Despite the cold weather, many practitioners went to Bremen to tell people the facts of this persecution and continue in their efforts to rescue Xiong Wei. The four-hour parade ended with practitioners handing a letter to the Mayor who promised to help them find justice for the practitioners in China.

French practitioners were invited to demonstrate the Falun Gong exercises at the Telethon Public Welfare event. The organisers from the city government strongly supported the activity and it helped many people see the true nature of the Jiang regime's persecution in China.

'I cannot understand why Jiang Zemin and his gang would be so reckless as to waste your country’s money and resources in trying to defame and persecute Falun Dafa, and in imprisoning and torturing good Chinese people...Falun Dafa is a very beautiful thing and I think Chinese people should treasure and cherish it.'

it is the ill-defined nature of Article 23 that is most worrying. The government waited five years before acting in a real hurry. Despite circulating vague proposals, it has issued no formal “white paper” with the exact language of the draft laws.

A senior Conservative Party MP was contacted by UK Falun Gong practitioners regarding their concerns about the Article 23 legislation. He replied that he and his colleagues and his colleagues "saw the problems at first hand during a recent visit to Hong Kong. They are pressing the Hong Kong authorities very strongly to take seriously all views expressed."

'In reality, [Article 23] translates into transplanting catastrophic human rights abuses, which are the norm in Mainland China, on to Hong Kong soil. There is still time to increase international pressure and loosen China’s iron grip on Hong Kong, because the only thing China...respects and fears most is pressure from and shunning by the international community.'

Amnesty International Advocacy Director T. Kumar expressed his organisation's deep concern that "if implemented, Article 23 will open the door to massive human rights abuses." Participants in the rally against Article 23 hope that their efforts and similar endeavours around the world will influence Hong Kong legislators as the consultative period for Article 23 draws to a close.

'The Hong Kong Transition Project has noted a marked change in public opinion. In its latest survey, published on Friday, it found the number of people with fears about their personal freedoms had doubled following the publication of the proposals.'

“The persecution of Falun Gong has had a far-reaching impact around the world ever since the persecution began in 1999. The Global Rescue estimates that in addition to the family and friends in China, over 150 overseas practitioners have been arrested and incarcerated for appealing for Falun Gong in China. At least one third are non-Chinese citizens of various countries.” - Dr. Haiying He

The following text is from a petition calling for the urgent rescue of a Falun Dafa practitioner who is currently being persecuted in China. Her fiance is a PhD student at UMIST in Manchester, England.

'The Falungong spiritual group has called on the United States to urge China during human rights talks next week to release more than 100 jailed adherents. The jailed Falungong [practitioners] have relatives living in 16 countries, including the United States, a statement from Falungong's [information center] in New York said.'

How could the police, which has the authority to protect its citizens from those that break laws and harm people, be given the authority to inflict the excruciating torture and painful death on a harmless 50 year-old lady who was following the principles of Truthfulness - Compassion - Tolerance?

"If you still do not tell us where the book came from, we will take you to a hill, dig a hole, throw you in, and pour gas all over your body to set you on fire. Your family will have no clue at all about where you are. And we will just tell those people that you set yourself on fire to reach consummation."

A practitioner shares her views on denying the persecution and overcoming difficulties.