United States: Washington DC Practitioners Commemorate the Fifth Anniversary of the April 25th Appeal in Front of the Chinese Embassy

On the afternoon of April 25, 2004, some Falun Gong practitioners in Washington DC gathered in front of the Chinese Embassy to commemorate the fifth anniversary of April 25th appeal by practicing the exercises and sending forth righteous thoughts.

Doing the exercises and sending forth righteous thoughts in front of the Chinese Embassy

Doing the exercises in front of the National Air and Space Museum


On April 25, 1999, more than ten thousand Falun Gong practitioners appealed to the Chinese government to release unjustly detained practitioners. The D.C. practitioners said that during the appeal in 1999, the Chinese practitioners displayed their peacefulness and rationality, self-discipline and high moral character, marking a significant event in history.

The practitioners said that peacefulness and rationality are important aspects of the Falun Gong practitioners' opposing the persecution. The practitioners called on China to stop the persecution of Falun Gong and bring the chief culprit Jiang Zemin to justice for torture, genocide and crimes against humanity.

Another group of practitioners practiced the exercises in front of the National Air and Space Museum in the morning. Because it was Sunday, other activities were also held at the National Mall. A lot of people saw the Falun Gong practitioners practicing the exercises, and many people took pictures. The practitioners also passed out flyers to the tourists.

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Background On April 25th in China

The significance of April 25 reaches back to 1992, when Li Hongzhi, a qigong Master from North-eastern China, began publicly teaching Falun Gong in the Mainland. Falun Gong (or Falun Dafa), is a practice of meditation and exercises with teachings rooted in the values of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Tolerance.

A small circle of politicians in China began opposing Falun Gong as the practice grew popular. Attacks in the state-run media began in 1996, and Falun Gong books were banned from publication. The Chinese government estimated there were 70-100 million practitioners in China in 1998. A nationwide investigation into Falun Gong by retired cadres concluded that Falun Gong poses no threat and that, on the contrary, it is beneficial to Chinese society. However, individuals within the Public Security Bureau (PSB) continued escalating the infringements by dispersing group exercise sessions, searching homes, and confiscating property. Practitioners reported these abuses to the government 18 times between 1998 and 1999 using the form of large appeals.

After a Tianjin-based magazine attacked Falun Gong, some 40 practitioners were violently seized and detained by police when they peacefully voiced their concerns. Tianjin city officials later advised practitioners to go to Beijing instead, since the PSB was involved. Acting in accordance with their constitutional right to assemble and appeal, on April 25, 1999, over 10,000 practitioners gathered outside Beijing’s Office of Appeals, located beside the Zhongnanhai residential compound. The appeal was peaceful, silent, and did not obstruct traffic. Practitioners requested the release of those detained in Tianjin, a lifting of the publishing ban, and freedom from police harassment when exercising. Then-Premier Zhu Rongji met with practitioners, those detained in Tianjin were released, and all who had assembled quietly dispersed.

That night, however, in a move some analysts have attributed to fear and jealousy, former Communist leader Jiang Zemin took an official stance against Falun Gong. In July 1999 Jiang outlawed the practice and began a violent campaign to “eradicate” Falun Gong. The regime has since implemented a full-scale propaganda campaign against Falun Gong while imprisoning, torturing, and even murdering its adherents. The Falun Dafa Information Centre has verified the details of 951 deaths. In October 2001, however, government officials inside China revealed that the actual toll was well over 1,600. Expert sources believe the figure to now be much higher.