Large-Scale Parade through Central London Showcases Falun Gong and the Beauty of Traditional Chinese Culture, and Exposes the Human Rights Crimes Happening in China

On Saturday 15th January, several hundred European Falun Gong practitioners from nearly 20 countries held a large-scale parade through central London. The parade began from Whitehall, very close to the residence of the Prime Minister, and passed through major tourist areas including Trafalgar Square.

The parade consisted of several sections based on different main themes. The first section of the parade portrayed Falun Gong’s worldwide popularity and the benefits it has brought to society and was headed by 3 practitioners displaying the guiding principles of Falun Gong: Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance. The banners that followed revealed that Falun Gong is a peaceful practice with over 100 million practitioners in 60 countries. This was followed by a section of the parade that was based on the beauty of traditional Chinese culture, a form that Falun Gong practitioners have often adopted in their efforts to promote Falun Gong and raise awareness of the persecution. A waist drum team was headed this section and was accompanied by traditional Chinese dancers.

The persecution against Falun Gong in China, that has been continuing for the last 5 years, was the focus of the second half of the parade. Banners revealing the lawsuits against Jiang Zemin and other main officials who are responsible for instigating the persecution against Falun Gong were followed by female practitioners carrying placards commemorating their fellow Chinese practitioners who have been killed in the persecution. Posters revealed the torture methods used to force Falun Gong practitioners to renounce their beliefs. Two of these methods were displayed at the end of the float by practitioners re-enacting scenes from Chinese forced labour camps. Human rights organisations have specified over 100 methods of torture that are commonly used by the Chinese authorities to persecute people and have documented over 38,000 specific cases of torture or severe abuse against Falun Gong practitioners.

Many spectators stopped to watch the parade and received leaflets or newspapers giving them information on Falun Gong and how the practice spread quickly around the world after it was introduced to the public in 1992. There was also information on the campaign of persecution that was launched against Falun Gong practitioners by former Chinese leader Jiang Zemin in 1999. Over 1,200 deaths of people who practise Falun Gong have been fully documented although the real figure is said to be closer to 10,000. Most of these deaths happened in custody at the hands of Chinese officials.

The parade passed by the Chinese Embassy where the Chairman of the European Falun Dafa Association and the Vice-Chairman of non-governmental organisation European Friends of Falun Gong – an group of people who do not practise Falun Gong but are calling for an end to the persecution - delivered a letter calling on the Chinese authorities to stop their gross violations of human rights against Falun Gong practitioners. The embassy staff refused to answer the door to receive the letter so it was posted through the letterbox.

Delivering a letter to the Chinese Embassy

The practitioners hoped that by holding this activity more people in London could learn about Falun Gong and the persecution in China. When the whole world knows that such a peaceful practice, which encourages people to think of others first and live by the principles of truthfulness, compassion and tolerance, is being unjustly persecuted at the hands of China’s communist regime, the human rights violations will be unable to continue. After the parade, the practitioners split into smaller groups for activities in several locations in London where they demonstrated the Falun Gong exercises and talked to people about what is happening in China.