Mainstream German Media Report on the Persecution of Falun Gong During Wen Jiabao’s Visit

On September 14th, 2006, German state run TV station ZDF, in its 5 p.m. newscast, reported on Falun Gong activities during Wen Jiabao’s visit to Hamburg. Falun Gong practitioners held activities in downtown Hamburg to expose the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) persecution of Falun Gong. Scenes were broadcast on TV of the practitioners' anti-torture exhibition, in which a female Falun Gong practitioner was 'imprisoned' in a cage and organs were being harvested from living Falun Gong practitioners by the CCP.

On the afternoon of September 14th, Falun Gong practitioners gathered in front of City Hall to protest against the CCP's persecution

One hour later an exclusive extra newscast from RTL, the biggest private TV station in Germany, reported on the protest against the CCP's human rights violations by Falun Gong and other groups during Wen Jiabao’s visit to Hamburg. When being interviewed, Liu Wei, a Falun Gong practitioner, described her personal experiences of illegal labour education in China just because of her practicing Falun Gong. The report said that when Wen Jiabao and the Chinese officials entered the City Hall, Falun Gong practitioners made their protest against the CCP’s human rights violations known to Wen.

At 8 p.m on September 14th, Germany's NDR TV station also broadcast a report on Falun Gong practitioners’ activities in Hamburg. On TV, the corpse of a Falun Gong practitioner who had been persecuted to death appeared. The report said that German Chancellor Angela Merkel emphasised China’s human rights problems, freedom of the press and intellectual property during her talks with Wen Jiabao.