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Challenging Evil
AWARENESS -- A participant in a rally, 'Help End 12-Year Persecution of Falun Gong in China,' displays a sign depicting forms of torture inflicted on Falun Gong practitioners by the Chinese Communist Party. The rally was held on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol, in Washington, DC, Thurs. July 14. (Dai Bing/The Epoch Times)
“We, as human beings, must stand together. The good people of this world must stand together against the type of tyranny, injustice, and the human suffering that has been brought about by this dictatorial regime in China,” said Rep. Dana Rohrabacher.
“This fact is so important for the Americans to understand—that that force in the world—if you allow an evil force like that to continue without being challenged that evil force will someday affect us here,” Rohrabacher added.
Smith said he was encouraged by the possibility that China could actually become a democracy through the power of the Tuidang movement.
“If China is a democracy, there is no global threat—they are not going to invade Taiwan, threaten the islands, or any other ASEAN country, or anything else, because they are a democracy,” he said.
Jin Pang, daughter of a Falun Gong practitioner detained in China since before the 2008 Beijing Olympics, said she was only 15 years old when the persecution began, but she can still remember every minute of it.
“It is not only my family, but my mom, my aunt, and the people that I know every day who were persecuted to death—there are still thousands and millions of Falun Gong practitioners detained.”
PEACEFUL APPEAL: Falun Gong practitioners perform slow-moving exercises on the West Lawn of the Capitol in Washington, DC, Thurs. July 14. The practitioners were part of an annual rally marking the 12-year persecution of Falun Gong in China, and calling for its end. (Shaoshao Chen/The Epoch Times)
“It is not only my family, but my mom, my aunt, and the people that I know every day who were persecuted to death—there are still thousands and millions of Falun Gong practitioners detained.”
Pang says she felt fortunate to be able to attend such a rally with so many VIPs and members of human rights organizations supporting Falun Gong.
“I believe that their voices are very encouraging to the people that are suffering there, like my mom,” Pang said.
Dr. Scott Flipse, deputy director for policy and research with the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, and representatives of a number of prominent NGOs, including Amnesty International and Hudson Institute, spoke at the event.
Dr. Sue Gunawardena-Vaughn, senior program manager with Freedom House, co-sponsor of the rally, said “Freedom House remains deeply concerned about the ongoing human rights abuses committed against adherents, their families, and increasingly, their lawyers.”
Gunawardena-Vaughn said, "Over the past twelve years, Falun Gong practitioners and their families have suffered greatly at the hands of the communist party, simply for exercising their fundamental rights to freedom of belief and peaceful expression of their views.”