Canada: Practitioners in Toronto Protest Export of "The Same Song" - A Song Closely Linked to the CCP's Brutal Human Rights Violations

On January 14th, nearly 100 Falun Gong practitioners rallied in front of the Chinese Consulate in Toronto to protest the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for exporting "The Same Song" to the Canadian community. The song has been used by the CCP to mentally break practitioners in the CCP's attempts to "transform" them. As practitioner Zhaojin Zhang said, "What's behind the song is the bloody violence of the persecution; it is the torture theme song."

Practitioners in front of the Chinese Consulate in Toronto protest that the CCP's torture theme song is to be performed in the local community

Zhang said, "Under the threat of torture and death, Chinese guards in forced labour camps use this song to brainwash practitioners and to force them to trade belief and dignity for so-called 'freedom.'"

Practitioner Ms. Ding recounted how "The Same Song" was used by the CCP to trample on human rights: Whenever a practitioner is unlawfully sent to a forced labour camp or brainwashing class, the practitioner is given a copy of the "The Same Song." "They then force you to sing; if you don't open your mouth, they will beat you." Another form of persecution is to force you to stand in the corridor and then have a group of people sing the song to you. In addition, after torture, they also sing the song to you when they force you with stick and carrot to sign a guarantee statement claiming not to practise Falun Gong anymore.

"The guards often torture practitioners at night. Once, a guard instigated a criminal inmate to not allow a practitioner to sleep. In the morning, they started to play the song to break the exhausted practitioner' will."

Ms. Sun, once arrested in China, now lives in Canada. She recounted her experience in China. "I was sentenced to a forced labour camp in July, 2001. Due to the brutal torture, my jaw was dislocated. Even so, they still didn't allow me to sleep and didn't take me to see a doctor until the next day. On the third night, I couldn't bear the suffering and pressure anymore as my brain became numb due to lack of sleep. Eventually, I was forced to sign a guarantee statement to promise that I wouldn't practise Falun Gong anymore. After I signed the letter, they started to sing 'The Same Song.'

"When I read the news that a concert entitled, 'The Same Song' is to be held in Canada, my temples started to ache and I felt that my jaw was about to come off again. Such pain and especially the humiliation that comes from being "transformed" came back like an insect biting my heart. It caused me to once again experience the feeling of mental collapse and unbearable sorrow. I never want to hear 'The Same Song' again!"

Ms. Gan, from North York, said that she was also illegally detained in a forced labour camp in China. "The labour camp had about 130 detainees and more than 120 were Falun Gong practitioners. We were forced to do slave labour for more than 10 hours a day and to watch slanderous videos against Falun Gong. Various communist songs we were forced to listen to included 'The Same Song.' One day at noontime, I heard someone singing the song and then she cried. The weeping lasted near two hours, pouring out the helplessness, regret and deep pain from her soul. The authorities had not only deprived us of our physical freedom but also our free will!" Ms. Gan said, "They have used the most despicable, shameless and dirty means to deprive our basic free will as a human being."

Toronto practitioner Xin Li said, "Through all the hardships, I finally was able to come to the free land of Canada. Whenever I remember the persecution that I went through in China, it is always so painful. In my memory, 'The Same Song' is tightly linked to the distortion of human nature and tremendous trauma. I think you can understand that the song will bring tremendous pain to me and all Falun Gong practitioners."