(Minghui.org) May 13 is World Falun Dafa Day. Twenty years ago, Mr. Li Hongzhi first taught Falun Dafa, also known as Falun Gong, in Changchun, Jilin Province, China. Falun Dafa is now practiced in over 100 countries and areas worldwide and has benefited hundreds of millions of people physically and mentally. In 1999, however, former Chinese leader Jiang Zemin and his regime launched the persecution of Falun Gong out of jealousy. For the past 13 years, many practitioners have died as a result of the persecution, and many have been imprisoned and lost their homes and jobs.

On Friday, May 11, 2012, thousands of practitioners from around the world gathered in New York to celebrate World Falun Dafa Day and to protest the persecution. That evening, 600 of them held a rally in front of the Chinese consulate. Some held banners, some demonstrated the Falun Dafa exercises, and others clarified the facts about the persecution to passersby.

Falun Dafa practitioners gather in front of the Chinese Consulate on May 11, 2012, to protest the persecution in China.

Winner of the Swedish “Business Pioneer” Award Explains His Presence at the Protest

Vasilios Zouponidis

Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf awarded telecom entrepreneur Vasilios Zouponidis the “Business Pioneer of the Year” award during a ceremony at the Royal Castle in Stockholm on October 17, 2011. Zouponidis learned about Falun Dafa from the Internet in 1998.

When asked why he was sitting on a street protesting in New York, Zouponidis smiled and said, “There are many entrepreneurs sitting here today. We must first be a true person before we can achieve anything in our chosen occupation. A person with a conscience will not do nothing when he sees good people being hurt—that is the most important.”

The World Needs Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance

Russian immigrant Ivan (left) and Christian from Germany (right)

Two young men from Europe hold a banner with “The World Needs Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance” written in Chinese. They are Ivan, who immigrated from Russia, and Christian, a German who studies in the U.S.

They have practiced Falun Dafa for about two years and have benefited tremendously. “The problems with my spine are gone. I also started to respect my parents. What is more important, I now know why I should be a good person,” said Ivan.

Olympics Bronze Medal Winner: The Persecution Is Baseless

Olympics Bronze Medal Winner Martins

Martins was on Latvia's national sports team and won an Olympic bronze medal. Being an athlete, almost no one could imagine that he once had a lot of ailments before he practiced Falun Dafa. “To improve my health, I visited a lot of doctors and tried a lot of medications. Sometimes it took several months to improve. However, my problems were entirely solved a few hours after I began to practice Falun Gong,” said Martins.

“I started to practice Falun Dafa in 2005. From the time I was little, I wondered how to discern right from wrong. Now I have found my answer,” Martins said.

Martins talked about why he had come to the Chinese consulate to protest: “As a practitioner who benefits from the practice, it is my responsibility to let everyone know about the Chinese Communist regime’s lies and its brutal persecution of Falun Gong. I know in my heart that this persecution will end soon because it is absolutely baseless.”

85-year-old Ms. Ding Has Protested in Front of Chinese Consulate for the Past 11 Years

Ms. Ding looks energetic and cheerful. She said, “I learned Falun Dafa in 1995. Six months into the practice, the cervical stenosis that had prevented me from walking for years was healed. Since then I have been very well.”

For the past 11 years, Ms. Ding has gone to the Chinese Consulate every day during the week to clarify the facts of the persecution to passersby.

Ms. Zhang Yijie used to work in the central government agency in China. After the persecution of Falun Gong started, she was taken to a forced labor camp and endured dozens of different tortures. She did not give up her practice because she did not think that she was wrong.

Mr. Zhang Qiulei from Ireland protested because he had many friends who were imprisoned or died because of the persecution. “My music teacher, Ms. Wu Juying, was tortured in Dabei Prison for ten years and was relentlessly tortured. Li Ying was my classmate’s mother. She died because of torture. My Chinese teacher, Xing Guiqin, was imprisoned in the notorious Masanjia Forced Labor Camp for 18 months. If more people can know the truth about the persecution, and if everyone who knows the truth can say 'NO' to the Chinese communist regime, then the persecution will have to stop.”

Mr. Zhang used to have severe migraines: “No words can describe that kind of excruciating pain. Even light or sound made me feel nauseated.” He also coughed a lot for many years. After he became a practitioner, his problems were gone before he even noticed. Also he became very easygoing and sincere.

The Power in Unity

Dwiiback is a software engineer from India

Andrea is a young journalist from the US; Terese is from Norway; and Jose, Sriran, Abhishek, and Dwiiback are software engineers from India. They were very proud to participate in the event. They had one wish: Stop the persecution of Falun Gong and expose the Chinese communist regime’s lies about Falun Gong so that the world will have a bright future.