(Minghui.org) The Chinese Consulate in Frankfurt, Germany opened on May 23, 2005. That same day, Falun Gong practitioners started to clarify the truth and protest the persecution. As a one-person gathering does not need to apply for a permit, usually there is one practitioner distributing materials while others do the exercises and protest the persecution of Falun Gong in front of the Consulate. Beginning on April 2, 2010, local practitioners applied for a permit so that they could hold activities protesting the persecution every Friday morning in front of the Consulate. On August 2, 2011, the Chinese Consulate moved to a new location, so Falun Gong practitioners moved their peaceful protest to the new Consulate site.

Falun Gong practitioners protest the persecution in front of the Chinese Consulate in Frankfurt

There is a cherry tree near the sidewalk opposite the former Chinese Consulate. Its branches blossom with layer upon layer of pink-petaled flowers each Spring. Under the cherry tree, along with the compassionate and peaceful music, several practitioners did the exercises, and one distributed informational materials outside the gate of the Consulate. This cherry tree, which has blossomed several times, has witnessed the compassion of Falun Dafa disciples bearing nameless miseries, and calling for justice and conscience.

Like spring rain "wetting things in silence,” the goodness of Falun Dafa is soaking into hearts of the people who have been blinded by the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) lies. Slowly, the Chinese people here from China have changed their attitudes about Falun Gong, and fewer and fewer are hostile. As they have recognized the evil nature of the CCP, many have declared their desire to quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations. Also, some Chinese people who came to the Consulate to pick up visas, ready to leave for China, put a copy of the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party in their suitcases for their friends and relatives in China, to persuade them to quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations. One group of overseas students said, "We have all learned the truth and we support you. Come on! Come on! Falun Gong! “Some people also showed their concern, saying, "You are all so bold. Aren’t you afraid? Be careful!" And some people wanted to learn Falun Gong, and found the practice site that same evening.

One day, 30 to 40 Chinese tourists were stunned to see practitioners doing the exercises, and Falun Gong banners opposite the road as soon as they got off a tourist bus that had parked before the Consulate. Some of them were pleasantly surprised, some scared, some confused and puzzled, and some individuals used abusive language. Although the guides did not allow them to accept materials, many people took photos with their cameras and cell phones.

It was snowing hard the winter before last, and practitioners stood on the snow doing the exercises, protesting the persecution as usual. A Uygur woman from Xinjiang, China, entered the Chinese Consulate with her kids. Having handled their affairs, the woman came out, and upon seeing the practitioners still standing there doing the exercises, she immediately returned to the Consulate and said to the staff, "Will you please go and persuade the Falun Gong people to go home. I came here early in the morning and saw them. It has already been several hours, and they are still standing there, motionless. They might get frostbite. Please, please do what they ask.” Not raising their heads the Consulate staff answered her coldly, "They can do this as they like, they can stand there as long as they like!" She left the Consulate and saw the practitioner who was distributing materials. On the verge of tears, she said to the practitioner, "Those people there (in the Consulate) have no humanity!" The practitioners expressed their gratitude to her. Thinking about the CCP’s long-term persecution of the ethnic minorities in Xinjiang, she understood and immediately announced that she wanted to quit one of the CCP’s affiliated organizations which she was forced to join when she was young. With Falun Gong truth-clarification materials and a copy of the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party in hand, she reluctantly said goodbye to the practitioners.

The practitioner (on the left) is at the Chinese Consulate every day to distribute truth clarification materials.

What the practitioner in the photo above has been doing has allowed so many people to learn the facts about Falun Gong, including those that work in the area, those that come to the Chinese Consulate to obtain passport visas, and German passersby. They have all expressed their support, sympathy, and encouragement, and wished Falun Gong success.

Some German people working for travel agencies or visa agencies often come to the Consulate to handle visa affairs for travelers to China. Over the years they have become familiar with Falun Gong practitioners. Having read truth clarification materials disclosing how the CCP harvests organs from living Falun Gong practitioners in China, one lady asked a practitioner if she had a petition form, because she wanted to sign it to protest the evil offense. The practitioner told her that she would bring the petition form next time she came. Upon seeing the practitioner again, the lady immediately signed the petition and told her colleagues, who also signed. Just then, a man working for another travel agency came out of the Consulate in a hurry. The lady stopped him and asked him to sign the petition. Having signed it, the man walked away. When she saw that the man hadn’t left his address, the lady ran after him and grabbed him, telling him that he must leave his address. She said she would do what she could to help Falun Gong bring this miserable and inhuman persecution to an end.

