, it has never stopped killing Chinese people, only the approaches are different. She pointed out that only if the CCP crumbles, can these problems be resolved, including human rights issues and persecution of beliefs. She hoped that the Chinese people could understand this and quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations.

People Passing by Are Moved

After the rally, attendees held a parade holding display boards and banners. The parade procession set off from the Chinese Consulate, marching through busy Oxford Streets, traversing London's Chinatown and ending at the St. Martin Cathedral. The parade attracted attention from passersby.

A Chinese named Li Ming told the reporter, "The parade moved me. In my view, outside China, it is quite rare to see such strength. I've been to many countries, Falun Gong has a great influence around the world. I estimate that under the drive of the world's 'Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance' movement, the Communist Party's tyranny will not last long in China." Mr. James from Cambridge thought that it was a good thing for Chinese people to quit the CCP organizations. If nobody supports the CCP, the CCP will die.