Let's Tell the Story of These Children

With knowing that the verified death toll in the persecution of Falun Gong is over 1,000 whilst the real number may be thousands more, and when aware that over 100,000 innocent people have been illegally imprisoned - many of them tortured, beaten, maltreated and abused - it is easy to see that many Falun Gong practitioners have suffered immense hardships because they refuse to give up their beliefs in the face of violent persecution. You may not realise, however, that during the past five years, the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners by Jiang and his faction has destroyed many happy families and orphaned many young children. This special topic on Clearharmony will tell the touching stories of these children in the hope that what they have given and endured will awaken people's hearts and help bring an end to the suffering of countless other young ones whose story we have yet to hear.

Missing Their Parents, Worried Children Flee, Live in Terror

"The atmosphere is stifling, sluggish leaden. Outside, you don't hear a single bird, and a deathly oppressive silence hangs over the house and clings to me as if it were going to drag me into the deepest regions of the underworld.... I wander from room to room, climb up and down the stairs and feel like a songbird whose wings have been ripped off and who keeps hurling itself against the bars of its dark cage. 'Let me out, where there's fresh air and laughter!' a voice within me cries.... Sleep makes the silence and the terrible fear go by more quickly, helps pass the time, since it's impossible to kill it."(Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl) (1)

When the Nazis occupied the Netherlands sixty years ago, a little girl, Anne Frank, hid with her family in an attic to escape the persecution. On October 29, 1943, she described her feelings as written above. After more than half a century, another group of children are experiencing the same terror and despair, but they also have to suffer the pain of losing their parents and family. Perhaps they have not had a chance to write about their suffering, but when we come to know their experiences, how can we find an excuse to ignore and forget their hardships and pain?

A 5-Year old Girl Flees, In Hiding for 3 Years

Five-year old Huixuan Lin (Xuanxuan) has not seen her father for three years. When she was two years old, she was in hiding with her mother and grandparents. In February 2004, her three closest family members were arrested in Harbin City and were sent to a brainwashing centre. Xuanxuan was left alone by herself for the entire night.

The child's father Lin Yanqing was a postdoctoral research fellow at the Harbin Institute of Technology. He was arrested several times because he practised Falun Gong. In January 2003, because he persisted in believing in Truth-Compassion-Forbearance and shared the truth about his belief with others, he was secretly sentenced to three years in prison. He is currently detained at the Lujiang Drug Rehabilitation Centre in Fuzhou City, Fujian Province.

Xuanxuan's mother Xu Leiyuan was the vice director of the financial department of the Railway Subdivision of the China Construction Bank in Beijing. Because she believed firmly in Falun Gong, she was forced to resign her position in 2000. The grandparents were Falun Gong practitioners also. To escape the persecution, during the past three years they have led a vagrant life with Xuanxuan. On February 19, 2004, the mother and grandparents were arrested without cause by policemen from Harbin City and sent to the brainwashing centre in Beijing. Xuanxuan, who was just five years old, was taken away from her mother and was sent to other relatives.

"Anne Frank" in China

He spent a lonely year in a warehouse, terrified, sad, and alone. He missed his parents, but his uncle repeatedly told him that he had no information about them. During this long and isolated period, no one ever gave him any comfort or care. His only companions during the long nights were sadness and loneliness. Tears always covered his face. He is always plagued by the nightmares.

Liu Xiaotian was born in December of 1985. His family lived in Yongzhou City, Hunan Province. His father was Liu Qing, an official of the Zhishan Town Government in Yongzhou City. His mother was Yang Yuyan, who was employed by the Shanghe Town Textile Factory in the Lengshuitan District. Before 2001, Liu Xiaotian's family led a happy life. Although they were not rich, they lived a harmonious life. His parents gave birth to him at a late age, and they doted on him. He went to the local middle school and led a good life.

In early 1999, his parents began to practise Falun Gong and followed its principles of Truth-Compassion-Forbearance. They wanted to be good people. When he was 16 years old, however, tragedy struck his family. On Friday, November 23, 2001, Liu Xiaotian was in the classroom. Police came to his school and told his teacher that his parents had been arrested. They asked for him. A classmate overheard this and ran to tell him that his parents were in trouble and the police wanted him. Hearing that, Liu Xiaotian shook with fear. He ran out of the school without taking anything. He hid in his neighbour's storage room for the night. Around midnight, he snuck across the road to check out his home. He saw that the windows of his home and also the furniture inside were smashed. His neighbour saw him and asked him to stay at his house, but two or three days later, the police went to this man's home and told him that if he saw Liu Xiaotian and didn't report him to the police, then he would be punished. The neighbour had no choice but to give him some money and send him to his only relative, an uncle who is a farmer in Fujian Province. To escape the persecution, Xiaotian stayed in an isolated warehouse for more than a year. After that, his uncle borrowed a large sum of money to pay smugglers to transport him to Denmark.

