(Minghui.org) Falun Dafa practitioners in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, held a peaceful protest in front of the Chinese Consulate General in Nagoya on July 20, 2022. They told people about the 23-year-long persecution by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and called on Chinese authorities to immediately end the persecution.

They displayed banners in Chinese, English, and Japanese which read: “Falun Dafa is good,” “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance,” “Falun Dafa is Practiced Throughout the World,” and “Stop the Persecution of Falun Gong.”

Practitioners held a peaceful protest in front of the Chinese Consulate in Nagoya, Japan on July 20.

When practitioners arrived in front of the Chinese Consulate around 8:30 a.m., there were already 20 to 30 Chinese people gathered there, so practitioners took this opportunity to clarify the facts to them.

In a little while the Consul General came out to take photos with those Chinese people, and some of them tried to stand in front of the banner, which reads “SOS - Stop the Persecution of Falun Gong,” in order to block the information. But practitioners moved over so the banner could be seen, and told them, “In a democratic and free society, there is freedom of speech.” The Chinese stopped trying to cover up the banner.

After the Consul General came out, practitioners began to read an open letter, which says: “Today is July 20, 2022. On this date 23 years ago, the former CCP leader Jiang Zemin launched the persecution against Falun Dafa practitioners who believe in Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. This persecution has been ongoing for 23 years. Nearly 5,000 practitioners have died as a result of this persecution, and that’s only the tip of the iceberg.” The letter also touched on what Falun Dafa is, information on the staged self-immolation incident in Tiananmen Square, and the CCP’s atrocities of live organ harvesting.

During the event, many Chinese and people from other countries came to the consulate. Practitioners offered each one informational material about Falun Dafa and the persecution. When one woman stopped and attentively read the contents of the banners after coming out of the building, Ms. Liu (alias) handed her a pamphlet.

The lady said that she was from Changchun City and had lived in Japan for more than 10 years, but this was the first time she met practitioners. She said Falun Dafa was banned in China. Her sister-in-law, who practices was arrested and persecuted in China. She also said that she did not know much about Falun Gong.

Ms. Liu explained what Falun Dafa is and why it was persecuted in China. When Ms. Liu said millions of Chinese have quit the CCP, the lady said she joined the Party’s youth organizations. So Ms. Liu gave her the pseudonym “Happiness” and helped her renounce her membership in those CCP organizations. Before she left she asked Ms. Liu where she could learn the exercises. Ms. Liu gave her the location and time of the local practice site.

Another practitioner approached a lady from Northeast China and asked if she joined the CCP. She replied by saying that someone already helped her quit when she was in China. She asked why Falun Dafa was being persecuted, so the practitioner clarified the facts to her. She said she would read the informational materials.

During the event practitioners also talked to the Japanese police officers on site and told them about Falun Dafa. Besides giving them materials, practitioners also showed them photos on the Minghui website of activities held around the world to mark 23 years of practitioners’ peacefully exposing the persecution. One officer said, “Wow, the activities are so large scale!”

Another police officer asked if there was any information practitioners wanted to pass on to the Consulate. Practitioners then put the materials in Chinese into the consulate mailbox, hoping the staff would learn the truth about Falun Dafa, and make the right choice.

Mr. Thai, a Vietnamese practitioner who participated in the peaceful protest that day, said that he came from Vietnam to work in Japan three years ago. After he began practicing Falun Dafa, he got along much better with others, his health also improved, and his stress level was greatly reduced.

He said, “Practicing Falun Dafa is the most fortunate thing in my life! Today, when the persecution in China has been ongoing for 23 years, I must speak out and call on the Chinese Communist authorities to immediately stop the persecution of Falun Gong!”

Background: What Is Falun Dafa and Why Is the CCP Persecuting It?

Falun Dafa (also known as Falun Gong) was first introduced to the public by Mr. Li Hongzhi in Changchun, China, in 1992. The spiritual discipline is now practiced in over 100 countries and regions worldwide. Millions of people who have embraced the teachings, which are based on the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance, and have learned the five exercises, have experienced improved health and well-being.

Jiang Zemin, former head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), perceived the spiritual discipline’s growing popularity as a threat to the CCP’s atheistic ideology, and on July 20, 1999, he issued an order to eradicate the practice.

Under Jiang’s personal direction, the CCP established the 610 Office, an extralegal security organization with the power to override the police and judicial systems and whose sole function is to carry out the persecution of Falun Dafa.

Minghui.org has confirmed the deaths of thousands of practitioners as a result of the persecution over the past 23 years. The actual number is believed to be much higher. Countless practitioners have been imprisoned and tortured for their faith.

There is concrete evidence that the CCP sanctions the harvesting of organs from detained practitioners, who are murdered to supply China’s organ transplant industry.