Falun Gong Spokesperson Calls for an End to the Persecution at a US Congressional Forum

On the afternoon of September 12, 2008, the US House of Representatives Subcommittee on Human Rights held a forum in the Rayburn House Office Building. The topic of the forum was human rights conditions in China and other Asian countries after the Olympic Games. Falun Gong spokesperson Zhang Erping was invited to speak at the forum. He said that Falun Gong is a cultivation group and that what its practitioners are most concerned about is putting an end to the Chinese Communist regime's persecution of Falun Gong cultivators.

Zhang said that a variety of sources confirmed that more than 10,000 Falun Gong practitioners were arrested in the run-up to the Olympics. During that time, the persecution intensified. On the surface, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) seems not to be as blatant as before in its persecution of Falun Gong, but, actually, the CCP's persecution of Falun Gong has never stopped and is even more sinister.

He said that seven weeks before the opening of the Olympics, Eutelsat Communications, a Paris-based satellite operator, broke its contract with New Tang Dynasty Television (NTDTV). As a result, NTDTV has been unable to provide Chinese viewers in mainland China with news uncensored by the CCP. At the same time, in New York and other Chinese communities, the Chinese Consulate instigated mobs to attack Falun Gong practitioners and spread hatred, undermining practitioners' freedom of belief and religion and violating the Constitution.

Guardian Unlimited (UK): The reality behind China's Olympic image of modernity

By Edward McMillan-Scott, Vice President of the European Parliament

August 8, 2008

While watching the games, remember they are designed to benefit a regime responsible for appalling abuse of human rights

The opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics will inevitably be an occasion for admiring comment about the immense achievements - architectural, organizational and presentational - of the host nation. This, of course, is precisely what the Chinese authorities hoped for when they secured their Olympic bid seven years ago. It was intended as a statement of China's modernity, its economic prowess and its rise to the top table of world power. Judging from the coverage so far, there are plenty of people willing to accept this image at face value. Yes, human rights groups have raised some awkward questions, but why should that spoil the party when so many world leaders will be on hand to give their blessing to the proceedings?