Bulgarian people from many different walks of life questioned why this happened, including members of parliament, government officials and the media. As a result, many people had the opportunity to understand what Falun Gong is, the persecution that Falun Gong practitioners are suffering in China, and the status of the global lawsuit against Jiang Zemin. As stated by a reporter, “It is far more meaningful and influential to let people understand the facts. At the very beginning, my attention was caught by the cancellation of the painting exhibition. The cancellation of the event has stimulated far more attention and has shocked sectors of society from the high levels of government to the media.”
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regarding the cancellation of the painting exhibition |
Local Dafa practitioners, together with practitioners from the UK and Sweden supported the exhibition and held a press conference for the event on October the 9th. Several reporters participated in the conference, including Bulgaria’s most-popular newspaper, “Twenty-Four Hour” and Bulgaria’s National Broadcasting Station. Practitioners introduced Falun Gong and exposed the unreasonable conduct of the Chinese Embassy. After the conference, Bulgaria’s National Broadcasting Station interviewed two Dafa practitioners about the basic principles of Falun Gong, the benefits people get from practising, the number of practitioners worldwide and the painting exhibition itself including how it has been welcomed in many countries and won many awards. The interview was aired nationwide two hours later. At least three newspapers published the contents of the interview the next day.
The most noticeable report was provided by “Banker’s Finance” newspaper, which ran a full-page detailed report. It introduced the painter’s experience of practising Falun Gong and the persecution she has suffered. It also described how this painting exhibition was organised with unreserved support from Member of Parliament Mrs. Snezhina Chipeva. The article also explained that the artist Zhang Cuiying was filing a lawsuit against the former Chinese dictator, Jiang Zemin. The article stated that the Chinese ambassador paid a personal visit to the Bulgarian government official at the parliament building, and the notification for the cancellation of the exhibition was made soon afterwards. The newspaper tried its best to verify the cause of the cancellation with the parliament, but was told “no comment”. At the end of the report, it stated, “Bulgaria will be the first country to cancel a painting exhibition under pressure. More importantly, people will say this is the only parliament in the world in which foreign diplomats can tell us what to hang on the walls.”
Mrs. Snezhina Chipeva MP expressed her astonishment at the cancellation of the painting exhibition under pressure from the Chinese Embassy. She visited, and praised Zhang Cuiying’s exhibition when it was held at the European Council building in Belgium last spring. As a result, she provided active support to Zhang Cuiying’s exhibition in Bulgaria. She also prepared an enthusiastic speech for the exhibition’s opening ceremony. She believed the cancellation of the exhibition is “interference in Bulgaria’s domestic affairs”. Many members of parliament questioned the Parliament’s Secretary General, and demanded an explanation of this issue.
Just as a reporter stated, “The event is not over yet. I feel it will influence Bulgaria’s future. It is very dangerous for a government to place economic interests over human rights.”
Why are Jiang Zemin and his group so afraid of a painting exhibition held by a Falun Gong practitioner?
Why are Jiang Zemin and his group so afraid of a Falun Gong practitioner’s painting exhibition? It is because they are afraid of “truthfulness, kindness and tolerance”. They are frightened of the spread of the facts, frightened by the truth of Falun Gong, and frightened when their lies and crimes are exposed. When all people know the facts of the persecution and the truth about Falun Gong, this evil persecution will no longer be able to continue.
Zhang Cuiying, an Australian citizen, an artist and a Falun Gong practitioner who was tortured for eight months in four different Chinese prisons, has travelled to more than 100 cities in over forty countries since her release in 2000. Through her painting exhibitions, she has explained how she was arrested, imprisoned and tortured after appealing to Jiang’s regime, governments and people worldwide. Her appeal called for the Jiang regime to stop persecuting Falun Gong. Her actions have received widespread support and praise worldwide, and have received close attention from international legal societies. With great support from Mr. Geoffrey Robertson QC, a well-known lawyer, she is preparing to file an individual lawsuit against Jiang Zemin, who is the primary instigator of the persecution against Falun Gong.
