Madrid TV Station Broadcast a Special Report on Falun Gong Entitled “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance”

After Spanish Falun Gong practitioners held an anti-torture exhibition at Madrid’s Sun Gate Square, a TV station in Madrid interviewed some of the practitioners and transmitted a special report on Falun Gong entitled, “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance”. The report was aired during prime time viewing in the programme “Seven Days of Madrid” on Sunday January 16th.

A TV station in Madrid interviewing Falun Gong practitioners

Host (Female): In China, there is an ancient oriental cultivation practice – Falun Gong. About one hundred million people in more than sixty countries are practising it and the number of practitioners is still constantly and rapidly increasing. There are also many Falun Gong practitioners in Madrid. Today, we saw a number of them in Madrid.

Host (Male): Falun Gong is not a religion, even less is it a cult, instead, it is an ancient oriental cultivation practice. Just like what its practitioners said, Falun Gong is a teaching that upgrades people’s moral standard and improves their physical health. Unfortunately, these practitioners encounter persecution in China and are even illegally put in prisons, because the Chinese Government considers them a threat. Nevertheless, outside China, it has more than 500,000 practitioners in over sixty countries. Similarly, there are also practitioners in Madrid. Let’s go ahead and find out more from them.

Host (female): Falun Dafa, also known as Falun Gong, is a practice to improve health and keeping fit through exercises and meditation and upgrading moral standards through cultivating xinxing (mind nature). Falun Gong is a practice passed down from ancient time. It was taught to the public for the first time in 1992. At present, we can see practitioners all over the world including in the Petiro Park in Madrid, Spain. We can also see their peaceful practice in other major cities in Spain.

Carlos is an attorney. He is also a practitioner of Falun Gong who has practised for two years. From Falun Gong books, we can find out that the principles of this practice are “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance”.

Carlos: Falun Gong is a type of Qigong. To be specific, Qigong is a kind of ancient oriental culture that involves energy and can help improve health.

Host (female): Every Sunday, Carlos would go to Retiro Park with other practitioners to practise Falun Gong. This practice is completely free and is at no cost. Here in the park, no one is in charge, all are practitioners. This practice is based on traditional cultivation in the Buddha school, aiming at to achieve purification of both body and mind.

Carlos: Chinese people talk about moral nature. In Falun Dafa, we also emphasise moral nature, namely, upgrading a person’s character and moral standard. It allows people to behave better and become more tolerant.

Host (female): Every Sunday, some Falun Gong practitioners go to the Retiro Park to practise the exercises. Jesus, Mariano and Lorena are also among them.

Jesus: Two years ago, I learned about Falun Dafa and read a flyer in a health expo in Madrid. Six months later, I decided to start practising the cultivation. Now, I come here to attend the group practice every week.

Mariano: I saw some Chinese people doing meditation in the Square. At that time, I approached them because I felt that they were very peaceful, while during that period of time, I had some troubles in my life.

Lorena: Previously I went to the park to do exercises every Sunday. When I saw them practising Falun Gong, I felt it was good and I was also very curious about it. Therefore, I joined them.

Mariano: After I practised Falun Gong, my back pain disappeared and I could sleep normally. The smile returned to my face again.

Lorena: This practice is really miraculous, especially the spiritual aspect.

Host (female): Before 1999, more than one hundred million people practised Falun Gong every morning in parks across China. At that time, Falun Dafa was supported and honoured by the Chinese Government until 1999 when the then-President of China Jiang Zemin banned the practice.

Tian is eighteen years old now. She was also one of the hundred million practitioners who participated in the group practices in China’s parks at that time. When the suppression began, she was only thirteen years old. Her grandmother was illegally imprisoned simply because of her practice of Falun Gong. She was one of the more than 100,000 people who have been unlawfully imprisoned.

Tian: My grandmother is eighty years old now. After the suppression began, because she would not renounce her belief, she was unlawfully detained three times. Those police guards did not allow her to eat, drink or even sleep.

Liu: The persecution is completely unreasonable and is absolutely unlawful and unfair. No one understood the reason for it. The only explanation is that there are too many practitioners in China, while China is ruled by the communist dictatorship system. The ruling party considers the huge popularity as a threat to its power and therefore started the suppression.

Carlos: The orders issued by Jiang Zemin aiming at Falun Gong were: “Destroy their reputation, bankrupt them financially, and eliminate them physically”.

Host (female): Shao and Pan have been in Spain for several years. However the Chinese Government refused to extend or reissue their passports just because they practise Falun Gong. They said that in China, at least 100,000 practitioners were illegally detained, tortured and put into forced labour camps. More than twelve hundred practitioners were verified to have died from the persecution.

Carlos: In forced labour camps, practitioners are forced to work from sixteen to seventeen hours a day. They usually make soft toys; these toys are not sold in China but exported to other countries.

There are countless methods of torture used in labour camps. In the background the TV screen shows photos depicting how Falun Gong practitioners are tortured in China. For example, they use electric batons to shock practitioners’ bodies on their sensitive parts; they put female practitioners into male prisoners’ cells where they have been gang raped; they also inject practitioners with drugs that damage the nerve system. Consequently, practitioners are injured or even tortured to death.

Host (female): Lawsuits aiming at the persecution have been lodged in twenty four countries over the world. However in China, such scenes appeared on TV screens: “Tiananmen square self-immolation” video is played. In this video programme, the Chinese Government said that seven Falun Gong practitioners committed self-immolation in Tiananmen Square. However, according to international organisations’ inspection, this videotape and the incident were single-handedly directed by the Chinese Government. Its purpose was to defame Falun Gong.

Carlos: Yes, all of this was single-handedly directed by the Jiang regime, because the man in the video wore a mask such that his face would not be burned. In addition, his sitting posture for meditation is not correct. Every Falun Gong practitioner is able to at least sit in the semi-lotus position after practising for a period of time and will be able to sit in full lotus position later. The man in the video who claimed to have practised Falun Gong for five years was sitting there in a common posture of a Chinese policeman. (practitioners demonstrate the correct sitting posture for meditation).

Host (female): Falun Dafa – the ancient oriental practice and culture, but to us a new practice and new culture, which benefits people’s physical and mental health and helps to improve their social and moral standard appears today in Madrid’s parks!