Japan: People in Sapporo Support Signature Drive Calling for an End to the Persecution

At the end of June, during the busy tourist season in Hokkaido, the G8 Summit was held in the city of Sapporo. Falun Gong practitioners responded to the call for the global signature drive against the persecution and organised a local signature drive in Sapporo. The "Millions of Signatures Global Campaign" was initiated by the Coalition to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong (CIPFG), to appeal to Beijing to end the persecution of Falun Gong before the Olympic Games in August 2008.

The colourful signature drive table in Sapporo attracted many people. One woman looked at the pictures exposing the persecution and immediately signed her name on the petition. She said, "This [the persecution] is too much. I am almost in tears."

Two young men signed the petition and one said, "I feel like I did a great deed today."

Many people listened to the truth-clarification from the loudspeakers and came over to sign their names. Some asked if they could sign for their whole family. Many passersby encouraged the practitioners, saying, "Good job! "

The practitioners working at the site said that they had initially brought only one signature pad for each volunteer. Then they found out that one was not enough, so they brought three pads for each person and even then, they sometimes still needed more. "Sometimes, there were so many people waiting to sign their names that we were too busy to handle everyone," said a volunteer.

Several Chinese people passed by the signature drive site. They looked at the pictures and listened to the truth-clarification. Many of them gained a better understanding about the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) persecution against Falun Gong. Some of them signed their names on the petition, and every day, several people formally announced their disassociation from the CCP and its affiliated organisations.