Germany: Falun Gong hold a Protest due to the Misconduct of the Volkswagen Company

On the 8th of February 2004, Wolfsburger General Newspaper reported the following:

Falun Gong practitioners hold a protest against the misconduct of the Volkswagen Company

This is a silent street protest. On Saturday, Falun Gong practitioners held an information day on the streets to let people know the truth about the persecution of Falun Gong in China. Regarding the discrimination against peaceful practitioners by the Volkswagen Company, a practitioner called Wolfgang from northern Germany said, “We came to Wolfsburger, just to tell people the truth.”

Wolfgang and his friends handed out leaflets to the passers-by in the heavy wind and rain. They talked to people and also demonstrated the exercises. Falun Gong was introduced to the public in 1992. In the next seven years, a lot of people started to practise Falun Gong. However, it was then banned in 1999. A Falun Gong practitioner called Barbara said, “So many people practised Falun Dafa, maybe because it has a big influence [on practitioners’ health].”

Wolfgang said, “Since Falun Gong was banned, the practitioners of Falun Gong have suffered discrimination in China. This also happened in foreign businesses.” At the Volkswagen company in China, if the job applicants do not sign an agreement to indicate that they are not Falun Gong practitioners and do not support Falun Gong, their applications will be refused. There are a lot of examples of this.

In December, Falun Gong practitioners from northern Germany wrote a letter about this issue to the Volkswagen Company Manager Bernd Pischetsrieder. The responsible person for Asia and the Pacific Area said in his reply, “At the Volkswagen Company, there should not have been anyone who was made to suffer from discrimination.” They will investigate this issue. Wolfgang hopes that this can help to stop the discrimination.