Auckland, New Zealand: Candlelight Vigil Outside Chinese Embassy Marks 23 Years of Persecution in China

(Minghui.org) Falun Dafa practitioners in New Zealand held a candlelight vigil outside the Chinese Embassy in Auckland on July 20, 2022. They paid tribute to Falun Gong practitioners who have lost their lives over the past 23 years of persecution by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). As the night fell, each candlelight in the cold winter wind illuminated the remarkable story of a practitioner who died for their beliefs. People in passing vehicles honked their horns to show their support as well.

Jiang Zemin regime launched a campaign to persecute Falun Gong (also called Falun Dafa) and its practitioners on a large scale on July 20,1999. Practitioners were persecuted by the CCP using different kinds of torture. The evilness displayed by the Chinese regime is beyond imagination.

Falun Dafa practitioners live their everyday lives following the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. Falun Dafa is beneficial to the society and to the nation. By persecuting Falun Dafa practitioners, the CCP is not only persecuting the Chinese people, but also the world’s people, because it goes against universal values, and tramples the base line of morality.

The practitioners called upon Chinese people to see through the CCP’s evilness and withdraw their memberships from the Party, so that they would stay safe when the CCP would be eliminated.

Falun Dafa practitioners in New Zealand held a candlelight vigil outside the Chinese Embassy on July 20, 2022

Several practitioners shared what they had experienced when being persecuted – the suffering they had gone through.

A University Doctor Experienced the Persecution

Ms. Zhang Hanwen and other practitioners paid their tribute to Falun Gong practitioners who were persecuted to death by the CCP, outside the Chinese Embassy.

Ms. Zhang Hanwen was a doctor in a university affiliated hospital, and suffered from many illnesses at the age of 30. She visited a number of doctors, yet her illnesses worsened. Now, she feels lucky to have come across Falun Dafa. She recovered from her illnesses soon after she started practicing Falun Dafa, and her perspective of the world changed fundamentally. She learned how to become a good person by following the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.

She and her daughter unfolded a banner reading “Falun Dafa is Good” and “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is Good” when visiting Tiananmen Square in December 2000. The police kicked them to the ground and dragged them to a police van. They brandished batons and beat Falun Dafa practitioners face and heads once they were inside the van. Practitioners’ faces and noses were swollen instantly, and covered with blood. Some had their fingers broken.

Ms. Zhang was illegally detained at a brainwashing center in the winter of the following year, and was incarcerated in a forced labor camp for two years.

On one occasion she was tortured with a method called “On Ropes” in the forced labor camp. The guards twisted her arms behind her back and lifted them toward her neck. Then they tied her arms and wrists with a rope and wrapped the same rope around her neck. They also tied her feet with a rope, and then tied a knot with the two ropes. Her body was forced to bend 180 degrees. She was not allowed to lean against the wall. Her arms became dark purple after a short while due to blocked blood vessels. They loosened the rope every few minutes and then abruptly tightened them again. The pain on her shoulderblades and sternum was excruciating. At the same time the guards beat and kicked her. Soon she passed out because of the pain.

When she came to her senses, she found her hair, face and neck were wet. Her face and nose were red and swollen due to pinching. There was unknown medication on the corner of her mouth. Then the guard took her to a hospital, where she was injected with an unknown drug. She was unable to lift her arms or take care of herself for three years after.

Suffocated Three Times: Nearly Lost Her Life

Ms. Cheng Jing started practicing Falun Dafa in 1994. She went to Beijing to appeal for the justice of Falun Dafa many times. She was arrested six times and detained for two-and-a-half years in total.

The guards viciously beat her at one time. She had bruises all over her body. Her face was swollen for an entire week. They strangled her with a banner, and almost suffocated three times. They stretched her arms and feet apart and shackled them to a wooden frame. They pricked her with needles. They kicked her and stood on her face wearing leather shoes. They handcuffed her arms behind her back and left her outside in the open area on icy nights, wearing only underwear. When day broke, the director of the forced labor camp hung her from a basketball hoop with two pairs of handcuffs while her feet were in the air. Her hands turned numb. They didn’t put her down until her arms became black.

She went on hunger strikes to protest the persecution. So, she was savagely force fed many times. Each time her nose bled heavily, and she suffered excruciating pain. When she had served her term, the forced labor camp continued persecuting her on the excuse of her not being “transformed”. She wasn’t released until she was seriously ill. She weight under 40 kilos when she returned home. Her skin was cracked causing extensive peeling. She felt her chest was tight, and she had difficulty breathing. She lost her hair. Her memory was impaired.

Tennis Coach Tortured

Mr. Zhang Su was a tennis coach. He began to practice Falun Dafa in 1994, and let go of many bad habits. His family became happy and harmonious. He was arrested seven times after the CCP launched persecution of Falun Dafa. He was detained for eight years. He was tortured with different kinds of torture instruments, in attempts to have him give up his belief. Other torture methods included vicious beatings, slapping, verbal abuse, forced-feeding, putting poison in his food, humiliating him by stripping off all his clothes, punishment by sitting for long periods, sleep deprivation, no treatment when he was seriously ill, and hard labor for long hours. His organs were nearly harvested. Mr. Zhang's father passed away when he learned about the torture and abuse his son suffered.

He urged people to help end the persecution of Falun Dafa practitioners, which had lasted for 23 years and welcome a new China without the Communist Party.