Visit
this website for background on the persecution of Falun Dafa/Gong: DAFOH.org
Some names have been altered for political safety
MINNEAPOLIS-
Not too long ago, a colleague of mine at work told me about a connection
Minnesota and China shares: Falun Dafa, also known as Falun Gong.
“We have a small group here in
Minnesota while probably a lot more Chinese people are Dafa practitioners,” she
explained. “This is a long term challenge, and we will continue our efforts
based on our teaching principles of truth, compassion and tolerance.”
What Falun Dafa means for Chinese
citizens, and the connection it has to Minnesota, is eye-opening.
Spirituality,
organs, and relations
Falun Dafa is a “self-cultivation
practice of the Buddha School”, explains an informational
website. In China, growing numbers of citizens began to publicly follow and
exercise these teachings in amounts that made the Chinese government nervous.
In an eerie crossing of paths, by
the mid-2000s, the Chinese government was accused of not only enacting
political persecution of Falun Dafa practitioners (through jailing and disappearances),
but of harvesting organs of said practitioners. The Chinese government has been
suspected
of harvesting organs from executed prisoners dating back to the 1980s.
As much as this sounds like a horror
movie, it is actually happening and damaging innocent lives. My colleague has
been aware of this for years now, and has been trying from here in Minnesota to
prevent more.
“We have a small group here in
Minnesota while probably a lot more Chinese people are Dafa practitioners. When
the persecution began, it is said only 10 percent remained active in public,”
she wrote to me in an e-mail. “We think raising awareness is very important
since many non-Chinese people can easily get dragged into the Chinese Communist
Party [propaganda]. This is common with other social issues, too.”
She suggested showing the viewpoint
of Grady Yu, a freshman at the University of Minnesota. This is a letter Grady
wrote to Governor Mark Dayton about his experience in China,
Minnesota, and how Falun has played an important role.
Grady Yu speaks
to Gov. Dayton about Falun Dafa and human rights
“Dear Governor,
My name is Grady Yu, a freshman at the
University of Minnesota. This letter is to urge you to echo Senator Jim Abeler
in condemning the forced organ harvesting of Falun Gong practitioners and other
prisoners of conscience in China. Please see attached documents for evidences
of forced organ harvesting.
I was born in China and came to the
United States when I was 15. When I was one and half years old, my parents were
arrested for practicing a traditional Chinese meditation exercise called Falun
Dafa (or Falun Gong) which consists of five sets of gentle movement and a core
principle of truthfulness, compassion and forbearance. They served around 10 years in prison
respectively for practicing Falun Gong. My grandparents raised me. In order to
protect me, they never mentioned anything about Falun Gong to me. However, that
did not save me from being harmed in another form. I was looked down upon and
severely bullied at school because my parents’ faith. At times, my school mates
would throw my backpack into the women’s restroom and forced me to pick it up.
The school knew about the bully but did not do anything. I had no one to go to
either because I knew the country’s overarching policy was to defame and
destroy Falun Gong practitioners and their families. In 2012 my parents were
released from prison and introduced me to Falun Gong. In short, Falun Gong
changed my life. I am a much healthier and happier person than I was before.
In 2014, we came to the United States. I
still remember the first few moments when I stepped on this land. The cold,
fresh air entered my lung. It was the freshest air I’ve ever breathed. When I
looked up, I saw for the first time in my life the stereoscopic clouds. The
beautiful scenery I had only seen in paintings was then in front of me. It was
at that moment I knew there must be something special about this land.
Later on, I realized the “special
things” are values that shared by all Americans.
I heard the story about Paul Revere, I
read the story about Lincoln ending slavery, and I saw the painting of
Washington voluntarily giving up his power. I experienced care from neighbors,
help from teachers, and encouragement from strangers. I may not be able to
articulate these values very clearly, but I can feel the manifestation of them.
I love the United States, and cherish the values bestowed by its founding
fathers.
Recently, I heard [state] senator Jim
Abeler has condemned forced organ harvesting in China. This encouraged me to
write this letter to you. We should do anything we can to stop this crime
against humanity. If we don’t, we will be betraying the very values America has
been built upon. Your voice will be heard and appreciated by countless Falun
Gong practitioners and their families. Your voice will save lives. Thank you
for your attention and look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely
Yours,
Grady
Yu”
 |
| A Facebook group called Choose Humanity, that aims to stop Chinese government persecution of Falun Dafa spiritual practitioners, and forced organ harvesting of prisoners |
More Minnesota
voices
Minnesota state senator Jim
Abeler (R-Anoka) gave an October interview where he outlined how he came to
hear of the persecution and forced organ harvesting and what he’s doing about
it.
“Well, [a representative fighting
the persecution] came and told us about these horrible goings-on in China, and
I had not heard about it,” Abeler said. “When I heard that they were harvesting
organs from people who were still alive, I couldn’t imagine such a barbaric
thing. Period. And so she said that we could do something about it, and so we
set about working on this letter.”
The letter Abeler referenced was one
he
sent to Chinese President Xi Jinping in the summer of 2017. Later in the interview, when asked what advice
he’d give other lawmakers around the world regarding engaging the Chinese
government on Falun Dafa persecution and organ harvesting, he said:
“I would tell them to do the
right thing and to stand up against this sort of thing. There’s a lot of
political pressure to be nice to China because they’re a big trading partner.
But it seems to me that you have to do the right thing. One of my mentors
taught me: it’s never right to do the wrong thing; it’s never wrong to do the
right thing; it’s never too late to do the right thing.”
A CNN
article written by James Griffiths in June 2016 quoted Chinese Foreign
Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying denying forced organ harvesting of imprisoned
Chinese citizens.
“As for the testimony and the
published report, I want to say that such stories about forced organ harvesting
in China are imaginary and baseless -- they don't have any factual foundation.”
To be continued…
Well done! I have been following this story (organ Harvesting) for over ten years now. Thank you for shedding greater light on the issue. Exposure is very important.
ReplyDeleteThank you for reading Jbattaglini! There's much I need to learn about this, and I appreciate sharing this situation with others
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