(Clearwisdom.net) Following the Sichuan earthquake, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) deliberately caused a violent incident in Flushing, New York City, in an effort to divert attention from its corruption and incompetence. Falun Gong practitioners' peacefulness formed a sharp contrast to the CCP's villainous and wicked ways. The practitioners' selfless acts and perseverance in their belief in "Truth, Compassion, Forbearance" has helped more people learn the truth and step forward to uphold justice.

Mr. Liu resides in Flushing. He is a Tsinghua University graduate and is employed as a computer engineer. He shared his thoughts as well as what he saw and heard during the past few weeks. The following is compiled from an oral interview.

I graduated from Tsinghua University and later obtained a Master's degree from the Chinese Academy of Sciences. I earned a Ph.D. degree after I came to America. I now work for an IT company near Manhattan and live in Flushing.

I didn't care or had previously not known too much about Falun Gong and didn't pay too much attention at first to what was happening in Flushing. Later on I read in a Chinese newspaper that Falun Gong practitioners were playing drums and gongs to celebrate the earthquake and they had supposedly put up a sign, "The heavens are eliminating China." I thought that was really ludicrous and far-fetched, so I tried to find out for myself, since I live close to the library where these events supposedly took place.

A friend called me on May 17, 2008 and said something had just happened, so I went to the Flushing library to check it out. When I arrived, I saw Falun Gong practitioners were holding up signs that read, "The heavens eliminate the Chinese Communist Party, the heavens bless the Chinese people." There was nothing that said, "The heavens eliminate China." It seemed to me that someone had deliberately changed their slogan. Still, I could not understand why some people so violently opposed and even attacked them.

I went again the following day, a Sunday and stayed for a while and made detailed observations. What I saw was very different from what was said in the papers. The truth is, a mob was verbally and physically assaulting Falun Gong practitioners at the Quit the CCP Service Center. The practitioners remained calm and did not resort to the least bit of violence or engage in a war of words, while the thugs were swearing and kicking.

I walked around and saw all of Falun Gong's banners and placards, and I also read the Epoch Times newspaper with articles telling about the the CCP concealing forewarnings prior to the earthquake, impeding international efforts to rescue the victims, and trying to cover up the reality of shoddily constructed school buildings. I think the information the practitioners provided would only help China; nothing they said was against China.

In my opinion, it's necessary to distinguish between China and the CCP. The CCP does not represent China! Its ideological principles -communism - was imported from the former Soviet Union and does not have any semblance to traditional Chinese culture. Judging from a historic perspective, the CCP is not a legitimate ruler, because it had caused the untimely deaths of 80 million Chinese people during the past five decades. Communist regimes worldwide have collapsed one after another since 1989. The CCP knows its days are numbered. The CCP does not care about our country, as it has sold out lots of Chinese territories. Now, in a desperate attempt to prolong its lifespan, the CCP has changed tactics and brainwashed people with extreme nationalism and purposely confused the concepts of Party and country, thereby replacing Chinese people's patriotism with blind Party loyalty. As a result, many Chinese people refuse to hear anything negative about the Party.

So, I began to pay attention to how things progressed. I went and saw the grand Falun Gong parade in Manhattan on May 22, 2008. About 2,000 Falun Gong practitioners of diverse ethnic backgrounds participated in the parade. They held up banners carrying phrases such as, "Falun Dafa is embraced all around the world;" "The world needs Truth, Compassion and Tolerance;" "End the persecution of Falun Gong;" "Mourn for earthquake victims;" "Investigate the truth behind the earthquake;" "Do not let tragedies repeat themselves;" "CCP: Do not frame Falun Gong to escape liability" and so on.

I followed the practitioners on the sidewalk and saw something interesting. Ninety percent of the people along the road where the parade passed by acted just as they had done before: they watched without any emotional outburst, and many people even clapped.

When the parade approached the end of the route and was passing under a bridge, the narrow streets where pro-CCP overseas Chinese associations were located were strangely overflowing with people who made extremely vulgar hand gestures and screamed and cursed. They also threw things into the parade. They were a bunch of hooligans. I took some photographs. A friend told me that was the "territory" of the Fuzhou Association [Fuzhou is located in Southern China]. Several people who hid themselves in the crowd and shouted into a loudspeaker were heads of the Chinese community, including Qiu Wei, president of the World Overseas Chinese Ethnic Foundation (WOCEF), who wore two placards, one on his chest and one on his back that read "traitor." A bald man also holding a loudspeaker was a regular in these organized hate events, because I recognized his distinctive facial features. These men kept talking to those around them. When the noisy crowd cooled down, they urged people to shout again, while they quietly retreated to the back.

These leaders of the pack would treat WOCEF members to dinner for their attacking Falun Gong. The antagonizers are mostly uneducated people who came to the U.S. as illegal aliens. They had forgotten their reason for coming to America - to escape CCP persecution in China. Perhaps there were also a few passersby who didn't know the truth and followed suit. It was definitely orchestrated and planned; otherwise, why were those people concentrated in those small areas?

Later on I read in a pro-Party Chinese newspaper, "Falun Gong met with strong and spontaneous opposition from passersby." I thought that was ridiculous. What spontaneous person would walk the streets with a loudspeaker? Those "leaders" exported the Party's revolutionary-style tactics to America and incited hatred in the Chinese community.

