News and Events from around the World -- June 22, 2005

Issued by Clearwisdom Net

Content

- Washington DC: After Learning of the Torture Death of Gao Rongrong, Dafa Practitioners Protest in Front of the Chinese Embassy
- Chicago: Practitioners Gather at the Chinese Consulate to Strongly Condemn the CCP for Murdering Gao Rongrong
- Zhang Cuiying: Why I'm Suing the Foreign Minister of Australia
- Minnesota: "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance" Art Exhibition at the State Capitol Draws Attention

Washington DC: After Learning of the Torture Death of Gao Rongrong, Dafa Practitioners Protest in Front of the Chinese Embassy

At noon on June 20, 2005, Dafa practitioners were shocked to learn that Gao Rongrong, who had suffered tremendously from torture and abuse, died from persecution three days earlier in Shenyang City. Falun Gong practitioners in Washington DC hurriedly went to the Chinese Embassy to hold an urgent press conference, strongly condemning the Chinese Communist Party's atrocities and also strongly demanding the arrest of Tang Yubao and Jiang Zhaohua, who disfigured her face, the arrest of the murderers who are responsible for her death, and an end to the persecution.

Falun Gong practitioner reads the statement | Practitioners protest in front of the Chinese Embassy

Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Gao Rongrong, an accountant at the Luxun Fine Arts College in Shenyang City, was abducted by lawless officials in July 2003 and taken to Longshan Forced Labor Camp. On the afternoon of May 7, 2004 at 3:00 p.m., Ms. Gao Rongrong was called to the office by camp Ward Leader Tang Yubao (male) and Jiang Zhaohua (male). These men shocked her for about seven hours with electric batons. Ms. Gao's face was severely deformed and covered with blisters. Her burned skin was stuck together with her hair and blood, and her eyes were barely visible due to the intense swelling of her face. Her mouth was severely swollen and the prisoners in the same cell could hardly recognize her when she was returned there.

After that, Gao Rongrong's ordeal and her photos showing her grossly disfigured face-- the work of the Chinese authorities--were publicized around the world, and Falun Gong practitioners also exposed the facts about the persecution of Ms. Gao to governments and human rights organizations. However, this exposure worldwide was not enough to save her from being tortured to death. It speaks volumes about the CCP's ferocity, its hysteria, and its lack of scruples.

Dr. Yu, a biochemical scientist said, "Regarding such a high-profile torture victim, the CCP even tortured her to death. It is obvious that the CCP is blatantly challenging the world's people who are kind, righteous and respect human rights. It also shows that the CCP is making a gesture to the world, implying, 'I'm a scoundrel, who am I afraid of.' "

Dr. Yu continued, "Nevertheless, no matter how atrocious the persecutors are, it is nothing but the CCP's desperate struggle before its collapse. It can only make those who still haven't seen clearly the CCP further understand that the CCP will never change its nature. We hope all governments, organizations, companies and individuals who are associated with the CCP will clearly see this point."

Recently, three former officials of the CCP who defected in Australia expressed that they have witnessed or experienced the CCP's brutal persecution of Falun Gong, so they no longer want to continue being accomplices of the CCP against their conscience. They all exposed the cruelty and despicable nature of the persecution.

According to incomplete statistics, over the past six years since July 20, 1999, 2575 Falun Gong practitioners are verified through civil channels to have died as a result of the persecution. The torture death cases are distributed in over 30 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities. But the actual death toll far exceeds this number. At least 6,000 Falun Gong practitioners have been illegally sentenced to prison, more than 100,000 practitioners have been sent to forced labor camps, thousands of practitioners have been forced into mental hospitals to be tortured with drugs damaging the central-nervous system. A large number of Falun Gong practitioners have been abducted to brainwashing centers located in different places to suffer mental torment, and many more practitioners have been subjected to beating, physical punishment and economic extortion by so-called "law enforcement personnel."

A representative of The World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong said, "The persecution campaign against Falun Gong practitioners is greatly different from other persecutions in history. This persecution is conducted in the dark, and covered up by the CCP using its experiences and wile accumulated from several dozen years of political struggle. Many media outlets and governments pretend to be ignorant of all this due to the enticement of economic interests and pressure from the CCP."

