Austria: An Open Letter to the Ambassador and Staff of the Chinese Embassy in Austria

Your Excellency, and staff members of the Embassy, greetings,

Today, on behalf of the Falun Dafa practitioners in Austria and more than twenty other countries in Europe and Asia, we hold a candlelit vigil here to commemorate the Falun Gong practitioners who have been persecuted to death in China, and once again appeal for an end to this brutal persecution of Falun Dafa practitioners.

The people of many other countries around the world and more and more people in Austria have started to practise Falun Dafa. The principles of "Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance" and the five sets of harmonious and peaceful exercises are very popular among the people of many countries. Falun Dafa is just like a bridge which connects modern life with the ancient Chinese culture of cultivation practice and is a link between the cultures of the East and West.

The principles of "Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance" have been deeply rooted in the people of the world's hearts and Falun Dafa has also become the admiration of the world’s people. Exactly because we respect and treasure Chinese people as well as the long-standing Chinese traditional culture, we appeal from the deepest depths of our hearts for a swift conclusion to this persecution.

The world’s people, perhaps you included, are well aware that the persecution of Falun Gong in China is based on lies and deception. What is really harmful to China’s national dignity and what leads to Chinese society’s instability is precisely the persecution of Falun Gong, which was initiated by Jiang Zemin. In this persecution, the good is replaced by evil; human consciences are deceived by lies; moral standards are declining; human rights are trampled on; kind-hearted people are deprived of their lives by cruel torture. A great civilised nation with a long history is now bogged down in an unprecedented catastrophe.

The reason for our coming here today is neither for our own interests nor any political motivation, but for justice and fairness. We appeal for the release of all the Falun Gong practitioners who are illegally incarcerated, the end of the persecution against Falun Gong and the restoration of Master Li’s reputation. It is the peaceful and rational principles imparted to us by Master Li Hongzhi that enable us to maintain righteous thoughts in this persecution and appeal peacefully for the end of this persecution as well as for justice and conscience.

You may already know that Jiang Zemin has been prosecuted for crimes against humanity, genocide and cruel torture in over ten countries including Germany, Spain, the United States, etc. The more that the evil acts are exposed to the world, the more the world’s people are able to see his sinister nature. The net of justice is far reaching and the evil beings have nowhere to escape. The prime culprits who persecute Falun Gong practitioners and those who actively participate in this persecution will eventually be brought to the tribunal of history.

In the course of this persecution and our campaign against the persecution, everyone is making his own choice.

Your Excellency and the respectable embassy personnel, please choose justice, harbour compassion, and return freedom to the Chinese people who practise Falun Gong. Please kindly forward our concerns to the Chinese government.

Thank you,

Falun Dafa practitioners in Vienna, Austria

June the 18th, 2004.