Dialogue in a College Dormitory: "Why Haven't We Ever Considered These Questions?"

I am a college student in Shandong Province, China, but I have had the most extraordinary experiences over the past five years because my mother is a determined Falun Gong (or Falun Dafa) practitioner. Jiang Zemin started his senseless persecution against Falun Gong on July 20th, 1999, and after five years I continue to be touched by the efforts of practitioners in China. They have been unfailingly peaceful in the face of the ruthless torture and persecution, and they persevere in practicing Falun Gong and in telling people the truth about Falun Gong. I also have enormous respect for Falun Gong practitioners in China because they have the courage to say, "No" to the brutal Chinese government, even though it has cost them tears, pain, torture and even their precious lives. I cherish the materials containing important facts about Falun Gong that they have put together out of their own savings from their meager monthly incomes.

One evening not long ago, one of my classmates living in the same college dormitory suddenly brought up the subject of Falun Gong during a group chitchat and curiously asked me a question: "Do you think the Chinese government did the right thing oppressing Falun Gong?" Realising this was a wonderful opportunity for her to know the truth about Falun Gong, I replied, "The Falun Gong practitioners that I know are not at all like what the Chinese Central TV (CCTV) has portrayed. I have known them as a group of kindhearted and unselfish people. Have you wondered why we have been receiving leaflets containing the truth about Falun Gong for the past five years despite the government's persecution? Have you wondered why Falun Gong has become increasingly popular across all ethic groups outside of China and has received more than 1,000 proclamations from the governments around the world?"

These are really simple and basic questions that an average person might have about Falun Gong, but the people in China are afraid to ask them because of the government's ban and the Chinese media's slanderous propaganda. Everyone nodded and agreed, "Yeah, how come we have never considered these questions?" Then I suggested that they try to talk to real Falun Gong practitioners and try to find out the truth about Falun Gong. I said I believed that if they interacted with practitioners they would see the truth with their own eyes. As I was trying to inspire them to think from a completely different perspective to that of the Chinese media, their eyes sparkled with excitement and they kept asking questions about Falun Gong. I saw the kindness inside of them awakened during our conversation. A sense of justice and a wish to uphold justice slowly grew among us. We chatted for over three hours until 2:00 a.m. The eight of us didn't feel like sleeping at all because of the excitement and interest in the subject. It is a very rare thing for all eight of us to be so interested in one subject. I knew in my heart that sooner or later everyone in China will know about Jiang Zemin's scheme to fool the people with his lies about Falun Gong!

One day in an Information Systems class, the professor showed us some of the most popular search engines on the Internet. In order to demonstrate that the Chinese government blocks information on the Internet that it does not want people in China to know about, the professor did a search on the China version of google using the keywords, "Jiang Zemin." The search result was a page saying, "The page you requested cannot be found." The professor explained to us, "You see? In China, you are going nowhere if you do a regular search like this. Now I am going to show you a new way to beat the government's blocking of information." Then he started a program called Dongwangtong (meaning "Dynamic Net") and explained, "This software is designed to overcome the information blockade on the Internet. It is very effective. With Dongwangtong, you can access every website around the world. Allow me to demonstrate." Then he did the same keyword search on Google, but this time the search engine gave us a long list of results. Many of the web pages in the search results were from websites that Falun Gong practitioners have established to spread the truth about Falun Gong, such as Minghui.org. The search result included absolutely forbidden information in China, such as "The World Brings Jiang Zemin to Justice." Right away one of my classmates shouted out loud, "Professor! Let's go into that website! We have never had a chance to know this kind of news! We want to know about the trial against Jiang Zemin!" The professor smiled at us and delved into that website. He said playfully, "People all over the world are now trampling on the photos of the former chairman of the Communist Party of China! It goes without saying how depraved the man is! Class, what goes on in this classroom today stays in this room, all right? Otherwise I might lose my job. However, I can give each of you a copy of Dongwangtong so you can read the information about the overseas trial against Jiang Zemin at home!" The entire class broke into laughter. We were very impressed with the professor's courage to find the truth that the government does not want its people to know about. Since that class, our class has been surfing the Internet with the help of Dongwangtong. We have also learnt to find out more facts on the Internet before we make judgements based on CCTV's one-sided information.

The following vacation, a young girl stayed over at my home for a visit. My mom took the opportunity and asked her if she knew the truth about Falun Gong. She was surprised by the question and admitted that she had never heard anything about Falun Gong except the reports from CCTV. My mom produced several VCDs containing important facts about Falun Gong and asked me to play them for my friend. I showed "Falun Dafa Is Spread Around the World," and "The Truth Behind the Self-Immolation Incident at Tiananmen Square," "The Human Rights Violations Against Falun Gong Practitioners in China," and "The World Brings Jiang Zemin to Justice." She reacted very strongly to these VCDs. When she saw the photographs of Falun Gong practitioners that have been tortured to death, she burst into tears and said, "How could this be happening? How could we allow these things to happen around us? I cannot believe that I have been living in a lie created by the Party without realising it!" We watched the VCDs together until late into the night. She did not feel sleepy at all. Furthermore, she woke up early the next morning and the first thing she said to me was, "I did not sleep last night. I lay in bed thinking about the issue of Falun Gong. I decided that I must finish watching these VCDs, and I won't leave until I do!" I was very moved by her determination to know the truth, so I played the remaining VCDs for her. She was feeling both satisfied and sad. She was happy that she finally knew the truth, but she was sad that she had fallen victim to the Party's lies about Falun Gong for so many years. She was also upset that there are a lot of people that have not learnt the truth about Falun Gong.