Germany: Activities During the G8 Summit

During the G8 Summit, German Falun Gong practitioners from the Ruhr Industrial Area, Nuremberg and Berlin gathered in Paris Square in front of the Brandenburg Gate, which is a famous tourist attraction in central Berlin, on June 7th, 2007. They demonstrated the Falun Gong exercises, raised awareness about the cruel persecution in China to the Chinese president and the heads of other countries attending the Summit and call on them to jointly put an end to the Chinese Communist regime’s atrocities.

Many people wanted to find out more about Falun Gong after viewing the demonstration of the Falun Gong exercises in Paris Square in front of the Brandenburg Gate

In front of the banners reading “Falun Gong Is Good” and “Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance” displayed at the central area of the Square Falun Gong practitioners demonstrated the five sets of the Falun Gong exercises repeatedly. Around the 200-square-meter plaza were the Chinese and German display boards with photos of the Chinese Communist regime’s persecution against Falun Gong, activities about the “Nine Commentaries of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP),” German illustration of the five sets of Falun Gong exercises and other photos showing the popularity of Falun Gong in various places around the world. The police department and the Federal Ministry of the Interior were very supportive. They suggested that the activities commence at 9 a.m., saying that the Chinese president Hu Jintao would definitely see the banners reading “truthfulness, compassion and tolerance.”

During the eleven hours of the activities in Paris Square, many delegates attending the G8 Summit viewed the activities one after another as the five-star hotels they stayed at were around the Square. According to the informed sources, besides the heads of the G8 nations, some prime ministers from other countries were also invited to attend the Summit and all of them stayed in the five-star hotels around the Square, such as the Adenauer Hotel. As Paris Square, the Brandenburg Gate, the Adenauer Hotel, the Empire Building, the Federal Prime Minister's Office, the Presidential Office and German Parliament Building are famous tourist attractions in Germany, all of the delegates would go to this area during the two days. The motorcades of all these prime ministers had to circle the place where the practitioners demonstrated the Falun Gong exercises and exhibited the display boards exposing the Chinese Communist regime’s atrocities, before entering and after leaving these hotels. Many members of these delegations viewed the display boards and asked for various truth clarification flyers and newspapers when taking a walk during the noon break or at dusk.

After the activities came to an end, some police officers exclusively came to the practitioners to ask for flyers and the information about the practice sites of Falun Gong exercises. Though the police usually would not accept flyers when on duty, some police officers broke the tradition this time. One of the officers stated that he was moved by the peaceful exercises and felt like practicing the exercises.

Many journalists and tourists took pictures of the demonstration of the Falun Gong exercises and the banners. One of them said: “If human beings can apply the principles of ‘Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance’ to their lives, the world will be better off.”

What was mentioned most widely among those who were interviewed on the scene was “We know that China’s human right situation is bad and the CCP has committed a lot of atrocities, but didn’t know how serious it is. After viewing the photos today, we finally realised that the CCP is so despicable.”

When passing the scene along with a group of her students, a female senior high school teacher told the volunteer workers that she was touched by the photos of the “Nine Commentaries on the CCP” so deeply that she would make copies of the German version of the “Nine Commentaries of the CCP” for her students to read.

After asking for a copy of the “Nine Commentaries on the CCP,” a German youngster said: “I did know the CCP is bad, but only after viewing these photos did I really realise how bad it is.” He added that he lived in Eastern Germany, but has not experienced the rule by the communist party. As a result, he felt like reading the book thoroughly.

During the activities, sometimes it was very crowded around the area displaying the photos about the atrocities committed by the CCP. A Western volunteer worker mentioned that we didn’t see any visitor doubts about the authenticity of these photos; none of the foreign tourists we met there had ever said that the CCP was not like that; even the Chinese tourists joining package tours had different opinions about photos, and that he was really impressed in this regard.

A youngster whose father is a Chinese national and whose mother is a German cheerfully asked for the information about the practice sites of Falun Gong exercises. He said that he accompanied his girl friend to take pictures there and happened to see the demonstration of the Falun Gong exercises.

An episode worth mentioning was that when a volunteer worker was displaying a huge banner exposing the Chinese Communist regime’s harvesting of organs from living Falun Gong practitioners on the ground, a police officer came to tell him that it needed his chief commander’s permission before doing that as there was something special for that day. However, about ten minutes later, the officer told the volunteer worker that their commander in chief said: “It would be okay to display the banner on the ground.”

Though some individual tourists joining package tours dared not accept flyers for fear that they would be punished by the Chinese Communist regime afterwards, some said that they have read the “Nine Commentaries on the CCP.” While pointing to the photos on display, an elderly man recounted the CCP’s atrocities to his wife.

A middle aged German said that he has viewed quite a lot of TV news about the Chinese Communist regime’s atrocities.

An elderly German stated that when passing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs three weeks ago, he saw a Falun Gong practitioners’ anti-torture exhibition and the re-enactment of the Chinese regime’s harvesting of organs from living humans and that he has understood the regime’s atrocities.

Since the entire blank signature forms of the petition calling for putting an end to the Chinese Communist regime’s persecution were used up, the practitioners had to make more copies of the form for people to sign their supporting signatures.