(Minghui.org) July 1, 2017 is the 20^th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to Chinese rule and to mark the occasion, Chinese President Xi Jinping has been in Hong Kong for a three-day visit. During the president's visit, Falun Gong practitioners have called on Xi to end the persecution of Falun Gong in China and to bring Jiang Zemin, the former head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and initiator of the 18-year persecution, to justice.

Falun Gong practitioners display banners and posters calling on visiting Chinese President Xi to stop the persecution of Falun Gong and to bring former CCP head Jiang Zemin to justice.Kan Hung-cheung, spokesperson for the Hong Kong Falun Dafa Association, urges President Xi to bring Jiang to justice and revive traditional Chinese culture.

Following Xi's noon arrival at Chek Lap Kok Airport on June 29, the presidential motorcade arrived at the Renaissance Hong Kong Harbour View Hotel at around 1:00 p.m. Falun Gong practitioners peacefully held banners along the motorcade route with the messages: “Falun Dafa is good,” “The world needs Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance,” “Stop the persecution of Falun Gong,” and, “Bring Jiang Zemin to justice.”

Due to tight security, areas near the hotel were blocked from the public. At 4:30 p.m., Falun Gong practitioners marched from Chater Garden to a police-designated location near the government house, where Xi attended dinner.

Spokesperson for Hong Kong Falun Dafa Association: Bring Jiang to Justice

Falun Gong practitioners hold a group exercise practice at Edinburgh Place on the morning of June 30. Large banners worded “Bring Jiang Zemin to Justice” were displayed opposite the hotel where Xi was staying.

At a gathering on June 30, Kan Hung-cheung, spokesperson for the Hong Kong Falun Dafa Association, said, “We reiterate our call: stop the persecution of Falun Gong; bring Jiang Zemin and Zeng Qinghong to justice.”

Dozens of Falun Gong practitioners practiced the exercises together at Edinburgh Place on the morning of June 30. Large banners worded “Bring Jiang Zemin to Justice” were displayed opposite the hotel where Xi stayed.

The Xi motorcade passed the practitioners at around 8:00 a.m. Many Chinese delegates in the group saw the exercise demonstration and the large banners.

Falun Gong practitioners also held a rally in the afternoon beside the Wan Chai Telecom Building, where Xi attended an exhibition.

Background

Falun Gong was made public in 1992 and soon spread across China due to its beneficial effects on mind, body and spirit. Nearly 100 million people were practicing it by 1999. Paranoid of losing control of the people and jealous of Falun Gong's popularity, Jiang Zemin, former head of the Chinese Communist Party, initiated a brutal repression of Falun Gong on July 20, 1999.

The persecution has led to the deaths of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners over the past 18 years. Many have been tortured for their belief and even killed for their organs through state-sanctioned live organ harvesting for transplantation surgeries. Jiang Zemin is directly responsible for the inception and continuation of the persecution.

Under his personal direction, the Chinese Communist Party established an extralegal security organ, the “610 Office,” on June 10, 1999, to direct and carry out the persecution. This organization overrides police forces and the judicial system in carrying out Jiang's directive regarding Falun Gong: ruin their reputations, cut off their financial resources, and destroy them physically.

Due to the CCP's information censorship, the exact number of practitioners who have died as a direct result of the persecution is not known.