Indeed, in history, Mahatma Gandhi's non-violent non-cooperation movement and Martin Luther King Jr's civil-rights movement were extensively reported by the media worldwide, and as a result they won the people's extensive sympathy and support. Today, Falun Gong practitioners have been able to spread the truth to almost every corner of the world under the CCP's media blockage. This illustrates even more the difficulty and greatness of Falun Gong practitioners' anti-persecution efforts.

A teacher at American University said, "From the detailed information revealed by three officials of the CCP who recently defected in Australia, we have seen that the iron curtain of lies has been torn off from inside, and there will be more and more officials of the CCP who have a conscience standing up to make the gap even larger."

A manager of a Health care center in Washington DC said, "Gao Rongrong is a friend of mine that I have never seen. I feel indignant at the death of such a courageous woman. I also advise the officials at the Chinese Embassy not to participate in the persecution any more, and renounce the CCP like the three officials who defected in Australia," Then he said in Chinese, "The CCP will soon be finished."

The university professor said, "I hope all officials who participate in the persecution of Falun Gong will examine their conscience in the still of night, if what you've done is against your conscience. In the near future, after the persecution is over, how will you face the historical trial? At this moment when the CCP is about to exit from the stage of history, we hope the officials at the CCP's embassies and consulates will not assist the CCP to do evil any more, and be accomplices of the CCP. Choose your own future with your conscience and human nature. Chen Yonglin and Hao Fengjun have set an example for you. When you truly make a choice by following your conscience, all righteous and kind-hearted people around the world will applaud you."

Chicago: Practitioners Gather at the Chinese Consulate to Strongly Condemn the CCP for Murdering Gao Rongrong

At noon on June 20, 2005, Falun Gong practitioners in the greater Chicago area gathered in front of the Chinese consulate to strongly condemn the CCP's atrocity of torturing and murdering Falun Gong practitioner Gao Rongrong. Practitioners displayed the photos of Gao Rongrong, whose face was disfigured by electric shocks for persisting in her beliefs, and unfolded a huge banner reading, "Strongly condemning the CCP's atrocity of torturing and murdering Falun Gong practitioner Gao Rongrong." Practitioners also read an article entitled, "Gao Rongrong's Death Reveals the CCP's Bloodthirsty Nature," and other information regarding how the CCP murdered Gao Rongrong under the spotlight of the International community.

Explaining to passersby who are shocked at the CCP's murdering Falun Gong practitioners

Chicago practitioners strongly condemn the CCP's atrocity of torturing Gao Rongrong to death

According to a Clearwisdom.net report, after the grossly disfigured face of Gao Rongrong was publicized around the world in May 2004, the case gained great attention from the international community. After suffering torture from electric shocks that disfigured her face, Gao Rongrong was rescued, and she personally exposed the Jiang and Luo regime's systematic persecution of Falun Gong. Out of retaliation, the head of the 610 Office, Luo Gan, stepped in. Under his instructions, the Liaoning Province Chinese Communist Party Political Judiciary Committee, the Procuratorate, the Department of Justice, and the Police Department committed crimes together and concealed any and all information about Gao's case. Falun Gong practitioners who participated in rescuing Gao Rongrong were abducted and subjected to brutal torture and abuse. On June 16, 2005, Gao Rongrong died in the emergency room of China Medical University Hospital of complications stemming from torture and abuse in custody.

Chicago practitioners expressed that this murder even more clearly shows that the CCP has become completely irrational regarding the suppression of Falun Gong. The photos of the grossly disfigured face of Gao Rongrong had been publicized and caused shockwaves around the world last year, and yet the CCP still took its revenge, sacrificing the country's reputation, which speaks volumes about its bloodthirsty nature. A practitioner expressed in an interview that all of the atrocities will be exposed. Just as dark clouds are unable to block the sun, the sunshine will ultimately come out!

Chicago practitioners will continue to hold rallies in front of the Chinese Consulate to help more people learn about the murder and the facts about the CCP's persecution of Falun Gong, and to encourage more people to step forward to stop the persecution and the killing!

Zhang Cuiying: Why I'm Suing the Foreign Minister of Australia

Australia Human Rights lawyer Bernard Collaery has filed a lawsuit in the Canberra Federal Court against Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, for abusing the privilege of his position by continually issuing certificates for the last three years to restrain Falun Gong practitioners from displaying banners and playing exercise music in front of the Chinese Embassy in Canberra, the nation's capital.