I remember sometime back there was a "guard the sacred Olympic flame" event in Australia. Many overseas Chinese students went. There were clashes in Queensland. According to one website, the Chinese Embassy paid the Chinese Student and Scholar Association (CSSA) to rent buses or cars, to bring some Chinese students to stage counter protests. Overwhelming evidence has shown that Chinese Embassies or consulates organize these types of activities.

I eventually realized why they had to do something like this at such a sad time. The Chinese people living under the Party's iron fist have suffered too many wrongs. They will most certainly awaken once they have learned the truth, and their anger will erupt like a volcano. In order to diffuse public outrage, the Party falsely claimed that Falun Gong was interfering with donations for earthquake victims, in an attempt to use Falun Gong as a scapegoat, since Falun Gong has already been demonized in Mainland China.

The Party is an elitist group of political powerhouses who know it is now facing imminent collapse, so the Party officials do anything possible to make money, because "time is money." Shoddy construction is a result of the Party's last-minute desperation. In the process of stabilizing and maximizing power, the regime does not have the slightest regard for people's lives, so it was not a surprise that it concealed earthquake forecasts. That is why the experts said, "Earthquake prediction is an academic issue, but earthquake warnings is a political issue." The Party has a responsibility toward the victims of this tremendous disaster that it cannot shirk!

I still remember several days before the earthquake the Sichuan government "dispelling rumors" on its website, guaranteeing that no earthquake was going to hit the region. Afterwards, we learned that the military and coal mines [state owned and very lucrative for the Party] received warnings and evacuated before the earthquake. This is a clear indication the Party deliberately kept the general public in the dark. The same thing happened 30 years ago in Tangshan City. There was no media watchdog, and people didn't know what was happening. The Party has done it before, it has done it again, and it probably will do something like this sometime in the future. It's not impossible to predict an earthquake, because the governor and deputy governor of Sichuan and the heads of the earthquake bureau went abroad for a "business trip" prior to May 12, 2008, so they lost absolutely nothing; and as always, the common people were the victims of the brunt of the catastrophe.

Let us make a comparison. A magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck Kobe, Japan in 1995 and resulted in 6,000 deaths in the city of 1.4 million people. On the other hand, the official death toll in the Sichuan earthquake has reached 70,000, and that is a "compressed" number, for the sake of face-saving for the regime. I cannot imagine how many more would have died if the earthquake had taken place at 5:00 a.m. as it did in Kobe, a densely populated city. The quake began as a natural disaster but the party's deceit made it much worse. Japan and China are both Asian countries; how come there is so much difference in casualties and rescue efforts? Many Chinese people said, "The Communist Party is the true epicenter," an indication the Party has gone completely against the people.

Falun Gong practitioners kept telling the truth and blowing the whistle, in hopes that less people would die from the Party's irresponsible attitudes and sinister tactics. This is good for the Chinese people; and of course, at the same time is terrifying for the CCP, which is opposed to the interests of the people.

The New York police have witnessed the peacefulness of Falun Gong practitioners and have dispatched additional officers to patrol the streets to protect the practitioners. The Quit the CCP Service Center was not only restored, but opened more branches. Peace has returned to Flushing.

I've lived in Flushing for several years. My experience is most people there have the attitude "mind your own business." Although they know it's wrong for the Party to persecute Falun Gong and they are sympathetic toward Falun Gong, they have not stepped forward and spoken up about it. Instead, the citizens repeated the same thing printed in the Party's mouthpieces. I didn't know much about Falun Gong, but now I see that the only Chinese people telling the truth are the Falun Gong practitioners.

The Flushing incident was a great exercise in contrasts: on the one side you have rational, cool-headed people, and on the other side you have a violent and abusive mob. Who is right and who is wrong? Who is truly thinking of the people? I think it's fairly obvious. After seeing the Manhattan parade I thought it was really precious that so many people persevered in their belief despite such venomous interference. I was deeply touched and decided to voice my support for Falun Gong. I believe as time goes on, the vast majority of people will recognize the Party's ugly nature and will step forward; more and more people will realize that if one does not speak up when the Party persecutes someone else, he would be next. It would spell a major disaster for our society if no one dared to speak the truth.

Falun Gong's principle of "Truth, Compassion, Forbearance" is a moral mirror reflecting good and evil. Following these principles in current Chinese society is forbidden under the Party's decrees. Think about it: the Party brims with corruption, and any virtuous official [if there are any left] would be the target of all other officials who think he "makes them look bad" and would therefore try their best to eliminate him. The Party persecutes good people who practice Truth, Compassion and Tolerance and has turned China into a liars' den. The outcome is most damaging for the Chinese people [as can be seen through the recent Chinese product recalls].

I think "Truth, Compassion, Forbearance" represents traditional Chinese culture. Falun Gong practitioners moved me during the Flushing incident. They exemplified the best of refined Chinese values. If everyone believed in "Truth, Compassion, Forbearance" any conflict could be resolved. People would care more about each other, and this world would be a peaceful and wonderful place. As my friends often say to me, "China's hope lies with Falun Gong."