PureInsight | November 10, 2015
[PureInsight.org] Throughout the years, a large number of tourists from mainland China have been coming to Paris and Europe. In peak season, some of the tourist attractions in Paris could see thousands of tourists from mainland China. In shopping malls and restaurants where they visited frequently, there were Falun Gong practitioners who clarified the truth and advised the three quits (quit the CCP, League and the Young Pioneer, abbrev as three quits) for many years. Not long ago this phenomenon attracted the attention of a famous network media Mediapart. Its reporter FERIELALOUTI interviewed some Falun Gong practitioners for nine hours and published a long report.
Mediapart’s speciality is to investigate the truth of an event. When preparing its start-up in 2007 it gained support from many French politicians and celebrities, including current president Hollande. Some retired senior journalists were also involved. It had published investigation reports for several famous events and attracted many readers. Now it has 100,000 paid subscribers and is fairly influential.
The long report was published on 11th August and narrated the reason why Falun Gong practitioners clarified truth to Chinese tourists, and the persecutions experienced by some Falun Gong practitioners who are residing in Paris. The event involving Falun Gong practitioners worldwide, specifically those in mainland China suing Jiang Zemin was also covered.
In the opening, the article said this is a spiritual group which has been cracked down by the Beijing (CCP) authority but can practice freely anywhere else in the world. Some Falun Gong practitioners came every day to clarify truth to Chinese tourists who came to Paris, making them understand this wouldn’t do any harm to people.
The development of Falun Gong in China and the persecution thereafter
The article mentioned in 1992, when Mr. Li Hongzhi spread the practice, it was an immediate success. During the initial period when Master Li spread his Dafa, the Department of Sports in China supported him to give lectures everywhere in China. With increasing number of learners, they became visible everywhere in China and in many parts of the world. They often did meditation or exercises with peaceful music in parks.
The article continued that in April 1999 the situation changed. From investigation the CCP found there were 70 million people in China believing Falun Gong, a number that could match the number of CCP members. Then the media were exploited to stigmatize Falun Gong in large scale. On 24th April the same year, more than 40 practitioners in Tianjin went to a local media office to clarify the situation, but were arrested by police. The following day more than 10,000 Falun Gong practitioners went to Zhongnanhai of the capital city Beijing to appeal.
The article quoted words of the president of French Falun Dafa Association Tang Hanlong, “More than 10,000 people went to Zhongnanhai, Jiang Zemin regarded this as a threat.” China expert Jean-Philippe Bja explained, “When the CCP knew that the number of Falun Gong practitioners was as many as the number of Communist Party members, it felt threatened and Jiang Zemin (the then head of CCP) set in motion the persecution and banned Falun Gong, thousands of practitioners were arrested and sent to Psychiatric Hospital or Labour Camps. ”
Tang Hanlong said, “ The former Chinese Communist Party Leader Jiang Zemin suddenly decided to position Falun Gong as an antagonistic group and threatened to annihilate Falun Gong in three months. Whoever wanted to continue their practice would lose his/her job, some were put behind bars or ever killed.”
In recent years, Falun Gong practitioners also alleged that the CCP involved in the trade of live organs taken from locked-up Falun Gong practitioners.
Up till now the full and accurate number of Falun Gong practitioners who were (illegally) sentenced or persecuted to death is still hard to obtain.
Falun Gong practitioners clarified truth to Chinese tourists in Paris
The article introduced that Falun Gong practitioners established the Falun Dafa Association to protect the good name of the group. They held parade in the Beauty City (where many Chinese people are living) of Paris and the thirteen districts, they also organized activities called “Truth Clarification”.
“I hope to explain that we are not running a political movement, we are just cultivating a practice that has many benefits and no harm.” Tang Hanlong said.
From the year 2003, the Falun Dafa Association decided to get in touch with Chinese tourists. The chair of the Association explained, “It was because these people who came out from mainland China were deeply poisoned by the propaganda of the CCP.” These volunteers would send out free newspapers to tourists for the sake of clearing the false propaganda of the CCP.
“All Chinese people were brainwashed (by the CCP), we are enduring the hatred spread by the CCP authority as a result. But these people are also victims of those lies. We will continue to do this (truth clarification), until the CCP stops persecuting Falun Gong.” One practitioner who was clarifying truth promised.
The article in Mediapart continued that nearly every day when it was about midday, groups of Chinese tourists got off from buses parked under the feet of the Eiffel Tower and beside the Avenue Joseph-Boulevard, sun umbrella in hands or sun caps on head, went to nearby restaurants for lunch.
Some of them curiously looked at the display boards hung between two sycamore trees or the fence surrounding the lawn. On those posters there were Chinese characters and pictures of people tortured. A banner aside with dark blue background displayed the words: “Falun Dafa, truth, compassion, forbearance”.
One day a 40 year old man wearing a Gucci cap took pictures fearlessly in front of these display boards. Before he was about to enter the bread shop he said, “Here is the land of freedom. Though I don’t practice Falun Gong, I am not against it either. I took these pictures because I want to upload them to a website.” Other people passed by would take newspapers while some people curiously watched the meditation exercise.
The article also narrated the cruel persecution in mainland China experienced by several Falun Gong practitioners who clarified the truth here.
Falun Gong practitioners sued Jiang Zemin worldwide
The article introduced the big trend of suing Jiang by Falun Gong practitioners worldwide, especially in mainland China. The article said Tang Hanlong believed that the situation was changing with many high ranking officials involved in persecuting Falun Gong being arrested. The article listed Zhou Yongkang, the head of the police force, and Bo Xilai were convicted for corruption.
The article said in recent months there were more than 120,000 criminal complaints being submitted against Jiang Zemin. Falun Gong practitioners are seeking to bring the chief culprits of the persecution to justice.
The article also reported that William Bourdon, a famous French attorney, thought that the judicial actions against Jiang Zemin could be expected to unfold in international society, including the Europe and the US.
The reporter tried to contact the CCP embassy in Paris to get their comment on the various Falun Gong activities but she didn’t receive any response. She described the CCP embassy as a black box.
Translated from http://news.zhengjian.org/node/28041
