Canada: Wen Jiabao's Final Destination

On December 11, 2003, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao visited his final destination in Canada -- the Canadian Museum of Civilization. Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien held a state dinner at the Museum in honour of Premier Wen that evening.

Many Dafa practitioners in Montreal, Toronto, and Ottawa did not have time for dinner. Overcoming difficulties of travelling through the freezing snow and the rain, they flocked from the previous event to the Canadian Museum of Civilization in time to mark the final event in Wen's visit and to deliver important messages to him.

Around 7:00 P.M., a motorcade carrying top Canadian political leaders and Wen drove past Falun Gong practitioners rallying in front of the Canadian Museum of Civilization and displaying their large banners that read "Welcome Wen Jiabao to Canada," "Bring Jiang Zemin to Justice," and "Falun Dafa Is Good." The Falun Gong group had a silent presence and performed peaceful meditation.

Around 8:00 P.M., it became increasingly cold. After a long day standing in the cold and the rain, other rally groups piled back into their buses for the long ride back home. Because practitioners from Montreal and Toronto had to go to work the next day, practitioners in Ottawa suggested that they leave and volunteered to stay until the gala was over. [Montreal and Toronto are 200 km & 450 km from Ottawa, respectively.] But some practitioners from Montreal insisted on persevering until the end of the rally, standing in the cold with local practitioners.

Then practitioners patiently explained the purpose of the rally to the city police officers sitting in more than ten police cars.

At first some police officers told us, "Falun Gong is a very peaceful and friendly group. We have a good understanding of the group and we are very sympathetic toward Falun Gong for the persecution you are subject to, but, as police officers, we must remain neutral and not get involved in your cause." Hence, they did not take our flyers containing the facts about Falun Gong and about the persecution. After we talked to them at length, most of the police officers accepted our flyers.

One of the police officers had a lot of questions about Falun Gong. "From what I have seen in Canada, Falun Gong exercises are very peaceful. Why would the Chinese government want to persecute Falun Gong?" he asked. A practitioner explained, "It was a personal and wilful decision of the former General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, Jiang Zemin. He single-handedly ignored the better judgment of the majority of the Chinese government and the Chinese people, and started to persecute the good people in China who conduct themselves according to the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Tolerance. And by doing so, Jiang has violated not only the Chinese Constitution but also dozens of laws in China. We want to deliver an important message tonight: we are by no means instigating a political upheaval against the Chinese government; we are protesting Jiang Zemin's atrocious persecution against Falun Gong practitioners and his oppression of the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance. We welcome Wen Jiabao to Canada and we hope that he will help bring Jiang Zemin to justice."

On that note, the police officer said, "Oh! I see it now. You have banners that say 'Welcome Wen Jiabao to Canada' and 'Bring Jiang Zemin to Justice.'"

"Does this mean you think Wen's new government is more promising?" The practitioner replied, "Falun Gong practitioners are apolitical cultivators and should not make any comment on politics. We are here tonight solely because the persecution against Falun Gong still goes on in China even with the advent of new political leaders in China. It is our most sincere wish that no one will tacitly accept the persecution against morality and good conscience after he finds out the truth about Falun Gong and the persecution. Everyone will ultimately be held accountable for his own actions. Therefore, we hope that everyone will choose wisely and stop remaining indifferent to Jiang's unacceptable crimes. China only has a future when people in that land see and experience a moral resurgence. Without intending to start a moral movement in China, prior to the persecution, Falun Dafa helped 100 million Chinese people improve their morality and health. Today's China is drowning in materialism and the insatiable desire for wealth. In sharp contrast, Falun Gong practitioners in China remain impervious to the moral degradation. They have stood up to point out Jiang Zemin's malicious lies about Falun Gong, and have been resisting the brutal persecution solely with peaceful approaches. I think it's fair to say that Falun Gong has truly brought hope to China."

Touched by the practitioners' sincerity, the police officer suddenly took the practitioner's hands and made a sincere effort to say in Chinese, "Thank you (Xie Xie!)"

Next some practitioners approached the command police car to clarify the truth about Falun Gong and the persecution. One of the police officers could not bear to watch us stand in the cold anymore, so he suggested to us, "Look how cold it has become. Why don't you go home and rest?" A practitioner replied, "Thank you very much for your kind concern. In China, you won't be able to see any Falun Gong practitioners rallying in public. No Falun Gong practitioner in China can afford to raise the banner in public or in front of the Chinese Premier like we are doing here without suffering severe consequences. The police assisting in Jiang's persecution will claim your life if you practice Falun Gong and conduct yourself according to its principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Tolerance in China. So we would rather stay here and grasp the opportunity to deliver the important message to Wen."

At 9:00 P.M., a fierce wind arose and bits of ice flew at us. It also brought down nearly an entire row of barricades and wooden poles supporting our giant banners.

The police officers from the command car immediately rushed out of the car and helped put up the barricades and the poles again.

Neither the strong wind nor the snow could defeat Falun Gong practitioners or put a hitch in our noble cause. The darkest night only brings up the preciousness of light in our hearts. The coldest winter day only brings us closer to the warmth in our hearts.

Then we moved our giant banners toward one of the museum's exits because we expected Wen's motorcade would take that exit as they left the gala. At the beginning of our rally this evening, police officers did not want us to raise our banners near that exit, but now they simply sat watching us raise the banners.

Clarifying the truth is truly a key that opens up everyone's heart.

At 9:40 P.M., an escort police car drove from inside the Museum to the exit where we were standing, preparing to escort Wen's motorcade to leave. A practitioner quickly approached them and clarified the truth to them, and they gladly accepted our flyers. Then the practitioner asked one of the escort police officers, "Will the motorcade be taking this exit?" "Yes." "When?" "In about 10 to 15 minutes."

Right at that moment, along came a police car to block the traffic.

At 9:50 P.M., a motorcade of five to six police cars slowly escorted Wen's car out of the Museum. As they exited the Museum, they drove directly toward the three giant banners that each measured 8 meters in length.

The music of "Pudu" (which means "Offering Salvation to All Sentient Beings" in Chinese) broke the cold, lonesome silence of this winter evening with its beautiful and peaceful melody. A practitioner adjusted the volume a little higher so that everyone could hear and enjoy it.

Three giant banners with the words "Falun Dafa Is Good," "Bring Jiang Zemin to Justice," and "Welcome Wen Jiabao to Canada" in both Chinese and English could be seen clearly as Wen Jiabao's motorcade passed by, looking extraordinarily prominent and glorious.