During the visit of the Vice-President of China, Hu Jintao, to the UK, British practitioners made use of all opportunities to express to the Chinese leader, "to become directly responsible for Falun Gong issues," "to legally prosecute Luo Gan," and "to eliminate 610 Special Office."
During Hu Jintao's visit to Greenwich, London his car was parked right next to our demonstration site. Falun Gong banners were seen clearly by the Chinese leader. "We welcome Chinese leaders to visit the UK, and we wish that the Falun Gong issue can be resolved peacefully soon."
The British police have been very supportive of us during the entire period of Hu's visit. Although significant numbers of police were involved to ensure the security, the police have gotten to know that Falun Gong practitioners are peaceful and kind. Some policemen told us "Falun Gong is a completely different group of demonstrators, and we are happy for you to be there." At some demonstration spots, the police force even left halfway through. They told us that they trusted us and that we could practise our exercises as long as we wished.
We have been playing "Pudu" and "Jishi" music at the demonstration spots. Whenever the music was played, the police and other demonstration groups were quiet, and only Falun Dafa music could be heard. A policeman on duty especially asked a practitioner for her button: "SOS-I support Falun Gong." The practitioner said, "This button was given to me by a Taiwanese practitioner and I cherish it a lot. As long as you can cherish it, you can have it." The policeman took the button and said, "I will cherish it as dearly as my life."
Another policeman told us, "We are very happy about the arrangements during Hu's visit. We police would like to see that the demonstrators are able to make visual contact with the appropriate leaders. Britain is a democratic country. Last time when president Jiang Zemin visited, the police were asked to use vans to separate the demonstrators' views from the leader's path, which was very wrong. If we keep doing that, why should demonstrations be allowed in the first place?"
In 1999 Jiang Zemin visited the UK. Due to his strong request, the British police were forced to use police vans to conceal the demonstration groups, or to place demonstration groups at spots where Jiang was not able to see. Such arrangements were publicly criticized by the Parliament and many media. The British government was criticized for trading human rights for economic profits.
Practitioners also handed out large amounts of Falun Dafa literature. There were also some British citizens who volunteered to help us to hand out materials for many hours.
29th October 2001
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Category: Parades & Other Community Events
