United States: Candlelight Vigil at American University Calls for the Release of Charles Li and Liu Chengjun

On the evening of November 21, 2003, Friday, a candlelight vigil was held on the campus of American University, located in Washington D.C. At the candlelight vigil sponsored by the university's Falun Dafa Club, students, professors and alumni with different backgrounds made speeches in several languages, including English, Chinese, Korean and Japanese, urgently calling upon Jiang's regime to release illegally detained Falun Gong practitioners Liu Chengjun and Charles Li.

American University is famous for its departments of the journalism, political science and international affairs. The candlelight vigil began to the music of Pu Du, attracting many students and teachers passing by. Professor Larry Liu talked about the illegality and severity of the persecution of Falun Dafa in China, and also discussed the plight of Liu Chengjun and Charles Li, who are being detained and tortured in China.

President of Falun Dafa Club at the American University Ms. Wang Jinwei also gave a speech. She said that Liu Chengjun and Charles Li are being persecuted for tapping into Chinese TV broadcasting signals. Their action was a righteous act of returning the right to know the truth to the public, given the brutal persecution and the information blockade instituted by the Jiang regime. A Falun Gong practitioner from the UK enumerated the Jiang regime's crimes in the course of trying to eliminate Falun Gong and discussed the lawsuits around the world against Jiang.

Ms. Jo from Japan expressed her concerns for the persecution and respect for the courageous practitioners who tapped into the TV broadcasting signals. Ms. Hadekuan from Korea condemned Jiang's crimes, expressing the international community's concerns for Falun Gong practitioners and calling for an immediate release of Falun Gong practitioners. Falun Gong practitioner Du Wang from Korea gave a speech to express overseas Dafa practitioners' concerns and called for an end to the persecution of Falun Gong in China.

The President of the Falun Gong Club from the University of Maryland was invited to give a speech. He expressed gratitude to the professors at American University for their support of the lawsuits against Jiang.

Keith, an alumnus of American University, said that Falun Gong is based on the principle of "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance," and the persecution of such a peaceful group of practitioners is unacceptable.

The speeches went on in the candlelight for about an hour. Before the end of the activity, Ms. Wang Jinwei said, "Tonight's candlelight is coming to an end, but our efforts to rescue Charles Li and Liu Chengjun will not stop until they are unconditionally released. Our rescue efforts of all Falun Gong practitioners who are suffering the persecution will not stop until all Falun Gong practitioners in China are unconditionally released. We believe that no persecution can truly suppress Falun Gong, because 'Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance' are in people's hearts, and because 'Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance' is the universal truth."

During the activity, some students wanted to learn to practice Falun Gong, and many of them signed their names for the rescue petition. Others took our fliers and expressed their support.

The local practitioners nearly ran out of fliers at the end of the activity. The Epoch Times covered the activity, and American University's campus newspaper "The Eagle" sent a press-photographer to record the touching scene of the candlelight vigil.