Zhang’s painting exhibition is part of Falun Gong practitioners’ efforts to promote “truthfulness, benevolence and forbearance” and to expose the persecution. This is why the painting exhibition has become a thorn in the flesh of the evil group that persecutes Falun Gong.
Zhang’s first painting exhibition, held in Ukraine’s capital city Kiev, was a great success. Lots of major media organisations provided positive coverage of her paintings and her ordeal whilst imprisoned. When she came to Kiev last March for the second exhibition, the Chinese Embassy dispatched delegates to apply pressure on the Ukrainian government. The exhibition was cancelled just before it opened. Several days later, local practitioners in the Ukraine successfully moved the exhibition to another gallery, and exposed the interference from the Chinese government to the media.
Initially, the next painting exhibition after the Ukraine was planned for Budapest, the capital of Romania. On the eve of the exhibition, Dafa practitioners received a phone call from the Chinese Embassy in Romania. They demanded that practitioners suspend the exhibition, but the request was rejected. The Chinese Embassy also applied pressure on the company who owned the exhibition hall, but they failed to stop the exhibition. Chinese officials, associated with the Embassy, participated in the opening ceremony personally to directly interfere with the exhibition. They threatened the audience and even showed a fake Sino-Romanian agreement, which stated that the two countries would jointly restrain Falun Gong activities. The painting exhibition was forced to terminate. However, a reporter who was present at the opening ceremony found that the agreement was only signed by China. Local Dafa practitioners approached the Romanian Department of Foreign Affairs, and were told that such an agreement did not exist. The Romanian government received letters from all over the world, including letters from members of the European Parliament and government officials of other countries. They all condemned the illegal behaviour of the Chinese embassy, which has carried out all sorts of shameful acts.
Afterwards, Zhang Cuiying’s exhibition was successfully held in Bulgaria, Croatia, Slovenia, Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Poland up to March of this year. Her painting exhibitions have obtained support from the governments and community organisations in these countries.
However, the evil group has not given up. They are still trying to grasp every opportunity that they can find to interfere with the painting exhibition. When Zhang Cuiying’s painting exhibition was held in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia for the second time, the local Chinese Embassy reacted as though they were dealing with a formidable enemy, because this exhibition was to be held in the Bulgarian parliament under support provided by members of parliament. The Embassy did their utmost to obstruct the exhibition. They spread materials in parliament to attack Falun Gong, and imposed tremendous pressure on the person in charge of administration in the Parliament. Under immense pressure, the chief administrator hurriedly made a decision to cancel the opening ceremony and the press conference that was originally scheduled for October the 8th.
Mrs. Snezhina Chipeva, a Bulgarian MP, who has provided great support to the painting exhibition said in a press release, “Ms. Zhang used to suffer from severe rheumatoid arthritis. Her body was paralysed by the disease, and she had to lie in bed and give up painting. However, a miracle happened. She benefited from a traditional Chi-Gong cultivation of mind which is based on the principles of “truthfulness-benevolence-forbearance”. Even though this brutal persecution had occurred, she did not stop telling people the truth about her belief. All of these have been mixed into her paintings.”
The extent of the responses over the suspension of the painting exhibition has been very profound. The outrageous arrogance and absurd conduct of the Chinese Embassy in interfering with the domestic affairs of other countries has triggered intensive reactions from various sectors of society, particularly from the media. Dafa practitioners from Bulgaria and several other countries held a press conference in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria on October the 9th. The largest business newspaper in Bulgaria keenly pointed out the mistake made by the government official who cancelled the painting exhibition, “It is not hard to predict what will happen next. Bulgaria will become infamous to the world because she is the first-ever nation to cancel a painting exhibition under pressure...Most importantly, the public will comment on the Parliament, because a diplomat from another country can make an order to demand what paintings can be hung on the Parliament’s wall.” There were several other media organisations that provided very favourable coverage of Falun Gong. What is going on actually goes beyond the anticipation of the Jiang regime, every time they have intended to interfere with the painting exhibition, it became an opportunity for the general public and all levels of society to understand the truth about Falun Gong.
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