NEW YORK—The streets of New York City were more crowded than usual on Monday. With the impending Annual General Assembly at the United Nations, various groups were out in force to both protest and welcome world leaders who have descended on the city. The presence of Chinese leader Hu Jintao brought mostly protests.
The streets and sidewalks around Hu’s hotel, the Waldorf Astoria, were choked by police, police cars, protesters, barricades, media, and mobile police units. Along Park Avenue facing the hotel, two groups gathered to speak out against human rights violations in China under Hu’s watch.
At 49th Street, a group of about 40 Falun Gong practitioners stretched in a long line with banners, Falun Gong meditation exercise demonstrations, and signs in both Chinese and English. Some of the banners said, “Falun Dafa is good,” and “Stop the Persecution of Falun Gong.” (Falun Gong is also known as Falun Dafa).
Several smaller, handwritten signs displayed individual’s names, with a statement that they had been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party for practicing Falun Gong. One woman, Zhen Jie Yu, told a heart-wrenching story.
Ms. Yu escaped from China to the U.S. through Thailand after being arrested and jailed multiple times. She has been living in New York since March of this year. She felt Hu Jintao’s presence in her new home was a chance to speak out.
“I want to help stop the persecution of Falun Gong in China,” said Ms. Yu, a diminutive 59-year old Chinese woman with graying hair and deep-set eyes. Yu has experienced the state-sponsored persecution of Falun Gong, now in its tenth year, in a very personal way. At least 10 close friends and fellow Falun Gong practitioners from her hometown died from torture or other means of persecution. Her brother and sister-in-law are currently imprisoned.
Yu herself was arrested repeatedly, tortured, and was nearly killed one day when injected with a psychotropic drug that wiped her memory clean. She was also force-fed, shocked, and forced to squat at a 90 degree angle with her arms behind her back for nine days and nine nights. But Yu still practices Falun Gong to this day, and stood on Park Avenue on Monday without showing a shred of fear.
“When they tried to kill me [in prison in China], I told them that if they persecuted me to death, Falun Gong practitioners all over the world would never let the world forget what they did,” said Ms. Yu.
Just a block uptown, a small group of Tibetans had also gathered to bring their message to Hu Jintao. About 15 Tibetans lined the edge of the sidewalk facing the Waldorf Astoria, leaning over a metal police barricade and waving Tibetan flags of different sizes. Their message was directly targeted at Hu and his policies.
“We’re here to protest the coming of Hu Jintao,” said Mr. Phurbu Dorjee, vice president the Tibetan Community of New York and New Jersey. “It’s a shame for the dignity of the U.N. that he’s here.”
When asked what he would say if Hu came out from the hotel and they met face to face, Dorjee’s answer was simple.
“Free Tibet,” he said.
Friends Read Free