NEW YORK—Hundreds of Falun Gong practitioners gathered in front of the Chinese Consulate on West 42nd Street on Tuesday July 20, to protest the brutal persecution of the spiritual practice in China. Exactly 11 years earlier, the Chinese Communist Party began a violent and nationwide persecution of Falun Gong.
“I am here because I have to stand for Falun Gong practitioners in China who are persecuted daily,” Clarissa Hunter, a participant at Tuesday´s rally, said. “The Chinese authorities have to know that enough is enough.”
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a Chinese Qigong practice founded by Mr. Li Hongzhi in 1992. A combination of five slow-motion exercises and the practice of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance constitute the core of the practice. Before the persecution, group exercises of Falun Gong could be found in almost every park in China.
On July 20, 1999, Jiang Zemin—the former leader of China´s communist regime—declared Falun Gong illegal and set up a Gestapo-like 610 Office, so named for the date it was formed, June 10, to carry out the persecution. Jiang ordered all Falun Gong literature to be burned, and practitioners were arrested, battered, and tortured in labor camps.
To date, 3,833 practitioners are known to have been killed in the persecution, according to Falun Gong’s official website. However, due to China’s systematic information block, the real number of deaths has not been revealed and is believed to be much greater, according to the website.
The persecution has produced numerous records of human rights abuses for the single-party Chinese communist regime, according to speakers at the rally.
Yuyun Zhou, a practitioner from Guangzhou, China, was arrested several times for her practice of Falun Gong.
“Once, [police guards in the labor camp] did not allow me to sleep,” Zhou said. “They beat me, fed me spices and burned my skin with fire at night. I often had bruises all over my body. I thought I wouldn’t be able to walk out of the camp alive. ... At the same time, they threatened my family and told them that killing me does not cost them a bit of effort.”
Zhou urges the communist party to release all of the detained Falun Gong practitioners in China.
Qian Lin, another practitioner who escaped from China, said that her husband was tortured to death in a labor camp in southern China when their daughter was only a few years old.
“It’s been 11 years,” Lin said. “I remember on July 20, 1999, the policemen took us from the park where we used to do Falun Gong exercises in the morning. I’m thankful that I get to practice Falun Gong freely in the United States, and I hope people will be able to do that soon in the future in China.”
The persecution has garnered international attention since it began 11 years ago, and the U.S. House of Representatives recently voted 412-1 on a resolution against the persecution of Falun Gong.
“I am here because I have to stand for Falun Gong practitioners in China who are persecuted daily,” Clarissa Hunter, a participant at Tuesday´s rally, said. “The Chinese authorities have to know that enough is enough.”
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a Chinese Qigong practice founded by Mr. Li Hongzhi in 1992. A combination of five slow-motion exercises and the practice of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance constitute the core of the practice. Before the persecution, group exercises of Falun Gong could be found in almost every park in China.
On July 20, 1999, Jiang Zemin—the former leader of China´s communist regime—declared Falun Gong illegal and set up a Gestapo-like 610 Office, so named for the date it was formed, June 10, to carry out the persecution. Jiang ordered all Falun Gong literature to be burned, and practitioners were arrested, battered, and tortured in labor camps.
To date, 3,833 practitioners are known to have been killed in the persecution, according to Falun Gong’s official website. However, due to China’s systematic information block, the real number of deaths has not been revealed and is believed to be much greater, according to the website.
The persecution has produced numerous records of human rights abuses for the single-party Chinese communist regime, according to speakers at the rally.
Yuyun Zhou, a practitioner from Guangzhou, China, was arrested several times for her practice of Falun Gong.
“Once, [police guards in the labor camp] did not allow me to sleep,” Zhou said. “They beat me, fed me spices and burned my skin with fire at night. I often had bruises all over my body. I thought I wouldn’t be able to walk out of the camp alive. ... At the same time, they threatened my family and told them that killing me does not cost them a bit of effort.”
Zhou urges the communist party to release all of the detained Falun Gong practitioners in China.
Qian Lin, another practitioner who escaped from China, said that her husband was tortured to death in a labor camp in southern China when their daughter was only a few years old.
“It’s been 11 years,” Lin said. “I remember on July 20, 1999, the policemen took us from the park where we used to do Falun Gong exercises in the morning. I’m thankful that I get to practice Falun Gong freely in the United States, and I hope people will be able to do that soon in the future in China.”
The persecution has garnered international attention since it began 11 years ago, and the U.S. House of Representatives recently voted 412-1 on a resolution against the persecution of Falun Gong.
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