Political Quotes

“throughout my years in the Senate, I have met with people from around the world who have been persecuted by their own governments, but the stories I have heard from survivors and family members of the victims of China's efforts to silence and eliminate religious minorities continue to shock me. The Chinese Government systematically brutalizes millions of people, including Tibetan Buddhists, Uyghur Muslims, and Falun Gong practitioners. Those who practice Falun Gong use meditation and are guided by a philosophy of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance, but because the Chinese Communist Party fears any organized religion or association it cannot control, it views this revival of traditional Chinese religion as a threat to its survival. Falun Gong practitioners recently marked the 20th anniversary of the beginning of China's campaign of brutality against their community. On July 20, 1999, hundreds of Falun Gong practitioners were arrested in their homes in the middle of the night. Over the following week, as many as 50,000 Falun Gong were reportedly detained. In the years since that initial crackdown, the Chinese Government has relentlessly continued its repression of Falun Gong. Falun Gong practitioners have been arrested, interred at reeducation camps, beaten, sleep-deprived, starved, sexually assaulted, electrocuted, force-fed, shackled, and had their limbs slowly broken, until they have renounced their beliefs and practices.…”