(Minghui.org) April 25 always makes Falun Dafa practitioners feel a sense of respect for the practitioners who participated in the peaceful protest on that day in 1999. Behind that protest was the practitioners’ wish to have the truth be known and to expose the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) lies. It is regarded as one of the most peaceful and respectable protests in recent human history, when ten thousand Falun Dafa practitioners quietly gathered in Beijing to peacefully petition the government.
Though many Western Falun Dafa practitioners didn’t participate in the event themselves, they see this mass protest in China as a symbol of faith and conscience.
The Power of Faith and Moral Awakening
Nicolas is an engineer from Brussels who specializes in online safety. He became a Falun Dafa practitioner in June 1999 after he attended a nine-day Falun Dafa workshop. It was the first time he’d ever experienced a spiritual awakening and what it was like to be illness-free.
A month later, the negative reports about Falun Dafa on television took him by surprise. “I couldn’t understand why the CCP attacked such a wonderful practice that restored my health and improved my moral standards,” Nicolas recalled.
He knew little about the protest at the time, but as he read more about it and listened to other practitioners, he saw it as not just any protest. “In my mind, it’s a movement of moral awakening.
“Over ten thousand practitioners went to the government appeals office in Beijing to peacefully and rationally express their concerns. There were no conflicts and no shouting of slogans during the protest. After the practitioners left, not a single piece of trash was left on the ground. This was a rational feat rarely seen in modern history,” he said.
Two other Western practitioners feel the same way.
Elke, a university lecturer, became a Dafa practitioner in 2012. Though she’s never been to China, she talked about the event with respect. “What touches me most is that, in a country that suppresses freedom of belief, so many practitioners had the courage to calmly and reasonably express their views. They did not act violently or shout, just quietly stood near the government complex all day. They picked up after themselves before they left quietly.”
The protest was not just any protest, in her view, but a manifestation of virtue and upright behaviors that are rooted in Chinese tradition.
Another practitioner, Janniek, expressed a similar view. She became a practitioner in 2002. The event took place when she was still working on her doctorate. She was touched by what the practitioners did: “What I saw was a solemn and peaceful scene, in which the practitioners had no political pursuit, just a genuine wish to protect their freedom of belief. Their actions showed the power of faith and degree of morality.”
Beijing Fears People’s Pursuit of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) deliberately misrepresented what happened that day in its reports, claiming the practitioners had “besieged” the central government complex. It later used this false narrative as a pretext to launch the persecution of Falun Dafa in July 1999.
Elke pointed out how the CCP actually coordinated the event to frame the practitioners. She said, “It was the police in Tianjin who told the practitioners that, if they wanted the 45 detained practitioners be released, they had to go to Beijing to petition. The police in Beijing then told the practitioners to line up along the street near the government complex. The CCP set up a trap to later frame the practitioners.”
She believes that, ultimately, the CCP is afraid of the power of faith that brings people together: “It does not want people to embrace [Falun Dafa’s principles of] Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance, that is not the CCP’s ideology.”
Freedom of belief and speech are basic rights in Western society. “Where we live, peaceful protests and appeals are protected by the Constitution,” said Janniek. “No one will be sentenced to prison and put in a forced labor camp, let alone tortured for protesting. But in China, Falun Dafa practitioners showed restraint and calm, which are rarely seen in protests.”
“The practitioners did not show any aggression that day,” Nicolas said. “They were there to tell the facts. If such actions were called a ‘siege,’ what else in the world could be called peaceful?”
April 25 Protest Is Recognized As a Moral Testament
Twenty-six years have passed, and the CCP is still persecuting Falun Dafa practitioners. However, more people are waking up to this crime against humanity, and other governments have seen the evil nature of the CCP. Many governments and organizations now show support for Falun Dafa and issue proclamations for the practice that teaches the universal values of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance.
April 25, 1999, is not just one day in history but a moral testament recognized by people of all races, countries, and cultures. What those practitioners did awakened people’s consciences, motivating them to ponder the meaning of peace and of freedom of belief. As Elke concluded, “No matter how the CCP tries to lie and obscure a part of history, justice will not be buried. The April 25 protest will be remembered as the most peaceful and powerful expression of faith.”
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