Germany: Activity in Waldshut to Raise Awareness about the Pesecution of Falun Gong

On October 11th, 2008, many people strolling around Waldshut in Germany stopped in front of Falun Gong practitioners’ stand. Some watched exercise demonstrations and glanced through photos of Falun Gong’s spreading the truth around the world. Some read introductions to Chinese Communist Party (CCP) torture of Falun Gong practitioners. Some asked practitioners why such a peaceful group of people are persecuted. More accepted leaflets and asked to sign the form to demand the United Nations to investigate the crime of organ harvesting.

Christian is a local elderly gentleman. When his wife talked with Falun Gong practitioners, his grandson also joined the conversation after watching for a while in front of the information stand. Having learned that Falun Gong is a traditional Chinese cultivation method that teaches people to follow the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion & Forbearance, he asked in bewilderment, “Why does the CCP persecute? The three words (Truthfulness, Compassion & Forbearance) have nothing to do with politics!”

Practitioners told him, “The CCP does not allow people to live by those three words. In fact the CCP knows that Falun Gong is good. From 1992 when Falun Gong was first brought to the public to 1999 prior to the persecution, nearly 100 million people practiced in China. In fact in 1998, shortly before the persecution started, investigations conducted by top CCP officials confirmed that Falun Gong benefited the society tremendously. They all know that Falun Gong is good. But they can not tolerate that people have their own ideas or beliefs.”

It seemed that the elderly gentleman was still puzzled. The practitioner gave an example, “For example, my mum is an accountant. Having practiced Falun Gong, she would not cook the books. But the CCP regime needs to have the books cooked to create the façade of economic boom. They may coerce the accountants. Other accountants may give in under pressure but my mum would not as it goes against her belief in Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance. No matter what the threat is she would not follow the order, which is not what the CCP wants to see.” Upon hearing this, the elderly gentleman nodded and said, “I understand. The CCP regards Falun Gong as a thorn in its flesh, hence the persecution.”

Later the gentleman said that he was very disappointed that the western governments did not have the courage to turn down business opportunities for what the CCP had done. They kept quiet. He also said, “This Olympics was the only one in my life that I have not paid any attention to, because I know it was all a show put on by the CCP.” His wife told him that before the Olympics even more Falun Gong practitioners were illegally detained. He continued, “I believe the CCP would not last much longer. It will meet its demise soon enough, like the former Soviet Union.”

Maximilian and Lisa, who seemed to be in their twenties, signed together to support Falun Gong. Maximilian said, “I feel that organ harvesting is wrong. People should not do inhuman things like that.”

This was the first time that they heard about Falun Gong. They said they would tell more people about what they learned today, “We will tell more people about this so that more people can sign to stop organ harvesting together.”

Waldshut is on the boarder of Switzerland and Germany and many passers-by were from Switzerland, such as Ms. Doris. She signed to support Falun Gong practitioners, “I hope this will have an influence over China so that things can be changed.” This was the first time that she heard about Falun Gong and the fact that the CCP harvests organs from live practitioners for huge profit. She thought organ harvesting was terrible and shocking. She hoped Chinese people could “systematically scrutinise the current regime, which should be humane.”

Ms. Rusul lived not far from Waldshut. As she watched exercise demonstrations, she inquired about learning the practice. When asked why she wanted to learn Falun Gong, she said, “I think through this practice, people can find themselves and return to their true nature. In today’s monetary society, humans are going downhill. People keep wanting better and more but giving others less and less time. People have to travel by car, everything else seems too slow. I feel that we should find ourselves. Nowadays some can not deal with stress well. Many are depressed, including many young people. I think this practice can help people deal with stress and find internal peace.”

She also commented that people should think whether the entire system is problematic, such as in the poisoned formula milk incident whether the (CCP) government itself is covering up the truth.

Hearing about organ harvesting for the first time, she signed, “I’m speechless, speechless. Many children may also be harmed deeply. It’s too cruel.”

In the end she wished, “Hope the future will be better, will see improvement. If more people can do as Falun Gong practitioners are doing, China’s situation would improve.”