Chinese Consulate Floodlights Illuminate Falun Gong Vigil in San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO—The Consulate General of China in San Francisco switched on its floodlights on July 19 during a vigil outside the building attended by more than 100 Falun Gong practitioners marking 27 years of persecution.

Kerry Huang, a longtime coordinator of local Falun Gong activities, told The Epoch Times that this was the first time that floodlights at the consulate building, situated at the corner of Geary Blvd. and Laguna Street, had been used in such a manner.

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a meditative exercise and spiritual practice rooted in the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. After its introduction to the public in 1992, the practice quickly spread in China. By 1999, 70 million to 100 million people had taken up the practice, according to official estimates at the time. In July that year, fearing that the number of Falun Gong practitioners had surpassed the number of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) members, the regime initiated its persecution of the practice.

The floodlights were lit up at around 8:42 pm on Sunday, which was seen as a perfect time for the protesters to start the vigil, bringing awareness to the thousands of practitioners who have lost their lives during the 27 years of persecution.

The intense floodlights made the protesters’ commemorative candle boxes far less visible.

David Shi, who sat on the walkway on the left side of the gate, told The Epoch Times, “It feels like I’m on stage and suddenly get hit by that spotlight.”

Huang said, “After the lights went on, we noticed these banners became much brighter so that drivers passing by can see them clearly from across the street.”

Among the messages featured on the banners were “27 Years of Striving to End the Persecution of Falun Gong,” “Stop the Persecution of Falun Gong in China,” “Stop the CCP’s Transnational Repression of Falun Gong,” and “Forced Organ Harvesting of Falun Gong Practitioners is NOT Tolerated.”

Wang Jianzhong, a well-known Chinese painter and calligrapher who held the main banner, “27 Years of Striving to End the Persecution of Falun Gong,” told The Epoch Times he was there to request that the CCP stop persecuting Falun Dafa.

Wang was sent by the 610 Office—an extralegal police force targeting Falun Gong—to Wang Cun Labor Camp, where he was held for a month in a dark little room, with his limbs locked to a bed at night.

“The CCP’s vicious persecution has severely damaged my physical and mental well-being,” said Wang, who escaped from mainland China to the United States in 2012.

Li Xianglan, an ethnic Korean from China’s Jilin Province, fully recovered in one year from severe myocarditis after she started practicing Falun Gong. Li was tortured while in detention in 2003 and was then sent to a labor camp for two years.

“The suffering endured under such a totalitarian regime is inhuman—it is beyond human imagination,” she told The Epoch Times.

Li hopes that those who once persecuted Falun Gong practitioners, “will come to understand us anew.”

“It’s not too late,” she said. “Why do Falun Gong practitioners set aside concerns about life and death to cultivate and be good people? Because it’s our right to be a good person.”

The intention behind the use of the floodlights remains unknown. 

Shi said a bad intention can hardly be excluded in the context of the CCP’s transnational repression targeting practitioners and their families in China and around the world.

Others thought it could have been a positive development.

“Could it be that some people within the Chinese Consulate have, over the years, come to see the evil nature of the Chinese Communist Party and recognize that Falun Gong practitioners and the principles of truth, compassion, and forbearance represent hope for the future?” Huang said.

Guo Zhijun, a member of the Democratic Party of China San Francisco chapter, joined the Falun Gong practitioners during a parade on July 18.

“All of us who came overseas—whether ordinary people or democracy activists—should stand up and support Falun Gong,” he told The Epoch Times.

“Because standing up for these persecuted people means standing up for ourselves and for our future. Clearly, Falun Gong and the Communist Party represent the relationship between good and evil; we must support what is good and righteous, and stand on the side of justice.”

Crystal Lu contributed to this report.