Denmark: Harbin Mayor Faces Protests During a Visit to Arhus (Photos)

(Clearwisdom.net) An eight-member Chinese delegation headed by Harbin City Mayor Zhang Xiaolian encountered a protest when they visited the city government of Arhus, Denmark's second largest city, on July 6, 2008. The protest was organized by Danish citizens to expose the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in Harbin.

Banners are displayed at the rally

An article published in the Arhus Stiftstidende dated July 7th bears the title, "Criticising dialogue in City Government"

Harbin became a twin-city of Arhus in 1984. For Zhang Xiaolian, the trip to Northern Europe was his first official foreign trip after he took office last year. Harbin is one of the infamous cities where Falun Gong practitioners were brutally persecuted since 1999. Two years ago, citizens of Arhus had expressed their concerns about the human rights situation in Harbin and had serious discussions whether the twinned city relationship should be continued with a city where human rights are infringed.

As soon as the official visit of Harbin's Mayor was made public, various organizations and media in Denmark, ranging from the Danish Government Information Office to local newspapers, mentioned the ruthless persecution of Falun Gong and other Chinese citizens in Harbin. The general public paid close attention to ensure that the human rights issue was included in the official meeting agenda. Meanwhile, the demonstration also became a hot topic of news coverage and public interest.

The rally was coordinated by the Danish Falun Dafa Association and the China Human Rights Network. In a press release, it was stated, "According to statistics accumulated and published by the Clearwisdom website, there have been 404 Falun Gong practitioners persecuted to death in Heilongjiang Province, ranking No. 2 in China. In Harbin City alone, 148 Falun Gong practitioners were persecuted to death and there are sixteen labor camps admitted by the local officials."

At 3 p.m. on July 6, Danish citizens, Falun Gong practitioners, members of the Federation for a Democratic China and other pro-democracy advocates displayed banners at the main entrance of the Arhus city government. Written in Danish, English and Chinese, the banners read, "Harbin: Stop Persecuting Falun Gong" and "39 Million People Have Quit the CCP" (Chinese Communist Party). Aired in the speakers at the scene was the audio recording of "Nine Commentaries on the Chinese Communist Party". Laid on the ground were photos and graphs that illustrated the cruel persecution that the Chinese communist regime has been inflicting on Falun Gong practitioners. The words on these photos and graphs read, "Ongoing Persecution in Harbin, a Twinned City of Arhus". As the degree of brutality far exceeded people's imagination, the photos and graphs shocked a lot of passers-by and drew several media outlets to provide news coverage.

Mayor of Arhus: "Human rights violations will be brought up during the meeting"

People who were preparing for the rally in front of the city government caught the attention of the mayor, Mr. Nicolai Wammen, who was waiting for the arrival of the Chinese officials. He walked out of his office and talked to the protesters. After understanding that the rally was organized for China's human rights, he indicated his support immediately and said that he would set up another meeting with the protesters as soon as possible to thoroughly understand the persecution in Harbin and China. When he accepted an interview with Denmark's TV station Channel II later, Mr. Wammen told the reporter that when he met Harbin's mayor, he would request Harbin to improve its human rights and democracy situation.

Mr. Christoffer Brekne, Chairman of the China Human Rights Network, who hosted the rally, said in an on-site interview with the TV Channel II, "We are here to urge the Arhus city government to pay attention to the persecution in Harbin. The city government officials should express the voice of Denmark's general public to the Chinese visitors that the persecution must be stopped immediately." He continued, "The human rights situation in Harbin is very bad. It is much worse than that of other cities in China. Over there, many labor education stations and concentration camps are set up to imprison political dissidents and religious believers. The prisoners are coerced to provide forced labor. Some of them have to work for 20 - 24 hours a day. The output of the forced labor is sold for profit. The persecution against Falun Gong has been especially serious. Falun Gong practitioners are tortured or even killed. These are all documented in United Nations' reports."

Falun Gong practitioners distributed to passers-by flyers in Danish that were especially designed for Arhus. The flyer revealed that a form of persecution that did not happen in other parts of the world had been used in Harbin, as living Falun Gong practitioners' organs have been harvested and sold for profit.

Witness exposes the brutal persecution

At 4:30 p.m., the eight Chinese officials from Harbin quickly passed by the banners and entered the city government buildings. As the meeting was conducted inside the city hall, the rally outside the building began.

Ms. Bao Xuezhen, originally from Shanghai, was imprisoned for three and a half years for practicing Falun Gong. She described the torture, brainwashing and forced labor she suffered during the imprisonment. She said, "In addition to physical torture and prolonged forced labor, mental torment was also applied on Falun Gong practitioners. It was even more painful than physical torture. As a form of brainwashing, we were forced to watch various video tapes and other materials that slandered Falun Gong and its founder for several hours in a day. The sound was broadcast with loud speakers, trying to force us to abandon practicing Falun Gong. Severe persecution would be inflicted upon those practitioners who dared to refuse abandonment. Due to the persecution, the illnesses that I had gotten rid of because of practicing Falun Gong before the imprisonment recurred. My body weight rapidly dropped."

A former reporter associated with "Frontline" magazine, Mr. Yang Guang, who was born and grew up in Harbin, is also a witness to the persecution. He traveled from Copenhagen to attend the rally. He told the reporter about his painful suffering in the Cultural Revolution, when he was persecuted for no reason and forced to spend twelve years in jail. He said, "In the prisons of China, torture, physical and mental punishment is commonplace. Many people lost their lives because they could not endure the torture. Some succeeded in getting discharged from jail and became physically handicapped."

He added, "For those years, did we see any progress from the Chinese Communist Party or Harbin? None. My former classmates told me that after Falun Gong practitioners were arrested, their organs were harvested and sold for transplant. The remains were cremated. The practitioners' family members were not notified. While the family members considered the practitioners missing, the practitioners were actually murdered by the Chinese communist regime." He continued, "There have been more than 80 million Chinese persecuted to death by the Chinese Communist Party over the course of its existence and the persecution is still ongoing. As a Chinese person, I truly hope the autocracy of the Chinese communist regime can be terminated as soon as possible."

Support from local people

Many local residents stopped as they passed by the rally. They listened sincerely to these miserable stories that had taken place in China. Some of them even sat down on the ground to listen. One local walked by the scene before the rally started. After the rally began, he came back to watch and listen to the speeches. A couple from Norway asked practitioners what Falun Gong is and why the Chinese communist regime persecutes Falun Gong. An older lady signed her name to support the practitioners' appeal for stopping the persecution. Many local residents said that the degree of human rights infringement is too severe. They asked, "What can we do to stop the persecution?"

Several mainstream media outlets, including newspapers and TV stations, provided news coverage for this event. According to a report on Aarhus Stiftstidende, when Zhang Xiaolian was asked about the human rights infringement in Harbin by a Danish reporter, Zhang refused to comment.