On the anniversary of the Chinese government's official suppression of Falun Gong, the practitioners in Houston gathered in front of the Chinese Consulate General to carry out a peaceful petition. They called upon the Chinese government to stop the persecution, release the arrested Falun Dafa practitioners, stop all the suppressive and slanderous activities towards Falun Gong, show respect for the Constitution and the will of the people, and resolve this issue peacefully through direct dialogues.
From 9 am to 2 pm on July 20, in front of the Chinese Consulate General, the practitioners held signs in Chinese and English with the words "Immediately stop the persecution of Falun Dafa practitioners", "Release the arrested Falun Dafa practitioners", "Commemorate the 28 practitioners who gave up their lives for Falun Dafa", "Call for a dialogue", etc. and hung a banner with the words "Falun Dafa----Zhen, Shan, Ren" in both Chinese and English. During this period, the practitioners did a group exercise on the grass in front of the Consulate General. Media including World Daily, International Daily and several local English and Chinese news agencies offered an interview. Many practitioners, including American practitioners, accepted the interview.
During that time, the consuls of the Chinese Consulate General in Houston came out twice to have conversations with the practitioners and the practitioners also gave them the materials introducing the truth of Falun Dafa. There was a table in front of the gate of the Consulate General with Chinese and English slandering materials, videotapes and VCD's from the Chinese government were placed there, but there was nobody taking them. On the contrary, passers-by accepted the materials introducing the truth of Falun Dafa one after another. The passengers in the passing vehicles blew the horn once in a while and gave thumbs-up to show their compliments toward the practitioners and their support for Falun Gong.
Since this past June, practitioners launched a "Falun Gong Column" in Southern U.S. News, the biggest Chinese newspaper in Houston, with a circulation of tens of thousands. Every Saturday and Sunday, a whole page was dedicated to report the cruel inhumane persecutions suffered by Falun Dafa practitioners in China, to clarify the truth of Falun Gong smeared by Chinese government, and to introduce the great compassion and forbearance of Falun Dafa practitioners as well as the benefits they have received from Falun Dafa cultivation to the vast readers. After the continuous publication of eight weeks, it has invoked a strong reaction among the Chinese community in Houston.
The consuls of the Chinese Consulate General in Houston applied huge pressure to the Southern U.S. News and the Falun Dafa practitioners respectively. Under such pressure, the press temporarily dropped the "Falun Gong Column". The future development is still uncertain. The Chinese Communist Party is most afraid of letting people know the truth about those bloody, cruel persecutions and those smears and slandering. However, after all, the truth is the truth and a lie is still a lie, how could it be possible to conceal this by anybody?
In this past year, since the suppression of Falun Gong, "a few people with ulterior motives in the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party used their power to initiate a vicious, comprehensive suppression of Dafa and Dafa disciples. They have arrested people, beaten people, sent people to labor camps, sentenced people to jail, and destroyed the books [of Falun Dafa]; they have used the army, the police, spies, and diplomatic means; and they have used all of their radio stations, television stations, and the press to spread lies and carry out the persecution in a villainous fashion." (Master Li's new article "In Reference to a Prophecy", http://minghui.ca/eng.html) The practitioners around the world, in light of the principles of "Truthfulness, Benevolence, Forbearance", are still kindly telling the government and the society the truth of Falun Dafa in a persistent peaceful manner, even in these severe and difficult times. The "Truthfulness, Benevolence, Forbearance" of practitioners, in comparison with the "False, Evil, Violence" of the Chinese government, has enabled the people to clearly see that it is not for the sake of the interest of the nation and the people and is for the private political interest of a few rulers using the governmental dictatorial machine in such a way to suppress such a non-political popular practice. This has caused a huge waste of money and human resources, as well as the anger of the heaven and people.
The evolution of history cannot be halted. Right or wrong, good or evil are not judged by a single person. The Great Law of the Universe determines and balances everything. In history, no matter how powerful a corrupted monarch or ruler was, he could not escape the fate of collapse and the everlasting infamy that awaited him. In this historic moment that determines everyone's future, every government official or ordinary person with conscience left, please come to learn the truth about Falun Gong completely, objectively and fairly, and speak the fair words for Falun Gong according to your conscience, don't become the political tools of a few rulers of the Chinese Communist Party, and don't even assist them in these evil deeds just for your momentary personal interests. History will prove that the darkness and lies won't last long and Falun Dafa will become widely praised by the people in the near future.
Falun Dafa Practitioners in Houston
July 19, 2000
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Category: Rallies & Protests
