Germany: Falun Gong Practitioners Expose the Persecution Prior to Hu Jintao’s Visit to Germany

On October 27th and 28th, 2005, the nationwide tour of a human rights photo exhibition entitled “Shameful Regions” reached Cologne. The exhibition was held on Rudolf Platz in Cologne city centre. As direct victims of the Chinese Communist regime’s human rights violation, the Falun Gong group was invited to join the exhibition tour and gave live re-enactments of the torture to expose the CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong.

Chen Yonglin and Hao Fengjun, who publicly renounced the CCP, were invited to attend the press conference for the exhibition. They used their personal experiences to expose the CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong. Former Chinese diplomat Chen Yonglin said that his job in the Chinese Consulate in Sydney was to implement the policy to confine Falun Gong practitioners’ living space. The Chinese Communist regime spent a large amount of money to bribe developing countries, western countries and some small countries so as to make them give up on criticising CCP’s human rights violations. This is the reason why during the annual human rights convention each year, the U.S. proposed resolution on Chinese Communist regime’s human rights status was hindered. Hao Fengjun was a policeman suppressing drug abuse. Later he was transferred to the municipal 610 Office to monitor Falun Gong. When he witnessed Falun Gong practitioners being beaten up, he requested a transfer back to his original work unit. However, the 610 Office did not allow any personnel to quit. After his request was turned down, he had no choice but to flee to another country. His experience indicated that many kind-hearted people in China were coerced to participate in the persecution of Falun Gong.

Hu Jintao, the Chinese Communist Party’s leader will visit Germany in early November. Falun Gong practitioners introduced the news to the German people and collected signatures to appeal to the German President Köhle, hoping that he would help stop the persecution of Falun Gong in China. One after another, people passing by signed the petition against the persecution. A number of people expressed their gratitude towards Falun Gong practitioners for what they have done. They thanked practitioners for letting them hear about what is happening in China. At present, Germany and China have a close trading relationship, some German people believed that the German government considers the economic interest first. Practitioners explained to them that a healthy trade relationship needs a good social environment. Ending the persecution will help the healthy development of society which will benefit foreign investors.

There was an interesting episode during the signature collection. A very young girl came over the exhibition booth by herself. She fixed her eyes on practitioners who were doing the exercises and smiled sweetly for about one minute until her aunt came over to pick her up. Her aunt did not notice the Falun Gong exhibition booth initially. Now she had the opportunity to learn about the persecution in China. She signed the petition and showed great interest in learning the Falun Gong exercises. Practitioners gave her related material. An elderly lady was very indignant towards the human rights violation in communist countries after she viewed the photo exhibition. However, when practitioners asked her to sign the petition, she refused. She said that she had signed many similar petitions and now she does not believe whether signing the petition would still be effective. Practitioners introduced the effects of petitions launched in other countries but still could not convince her. In the end, a practitioner gave her a flier about Falun Gong and told her that she will like it. When the lady was about to leave she suddenly turned around and held a practitioner’s hands and said, “Please don’t be discouraged by people like me who have different opinions. What you are doing is right, please be persistent.”

The two-day photo exhibition concluded. Many German people told practitioners, “It is really regrettable. There must be more people who would like to come and visit the exhibition if you could stay in Cologne for a few more days and conduct the exhibition in all districts of Cologne.” It was already quite late when the exhibition concluded. When practitioners were loading the photos on to a truck in the street lamps’ dim light, some people who walked by still viewed the photos which were not moved to the truck yet. There are so many kind-hearted people who have a sense of justice in the world. Their actions are the greatest support against the persecution.