France: Raising Awareness about the Persecution Against Falun Gong during the Paris Summer Sale Season

In France, around July each year, there is always a big summer sale with massive retail price reductions. In Paris, the busiest street at this time of year would be Boulevard Haussmann, a long corridor that is formed by numerous shops and marketplaces. On the 2nd of July, practitioners met on this street with banners and leaflets to let people know about the persecution that people who practise Falun Gong are suffering in China.

Many people came to sign the petition calling for an end to the persecution

People approached practitioners to get the leaflets. One person saw a picture of the Falun Gong sitting meditation on the leaflet and was very excited at the prospect of learning it. At times, the practitioners were so busy giving out leaflets that some people had to queue for a moment, but people did not mind waiting for their chance to get a leaflet and sign the petition calling for an end to the persecution against Falun Gong.

A girl from New York was in Paris on holiday and as soon as she saw Falun Gong she signed the petition and declared her support. She told practitioners that many people in New York know all about the persecution of Falun Gong happening in China.

There was also a French person who lived in Beijing for a year. He had been influenced by the lies of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and had some misunderstandings about Falun Gong. Practitioners talked with him in depth about how Falun Gong spread all over the world before the persecution began in 1999 and is now practised by 100 million people in over 70 countries. Practitioners talked to him for a long time before he realised that the CCP had deceived him. As he left he said, “Keep up all the good work you are doing.”