On July 20, close to a hundred Falun Dafa practitioners from Montreal, Toronto as well as locally came to Ottawa, the Canadian capital. They presented the truth of Falun Dafa to people and an appeal to the Chinese government to stop the persecution of Falun Dafa immediately.
Between 1-1:30pm, a Falun Dafa Press Conference was held inside the Parliament Building. The press conference was broadcast live on TV. The host first announced the declaration of July 20th as Falun Dafa Day by the mayors of Port Moody and Coquitlam, British Columbia. A practitioner then read a statement from Canadian Falun Dafa practitioners. Alex Neve, the secretary general for Amnesty International in Canada gave a speech. A practitioner then read a letter entitled "Supporting the Falun Gong Movement," on behalf of the International Center for Human Rights and Democratic Development (ICHRDD), a human rights organization in Canada.
Over ten newspaper reporters and five TV stations including CBC, CTV and CFMT attended the press conference. Before the conference, reporters from CBC French radio, Radio Free Asia, and the Sun Newspaper interviewed some practitioners. Prior to the conference, practitioners had called to invite Chinese Embassy officials to attend. Reporters from Xinhua News Agency and the People's Daily attended the conference. During the question period, the chief reporter from Xinhua News Agency, who spoke English, ignored the request from the host that the questioning should not exceed the pre-set time limit and should be conducted in English. He spoke in Chinese for almost ten minutes. When his rude behavior was halted, other reporters said that they could see his motive "very clearly."
Simultaneously with the conference, Falun Dafa practitioners held a group practice, on the big lawn in front of the Parliament Building. Their goal was to further clarify the truth of Falun Dafa to all people. Large pictures illustrating the Chinese government's brutal persecution of Falun Dafa practitioners and their great compassion, tolerance and dedication to the truth, were exhibited in front. They attracted many tourists. After the press conference, over ten reporters further interviewed the practitioners who were practicing the exercises.
After the group exercise, the practitioners walked together to the Chinese Embassy. They called upon the Chinese government to stop persecuting Falun Gong. In a statement read at the embassy, the practitioners highlighted some facts about the brutal torture practitioners have experienced at the hands of the Chinese Government. They stated "this way of using all state resources to attempt to root out Falun Dafa only illuminates some people's lust for power and their maliciousness against the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance." They also appealed to the Chinese government to resolve the issue peacefully by beginning an open dialogue. Afterwards, the practitioners held an open-air experience sharing conference, reviewing the peaceful journey of Falun Dafa during the past year.
In the meantime, some practitioners tried to deliver a letter of appeal addressed to the Chinese government, to the Chinese Embassy, but were refused.
Starting at 8pm, amidst thousands of white and gold flowers, practitioners lit white candles. They quietly stood on the sidewalk across from the Chinese Embassy, to express their deepest respect for the over thirty-three Falun Dafa practitioners who had died at the hands of the Chinese government. The event concluded peacefully at 9:30pm.
Reported by practitioners in Canada on July 25, 2000
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Category: April 25 Events
