We displayed banners with the wording "Falun Dafa", "Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance", "Dissolve the 骺 Office'" [an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems],"Put Luo Gan on trial. "Luo Gan is a government official who is extremely vicious in his persecution of Falun Gong.
Several invited Chinese state dignitaries were expected at the Chinese Embassy on Thursday the 8th. We seized the chance to gather in front of the embassy. There were several practitioners from various German cities who demonstrated the exercises and appealed peacefully.
The following day, the 9th of November, was a day when several events had been planned for the Chinese vice-president. At 10am in the morning, vice-president Hu emerged from the embassy, accompanied by numerous German dignitaries and politicians. A contingent of police vehicles accompanied the officials' cars. We again congregated in front of the embassy and did the exercises. By now we were fifty strong, while the previous day there were only ten of us. In spite of the icy cold, the wind and occasional rain showers the atmosphere was pleasant. Some practitioners held up banners while others sat at the curb and meditated. We presented a nice picture and several journalists filmed us.
Passers-by gladly accepted the newspapers and inquired about what we were doing. Several were already holding the newspapers and smiled at us. They recognized us from our previous activities in front of the embassy and our regular demonstrations. Some of the dignitaries' cars moved slowly past us and looked at us with interest. A few even stopped and asked which way they needed to turn next.
Since we were a group of fifty, we had permission to use a megaphone. We urged Mr. Hu to intervene in the plight of the Falun Gong practitioners in China, to stop the persecution of Falun Gong and to abolish the notorious "610 Office" (see above). Mr. Bissschhofshausen, president of the International Association for Human Rights [IGFM in German-Internationale Gesellschaft fur Menschenrechte], was also present and, in his speech, he pleaded for the rights of Falun Gong practitioners in China.
A small group of us left our spot in front of the embassy to walk to the German Chancellor's office, the location of vice-president Hu's next stop. We had applied for a permit to assemble directly in front of the Chancellery, where we would be easily visible. We waited and had two banners to hold up with the words" Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance," and the other one, "Falun Dafa" in German. Two of us distributed newspapers, four of us held up the banners and two us performed the righteous thoughts meditation. The gloomy sky slowly cleared and began to get a little warmer.
Most of the passers-by accepted the newspapers. Some said no the first time. When they passed us again later and saw the banners and our peaceful demeanour they then accepted the papers. A married tourist couple accepted the paper and looked at it with great interest. These people had come to see the Chancellery. On their way back from their sightseeing tour they returned to us. Although they had looked at the paper previously they did not recognize what it was all about. I did not know they already had a paper and asked the man to accept one. He smiled and showed me his paper. I apologized. His wife became curious and asked me, "Tell me, what does it say on your banners?" The four practitioners holding the banner turned in her direction. Then she saw. "Oh, that's good. In that case we will support you!” And they left, smiling.
A Swiss national who had come to visit the Swiss embassy also showed interest and took a newspaper. He made small talk with us. Later on he took pictures of us for his wife and children.
Three older passers-by who had already taken the paper came by again. I offered it to one of the men, not aware he already had a paper. He started to laugh and told me he had one already and then said, “But, say, could I possible get from you one of those nice-looking badges that say "I support Falun Gong?" I removed mine, gave it to him and he pinned it onto his jacket.
While we persevered in the cold, some media teams had become aware of us on their way to a press conference. They video taped us and took a newspaper. After this event had finished, vice-president Hu and his entourage emerged from the Chancellery gate, accompanied by many police escorts. We had the opportunity to show a front view of the banner, so that the whole Chinese delegation could see it.
The last stop for that day was at 5pm in the afternoon in front of Belvedere Palace, where the Chinese vice-president made his final visit. It had already become dark, but the temperatures were milder and we did the exercises at regular intervals and sent forth righteous thoughts. The policemen who stood watch witnessed the exercises and seemed to be relaxing from observing our peaceful, calm and harmonious deportment. Some of the practitioners spoke to them and explained the reasons for our demonstration. At the end of the evening, when Mr. Hu appeared, we gave another proclamation and sent forth righteous thoughts one more time. After that, the practitioners left for Fa [principles of Falun Gong] study and to exchange experiences.
A practitioner from Germany
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