Statement from Matthias Slaats, a Belgian Falun Gong practitioner who was Illegally Detained in China

On 14/02/02 a group of Western Falun Dafa practitioners performed a peaceful protest on Tiananmen in Beijing against the cruel persecution of Falun Dafa practitioners in China. As a Belgian Falun Dafa practitioner I had the chance and the honour to participate in this protest. Therefore I would like to give the following declaration to the Belgian and European press.

Falun Dafa is a cultivation method of body and spirit. Falun Dafa promotes the fundamental characteristics of the universe, Zhen –Shan –Ren (Truthfulness – Benevolence – Tolerance). Falun Dafa practitioners have the wish to assimilate themselves as much as possible to these three universal characteristics.

In China Falun Dafa practitioners have been brutally persecuted and killed for more than 2,5 years by the Chinese president Jiang Zemin. During all this time they have never retaliated with violence in the face of this persecution. During this period, practitioners all over the world have been trying to start a dialogue with the Chinese government. Even when parliament members of various governments of western countries have invited the Chinese ambassadors in many countries to hold discussions about the persecution, those ambassadors have declined.

Through our action we once more would like to urge the Chinese president to immediately stop this horrifying persecution. We would like to show the Chinese people that Falun Gong is supported in the rest of the world and that the Chinese government’s propaganda campaigns slandering Falun Dafa are totally inaccurate and baseless. We would like to show our support to the Chinese Falun Dafa practitioners and to let them know that people all over the world feel concerned with their situation and will always continue to support them. We would also like to call on the Chinese government to cancel the groundless arrest warrant against Mr. Li Hongzhi, our worldwide highly esteemed and respected teacher.

By this action we want to give the opportunity to all the people in the world to know Falun Dafa and to reveal the truth about the persecution. We want to give everyone the opportunity to disagree with the persecution and to support us in our urgent call to the Chinese president to bring this persecution to an end.

The persecution of Falun Dafa practitioners is also the persecution of the fundamental characteristics of this universe and the persecution of the basis of all morality in the world, the persecution of Zhen – Shan - Ren (Truthfulness – Benevolence – Tolerance). Therefore this persecution is not only the problem of all Falun Dafa practitioners worldwide, but also a problem of our whole humanity.

Falun Dafa is good. Zhen – Shan – Ren (Truthfulness – Benevolence – Tolerance) is the criterion to measure good and bad in the universe. This characteristic never changes.