At noon on June 10, 2005, in front of Canberra Federal Court, Falun Gong practitioners held a press conference. More than 10 major media gathered to report this news, including Channel 9, Channel 10, ABC, SBS, NTDTV, Canberra Times, Australia News center, AAP, AGB, Epoch Times, ABC radio, and others. q1q

Zhang Cuiying at the press conference

Three years ago, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer yielded to pressure from the Chinese Communist Party, disregarded human rights and justice, and signed a certificate prohibiting Falun Gong practitioners from displaying banners in front of the Chinese Embassy. The only reason given was that such activities were "against the dignity of the Chinese Ambassadors."

But if the criminal regime in China had any sense of dignity, they would stop persecuting their own citizens. Since 1949 when the Chinese Communist Party gained political power, they have caused eighty million Chinese people to die of unnatural causes. The brutality with which they persecute and murder Falun Gong practitioners is unmatched in human history.

In order to let people know the truth about Falun Gong and to protect human dignity, several years ago I went to China, but I was put into a Chinese prison four times. In prison, I risked my life to write the truth on my T-shirt. Each time I did so I was subjected to the severe persecution, beating, and humiliation. The first time, because I did not have a pen, I used toothpaste to write on a black T-shirt:

"Falun Dafa is great. Practicing Truth, Compassion, Forbearance is right. Neck can be broken, and blood can be drained, but Falun Dafa can never be taken away from me."

When the prison guards saw this, they locked me into a cell full or mentally disturbed men, criminals who beat, humiliated, and cursed me. While changing clothes or taking a shower, the men in the cell and the guards were all watching me. This is most insulting to a woman. Even now when I think about it, I cannot help shaking. This fully exposes the vicious nature of the Chinese Communist Party.

Later on, again I wrote on my clothes with toothpaste: "Evil Jiang, who suppresses Falun Gong, will go down as a criminal in Chinese history." When the guards saw it, they took off my clothes and forced me to stand naked in front of a closed-circuit TV camera monitored by all the male guards.

Before I got out of jail, on October 30, 2000 around 3 a.m., a kind- hearted inmate risked her own safety to lend me a pen. Using this ball pen I traced and traced for the whole night and finished this poem:

"Just because of saying some just words,
'Falun Dafa is the righteous Fa',
I'm illegally imprisoned for eight months,
suffering so much hardship
only for appealing for justice,
neck can be broken,
blood can be shed,
noble spirits and righteous heart will forever remain."

"Jiang's ghost suppresses Falun Gong;
he will go down as a criminal in Chinese History."

The purpose is to let the Chinese people know the truth of Falun Gong. Just as I expected in Guangzhou airport, everybody applauded and praised me. Because I am a citizen of Australia, the policemen dared not tear off my clothes in public as they usually did. Instead they got a camera and took pictures of me non-stop.

The Foreign Minister of Australia and the Australia Foreign Affairs Ministry all clearly knew about the inhuman torture that I suffered in China. When I was in jail, every day I took the risk of being beaten. I hid a piece of paper in my braid while brushing my hair. When the Australian consul in China visited me, I took the opportunity of shaking hands to pass the paper to him. He transferred it to my husband. This was the only way that I could get a message to my family.

In jail, the torn blanket I tried to keep warm with was full of mold, and I slept on the cold cement floor. After several months, my whole body was full of red bumps, and pus and blood covered my clothes. Frequent burning pain and itching made life hard to endure. In addition, I was carrying a foot shackle weighing more than 30 kilos (over 65 pounds), and it became tighter and tighter all the time. It cut into my flesh. The pain was really difficult to endure. I went on a hunger strike for over 50 days, during which I was dizzy the whole time. The leader of the guards looked at me and somewhat to my surprise he said: "Drop dead! You are inferior to a dog." The head of the prison personally came with his assistants to my cell and beat me. My whole body was full of bruises everywhere. Nonetheless, Mr. Downer knew all of these the details very well, but he still sacrificed human rights for economic benefit to please the CCP. This is extremely unwise conduct. It not only hurts himself but also the Australian people as well. Moreover, I believe he will not gain any economic benefit at all. Because in doing any business with this Chinese Communist regime, which disregards honor and justice, how can you gain any thing from it? Actually, there are international trade laws between nations; you really do not have to sacrifice human rights and democracy to do business with the CCP.

