News from Changchun
Changchun Falun Dafa practitioners held group practice to celebrate the
New Year.
At 5am of January 1st, 2000, some Falun Dafa practitioners in Changchun held a group practice on the Culture Square. Later, about 40 to 50 practitioners were arrested. An hour later, another 20 to 30practitioners came to exchange experiences with one another.
News from Wuhan
Eight practitioners who had practiced Falun Gong exercises on the campus of the Middle China Industrial University for a week were arrested on the morning of December 30. Seven of them were students of that university; one was a technician.
News from Si-chuan
Province
Practitioners Welcomed The New Year by Practicing
Falun Gong; Police Officers Posted Notices on Street under Pressure
On the New Year's Eve, Falun Gong practitioners in Chengdu gathered in some practitioners' homes to practice Falun Gong exercises to celebrate the new millennium.
The forced "transformation classes" held for Falun Gong practitioners continued to open during the first three days of the new year although they are official holidays. Up to now, many "stubborn" practitioners have been detained or arrested, although many of them have not gone to Beijing to appeal yet.
The police officers in all police stations and the officials of the residence committees have become very nervous under the pressure from higher authorities. To prevent practitioners from going to Beijing to appeal during the holidays, they set up a "reporting policy" on "gathering and appealing". Whoever reports "gathering or appealing" by Falun Gong practitioners to authorities will be awarded. On the early morning of January 1, 2000, the police officers sent out people to post notices everywhere. On the notices, there were slanderous words against Falun Gong and some contact numbers for reporting the "gathering and appealing" by Falun Gong practitioners.
News from Si-chuan
Practitioners go to Beijing to appeal; the police officers are dismissed
or suspended from their work
The chief police officers of the Huang-wan Street police station and other police stations were either dismissed or suspended from their work because they were not able to prevent Falun Gong practitioners from going to Beijing to appeal. The complaints from the police officers are heard everywhere in Chengdu. Below is a conversation between a police officer and a Falun Gong practitioner.
Officer: You should never go out to appeal. Our chief has been suspended from work because a practitioner in our district went to Beijing to appeal. He will be dismissed from work if one more practitioner goes to appeal.
Practitioner: Falun Gong teaches us to be good people and to take "Zhen-Shan-Ren" (truthfulness, benevolence, forbearance) as our guidance in everything. Appealing is every citizen's right and obligation conferred by the Constitution. Now I have not gone to Beijing to appeal. If you continue to persecute innocent practitioners, I will be forced to go to Beijing to appeal.
Officer: It is true. This is your freedom of belief. The authorities can control your body but not your heart. It is your own choice whether to go to appeal or not, so why should the authorities blame us?!