(Clearwisdom.net) Monaco is a beautiful coastal country with a population of over 29,000. Seawards, it faces the Mediterranean, and its three landward sides are surrounded by France. People in Monaco have not learned much about Falun Gong and the brutal persecution it suffers in China.
On December 2 --3, 2002, the BIE (Bureau International des Expositions) held a conference to choose a sponsor city for the 2010 World Expo from five candidate cities. China's Shanghai is one of the five cities, and the head of the Chinese delegation, Li Lanqing, is the person in charge of "610 Office" and actively persecutes Dafa and Dafa practitioners. [The "610 Office" is an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems.]
Upon learning the news, French Dafa practitioners regarded this as a good
opportunity to let the Monaco government and people learn the beauty of Falun
Dafa, and expose the Jiang regime's brutal persecution of Falun Gong. Falun Gong
is not involved in politics and does not oppose the Chinese government. We have
no opposition towards Shanghai's bid for the World Expo, but we firmly oppose
the persecution of Falun Gong.
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| Practitioner reading the statement | Sending forth righteous thoughts | Sending forth righteous thoughts |
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| Practitioners doing the exercises at the seaport | ||
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| Practitioners doing the exercises at the seaport | People showing concern over the persecution of Falun Gong | |
Dafa practitioners delivered over 40 letters to the Monaco governmental departments, extensively contacted local media and met with government officials, and introducing to them that Falun Gong is an ancient Chinese cultivation practice based on the principle of Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance. It teaches people to be good and brings benefit to people's health both physically and mentally. Falun Gong has been warmly received and supported by governments and people in over 60 countries, but in China it is brutally persecuted by the Jiang regime. Former member of the Politburo and the first Vice-Premier of the State Council Li Lanqing is the person in charge of the "610 Office." He should be held accountable for the bloody persecution.
The practitioners also emphasized Falun Gong practitioners' peaceful and courageous resistance in the face of the Jiang regime's terrorist acts. As a result of our introduction of Falun Gong beforehand, many people, including the royal family members, government officials, the media, and police officers have gained a deeper understanding of Falun Gong and the persecution it suffers in China.
During the two-day period of November 28-29 when the head of the "610 Office" was in Paris, local Falun Gong practitioners introduced Falun Dafa and sent forth righteous thoughts near the Chinese Embassy.
On the afternoon of November 30, Dafa practitioners from Switzerland, Italy, Germany and France assembled in Monte Carlo's central harbor to do the exercises, introduce Falun Dafa, send forth righteous thoughts and hold peaceful protest. Passersby stopped and requested to learn more information about us; some were attracted by our peaceful and gentle exercises and expressed their wish to learn. Police officers on duty said to the practitioners, "Our superior has learned about your situation. You are peaceful and you can feel free to do your activities."
A foreign official's wife who can speak fluent Chinese passed by and told the practitioners that she had learned about Falun Gong in Hong Kong. She knew that Falun Gong is good but it is subject to brutal persecution. Before leaving, she took all Dafa information in Chinese including VCDs.
Two teenage boys walked around our Falun Gong booth several times, and then they asked a practitioner, "Are these people who are practicing the exercises suffering persecution and torture in China? Why? They pose no harm to anyone." The practitioner told them, "The persecutor is a narrow-minded person who wants to dominate all people, and wants to make every one like him and not tolerate any one who is independent and has his or her own faith." The boys said, " He is no different from Hitler." They admired Falun Gong practitioners' courage in the face of persecution.
It is said that to obtain the right to sponsor this event, China sent out an art performance group of over several hundred people. Some members of the group passing by and some Chinese guests in the nearby restaurants happily accepted our Dafa truth-clarification materials. They have all seen the peace and beauty of Falun Dafa.
The largest local newspaper and other media outlets came to interview us. The following day, many people expressed their understanding of Falun Gong after the newspaper published a positive report on Falun Gong with photos of practitioners' doing the exercises.
In addition, the Jiang regime also sent out many special agents to take photos of us, trying to collect information for further persecution of Falun Gong.
On the morning of December 1, Dafa practitioners went to the Nice Airport in France to peacefully protest the head of the "610 Office." There were many Chinese security staff members at the passenger's arrival gate. Practitioners saw Li Lanqing get out of the plane and leave in haste by another exit.
In contrast, a Korean welcoming group including French girls and Korean people in their beautiful traditional costumes set up two big posters at the arrival gate to welcome their delegation of high government officials. Falun Gong practitioners handed out Dafa truth-clarifying materials to the head of the Korean delegation and its members. They all happily accepted and carefully read them. We are sure that Falun Gong has left deep impression on the Korean delegation in France.
(To be continued)
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