A Virtual Candle Light Vigil with A Global Message

Her name is Zhongfang Yang. She passed away on July the 2nd, 2002. She was 37 years old. She was beaten to death within one night of being kidnapped by the police. His name is Xueqin Yang, born in Shanghai. He was planning to get married in 1999, but never came back after he went to appeal in Beijing. He passed away while in police custody in 2000. Her name is Xuehua Gao. She died in March 2003 while being force-fed and tortured in prison. Since April 25th, 2000, this candlelight vigil has been held around the globe every year in front of the Chinese consulate in memory of those who have lost their lives. But this year, because of the CCP virus, we have no choice but to silently remember them indoors. This is their story. In the 1990s, Falun Gong was the fastest growing spiritual practice in China. Also known as Falun Dafa, it is a spiritual practice that promotes the principles of truth, compassion, and tolerance. The practice contains four gentle standing exercises and a sitting meditation. It was supported, awarded, and even endorsed by Chinese authorities for the moral and health benefits it brought to society. However, not long after, things took a drastic turn. In the mid-90s, the Chinese communist regime saw that 100 million people were practicing Falun Gong, and this made them feel insecure because the belief in truth, compassion, and tolerance didn't align with its communist ideology. High-ranking Chinese officials then ordered police to harass practitioners across the country and to demonize Falun Gong in the media. On April 25th, 1999, 10,000 Falun Gong supporters from all over China stood in front of the central government in Beijing to peacefully petition for their right to practice their faith. It was the largest peaceful protest for freedom of belief in China's history, and in what should have been a great opportunity for the Chinese Communist Party to embrace righteousness, instead turned into 20 years of terror, torture, and murder. Chinese leader Jiang Zemin labeled the peaceful appeal as a siege, and on July 20th, 1999, unleashed a full-blown persecution campaign with the goal to eliminate Falun Gong. And in order to sustain their crimes, they concealed the truth, which has led to the disappearance of countless innocent lives. Today, the Chinese Communist Party has once again sacrificed innocent people as a result of its lies. What could have been a contained virus has instead spread to more than 200 countries and regions. Since the beginning of the outbreak, the regime has silenced whistleblowers and misled the public. Instead of putting people's lives first, they chose to withhold information, destroying documents and data, and been massively under-reporting infection and death figures. This cover-up cost the world precious time in combating the spread of the deadly CCP virus, causing a lack of global vigilance and eventually a pandemic. As a result, on this anniversary of Falun Gong's peaceful appeal, we want to honor the thousands of innocent lives who have been killed. Through this video, we hope to commemorate the courage and dignity shown by practitioners in China as they continue to risk their lives to protect their freedom of belief and uphold the universal principles of truth, compassion, and tolerance. We are grateful for the millions of people around the world who have stepped forward with us to demand the Chinese regime stop the persecution of Falun Gong, and we hope, especially in light of recent events, that the world can come to understand the destructive nature of the CCP, and ultimately, the need to hold it accountable for its crimes against humanity.