France: Protesting Eleven Years of Persecution in front of the Chinese Embassy

On July 20, 2010, practitioners in France assembled in front of the Chinese Embassy in Paris to protest the CCP's 11 year long brutal persecution of Falun Gong. They displayed banners and poster boards exposing the persecution, demonstrated the exercises, and invited people from every sector of life to make speeches. The Divine Land Matching Band also performed.

Falun Gong practitioners assemble in front of the Chinese Embassy in Paris to protest the 11 year long brutal persecution

CCP's countless crimes during the 11-year persecution

The Chairman of the French Falun Dafa Association, Mr. Tang Hanlong, said in his speech, "Falun Gong has been protesting against the persecution for 11 years. What we know by now is that 3,397 practitioners have died as a result of the persecution, that thousands have been sent to mental hospitals, and that hundreds of thousands are still detained in labour camps. What we don't know is that as a consequence, how many children have lost their parents and become orphans, and how many students were deprived of right to go to school. Countless employees were deprived of their right to work, merely for practising Falun Dafa. The CCP also spread its smear campaign against Falun Dafa overseas and put pressure on foreign governments who were willing to expose the persecution through diplomatic and economic means.

The French Falun Dafa Association chairman, Tang Hanlong makes a speech

What was proved during the 11 years

Mr. Zhang Jian, a democracy activist in Paris, made a speech on the site. He said, "It was the Chinese Embassy across the street who invited the founder of Falun Gong, Mr. Li Hongzhi, to teach the Fa and the exercises in France in 1995. Falun Gong was recommended to the French and Chinese community here as part of Chinese culture. Many officials and their family members, together with lots of overseas Chinese learned Falun Gong at that time."

Democracy activist Zhang Jian said that lies and violence cannot block the light of the truth

"However, four years later, the CCP launched an inhuman, brutal persecution of Falun Gong throughout the whole of China. Everyone who lives in a free country or who has any common sense of democratic and human rights, knows that the CCP's conduct is not something a normal country is supposed to have. It's only in China that people would be arrested for practicing a kind of exercise. It's only in China that people would be arrested for reading a book, Zhuan Falun. It's also only in China that saying the words 'Falun Dafa is good' would lead to being detained. The majority of the arrested practitioners have not had legal trials and legal procedures, but were sent to labor camps directly, where they were tortured very severely."

"Today, the CCP has persecuted Falun Gong for 11 years. What has been proved during these 11 years? We've seen the persecutors become more and more corrupt and more and more evil, while those being persecuted have gone toward the light more and more. I hope that some people who still have a conscience in the CCP system could quit that evil group and embrace the light. Together with more and more upright Chinese, get away from the evil and be close to the light!"

Mainland Chinese Falun Gong practitioners' encounters

A Falun Gong practitioner who arrived in France only a month ago, Ms. Shangguan, told about the encounters of her relatives practising Falun Gong in China. She said, "I have a cousin who was a doctor. She was arrested for explaining the facts about Falun Gong. She was arrested in November 2008 and detained in prison. She was told that if she admitted that practising Falun Gong is wrong, she would be released. She replied that practising Falun Gong is not wrong. As a result she was sentenced to three years and transferred to the Hunan Province Women's Prison. The authorities of the prison also wrote some letters to threaten her family. She is still in detention now."

The persecution is illegal

The democracy activist, Mr. Wang Menglong gave an interview. He said, "During 1996, 97 and 98, I had been seeing some people practising in some parks in Paris. I felt they were very peaceful and well-educated. It was a graceful exercise and someone told me it was Falun Gong. I concluded naturally that it is from Chinese traditional culture, and to Chinese people, it is totally beneficial without any harm either to the mental well being or to the physical body. But I would never expect that the CCP would conduct such a brutal persecution against it. It is unreasonable by law. China's Constitution states that Chinese citizens enjoy the freedom of belief. If Falun Gong is a kind of belief, the people have the right to believe it. If it is an exercise beneficial to the health, the CCP has even less excuse persecuting it. So I have been objecting to the CCP's evil conduct of persecuting Falun Gong from my heart."

The culprit of the persecution is going to face justice

Mr. Fang, an overseas Chinese in France said, "The CCP's leader Jiang Zemin used to say two things. One is it would be extremely ridiculous if Marxism-Leninism couldn't defeat Falun Gong. Another one is that they would eradicate Falun Gong within three months. It has been 11 years since July 20, 1999. Jiang Zemin did not defeat Falun Gong, but ended up being a perpetrator of crimes against humanity. Though the CCP hasn't collapsed yet, Jiang Zemin and his clique have been charged with crimes against humanity and will be brought to trial in the near future. I would like to warn the people in the CCP's system that you'd better separate yourself from the CCPor you won't have a good result."

Further more, as Mr. Tang Hanlong introduced, the Paris Police have been interfering with Falun Gong practitioners' protests in front of the CCP's Embassy with various means for many years. During last year's marking of the 10 year anniversary, the France Falun Dafa Association sued the Paris Police in Court. As a result, the Tribunal administratif de Paris cancelled the ban by the Paris Police. During this year's anniversary, the Paris Police still assumed a posture of refusal. During an emergency trial, the judge listened to the statement made by Mr. Tang Hanlong about Falun Gong and the CCP's brutal persecution. Then the judge denied the intention of the Paris Police to stop the rally in front of the CCP's Embassy in France on July 20 by approving it. The judge also ordered the Paris Police to pay a 2000 euro fine, doubled from last year, to the France Falun Dafa Association as compensation.

Background

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a traditional Chinese spiritual discipline for mind and body. The practice involves slow, gentle movements and meditation. It is easy to learn, enjoyable to practice, and free of charge. Its principles are based on Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. The practice began in China in 1992 and quickly spread by word of mouth throughout China and then beyond. Its beneficial effects in uplifting an individual's physical, mental, and spiritual health, not to mention its positive influence in the community and society as a whole, have been undeniable. In fact, Falun Gong is practised by over 100 million people in 60 countries. The main works of Falun Gong are available in over 30 languages.

On July 20, 1999, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) launched a brutal persecution of Falun Gong. Since the start of the persecution, Falun Gong practitioners throughout the world have been constantly speaking out about the truth of Falun Gong and exposing the CCP's crimes in a tireless effort to end the persecution.