San Diego Officials Support #FalunGong Torture Victims at vigil #falundafa #July20Rally #stoppersecutionfalungong #communism
Falun Dafa Practitioners Commemorate 26 Years of Persecution
With an Art Exhibit, Personal Accounts, and a Candle Vigil
They also Warn Of the CCP’s Transnational Repression on US Soil
San Diego Falun Dafa practitioners held their annual “July 20 Commemoration” along the Embarcadero at the Tuna Harbor. The event included a fine arts exhibit and candlelight vigil in memory of the countless practitioners in China that have become victims of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) persecution, and to raise awareness of the CCP extending its repression onto American soil. Several survivors of the persecution were present to share their accounts, and a number of officials from around the county attended the event to express their support.
Falun Dafa, also known as Falun Gong, is a mind-body practice to improve health and attain spiritual wisdom, with deep roots in ancient Chinese tradition. It consists of slow-moving exercises, meditation, and self-improvement based on the universal principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance. Practices like this have been a vital part of Chinese culture for 5,000 years.
Although the CCP initially tolerated Falun Gong when it was introduced to the public in 1992, and many high-level CCP members practiced Falun Gong, Jiang Zemin, the head of the CCP at the time, eventually decided that Falun Gong was getting too popular. By 1999 almost 100 million Chinese had taken up the practice because of its near-miraculous health benefits. Jiang declared that it had to be stamped out. His orders were to use any means: Ruin their reputation, take away their livelihood, destroy them physically. On July 20, 1999 the cruel persecution began, with unknown millions imprisoned, tortured, and killed via life organ harvesting.
Survivors of the Persecution Speak
Philip Zhu is a student at UCSD. Philip’s parents practiced Falun Gong in China.
Philip Zhu, a graduate student at the University of California, San Diego, lost both parents due to the persecution. His mom died shortly after a lengthy labor camp term when he was about six years old. His dad left home, moving from place to place to avoid arrest and died a few years later.
“What I experienced and witnessed planted seeds in my heart that helped me to understand what Falun Gong is and that following its principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Tolerance is not wrong, but the right thing to do,” Zhu said.
Hongfa Wang and his wife Frances Deng are among several Falun Gong practitioners in San Diego who have survived detention and torture in China’s prisons, labor camps and brain-washing centers. They were both brutally tortured because they would not give up practicing Falun Gong. The couple was able to escape from China and came to San Diego in 2013.
Deng recalled the painful experiences when she was force-fed with her arms and legs tied to a chair. Three times a day, her mouth would be pried open and large amounts of porridge forced down her throat with a metal feeding device. “It felt like I was going to choke to death at any moment,” she said.
Her husband was subjected to a form of torture where one is tied up and wrapped tightly into a ball and hung from the ceiling. It took him over a year to recover somewhat from his injuries.
Transnational Repression (TNR)
The CCP's TNR of Falun Gong began shortly after the persecution, with Chinese consulates defaming Falun Gong and Shen Yun Performing Arts in letters to American elected officials at all levels, and visiting Chinese officials doing the same thing. While overseas Falun Gong practitioners were letting the world know the truth about the CCP’s cruel persecution, the CCP tried everything to stop their voices. Shen Yun, a company founded by Falun Gong practitioners, had their tour bus tires slashed, and death threats and bomb threats were sent to theaters hosting Shen Yun, in addition to massive online media slander campaigns.
Zhu and Wang are also very concerned about the CCP's control overseas.
Zhu said, when setting up a Falun Gong info table on campus, he would often meet pro-CCP Chinese students who threatened to call the police as if we were in China.
Wang said, in 2014 he found a job in a San Diego biotech company but was fired a few days after telling his colleagues about his experiences in China’s labor camps. The company’s owner and most employees were Chinese Americans.
A supervisor reported him to the owner, and two days later, he was fired. Wang said he was shocked and wondered why an American company would act like companies in China. Wang, an engineer, was fired from his workplace in China because he wouldn’t give up Falun Gong.
Government Officials Attending the Event
Michelle Metschel, City Councilmember from El Cajon
Nathaniel Harris, staff of County Supervisor Joel Anderson
Max Ellorin, staff of County Supervisor Monica Montgomery Steppe
Jenny Maeda, Poway City Councilmember
County Supervisor Jim Desmond sent a certificate