Report from the UK: SOS Sit-in in Front of the Chinese Embassy in London (Part 1)

To protest against the Chinese government's two-year-old crackdown on Falun Gong, London practitioner Fan Yanyu started a sit-in in front of the Chinese Embassy in London on July 19th.

Until today, Yanyu has been there for 19 days. For most of the time, she is on her own, enduring the inclement and often harsh English weather. No matter how hard it is raining, no matter how scorching the sunshine is, the SOS sit-in continues. Impressed by Yanyu's action, many people offered their support. A young man brought her a bottle of water with ice in it, and insisted that she accept it. The managers and security guards in the building behind the petition point also extended their helping hand. The General Manager told Yanyu respectfully, "We are willing to help any time and under any circumstances!"

The SOS sit-in has attracted attention from people from various social backgrounds, including journalists working for BBC and a filmmaker who is willing to make a film for us for free. Mr. Tony Blair, the Prime Minister, saw Yanyu in her T-shirt with the words "China: Stop Persecuting Falun Gong", and talked about this in his meeting with other Labor Party members. They even sent a Labor magazine journalist to take pictures.

Practitioners in China are validating the Fa with their lives, and those in North America are totally devoted to clarifying the truth. We can also see moving stories just around us. From this serial report on the sit-in in London, you will see that, though every little story seems so commonplace at a glance, they have manifested the people's eagerness for the Fa, and their kindness and integrity.

1. The first day, in wind and rain

On July 19th, the first day of the sit-in, the sky was covered by dark clouds from early morning. The sit-in began at 8am. The clouds were particularly dark above the Chinese Embassy. The evil demons were frenetically making their last attempts to make troubles. But this was just a manifestation of their fear. In the eyes of a cultivator, they are nothing but a bunch of clowns.

In order to survive, they did their best to interrupt our activities. Whenever Yanyu sent forth her righteous thoughts, there suddenly came strong wind and heavy rain. After she sent forth her righteous thoughts twice, the corners of the sky became bright, leaving only the part of sky above the embassy still covered by dark clouds. But the rain was still heavy, and the wind still very strong. Several times, the table was turned over, and materials were scattered around. But Yanyu was undaunted. Then another gust of strong wind overturned the banner stand, and the banner fell into rain water on the ground. Yanyu had to stand on the pedestal and hold the banner tightly, struggling with the wind.

Finally, after several hours of struggling, the rain stopped, and the sun came out.