Radio Free Asia: Interviewing European Practitioners about Celebrating World Falun Dafa Day in Europe

Falun Gong practitioners throughout Europe held activities to celebrate “World Falun Dafa Day” in different places around the continent this week. Swedish Falun Gong practitioners held a press conference outside of the Chinese Embassy. The Swedish government and media are strongly concerned with the Chinese regime’s brutal persecution of Falun Gong. Below is a report from RFI’s special correspondent, Tian-yi, from Germany.

During the last week, Falun Gong practitioners from all over Europe held different kinds of activities on the busy streets of Europe’s main cities and in front of her many Chinese Embassies. We interviewed EFGIC (European Falun Gong Information Centre) spokesperson Zhang Jianping, who lives in Paris: “Recently, practitioners in different places around the world have celebrated ‘World Falun Dafa Day.’ Falun Gong was first made public 11 years ago by Mr. Li Hongzhi in Changchun.” He went on to explain, “Everyone knows that Falun Gong is a cultivation practice which involves simple and easy-to-learn exercises, which are particularly beneficial to health, and is based on the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. We practitioners do everything in our daily life according to these principles. Falun Gong has made outstanding contributions to practitioners’ health, the elevation of morality, and the stability of society. As a result, there are between 50 and 60 countries with 100 million people of different races and nationalities practising.”

When asked about the activities held in France and other places in Europe, Zhang Jianping said, “in France, we held a float parade through the main areas where Chinese people live in Paris, and performed traditional Chinese dances at the same time. Practitioners in other countries in Europe, including Germany, Demark, Sweden, Switzerland, Britain, Italy, etc., also held similar activities, as did other countries around the world. What are the purposes of holding these activities? One is that we can tell everyone about the goodness and the beauty of Falun Gong. Another is that we all know that the Jiang Zemin regime’s persecution of Falun Gong is completely based on lies. One important way to stop this persecution is to tell people, in a peaceful way, what Falun Gong really is and about the lies that the Jiang regime have been using, so that all the Chinese people and western people can understand what is actually happening.”

Recently, under pressure from the Chinese government, the Thai government has detained Swedish Falun Gong practitioner Pirjo Svensson in Thailand. Therefore, among the celebratory activities, Swedish Falun Gong practitioners held a special press conference outside the Chinese Embassy. “Falun Gong practitioners held a press conference for this event on 15th May. In the conference, some Swedish media reporters felt angry with this incident. Why should a Swedish citizen, who has done nothing wrong, undergo such unjust treatment in Thailand under the pressure of the Chinese government? We asked either the government or the media to help this Falun Gong practitioner.”

Mr. Zhang Jianping explained that in the press conference, Swedish Falun Gong practitioners also enumerated Jiang Zemin’s crimes, including abusing his authority, embezzling state funds, and his cruel persecution of Falun Gong. They called for the international court to investigate these criminal acts and bring Jiang to trial. A reporter from a Swedish news agency said that facing such persecution, media outlets should make themselves heard so that the international communities can adopt a more efficient means to stop the persecution.

Translated from Chinese at http://www.yuanming.net/articles/200305/20485.html