Mr. Chen Yonglin and Mr. Hao Fengjun said the Chinese Communist Party has more than 1,000 special agents and informants operating in Australia. The Communist Party not only inhumanely persecutes its own people in China, now across the ocean they also openly and shamelessly persecute Australian citizens.

From July to December of 1999, when I was protesting in front of the Chinese Embassy in Sydney, my car tires were slashed many times, and my windshield knocked out frequently. This February, some one put a bloody dead cat in my front door. The cat's blood went into the floor, and even now the stain still there, and cannot be removed. Every day I feel sick when I see it, and my daughter is frightened to see it.

For the eight months I was in prison, the Chinese Communist Party sent spies to snoop around my house in Australia. My neighbor even noticed it. It brought my family, especially my daughter, a tense life. They also harassed us on the phone, which can be easily found in the records at the local police department.

There are so many things I cannot talk about in detail here, but I sincerely hope all the Chinese Communist special agents will follow Mr. Chen Yonglin and Hao Fengjun to step forward and expose the CCP. Do not be scapegoats for the CCP, who ignore their conscience to persecute innocent people. Also I sincerely hope the Australian government will quickly clean up these lawless elements who endanger Australian society.

I hope Australians in all circles and the media can stand up to stop the Foreign Minister's unlawful conduct, and let Australia forever feel proud of its respect for democracy, human rights, freedom, and belief. Do not let Australia become an accomplice of the CCP, become the CCP's political colony. That is the fundamental reason why I am suing the Australian Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer.q2q

The dead cat the CCP used to intimidate Zhang Cuiying, and the damaged parts of the car

Minnesota: "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance" Art Exhibition at the State Capitol Draws Attention

From June 1 to 15, 2005, Minnesota Falun Gong practitioners held "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance" Art Exhibition at the state Capitol in St. Paul for two weeks. The exhibition attracted numerous state assemblymen, staff members and visitors. People who viewed the exhibition were all shocked at the Chinese communist regime's viciousness and expressed their indignation. Many people learned the truth about Falun Gong.

Art exhibition opening ceremony | Playing music for the art exhibition

A western practitioner who has practiced Falun Gong for less than a year drove more than two hours from Rochester with her mother who is engaged in artistic work to attend the opening ceremony and view the exhibition. She said that she liked practitioners' artwork very much and shared her feelings about the skills used in the paintings.

Upon learning what Falun Gong is all about and why the practice encounters persecution in China, an aged couple spent a long period of time carefully viewing each painting. They signed the petition calling for an end to the persecution. When the elderly lady was about to leave, she asked, "If you go back to China, are you going to be persecuted?" A practitioner answered, "We miss our homeland very much, but we cannot go back at this point, because the persecution is still going on and we will be persecuted if we go back." The lady sighed and patting the practitioner's shoulder said, "They (the Chinese communist regime) are really bad!"

People attentively viewing the paintings | People attentively viewing the paintings

A Korean lady who works for the government came to view the paintings during her break. She'd never heard about Falun Gong before. After learning about the situation, she asked for all kinds of materials that practitioners had prepared. She also carefully viewed each art work. When she looked at the paintings entitled, "Smoke and Ash," Tiger Bench, "Torture of a Woman," and "Force Feeding," she said, "I could not imagine that such things are happening in China today. These are even several times crueler than Hitler's torture methods. It seems that Hitler could only stand aside." She said she would read all the materials and visit Falun Gong's websites later.

A father brought his two daughters to view the exhibition. He said that these paintings were really good. He liked every one of them, especially the one entitled, "Pure Lotus". He said he would very much like to have this painting.

When a four-year-old young practitioner neatly folded all materials and handed them to an assemblywoman, the assemblywoman was very pleased and showed it to other assemblymen. Thus, other assemblymen also took the initiative to ask the young practitioner for materials. They also carefully read the documents. When that assemblywoman was about to go home, the practitioners met her again outside the building. She stopped her car and came out to say "Thank you" to the practitioners.

Another staff member in the building said, "Your paintings are truly wonderful! I've read your materials and I'm very interested in the practice." He asked for the practitioners' contact information.

Over the past six years, Falun gong practitioners' peaceful and rational efforts to oppose the persecution have won recognition and acknowledgment from the world's people. Truth-clarifying activities have gained more and more support and are warmly received. Many people are touched by the practitioners' uncompromising courage.

(Editor's Note: The paintings that comprise the "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance" Art Exhibition can be viewed here: www.falunart.org )