gathered for a candlelight vigil on the
National Mall on the evening of July 17
in silent support of the tens of millions
of Falun Gong practitioners persecuted
for practicing their beliefs in China.
Some of those attending the vigil have
experienced that persecution first hand.
Lin Qian (aka Melody) and her
husband Rao Zhuoyuan were medical
workers in southern China's
Guangdong Province, when they began
practicing Falun Gong in 1994.
In 2002 their daughter Deru was four
when Rao was murdered by Chinese
Communist Party (CCP) agents for
refusing to denounce the practice.
Qian fled to Thailand with Deru in
2005, following repeated attempts by
CCP agents to arrest her. They arrived
in the United States two years later.
Qian has attended the candlelight vigil
in Washington every year since her
arrival.
"People don't know what's happening
in China—the CCP kills live people to
make money," she said, referring to the
practice of sourcing organs from live
Falun Gong practitioners to supply
China's organs transplant industry.
This July 20 is the 15th anniversary of
the beginning of the persecution. In
1999, the then-CCP leader, Jiang
Zemin, launched his campaign to
eradicate the practice of Falun Gong in
China. Practitioners suffered detention,
torture, and brainwashing.
Cin Peng, who escaped persecution by
moving to the United States in 2011,
said it was not just the 100 million
practitioners who suffered, but their
family members as well.
"I want for this persecution to end, and
also for the Chinese Communist
Regime to end as well," Cin said.
Cin noted that he had known Falun
Gong practitioners who later were
killed for their beliefs.
Cin was incarcerated and tortured in a
brainwashing center and other CCP
operated facilities for a total of five
years. He recalled, in one instance,
being locked into a metal chair for 17
days and nights straight.
The candle vigil was attended by Falun
Gong practitioners from different parts
of the United States and from different
regions around the world.
Frieda Kata, a New Jersey resident who
is originally from Uzbekistan, has
attended the Washington gathering
every year since 2001. The candle vigil
is an important way to tell "people who
live here and tourists about the very
bad persecution in China," she said.
"The world has to know and stop this,"
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