Charlotte, North Carolina: Artist Practitioner Clarifies the Truth on TV Channel 21

On April 29, 2004, amateur artist and Falun Gong practitioner Xia Qiongfen was interviewed by the host of a program on TV Channel 21. The topic was the creativity process. Ms. Xia took the opportunity to introduce Falun Gong and Jiang's persecution of Falun Gong practitioners to citizens of Charlotte.

As an amateur artist, Ms. Xia said that her painting skill was inborn. Before practicing Falun Gong, she painted just to please everyone. Seven years ago, she started to practice Falun Gong and her painting style changed to a serene, steady and joyful one. Ms. Xia said, "Since beginning the practice of Falun Gong, my inner self has changed. I started to feel very tranquil, pure and comfortable in my heart. I wanted to express that feeling for others to see. When I see practitioners practicing the exercises, I can feel their peace and comfort. When I started to paint (a painting of a young girl practicing the exercises), I tried to express the feeling in the painting and really hoped that the viewers could feel the peace and comfort."

She continued, "It has been 12 years since Mr. Li Hongzhi introduced Falun Gong to the world. Nearly five years ago, Jiang and his political group banned the practice and the Chinese media spread lies about it to incite hatred in the public. Many practitioners were tortured and persecuted for their belief. Falun Gong is a mind and body practice. I have just mentioned the body part. The mind part is that we follow the universal principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance."

In answering a question from a reporter why Jiang's political group persecutes Falun Gong, Ms. Xia said, "I think it is because 100 million people practice Falun Gong and the number is far more than the members of Communist Party, which caused Jiang's political group to become jealous. Actually, the practice is nonpolitical. Jiang's persecution resulted in the suffering of many practitioners. Nearly one thousand practitioners died due to police torture and more than 100,000 practitioners are being imprisoned in labor camps."

The day after the interview, on the evening of April 30, the citizens of Charlotte (a city with a population of 550,000) saw the program broadcast on their local television station.