Austria: “It is so awful”

On Saturday, September 16th, 2006, practitioners of the meditation practice Falun Gong organised an information day in Stephan’s Square, Vienna, to inform local people about the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) violations of human rights. Emphasis was put on organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners while still alive.

People from all over the world can be found strolling on Stephan’s Square, and especially many Chinese tourist groups can be seen there. Many Chinese, as well as Westerners, take photos of the banners and picture boards. Westerners are also very interested in the pictures, although some of the boards have only Chinese captions.

As the Falun Gong practitioners’ activities drew much attention, the informational booth saw a great number of visitors. The five gentle Falun Gong meditation exercises that were demonstrated by the practitioners impressed the visitors quite a bit. Many intense discussions between passers-by and practitioners could be observed when leaflets were distributed.

The majority of passersby were shocked by the CCP’s brutal crimes against humanity. Many people had not heard that such things were perpetrated in China at this time. A number of people told us that they were grateful, because there were still people who disclosed such inexplicable incidents.

Information booth	Signing the petition

Reading the captions on the picture boards

Demonstrating the Falun Gong exercises

Not only Austrians and Germans showed great interest in our activities, but also Hungarians, Italians, Japanese, the French, British and Koreans. They all stopped by to listen to the information. A Chinese practitioner had the opportunity to tell a large Chinese tourist group about the crimes committed by the CCP. Besides this, they looked carefully at the picture boards and the banners. One practitioner held a deep conversation with a lady who is quite into Sinology. She said, “My China! I know the situation of Falun Gong. It is so awful what is presently going on!”

Originally published in German at: http://www.clearharmony.de/articles/200609/33862.html