(Minghui.org) To commemorate the 26th anniversary of the April 25 appeal, practitioners held a rally in front of the Chinese Embassy in The Hague on April 25, 2025. They also held activities near the Peace Palace to tell people about Falun Dafa and its principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance.
Protest in Front of the Chinese Embassy
Practitioners held an event in front of the Chinese embassy.
Practitioners set up banners and distributed flyers to passersby, sharing the values of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance and raising awareness of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) persecution.
Looking Back on the April 25 Peaceful Appeal
Ms. Wang Jia’en, the coordinator of the Falun Dafa Association in the Netherlands, gave a speech in which she reflected on why practitioners went to Beijing to appeal on April 25, 1999, and the subsequent 26-year-long persecution by the CCP.
She also shared her experience participating in the April 25 appeal in 1999: On the morning of April 25, 26 years ago, Falun Dafa practitioners gathered at the state petition office because practitioners were arrested in Tianjin. That evening, they were told the central government accepted their requests. After hearing this, everyone quietly dispersed.
“On that day, there were over ten thousand people. There was no noise, clashes, or traffic jams, and not even a scrap of paper was left on the ground. Practitioners picked up all the trash—they even collected the cigarette butts discarded by the police. The next day, the news reported on religious freedom and confirmed that the police in Tianjin released all the detained practitioners.”
She pointed out that during the COVID pandemic, the CCP covered up the truth, increased surveillance in China, and intensified the persecution of practitioners. However, more and more people are learning the truth. Over 400 million people have bravely withdrawn from the CCP and its youth organizations.
She called on more Chinese people to distinguish right from wrong, see through the true nature of the CCP, choose to stand on the side of justice, and help end the persecution.
Gallery Owner Praises Falun Dafa
Mr. Hans Swaep, the owner of an art gallery in The Hague, supports practitioners’ peaceful petition.
Mr. Hans Swaep, the owner of an art gallery in The Hague, was drawn to the peaceful meditation as he passed by.
He believes that the values of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance are very admirable. When he heard about the CCP’s organ harvesting from practitioners who follow these principles, he was shocked that such evil acts still occur, and he thanked practitioners for telling him the facts. He hopes that practitioners and all those suffering from persecution enjoy freedom.
Activities in Hague City Center and the Peace Palace
On the afternoon of April 25, 2025, practitioners demonstrated the exercises at the Peace Palace.
On the afternoon of April 25, 2025, practitioners in the Netherlands set up display boards and banners at Grote Marktstraat in the Hague city center and near the Peace Palace. They demonstrated the exercises and told the public about the persecution.
Many people condemned the CCP for persecuting Falun Dafa and signed the petition to end organ harvesting.
On the afternoon of April 25, tourists in The Hague city center and the Peace Palace spoke with practitioners and signed a petition.
Patricia from Mexico said the persecution made her sad, “Religious freedom and the freedom to practice one’s spiritual belief are very important. I come from Mexico, where we have the freedom to do what we want.” She added, “Organ harvesting is a horrifying thing. I can’t even imagine it. I cannot understand it, and this must stop immediately.”
Patricia believes that religious freedom is important for everyone.
She continued, “Anything that threatens a person’s health and life must stop. This is a crime against all of humanity. Falun Gong practitioners are good people. There are so many people practicing, and so many lives are at risk! The persecution must end immediately.”
Another woman, Rocio, also from Mexico, was shocked when she saw the giant banners held by the practitioners. She said that she and her husband just returned from China and had no idea that forced organ harvesting was taking place there. She took a picture of the flyer the practitioners gave her and said she would post it on her Facebook to help spread the information. She felt that the CCP’s persecution must be exposed to the world.
Rocio wants to help spread the truth about the persecution of Falun Dafa.
She thanked practitioners for sharing the information with her and encouraged them to persist.
Background: What Is the April 25 Appeal?
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 worldwide. Millions of people have embraced the teachings, which are based on the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance, as well as five gentle exercises, and experienced improved health and well-being.
On April 23 & 24, 1999, police officials in Tianjin, a city near Beijing, assaulted and arrested dozens of practitioners who had gathered outside a magazine office to discuss errors in a recently published article attacking Falun Dafa. As word spread of the arrests and more practitioners inquired with officials, they were told they had to take their appeals to Beijing.
The following day, April 25, some 10,000 Falun Dafa practitioners spontaneously gathered at the Central Appeals office in Beijing, as they had been instructed by Tianjin officials. The gathering was peaceful and orderly. Several Falun Dafa representatives were called in to meet with Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji and members of his staff. That evening, practitioners' concerns were answered. The arrested practitioners in Tianjin were released, and everyone went home.
Jiang Zemin, former head of the CCP, perceived the spiritual discipline’s growing popularity as a threat to the CCP’s atheistic ideology and issued an order to ban Falun Dafa on July 20, 1999.
Minghui.org has confirmed the deaths of thousands of practitioners due to the persecution over the years; the actual number is suspected to be much higher. More 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 the organ transplant industry.
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Category: April 25 Events
