World Journal reported on May 1, 2002, Falun Gong practitioners of the Greater Boston area organized a press conference in Boston Park on April 28, 2002. The aim of the press conference was to let more people be aware of the situation of Chinese Falun Gong practitioners being persecuted by Jiang's regime. Over 500 practitioners from many countries attended the conference in the cold wind and rain. After the press conference, the Falun Gong practitioners paraded from Post Office Square to Eliot Norton Park.
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| Practitioners from various countries attended the press conference with simple raincoats. (Photograph by Yang Yuqing) |
Mr. Lin Shenli spoke at the press conference. Lin was imprisoned in a labor camp in Mainland China for two years because of practicing Falun Gong. He stated that he would not give up practicing no matter how he was persecuted. But he said that there were still many Chinese practitioners being brutally persecuted in China. He hoped more people of other countries could learn the truth and help those Chinese practitioners.
Later on, Lin Shenli said, practicing Falun Gong could raise people's moral standard because "Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance" can purify society -- something that no law can ever achieve. He said he used to practice other Qigong exercises. After he learnt Falun Gong, he realized that in practicing Qigong, one should also cultivate Xinxing (the nature of one's heart/mind) to have a good effect. Falun Gong encourages people to be kind and compassionate and changes people to become better citizens. It should not be persecuted in China.
Some practitioners who attended the conference were from Canada, Australia, Japan, and European countries. They also practiced the exercises in Boston Park to support the practitioners in China, even though the weather was bad.
