UK: London SOS Walk to Expose the Unjust Situation in HongKong

On the morning of Sunday 11th August, many Falun Dafa practitioners gathered outside the Chinese Embassy in London, England, joining a vigil that has already been running for 67 days. They hoped to inform people about the unjust trial taking place in Hong Kong and appeal against it. Taking into consideration the present critical situation in Hong Kong, a plan began to take shape. It was decided to somehow arrange a walk through the city and present letters to the Chinese Ambassador, Prime Minister Tony Blair and The Foreign Affairs Office Hong Kong Division. The police would have to be informed, practitioners would also have to be informed and leaflets would have to be photocopied. Would it be possible to do all this at such short notice?

The first step was to contact the police and being a Sunday we were unsure how we might do this. Then something unusual occurred. A practitioner’s car had accidentally been parked in a one-way street facing the wrong way, beside the area used for the vigil. Two police officers on motorbikes arrived to ask the driver to make it face the right direction. This gave practitioners the opportunity to ask the police about our intended walk and sure enough after showing our display of posters and clarifying the truth of the Hong Kong trial to the police, they arranged for us to go ahead and walk

Phones got busy and gradually practitioners began to respond to our call for support. By 12-30PM, many more had arrived with an assortment of banners highlighting the call for justice in Hong Kong. Now ready to proceed with the letters, which also contained truth-clarifying materials, a group of practitioners approached the Chinese Embassy. As usual the Embassy staff refused to respect the presentation of the letter so we posted it through a side door. Moving on we made our way through the city crowds via China Town, giving people the chance to position themselves. I noticed one of our practitioners handing out leaflets in the most gracious manner, like one was presenting a gift of immense value.

At Trafalgar Square we came upon a group of Chinese students numbering at least 50. When we raised our banners to let them take notice some used their cameras to take photos of the banners, but when we tried to hand them leaflets one of their teachers told them not to accept them. Again moving on after that sad incident we arrived at Downing Street, the Prime Minister’s residence. To present a letter it is usual to give prior notice, but our luck was holding fast and after explaining our request we were granted permission. Four practitioners, including a cameraman, stood at the front entrance of 10 Downing Street, photographs were taken and two letters delivered. One contained photographs of the sidewalk arrests of practitioners in Hong Kong that clearly revealed the innocence of the prosecuted practitioners and the guilt of the aggressive Hong Kong police.

Arriving at The Foreign Office we lined up and did the Fa Zheng Nian meditation. After presenting a letter to the Hong Kong Division, we arranged to meet again on Wednesday night when the trial’s verdict is expected.