Falun Gong: The Tenth Year of Persecution Marked on Capitol Hill

WASHINGTON D.C.—Marking the tenth year since former Chinese leader, Jiang Zemin, commenced the brutal persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China, members of Congress from both political persuasions joined speakers from human rights, religious and pro-democracy organizations on Capitol Hill, July 16, to condemn the Chinese communist regime’s harsh policies.

Falun Gong is an ancient meditation and exercise practice that had an estimated 100 million followers before the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) persecution was launched, which began publicly on July 20, 1999.

The brutal campaign was designed “to eradicate Falun Gong,” host Gail Rachlin, from the Falun Dafa Information Center, told the rally of over a thousand people. “It was a conscious and deliberate decision by [former Communist leader] Jiang Zemin and taken up by the CCP propaganda,” she said..

The tone of the rally was set early on by the first speaker, Dr. Sue Vaughn from Freedom House, an organization that has been closely monitoring the status of democratic and human civil liberties in China for several years.

“Chinese citizens cannot democratically choose their leadership at any level of government…they cannot enjoy the most basic rights and civil liberties of a robust free society …cannot organize, protest or criticize their government. They cannot express their political opinion or freely practice the religion of their choice,” said Dr. Vaughn.

Congressman Chris Smith of New Jersey said, “The Chinese government in terms of pervasiveness and cruelty is the worst violator of human rights on the earth”

Rep. Smith said too many in the European community and the United States act as if the persecution of Falun Gong and other human rights abuses were not happening.

“We need to remind President Obama that first and foremost [should be] human rights; trade and commerce issues come second,” he said.

“The use of torture [by China] has been documented over and over again and by the United Nations, he said adding that he believed the forced abortions and sterilizations in China to be the “greatest crime against women,” making it illegal to have brothers and sisters.

Congressman Smith called for a re-examination of our trade relations with China, predicting that, “all of that grinds to a halt unless you treat your citizens with respect.”

Three Words

Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart of Florida highlighted the “three words” as he pointed to one of the many signs displaying “Truthfulness, Compassion, and Tolerance”, that were held by practitioners.

Diaz-Balart said, “These are the fundamental beliefs in Falun Gong,” contrasting the Chinese leaders who rule by “brute force” with the “peaceful followers of Falun Gong – the peaceful, religious, and democratic activists.”

“Where we see the brutality … it is an embarrassment to mankind,” Diaz-Balart said deploring democratic countries for the way they regarded China “as if it were a moral, peaceful, law abiding” country. It was even awarded the Olympics—the symbol of peace, he said, repeating “this is an embarrassment to mankind.”

Diaz-Barlat described the regime as “a regime of thugs, by thugs, for thugs”

Congresswoman Warns Chinese Diplomats in the U.S.

Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (FL) noted that the CCP police state tactics were of the same order as the Gestapo and the KGB. She said they even send Falun Gong practitioners to mental institutions just like they did to dissidents in the former Soviet Union.

The Congresswoman also noted the man she had met who had been “beaten up by Chinese thugs” in the U.S. That man, Baiqiao Tang, who is a democracy advocate from the China Peace and Democracy Federation, spoke later and recounted how he had been attacked by four men who had come at him from several directions. When this reporter interviewed him, he still had a cast around his hand. Tang said he had also been injured around his eye and his nose.
 
Ros-Lehtinen had a warning for the Chinese embassy and consulates in the U.S, “Any Chinese diplomat who engages in the coordination of an assault on an American citizen inside this country should be declared ‘persona non-grata’ by the State Department and sent out of the United States.”

William Lacy Clay, Congressman from Missouri, expressed that the U.S. Congress's attitude on Falun Gong issue is very clear—the illegal jailing and torture must be stopped and the persecution of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance should not exist in this country.

He said he joined the anti-persecution rally to show the CCP the support for Falun Gong from the U.S. Congress. He said that representatives from the U.S. Government must tell the CCP to stop the persecution. 

Other Congress Members, who saw fit to break from their voting responsibilities in the House in order to attend the rally, were Gus Bilirakis (FL), Anh “Joseph” Cao (LA), Roscoe Bartlett (MD), Dana Rohrabacher (CA), and Sheila Jackson Lee (TX).

Congressmen Cummings (MD), Engel (NY), Pascrell (NJ), and Perlmutter (Colorado) provided written statements as did Senator Mark Udall (Colorado).

All of China Suffers

Falun Gong practitioners, many of whom had come as far as Australia, Taiwan and Russia, listened quietly as the speakers acknowledged their long and arduous struggle.

Of special note was Geng He, the wife of renowned lawyer, Gao Zhisheng. Lawyer Gao was abducted by Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Security on February 4. for seeking justice for Chinese people including Falun GONG practitioners. He has not been seen since and there are fears for his life. Geng He and their two children, however, managed to escape from China, only this year, and were awarded asylum in the U.S.

“Today, I am here as Gao Zhisheng's wife, standing together with so many Falun Gong practitioners from all over the world,” Geng He said. “I can speak out what is on my mind without any danger. I can't tell you how significant this is.”

“The persecution against this big group of people is beyond anyone's imagination,” she said, “All of this shocked Gao and made his heart extremely heavy”.

Geng said she remembered the day Gao learned about the truth of the persecution. As he was reading through the materials, he had tears in his eyes the whole time which became red and swollen, she recalled.

“From that day on, he was determined to take the responsibility to seek justice for this group of people,” Geng said.

Gao risked his life to go to Shandong, Hebei, and Northeast China to investigate the facts of the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, she told the rally. In doing so he had realized that it was not only Falun Gong practitioners who were suffering through persecution, it was the whole of China.

“The continued policy on the persecution of Falun Gong has affected many people in different professions in the society. It made them lose their humanity, lose their morals, … and the most fundamental values and basic judgments. This is a terrible thing and the most unfortunate thing for this nation,” Geng He said.

Geng He, who is also a Christian, finished with the words of Gao: ‘to end this nation’s sufferings, we must have people with high morals; Falun Gong practitioners have done it, we must do our part.”

Geng He was not the only Christian speaking out in support of Falun Gong on the day.

Patricia Burkhardt, representing Church Women United, spoke of the persecution as a “vicious attack on people practicing a peaceful way of life.” She characterized the last decade of persecution as “one of the largest human tragedies that mankind has ever known.”

Reverend Patrick Mahoney, Christian Defense Coalition, said at the rally: “I stand in solidarity with every person who was ever brutalized.” Rev. Mahoney, who along with other member of his faith, went to Beijing just before Beijing Olympics. He told the rally had been arrested as he laid roses in Tiananmen Square but said it was no disgrace, but rather “an honor”, to be arrested and expelled from the country.