“Please Sit By Our Side”- Part 1 (Photos)

–Accounts of Falun Gong Practitioners Holding
Peaceful Appeals in Front of Chinese Embassies and Consulates around the World

By
Sijing Wu, Minghui Correspondent

Sit
by my side
Closing your eyes
Together in silence
We call for
The
end of torturing
The end of killing
The end of the persecution
Compassion
grows in our hearts
Together in silence
Our wishes can make a difference

This poem was translated into many languages and appeared beside Falun
Gong practitioners holding peaceful appeals in front of Chinese embassies and
consulates around the world.

Over five years ago, not long after Jiang Zemin's
faction and the Chinese Communist Party started the persecution of Falun Gong,
Falun Gong practitioners have continuously appeared in front of Chinese embassies
and consulates in several countries. They meditate, practice the Falun Gong exercises,
or distribute flyers to passers-by to clarify
the truth about Falun Gong and the persecution in China.

More than five
years have passed, and more and more people have joined them. The practitioners'
peaceful sit-in protests have extended to Chinese embassies and consulates in
dozens of countries across four continents. Those who come to appeal are from
all over the world, ranging from a British Lord in his 90s to children of two
years old with their parents, from Western people of all races, and from CEOs
of large corporations to housewives. Out of a sense of conscience and following
the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance, they gather voluntarily
in front of Chinese embassies or consulates after work or school and appeal to
the Chinese government to stop the persecution of Falun Gong.

Whether in cold
weather with snow and subzero temperatures, or during the hot summer with temperature
soaring at 40 C, people see the practitioners continue their peaceful appeal.
If they were doing this for money, they could have taken a break to get a cup
of hot coffee on a snowy day or chatted under the shade of a tree in the hot summer
and simply left after their scheduled hour. But they do not, because they have
come to the Chinese embassy or consulate not for themselves, but so that other
people, including the staff working in the embassy or consulate, can come to know
the facts of the persecution. Their goal is to end this persecution that is based
only on lies, fabrications, torture and threats and enticement, which involves
the whole Chinese population.

They appeal in front of the embassy or consulate
not because they oppose China, but on the contrary, because they love China. They
see that those who claim to represent the Chinese people's interests instead
kill Chinese people and damage morality and humanity in their persecution of Falun
Gong practitioners who follow Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance.

Passers-by
change from apathy to understanding, offering support and expressing respect.
Not only Western people who uphold human rights are moved by the practitioners
and support them by sending soft drinks in summer, hot coffee in winter and flowers
for encouragement, but also Chinese people who know the facts of Falun Gong have
come to the embassy or consulate to express their respect for Falun Gong practitioners'
steadfast and peaceful appeal and to show their objection to the persecution.
Over the course of the days and nights in front of the Chinese embassies and consulates,
countless Chinese people have stopped in surprise to notice that many Western
people practice Falun Gong. Some of them accepted the truth-clarification literature
with hesitation. Some of them hurried over to see the poster boards and catch
news that was not covered by media in China. Those who learned the truth asked
for more literature to give to their friends, and some have even started to practice
Falun Gong.

Practitioners in London will never forget how one weekend, a middle-aged
Western gentleman came to the Chinese Embassy. Despite the rain, he sat there
with practitioners for more than three hours. He told the practitioners that he
passed by the Embassy on his way to work every day, but he did not get the chance
to stop for a moment. After he read a flyer introducing Falun Gong, he decided
to take a weekend to especially come and sit with the Falun Gong practitioners.
Although it was raining that day, the gentleman brought two pots of hot water
and much food for the practitioners. On another summer day, the burning sun was
directly overhead. Although there was a piece of land under the shade of a tree
nearby, the practitioners still sat silently where they usually did. At about
2 or 3 p.m. when it was extremely hot, two 12-or-13-year-old English boys came
over. They sat by the practitioners' side on the burning-hot cement ground
for more than 40 minutes. The two angel-like boys sat there still, oblivious of
the sweat rolling down their faces.

