According to a World Journal report on the 28th of July, the Chinese Government's (led by dictator Jiang Zemin) ban on Falun Gong has lasted for five years. Several thousand Falun Gong practitioners throughout the world gathered in Washington DC to hold mass activities to call on the world for help to end this persecution.
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| Falun Gong practitioners build a 1-mile "Great Wall of Courage" in downtown Washington DC |
On the 23rd of July, more than 3,000 Falun Gong practitioners dressed in yellow T-shirts and holding banners with the words "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance" and posters against the persecution lined up along Connecticut Avenue in Washington DC to form a mile-long "Great Wall of Courage". The ending point was the Tiananmen Memorial Park in front of the Chinese Embassy. Connecticut Avenue is one of the major streets in Washington DC. From downtown to Dupont Circle, the "Great Wall" drew great attention from people walking and driving by.
Activities over the following days included a grand exhibition of the torture methods utilised by (Jiang's group) to suppress Falun Gong in front of the Lincoln Memorial, a rally and a parade in front of Capitol Hill. The "Kindle a candle" candlelight vigil on the evening of the 23rd of July in front of the Lincoln Memorial brought the activities to an end.
At the peaceful appeal on the west lawn of Capitol Hill, practitioners practised the exercises while listening to speeches given by American people from different social circles in support of Falun Gong.
The appeal coordinator Mr. Xiang Dong pointed out that this rally was to introduce Falun Gong's peaceful spirit and form of cultivation, as well as to call upon the international community to help stop the Jiang regime's suppression of Falun Gong.
Li Jinning coordinated the "Kindle a Candle" candlelight vigil in front of the Lincoln Memorial. He expressed in the drizzle and candlelight that lighting up a candle was to commemorate the Falun Gong practitioners who have died from the persecution over the past five years for upholding justice and conscience in the human world. He also wished that those who persisted in "freedom of expression" would also kindle a candle no matter where they were so as to awaken people's morality and conscience.
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