RFI Radio Free Asia: Falun Gong Practitioners in Ireland Expose the Lies of the Jiang Regime during the 2003 Special Olympic Games

The practitioners name has been removed to avoid harrassment by the Jiang regime

Radio Free Asia issued the following report on the 20th June 2003:

The 2003 Special Olympics is currently being held in Ireland, with over 7000 athletes with special needs participating. During the games, Irish Falun Gong practitioners welcomed the Chinese athletes and called on the international society to pay attention to the Falun Gong crisis in China. Tianyi, our special correspondent, has the following report from Germany.

This Saturday, the 2003 Special Olympics will open in Dublin, the capital of Ireland. On the Friday morning, the quiet Irish seaside town of Bray suddenly began to liven up. Local residents and people from surroundings areas were gathering on both sides of the main street. On the main street, located in the town centre, Irish Falun Gong practitioners also stood there with a banner “Welcome to the Chinese Athletes”. When interviewed, [a Chinese practitioner] said, “The Special Olympics held in Dublin, Ireland, starts today. The opening ceremony is tomorrow, Saturday, and the closing ceremony is going to be held on 29th June. All of these activities are going to be held in Dublin. But, the athletes who are participating in the games are accommodated in different cities and towns”. Regarding the Chinese delegation’s situation, [She] said: “Originally, there were supposed to be over 300 athletes and representatives joining the Chinese delegation, however, due to the SARS epidemic, only 60 people, including athletes could come. Some of them arrived last week, and some arrived yesterday”.

Concerning the torch relaying activity held on Friday morning, as well as Falun Gong practitioners’ activity, [she] said:” At the Chinese delegation’s station, which is located in a small town called Bray, near both the sea and Dublin, Falun Gong practitioners were glad to see them, as most of us are Chinese. At the very beginning, we were a little disappointed when we thought they could not come, as this is a good opportunity for China to communicate with the world. We also prepared a banner worded: “Falun Gong Practitioners Welcome the Chinese Athletes”.

Regarding these athlete with special needs, [she] said, Falun Gong practitioners would provide any help they might need. She also talked about those people with special needs that are practicing Falun Gong in China who have been treated unfairly. “Today, I saw the Chinese delegation and the athletes receiving a warm welcome and a good service, which made me think that among our Falun Gong practitioners in China, not only the ordinary practitioners have been brutally persecuted and tortured, but also those practitioners with special needs have been persecuted and tortured as well. Some of them have even been tortured to death. I think that this brutal crackdown should not have happened. Finally, [she] said that all of us were victims. Originally, there were over 300 people from China scheduled to join the games, but because the Chinese government deceived the world, and hid the situation of SARS the Irish organiser could not rely on the Chinese government. In the end, only over 30 athletes were allowed to come. She also said, Falun Gong practitioners are holding activities during these games to let people see the Chinese government’s deceit with regard to Falun Gong.

Translated from Chinese at: http://www.yuanming.net/articles/200306/21765.html