United Kingdom: Protest in London Marking the Seventh Year of the Chinese Communist Regime's Persecution of Falun Gong

On April 22nd, U.K. Falun Gong practitioners held a parade and a press conference in London to mark the seventh anniversary of the “April 25th Incident,” in which over ten thousand Falun Gong practitioners peacefully waited outside the Appeals Office adjacent to Zhongnanhai, the Chinese Government leadership compound in Beijing.

Practitioners protested against the seven year genocide and persecution of Falun Gong in China, and called on the international community to launch a thorough investigation into the crimes of harvesting and selling living Falun Gong practitioners’ organs in China’s forced labour camps. In the meantime, they expressed their support for nearly ten million courageous Chinese people withdrawing from the Chinese Communist Party.

The parade set off from the Chinese Embassy, through London’s busiest shopping area, Oxford Street, and Chinatown to St. Martin’s Square, which is not far from Trafalgar Square. In addition to a press conference, practitioners also held some activities there to expose the facts about China’s atrocities and called on the public to support Falun Gong.

The parade passes through London’s Chinatown

People along the way could see many Chinese people in the parade. Wearing white, some female practitioners and children held photos of the Falun Gong practitioners who were persecuted to death by the Chinese Communist regime, along with banners reading “Falun Gong practitioners are cruelly tortured to death", “Immediate stop the seven-year persecution of Falun Gong", “Stop China harvesting living organs in forced labour camps". In the meantime, the golden banner reading “Falun Gong is good” and other banners such as “The world needs ‘Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance’” and “Falun Gong has benefited over one hundred million people physically and spiritually” disseminated the magnificence of compassion, peacefulness and tolerance.

The practitioners used loudspeakers to appeal to the public for support along the way. They revealed the Chinese Communist regime’s atrocities and expressed support for Chinese people quitting the CCP. Many people in the busy shopping areas slowed down to listen to the practitioners’ explanations, to view the words on the banners or take flyers. A gentleman even chanted slogans along with the practitioners. When asked, he said that it was simply because he felt the content of the slogans were very good. He added that he personally had been persecuted in South Africa as well and that this is a free country, so that Falun Gong practitioners are able to have their voices heard and practice Falun Gong exercises freely.

Mr. John Dee, President of the European Friends of Falun Gong, gave a short speech at the press conference; and on the right, people sign a petition
Press conference	Staged 'organ harvesting'

At the press conference, Mr. John Dee, president of the European Falun Gong’s Friends Association, condemned the Chinese Communist regime’s atrocities against Falun Gong in the past seven years. He said, “This group of practitioners who cultivate themselves according to the principles of “Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance” were recognised by the Chinese government before April the 25th, 1999, but they have been cruelly persecuted after July the 20th, 1999 by the same government. In addition to illegal incarceration, re-education in forced labor camps, extending violence to other counties and fabricating lies to slander Falun Gong, recently some witnesses have further exposed the atrocities that nearly forty concentration camps were established in China to illegally harvest organs from living Falun Gong practitioners. The Chinese people are extensively fed up with the CCP, and nearly ten million of them have declared their withdrawal from the CCP, which account for about one eighth of membership of the CCP.” He hoped that other governments around the world are able to condemn the persecution against Falun Gong practitioners and that protection of basic human rights shall not be ignored simply because of economic interests.

Confirmed data indicate that 2,871 Falun Gong practitioners were persecuted to death by the Chinese Communist regime.

During the press conference, Dr. Liu Wei, chief editor of the European Epoch Times, said, “The day before yesterday, Annie and Peter, the two witnesses exposing the inside story about the concentration camps, showed up, and testified to the atrocities of harvesting and selling living Falun Gong practitioners’ organs in China’s forced labour camps. They stated that they chose the date when Hu Jintao met with Bush was because they wanted to take advantage of the moment when the international community’s attention was focused on China to further expose China’s atrocities. They risked their lives to testify, without caring for the risk of being killed by the Chinese Communist regime, because they wanted to stop atrocities of the large-scale harvesting and selling of living Falun Gong practitioners’ organs in China’s forced labour camps.
“Every one of us is faced with a critical choice of how to deal with the Chinese Communist regime. But it is in fact a matter of common sense. In other words, it is a matter of choosing good or bad, right or evil, and truth or lies. Dr. Wei added, “The objective of our rallying here today is to tell society about the Chinese Communist regime, as pointed out in the “Nine Commentaries on the CCP,” is not only an undemocratic regime, but also a reactionary evil regime which is against humanity, against civilisation and culture, against morality and against the principles of the universe.”

After the press conference, the practitioners demonstrated the Falun Gong exercises in the square, and solicited supporting signatures. In the meantime, some practitioner acted out the cruel torture methods employed in China’s forced labour camps against Falun Gong practitioners. They also performed a simulation of harvesting living human organs in China’s forced labour camps. When seeing the peacefulness of the Falun Gong exercises against the cruelty of the persecution, many people were deeply moved. In the meantime, they were really shocked by the Chinese Communist regime’s evil and inhuman nature.

Many people signed the petition one after another to call for a thorough investigation into all the concentration camps and immediate ending of the atrocities. After hearing about the severity of the persecution, a lady could not help crying. Two ladies from Indonesia asked a practitioner for paper to take note of the atrocities of harvesting human organs in China’s forced labour camps, saying that they would pass this information back to Indonesia as there would be many people planning to have organ transplants in China. They also condemned the Chinese Communist regime’s inhuman acts.

At the Chinese Embassy, practitioners mourned for those persecuted to death and protested against the Chinese Communist regime’s atrocities.

In the evening, the practitioners staged a candle light vigil at the Chinese Embassy for the 2,871 Falun Gong practitioners confirmed to be persecuted to death in China by the Chinese Communist regime. They also expressed their condolence for the relatives of these deceased practitioners, while protesting against the Chinese regime’s atrocities.