Reporter: Hello, this is Wang Lu. Welcome to “Chinese in Paris”.
French Falun Gong practitioners held a parade in Paris on the 11th of May. On this day, several Chinese and French practitioners, wearing colourful clothing, demonstrated the Falun Gong exercises on a moving truck and this attracted many Paris citizens. Mr. Zhang Jianping of the French Falun Gong Association is here for an interview. First of all, is there a special reason for holding the parade on May 11th?
Practitioner: Falun Gong was first introduced to the general public on May 13th, 1992. (Background music is playing: “Falun Dafa is Good”.) Eleven years later, and there are more than one hundred million people in 60 countries around the world currently practise Falun Gong. Three years ago, practitioners declared May 13th to be “World Falun Dafa Day”. Practitioners worldwide, including those who are being persecuted by the Chinese regime, will celebrate [World Falun Dafa Day] on this day. We hope everybody can share our joy, and look forward to bringing the wonderfulness of “Truthfulness-Benevolence-Forbearance” to the world.
Reporter: What is this parade trying to appeal for?
Practitioner: As everybody has seen, all Chinese people, including even my family, relatives and friends in China, have suffered from the lies that the Chinese authorities have fabricated on SARS. People in other countries in the world are no exception either. Our life and health has been seriously threatened. We look at this issue from the standpoint of the lies told by the Chinese Communist government. Have you noticed that since it establishment in 1949, the Chinese government has continued to tell lies because it could not have survived without doing so?
The persecution of Falun Gong is essentially the same type of situation. It is clear to us that this persecution has been maintain by violence and lies. If the Chinese government can release its control over the media for three days, and allow Falun Gong practitioners to reveal the persecution and inhuman torture they have suffered, how the Chinese authorities and Jiang’s regime has fabricated lies to cheat the people, and how they have manipulated public opinion, it wouldn’t take long before this persecution came to an end.
Reporter: When Jiang visited the US last year, Falun Gong practitioners filed a lawsuit against him. What is that all about?
Practitioner: When Jiang visited the US, Falun Gong practitioners filed a lawsuit in the US District Court of the Northern District of Illinois. Jiang was charged with committing three crimes. The first one was crimes against humanity by brutally persecuting Falun Gong. The other two are torture and genocide. We practitioners sued Jiang because he intends to eradicate millions of Falun Gong practitioners by any possible means, including lies and violence.
Reporter: What is the current status of this lawsuit? Is there any progress?
Practitioner: The judicial process is ongoing. The lawyer representing Falun Gong has recently submitted materials to the court. The court has also set a deadline before which the defendant, Jiang Zemin, and his representing lawyer should deliver documents in his defense. The court will then decide whether this case will go to trial. I think this will not be a problem because there is plenty of evidence. On every Falun Gong website, including Clearwisdom Net, many new cases of Falun Gong practitioners being persecuted are published daily. The persecution includes torture, brainwashing, forced labour as well as many other forms. The work and study of practitioners, their family members, friends and colleagues are all affected. The persecution is so extensive and overwhelming now that the evidence is very abundant.
Reporter: Up to now, how many Falun Gong practitioners have been persecuted to death in China?
Practitioner: According to our sources, the death toll has exceeded 690. This covers only the cases where the names of the victims are available and have been verified. As a matter of fact, the information blockade is so comprehensive that the current number is far below the actual number of deaths. More than two years ago, internal information from the Chinese Public Security Bureau indicated that the death toll had reached 1600. A third party organisation estimated the death toll to be several thousand. In addition, there are several thousand practitioners who have been sent to psychiatric hospitals, and brutally abused under the guise of medical treatment. These abuses include injections of drugs that damage the brain and central nervous system. There are hundreds of thousands of practitioners imprisoned in forced labour camps, and millions have been arrested, and are suffering from torture and various kinds of inhuman treatment whilst being detained. Their family members, friends, colleagues and even superiors at work are all involved.
Reporter: Now that new political leaders have been elected in China, there should be new policies. Do you foresee Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao being more tolerant, and will they ease up the persecution against Falun Gong?
Practitioner: As leaders responsible for the country, we hope they can truly understand what is necessary for the citizens of China, and what is right for the country. Falun Gong asks practitioners to cultivate their nature and become benevolent people. Therefore, it is very beneficial to the stability of society, and should not cause any threat to the country. Any political leader who takes responsibility for the country and its citizens should understand this.
Reporter: This is “Chinese is Paris”. Thank you for being with us today.
Translated from Chinese at http://yuanming.net/articles/200305/20454.html
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