The global “Human Rights Torch Relay” will reach China at the end of March, said a spokesperson of the Coalition to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong (CIPFG), a non-profit organization that initiated the relay.
According to CIPFG, the Human Rights Torch Relay aims to urge Beijing to improve human rights conditions in China. If the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) continues their human rights abuses, the relay will call for global boycott of Beijing Olympic Games.
The CIPFG has lately announced that the torch will reach China at the end of March and it will be passed over many parts of the country. Meanwhile, other countries will continue the relay as well, said CIPFG. After the torch passes through the U.S., it will have gone to over 110 cites, 40 of which are in the U.S. alone.
On March 14, the organization first displayed the icon for the Human Rights Torch Relay in China and explained its symbolic meaning. According to CIPFG, the main part of the design uses the icon of global Human Rights Torch Relay with the map of China surrounded by barbed wire, symbolizing that China under the CCP’s control is like a big prison.
The dove and torch symbolize peace and freedom being brought to China. The upper part of the design is a half circle consisting of eight Chinese characters meaning “Human Rights Torch Transferring Globally.” The main slogan in the lower part of the design reads, “Same World, Same Human Rights” in an allusion to China’s “one world” slogan.
Participants in China are encouraged to download and pass around the icon by passing out and posting flyers, sending e-mails and short messages, wearing T-shirts or caps with the logo, dispensing literature on human rights issues and hanging yellow ribbons in public areas, etc. The CIPFG advised participants to use the logo flexibly according to the basic principle of the Human Rights Torch Relay to achieve the goal safely and effectively.
The CIPFG expects the activity to build a platform for the people in China who are pursuing justice and human rights, and who are against the CCP’s suppression and corruption. The organization invites all individuals and organizations that agree with the purpose to “Demand Human rights and oppose persecution” to participate in the activity. More information is available at www.CIPFG.org.
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