Germany: Stories from the Falun Gong Information Site at Cologne Cathedral

To enable more people to understand Falun Gong and the persecution taking place against the practice in China, German Falun Gong practitioners set up an information site at Cologne Cathedral. Through practitioners’ efforts, more and more people have come to know the truth. Here I would like to write down some examples of the touching stories and experiences that happen every day at the cathedral.

“I support them!”

German authorities have adopted more liberal policies toward letting Chinese tourists into the country. Thanks to this, the number of Chinese tourists has been on the increase. One day, a group of tourists arrived from Guangdong Province. After reading the display boards, one tourist, who looked like an official, accused practitioners of “not loving their country.” On the contrary, he highly praised China’s Communist Party and blamed Falun Gong practitioners themselves for the persecution they are suffering.

The practitioners patiently told him the truth about Falun Gong, but failed to change his attitude. It was almost lunch time. The tourist said, “Now I am about to have my lunch. Later I will come back to chat with you again.”

He quickly came back to continue his chat with the practitioners. Since he had been severely poisoned by the Jiang regime’s deceitful lies, he was unwilling to change his attitude toward Falun Gong. Finally, when unable to find more words to defend his stance, he said, “Do you know how Chinese tourists view you? Your efforts will end with nothing. Nobody will support you.”

Meanwhile another man from the same tourist group, who had been listening to our conversation, shouted, “Who said nobody supports them? I support them! They are the only ones who dare to reveal the facts! They are the real hope of China! It is because of them that China has any hope of a future!” The tourist that looked like an official looked dumbfounded upon hearing these words.

“It is very cold. Take good care of yourselves!”

It tends to be particularly cold in the square near the cathedral. One day, when the practitioners were putting in order the various leaflets and posters, a Chinese man appeared in front of them. The practitioners greeted him with a smile and handed him a leaflet. The Chinese man returned the practitioners a humble smile, saying, “I understand you. I sympathise with you and support you.”

It turned out that the man was working in Germany as a tourist guide. He had come across Falun Gong practitioners holding activities to promote the practice and inform people about the persecution all over Germany. Through seeing these activities, he came to understand the persecution against Falun Gong in China and deeply sympathised with the victims.

As a tourist guide, he often met practitioners by chance at the tourist spots. He would come to greet them and take the initiative to explain the truth about Falun Gong to his tourist group. If there were some tourists who had negative reactions because they did not know the facts, he would kindly advise them not to believe in Jiang Zemin’s slanderous propaganda but to find out the truth for themselves.

Before departing, he expressed his concern toward the practitioners, saying, “It is very cold. Take good care of yourselves!”

“Is it true?!”

On International Human Rights Day, practitioners held an anti-torture exhibition to expose the draconian forms of torture used to try to force Falun Gong practitioners in China to renounce their beliefs. Visitors were shocked by the photos of the persecuted practitioners and the vivid re-enactment of the torture methods.

One well-dressed Chinese person came to ask the practitioners, “Is it true? Is this persecution really happening in China?” The practitioners told him about the persecution, such as how human rights workers have documented over 38,000 specific cases of torture or severe abuse against Falun Gong practitioners whilst between 200,000 and 1 million have been illegally sent to forced labour camps without trials.

Many Chinese people find it hard to comprehend that such a large-scale violation of human rights is happening in their own country because the media in China is completely state-controlled and is used to slander and spread lies about Falun Gong. Even the Internet there is blocked so that information on the persecution of Falun Gong cannot get into or out of the country. Former Chinese leader Jiang Zemin and his regime are afraid of Chinese people finding out about the deaths of so over 1,300 Falun Gong practitioners and do everything in their power to stop this from happening. Falun Gong practitioners around the world are thankful when they have the chance to talk to Chinese tourists, as this may be the tourists’ only chance to hear the truth.