Many student tour groups from China visit London's Chinatown during the summer. When they see practitioners dressed in yellow shirts and banners with the words, "Falun Gong is spreading worldwide" and "Stop the Chinese Communist Party's organ harvesting from living Falun Gong practitioners," they are usually very surprised.
Some students watch practitioners demonstrate Falun Gong exercises from a short distance away, while others come over to the informational booth to read the display boards and ask questions about Falun Gong.
Once they understand the truth, almost all of them quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its affiliated organizations.
The Chinese regime has been persecuting Falun Gong since 1999, when it realized that the number of people practising the peaceful spiritual practice exceeded the number of Communist Party members.
Having no access to objective information, people in China have been heavily brainwashed by the regime's propaganda that slanders Falun Gong. As a result, many still don't know the basics facts about the spiritual practice, including its widely reported health benefits, or that it is practised freely in over 100 countries worldwide.
Renouncing their association with the Party is their chance to symbolically separate themselves from the evil deeds committed by the regime in its decades of ruthless power.
Students Learn the Facts
Two boys who were part of a student tour group from Guangdong Province came over to look at one of the banners.
“Take a good look at what this banner says,” said Xiao Zhao, a practitioner. “It's something you won't see back home. You’ve spent a lot of money to travel this far, and thus you should experience everything that you can. Only then will your trip have been worthwhile.
"Are you afraid to look at the banner?” asked Ms. Zhao. “Were you taught that Falun Gong practitioners had committed suicide by lighting themselves on fire?" The boys nodded.
"All of what you've learned about this so-called self-immolation incident in Tiananmen Square, and about Falun Gong, is the CCP's propaganda,” Ms. Zhao explained.
“Back in August 2001, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, a specialized agency of the United Nations, investigated the Party's claims of self-immolation by Falun Gong practitioners and declared that those claims were completely unfounded. However, due to China's Internet blockade, you have not learned about this."
"Why did the Chinese regime start persecuting Falun Gong?" asked one of the boys.
"Why do you think it started persecuting Falun Gong and why does the CCP suppress so many things?” Ms. Zhao responded.
“Because they’re dictators,” replied one of the boys.
“Exactly!” said Ms. Zhao. “When it realized how many people were practicing Falun Gong in China, it became afraid of losing its power and control over the Chinese people. That’s why it initiated the persecution."
The boys listened attentively.
"I’m Chinese and I don’t want to be unpatriotic,” declared one boy.
“You’re not being unpatriotic by listening to the truth!” replied Ms. Zhao.
As an example, she then explained the difference between political parties in the United Kingdom and the country itself.
“In the United Kingdom, there are people who oppose the party in power and there are people who support it. This is quite normal here, and nobody is accused of being unpatriotic because they oppose the policies of the country's ruling party. Everybody here knows that the party and the country are two different things.
“Also, if U.K. residents don’t approve of the party in power, they can always vote them out of office in the next election. In China, it’s not like that at all because the country is ruled by a dictatorship, and thus its citizens have no say in who rules.
“Of course, you should be good Chinese citizens and study hard in school. But you also swore to fight for communism and the Communist Party, which is completely wrong.”
Ms. Zhao went on to explain that they had the option of renouncing their membership in the Party, and that they didn’t have to use their real names, and instead could use a pseudonym. “What did you think?” Ms. Zhao asked the boys.
One of them indicated that he wanted to quit. Ms. Zhao gave him a copy of Truth , a special-edition newspaper with in-depth information about the persecution of Falun Gong in China.
She then handed copies of the newspaper to some students who were sitting nearby and explained what she had just told the two boys.
Other practitioners also clarifying the truth to the group. When the students read the newspaper and heard what the practitioners had said, several decided to renounce their membership in the CCP-affiliated youth leagues.
The Truth Spreads Far and Wide
Ms. Zhao also spoke to a young Chinese man who was watching the practitioners demonstrate the exercises. He said that he was studying in Beijing and is now living in the United States. He was visiting the United Kingdom with his girlfriend.
As soon as Ms. Zhao started telling him about Falun Gong, he said, "Falun Gong is being defamed. The Party should not make a big fuss about people practicing their own beliefs. People should have the freedom of belief!”
The young man said he had never been a member of the CCP, but that he had joined the CCP's Young Pioneers when he was a child. Ms. Zhao pointed out that he must have sworn to uphold communism when joining the youth league. The young man then expressed his wish to renounce his membership.
To date, over 140 million Chinese people have quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations.
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