On July 1, 2003, Liu Xiaotian arrived in Denmark. The smuggler took him to the Copenhagen Railway Station and left. Having experienced so many threats and deceptions, Liu Xiaotian became very afraid. He shook at the sight of the police. An old Chinese lady took him to a refugee camp. Deeply frightened, he couldn't speak properly, nor could he fill out the forms. He was most afraid of being sent back to China and falling into the hands of the Chinese police.

After that, his uncle, who still lives in China, told him for the first time that his parents had died of torture in April 2002, five months after they had been detained. They forced Liu Xiaotian's uncle to sign papers declaring that he "would disassociate himself from Liu Xiaotian's family." That meant that he would have nothing to do with them. The police also demanded that he report Liu Xiaotian's whereabouts and threatened that his entire family would be punished if they didn't abide by this directive.

Let Us Tell the Story of These Children

There is a saying, "A friend in need is a friend indeed." Even though few people were involved in the actual tortures and murders, the practitioners who were helpless still received sympathy and care from many good people.

Liu Xiaotian, who escaped from China to Denmark, gradually left behind the darkness of the mental persecution he suffered with the help of local Falun Gong practitioners. He entered school. With the help of local practitioners, Xiaotian began to think about why his parents had suffered so much hardship just because they were practitioners of Falun Gong. He also became a Falun Gong practitioner. During the process of practising cultivation, he gradually realised the true reason for hardships and learned the true meaning of life. He began to cherish his new life in Falun Dafa. There was a smile on his face and happiness in his heart. And though his heart was deeply wounded, it is gradually beginning to recover.

One Orphan Raised by Hundreds of Family Members

At the No. 6 Petroleum Collection Plant, there is a touching story about how hundreds of families raised the orphan of a Falun Gong practitioner. According to news from the Clearwisdom website, on September 16, 2002, practitioner He Huajiang was arrested by police from the No.4 Mine in the No. 6 Petroleum Collection Plant of Daqing City, Heilongjiang Province, and the local police. His 14-year-old son was left alone at home.

When local practitioners heard this, they immediately sent food and helped fulfil the daily needs of the child. They also took turns going over to where he lived to take care of him. The neighbours saw all this and, deeply moved, said, "I never believed that people this good still existed in current society. Now that I have seen it with my own eyes, I am convinced. Only Falun Dafa practitioners can do this."

He Huajiang was tortured to death on December 23, 2002. Jiang and his regime left his son nothing but a cold box of ashes. The young child can only cry on the inside as he has become an orphan and has no way to appeal for justice. Local Falun Dafa practitioners all came to take the child home and said to him, "Son, Falun Dafa practitioners' homes are your home. You are our child."

Their true compassion quickly calmed the child. He did not want to leave the apartment where he used to live with his loving father, so Falun Dafa practitioners paid for him to have a live-in housekeeper and arranged for his school and living costs. They often went to visit him and brought all sorts of groceries. A retired practitioner gave the money he saved for his own grandson's bike to this young man. The financial condition of local practitioners is not very good, it is a poor area. Some, who are retired, have only a 50-yuan-per-month income (the average monthly pay for an urban work in China is 500 yuan), but they are determined to bring this child up well, no matter what kind of hardship they have to endure.

During the 2003 mid-year high school examinations, this young man was admitted by Daqing City Petroleum Mine Vocational College into a two to five year college degree program. Falun Dafa practitioners gathered more than ten thousand yuan in educational funds for him. Though he normally lives in the dorm, every weekend he is treated by local practitioners with good food and necessities, plus pocket money. This child has no worries any more; he has already become one of the family members in each of these Falun Dafa practitioners's homes.

People all see this child's situation, and all talk about it. Whenever someone mentions He Huajiang's child, people who know the truth will say with tears in their eyes, "Falun Dafa is great! Truly great!"

We really appreciate those people who helped Falun Gong practitioners and their family members, especially in these hardest of situations. Because of what you did, children who suffered these hardships will see a world of peace, safety and beauty. Their hearts became warm with your kind protection.

In 1974, the 1986 Nobel Peace Prize-winning author Elie Wiesel addressed an international symposium about the slaughter of innocents by the Nazis, "Let us tell a story. This is our first responsibility. The story of the children who were so smart and old. The story of darkness that was swallowing life and hope forever."

Let us tell the story of these children. Sometimes it is sad, but other times it is filled with a warm heart, and even more hope...

(1) "After Li Siyi," article by Ren Bumei
Quote from Anne Frank's writings, October 29, 1943
iso.hrichina.org/download_ repository/2/a3_Lisiyi4.2003.pdf

(October 6, 2004)

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2004/9/28/85281.html