EFGIC Press Release: European MEP Urges Paris not to Yield to Pressure from Chinese Regime

PARIS (EFGIC) – Statement by Emma Bonino, MEP and member of Committee on Foreign Affairs, Human Rights, Common Security and Defence Policy:

“I hope the French will stand by their own tradition, and refuse the pressure by Chinese regime. I hope the French government will stand consistent with the principle of freedom, which is the basis not only of France, but also of European Union.”

Paris Must Not Yield to Beijing!

• The Chinese regime puts pressure on the French authorities to exclude the French Falun Gong practitioners from the Chinese New Year Parade, which is an act of discrimination and a violation of the freedom of expression!


• China seeks to export its methods of repression… the French authorities should resist


• Where are the massive demonstrations in Paris against the Tiananmen massacre in 1989? Who will break the silence?

Next weekend (22-25 January) the Chinese regime will be arriving in Paris. Among the 5000 people coming, there will be many Chinese high officials. The image is one of a beautiful cultural show, friendship between nations … but yet there is also a hidden dark side - many have been excluded from the festivities.

For example, the French Falun Gong Association asked to take part in the parade with performances of the Lion Dance, Chinese drummers, traditional dancing as well as presenting decorated floats. Such performances has already won the First Community Prize at the world renowned Edinburgh Festival Cavalcade. However, the Chinese Embassy threatened to cancel all of the festivities if the City of Paris allowed Falun Gong to participate. With less than a week to the event, the City Hall has not approved our application and, at first, vaguely implied that the registration date had not been met. The truth is that the documents were sent on time, back in October.

Our Association was also not given authorizations for other activities during the festivity it had applied for, such as performing traditional Falun Gong exercises, and handing out information. We have been sent from one department to another; Police Department, City Hall, Ministry of Foreign Affairs … Other non-official voices, which the Chinese authorities have repressed, have also met with similar obstacles.

Will France, a land of freedom, allow a foreign regime to dictate rules on its own territory? Today, the Chinese regime exerts the pressure and interference in democratic countries. The more one yields to this pressure (in order to gain political and commercial benefits), the more the regime will impose its human rights abuses on his country.

Falun Gong, a traditional school of exercise and meditation, clearly belongs to Chinese culture. Apart from the tragic repression currently taking place in China, we wish to share the beauty and harmony of this culture, which is one of the treasures of China. And to wish everyone a happy new year filled with compassion and peacefulness. It's also an occasion to show to our Chinese brothers and sisters and the French public the peace and benevolence of Falun Gong in contrast to the demonisation by the Chinese state propaganda.

This ban on the participation of Falun Gong would be all the more shocking as it would strike at a peaceful group which is respectful of the Law. Falun Gong is practised in over 60 countries and it has been exemplarily peaceful and has been awarded prizes and honours for its positive contribution to society. In China, despite the fact that Falun Gong practitioners face violent persecution and defamation, they have remained resolute and non-violent. The practice was introduced by Mr Li Hongzhi in 1992 and at the beginning it was supported by the Chinese authorities. The practice quickly spread by word of mouth with 100 million Chinese people practising it. This alarmed the former president Jiang Zemin who in July 1999 concocted the conspiracy plan to justify his order to ban the practice. He tried to discredit Falun Gong in the eyes of the Chinese people and the international community using smear tactics, while imposed extreme censorship by forbidding practitioners from speaking out. Falun Gong practice is free, entirely voluntary and open, with no political agenda. It focuses on self-development by applying traditional values of truth-compassion-tolerance. To a Western person, it's like an art of living, a philosophy of life. Practitioners are full and responsible members of society!

Where are you, who shouted at the top of your voice against the massacre of the students on Tiananmen Square in 1989? Today, Falun Gong is the target of one of the most vicious persecutions in the world since 1945. In China, millions of innocent people are being defamed, hundreds of thousands are arbitrarily detained There is torture, rape and brainwashing. Someone dies every day … Such human rights abuses should not be tolerated anywhere. The Chinese regime’s attempt to export its persecution of Falun Gong to Paris must be resisted.

Contacts: French Falun Gong Association, Dominique +33 6 0969 3702, Alain Tong +33 6 1464 5346

COMMENTARY – Jan 19, 2004
European Falun Gong Information Centre, www.clearharmony.net/

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Background

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa (about), is a practice of meditation and exercises with teachings based on the universal principle of “Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance.” Practiced in over 50 countries world-wide, Falun Gong has roots in traditional Chinese culture. With government estimates of as many as 100 million practicing Falun Gong in China, China’s then-Communist leader, Jiang Zemin, outlawed the peaceful practice in July 1999 (report). Since that time, Jiang’s regime has intensified its propaganda campaign to turn public opinion against the practice while imprisoning, torturing and even murdering those who practice it. The European Falun Gong Information Centre has verified details of 856 deaths (reports / sources) since the persecution of Falun Gong in China began in 1999. In October 2001, however, Government officials inside China reported that the actual death toll was well over 1,600. Expert sources now estimate that figure to be much higher. Hundreds of thousands have been detained, with more than 100,000 being sentenced to forced labour camps, typically without trial.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT THE EUROPEAN FALUN GONG INFORMATION CENTRE
Peter Jauhal 44 (0) 7717 508 268 Nicolas Schols 32 (0) 479875734
More contacts. http://www.falungonginfo.net/europe.htm
Email: [email protected]