More than a hundred Orange County residents gathered in the village of Goshen, New York, on July 22 to raise awareness about the ongoing persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual practice that combines meditative exercises with moral teachings centered on the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance.
It gained popularity in China in the early 1990s, with an estimated 1 in every 13 Chinese citizens practicing Falun Gong when the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) started an all-out persecution on July 20, 1999.
Liam O’Neil, president of the Falun Gong Club of Orange County, said at the rally, “This is a day of mourning, it is a day of sadness, but it is also a day of great hope for humanity because more and more people are waking up to what Falun Gong is and what this persecution is.”
Goshen resident and musician Bob Torsello heard about Falun Gong for the first time at the rally and found the brutal persecution unfathomable.
“It is such a positive practice of the mind and body. How could that be a threat to the government? It is very difficult for me to comprehend,” Mr. Torsello told The Epoch Times.
Falun Dafa Information Center representative Ben Maloney said at the rally that four factors contributed to the persecution: the popularity of Falun Gong; the jealousy and political motivations of then-leader Jiang Zemin; the practice’s values which stood opposite to communist ideologies; and the independence of its adherents from any Party control.
“After all, if you believe in something deep in your heart, that’s not something that the Chinese Community Party can take away from you,” Mr. Maloney said.
Persecution in China
Mount Hope resident Lydia Wang shared how her family benefited from Falun Gong and suffered under the Chinese communist regime’s persecution, including multiple detentions and the eventual death of her father.In March, her mother was arrested for the 11th time in China and sentenced to four years in prison.
She said the regime targeted her family in part because her brother, Steven Wang, is a principal dancer with Shen Yun, the world’s premiere classical Chinese dance and music company. Shen Yun is frequently targeted by the CCP because it showcases authentic Chinese culture as it existed before the Communist Party came to power.
“I do not know when this persecution will end. I do not know if I can see my mother again,” Ms. Wang said. “I hope people in China and around the world will be able to hear our stories, understand what the Chinese government is doing to its people, and choose to stand on the right side of history.”
Grace Chen, a student at Fei Tian College in Middletown, said at the rally that both her parents are imprisoned in China without much information about their whereabouts and release dates.
“I haven’t seen them for a long time, and there were many moments when I needed them and wanted them to stay with me,” Ms. Chen said. “They missed my [18th] birthday and my high school graduation.”
Deerpark Republican and New York Assembly Minority Whip Karl Brabenec sent a letter in support of the peaceful rally calling for an end to the persecution.
Raising Awareness
The Chinese communist regime has gone to great lengths to cover up the persecution in China, including exerting influence over media on U.S. soil, according to the Falun Dafa Information Center.Lifelong Goshen resident Steven Esposito told The Epoch Times, “It is terrible that they have to have this rally to make people aware of this tragedy.”
He said he had long heard about the practice through companies and organizations founded by local Falun Gong adherents, such as Dragon Springs in Deerpark and Fei Tian College in Middletown.
“I think what they are doing in Middletown is great,” he said.
Al Beers, a resident of the town of Florida, New York, told The Epoch Times that he is very supportive of Falun Gong practitioners living in Orange County and hopes that the U.S. government will do more to check the CCP.
“Truth and good will triumph over evil, though not right away. With time, it will,” Mr. Beers told The Epoch Times.
Mount Hope Chinese Association spokesperson Chris Cheng said at the rally that it’s important to share the facts about the CCP in local communities such as Goshen because the regime’s influence hits close to home.
He cited the harassment against Shen Yun artists, the death threat he received as one of the organizers of a local event exposing the Chinese regime, and the use of hackers to collect the private information of Americans.
Mr. Cheng said his association has hosted four seminars in Orange County to raise awareness of the harm of the communist regime, with more to come.