“Please sit by our side, please sit by
our side, together in silence, together we call for the end of torturing, the
end of killing.” The torturing and killing have been going on for more than five
years. Nevertheless, this uncompromising group, that upholds goodness, is still
appealing to all kind-hearted people. Through their more than five-year silent
persistence, they express their heart-felt faith: Although the evil may act violently
for a while, the dark cloud will not block the sun forever and the viciousness
will not shut out the brightness of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. The day
will eventually come when the evil in the human world is completely cleansed by
the force of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.

Eastern
Europe

On July 20, 2004, Falun Gong practitioners in Russia held a
peaceful appeal in front of the Chinese Embassy in Moscow

A Polish newspaper reported on January 14, 2003 that young Polish
people held a peaceful appeal in front of the Chinese Embassy on behalf of Falun
Gong practitioners being persecuted by Jiang's regime.

On July 20, 2004, Dafa practitioners in Latvia gathered in front
of the Chinese Embassy and called for an end to the persecution of Falun Gong.

On July 20, 2004, Dafa practitioners in Kiev, Ukraine held a
sit-in protest in front of Chinese Embassy.

On December 31, 2004, practitioners gathered in front of the
Chinese Embassy in Bratislava, Slovakia and called for an end to the persecution.

On December 31, 2004, Falun Gong practitioners in Czechoslovakia
gathered in front of the Chinese Embassy in Prague and held a candlelight vigil
to commemorate those fellow practitioners who lost their lives in the persecution.

On July 20, 2004, on the fifth anniversary of Jiang's regime's
persecution of Falun Gong, practitioners in Czechoslovakia held a 36-hour meditation
in front of the Chinese Embassy in Prague to raise awareness of the persecution.

Around July 20, 2004, practitioners staged a peaceful appeal
in front of the Chinese Embassy in Budapest, Hungary.

Other
European Regions

On November 12, 2004, practitioners in Belgium gathered in front
of the Chinese Embassy, requesting that the perpetrator of the persecution be
brought to justice, and expressing support for the lawsuit against Su Rong, former
head of the 610
Office of Jilin Province.

Upon hearing about the shooting incident in South Africa in which Zeng Qinghong,
a member of Jiang's faction, was suspected of hiring thugs to shoot Falun
Gong practitioners planning to sue him, Denmark practitioners held a peaceful
appeal in front of the Chinese Embassy on July 3, 2004.

Upon hearing about the shooting incident in South Africa, practitioners
in Ireland held a peaceful appeal in front of the Chinese Embassy on June 29 and
30, 2004.

On February 6, 2005, before the Chinese New Year, practitioners
in Sweden held a peaceful appeal in front of the Chinese Embassy in Stockholm
and called for an end to the persecution.

On October 29, 2004, practitioners in France held a peaceful
appeal in front of the Chinese Embassy in Paris and called for an end to the persecution
and for bringing Jiang Zemin, Luo Gan, Liu Jing and Zhou Yongkang to justice.

On May 27 and 28, 2004, practitioners in Germany held a peaceful
appeal in front of the Chinese Embassy in Berlin and expressed their support for
the lawsuit against Jiang Zemin filed in Chicago, USA.

In February 2004, practitioners in the UK held a peaceful appeal
in front of the Chinese Embassy.

Hearing of the shooting incident in South Africa, practitioners
in Holland held a peaceful appeal in front of the Chinese Embassy in The Hague
on July 3, 2004.

Hearing of the shooting incident in South Africa, practitioners
in Spain held a peaceful appeal in front of the Chinese Embassy on July 3, 2004.

On February 23, 2004, practitioners in Switzerland held
a peaceful appeal in front of the Chinese Embassy in Bern and demanded bringing
the perpetrators of the persecution to justice.

On February 15, 2004, practitioners in Italy gathered in
front of the Chinese Embassy in Milan and called for bringing principal culprits
Jiang Zemin, Luo Gan, Liu Jing and Zhou Yongkang to justice.

On June 17, 2004, practitioners in Austria held a peaceful appeal in front
of the Chinese Embassy in Vienna.

In March 2004, practitioners in Greece held a peaceful appeal
in a little park across from the Chinese Embassy.

(To be continued)

Posting date: 30/Mar/2005
Original
article date: 28/Mar/2005
Category: Open
Forum