(Minghui.org) Falun Gong practitioners in the San Francisco Bay Area, United States held a candlelight vigil event in front of the Chinese Embassy on the evening of July 16, 2023. They mourned the Falun Gong practitioners who died because of the persecution by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and called for the disintegration of the CCP and the end of the persecution.

Falun Gong practitioners held a candlelight vigil in front of the Chinese Embassy in San Francisco

Many honked their horns as they drove past the practitioners’ event. Some even gave a thumbs up to show their support for Falun Gong. Some accepted the Falun Gong informational materials and found out about what is happening in China.

New Immigrant from China: I Also Want to Practice Falun Gong

Ms. Zhao, who had just moved to the United States from China, said, “Falun Gong is very good. I had heard about Falun Gong in China. Falun Gong tells people to follow the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance, and a few of my family members practice Falun Gong too. Therefore, I also want to practice Falun Gong.”

She continued, “Falun Dafa is a Buddhist Fa, which is very good. It is different from what one talks about in the mundane world.”

When talking about the CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong, Ms. Zhao said, “The CCP is an evil entity. Even regular folks know this. The CCP’s harvesting Falun Gong practitioners’ organs even when they are still alive is too cruel. Now, the CCP has already extended its evil hands towards the people. Many children, who are under 20 years old, have disappeared. I hope that the Chinese people will be awakened too.”

Tennessee Tourist: Hope That the Persecution Ends Immediately

Kiana Patterson and a friend came to San Francisco from Nashville, Tennessee on a tour. When she passed by the event venue, she felt that there was something very important that she needed to learn, and why she felt that something was going on, so she asked what had happened.

Ms. Patterson said, “When I learned that this group of kind people have been suffering from persecution for as long as 24 years, I felt very heartbroken and sad. What they have gone through is really too terrifying, especially harvesting their organs when they are still alive, and sell them for profit. That is very shocking. How can such an inhumane thing happen? This makes me very angry. All that they have gone through makes me feel very heartbroken. I will tell everyone I come across this horrifying truth, and I hope that this persecution will stop immediately.”

Ms. Patterson continued, “This group of kind people persisted in their faith. They did not give up despite suffering from such persecution. This also makes me very curious to learn about what Falun Dafa is about. I will go online to find out more when I return home.”

Florida Resident: Let’s Boycott This Persecution Together

Alex, who came from Florida, loves qigong. When he heard the harmonious exercise music and saw the Falun Dafa practitioners’ big group exercise, he was mesmerized. So, he took out his mobile phone and took a video of it.

Alex continued, “I love qigong and tried to learn it myself. Today, seeing so many people doing the exercises in such uniformity, and listening to the harmonious music, makes me feel very relaxed. I can’t help but think of recording their every move.”

Alex is also very concerned about human rights. He knows that the problems with human rights in China is very serious. “I think that everyone should have his belief,” he said. “This is basic human rights, and the Chinese government must respect the people’s wishes instead of suppressing them by totalitarian methods. In addition, the CCP’s cruel persecution of this group of kind people, especially harvesting their [Falun Gong practitioners'] organs to sell illegally, makes people’s blood boil. I think that people in the whole world should boycott this persecution together.”

Tourist from Los Angeles: The Persecution Is Wrong

Bella Shaw from Los Angeles loves Falun Dafa and she also imitated the practitioners’ exercise movements. She said that this practice [Falun Dafa] is very beautiful. The modern world is very complicated. Thus, we all need this kind of practice that can calm people down, “When people come together to do the exercises together it shows that we all came from the same origin. This is the cultivation method that we urgently need. If everyone can practice Falun Dafa everyday, problems that we are facing in the world currently, will no longer appear in the first place.”

She looked at the three words that are being written on the flier, which are Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance, and said, “We should first attain Truthfulness ourselves. If we cannot attain Truthfulness ourselves, we will not be able to treat people with sincerity. Compassion is what we all truly need. You see the people on the streets in the city, we need to have compassion to help these people. Forbearance, we all need to understand that everyone has different lifestyles. We need to be tolerant towards other people’s beliefs.”

“The persecution is wrong,” Bella said. “People should be able to have different beliefs. We cannot force our belief on others.”

Computer Engineer: I Support Falun Dafa

Santosh Vaibya, a computer engineer, said that he loves Falun Dafa, “I really like the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance. We really need Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance in the modern world. The current world is very complicated and people’s stress from work is great too. Therefore this principle is very important, especially and it can help us attain inner tranquility.”

He could not understand why the CCP could persecute such peaceful cultivators. He asked, “Why? Why does the CCP want to persecute them?” After learning that the CCP promotes atheism, not allowing people to have their freedom to belief and persecuting the Falun Gong practitioners, who have their own beliefs,” he said, “This is wrong. The CCP is bad. I support Falun Dafa.”

Background

On July 20, 1999, Jiang Zemin, then head of the CCP, started this unprecedented cruel persecution of Falun Dafa. On this day, large-scale movements to persecute Falun Dafa in cities all over China were being carried out. Many of the Falun Dafa practitioners were illegally arrested, and the CCP’s persecution has been persisting until today. For the past 24 years, Falun Dafa practitioners have upheld the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. and persisted in protesting against this persecution in a peaceful and rational way.