An elderly German lady living nearby asked the practitioner for a few truth-clarification materials in Chinese, saying that her son could speak Chinese and works in China. Her son-in-law is Chinese and works for Chinese Centre TV Station. She said she would take the materials with her when she went to China to see them.

Seeing the practitioner distributing materials outside the gate, the Chinese Consulate-hired German security guard would often come and interfere, telling the practitioner to stay away. He told the practitioner that he had to do it, that it was his “boss,” the Chinese Consulate, who wanted him to drive them away. The practitioner asked him to call police, so he did. The police informed him that activities such as protests and doing the exercises were permitted. Honestly and kindly, the practitioners clarified the truth to the security guard. He calmed down and became peaceful instead of his original darting fierce looks of hate. After work, he immediately asked for truth-clarification materials. In a month or two, a new security guard came to replace him. After learning that Falun Dafa was good, one would go away and another new security guard would come to listen to the truth.

The cherry tree was also a witness. "When doing one’s duty becomes a sin, there is something more important than duty with which to comply, and that is our human conscience." Evildoers who have aided King Zhou in his tyrannical rule will ultimately pay a price.

On January 6, 2009, in order to prevent the Shen Yun Performing Arts from performing in Frankfurt, Li Haiyan, the former Chinese Consul General in Frankfurt, wrote a formal letter to the Office of the Premier in Hesse state, Germany, slandering Shen Yun Performing Arts with tactics commonly used by the CCP. In addition, he delivered a note to all diplomatic representative offices in Frankfurt, in an attempt to prevent people from going to see the performance. The results were just the opposite of their intent. Instead of stopping Shen Yun, more people learned the facts and went to see the show. The letter was later made public by a German human rights organization and has become evidence that the CCP carries out illegal activities overseas by misusing diplomatic privilege.

In September 2009, Li Haiyan, the Consul General, suddenly left his post for home, and even a routine farewell conference was not held. He then completely disappeared from public view. His departure was completely contrary to diplomatic protocol. A few months later the truth came out. He had disappeared secretly because he was suffering from brain cancer and the condition was getting worse, so he rushed back to Beijing to have an operation. On April 16, 2010, at 10:31 a.m., he died at the age of 52 in Beijing.

What Li Haiyan‘s colleagues in the diplomatic community did not understand was why he suddenly suffered from such a fatal disease, as he was only in his fifties, and very healthy.

It eventually came out that Consul General Li had originally been the Commercial Counsellor of the Consulate in Hamburg, and he did not belong in the Foreign Diplomatic Corps. While he was working in Hamburg, he had never approved Falun Gong practitioners whenever they applied for documents on behalf of their businesses. After returning to China from Hamburg, he was promoted to be the Consul General in Frankfurt. The speed of his promotion was surprisingly quick and very rare. It was said that he was very good at figuring out his boss's intentions. Regarding the Falun Gong issue, he followed Jiang Zemin, the culprit of the Falun Gong persecution, closely, which was why he was quickly promoted.

In Frankfurt, Li Haiya never changed his attitude towards Falun Gong practitioners, in addition to trying to thwart the Shen Yun performance. One Falun Gong practitioner’s passport expired. In accordance with the provisions of the Chinese Consulate in Frankfurt, the practitioner submitted the information required to get a new passport to the Consulate in March 2009. The Consulate notices say that passport renewals are ready within 15 working days. When the practitioner went the consulate to get his new passport, the Consulate refused to issue it, saying that his passport was not ready yet. As of today, the practitioner still has not obtained his renewed passport.

“The net of Heaven is loosely woven, but it lets nothing through.” Li Haiyan's death was hastened by his persecution of Falun Gong. With mercy, Falun Dafa disciples have awakened the consciences of the remaining staff in the Chinese Consulate, “Please take Li Haiyan as a warning. Cherish your own lives and do not follow him.” Dafa disciples' compassion and tolerance have slowly melted the ice in their hearts. When seeing them individually, some will respond to practitioners’ smiles and say hello in a friendly manner, and some officials’ family members have accepted truth-clarification materials and quit the CCP and is affiliated organizations.

Although the cherry tree does not speak, it has borne witness to Falun Dafa disciples’ Fa-rectification cultivation, “To save sentient being by clarifying the truth.”

After retiring, Eckbert started to practice Falun Gong and is a voluntary co-coordinator, taking care of the activities of clarifying the truth and counteracting the persecution in front of the Chinese Consulate.

He said, "We must work towards the day when the CCP persecution of Falun Gong is completely stopped!"