(Minghui.org) Marking the 25th anniversary of Falun Gong’s peaceful resistance to the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) persecution, Falun Gong practitioners in San Diego held activities in the park next to the USS Midway Museum on July 13, 2024, calling for an end to the CCP’s atrocities. 

Group exercises on the occasion of the commemoration of 25 years of peaceful resistance to the persecution of Falun Gong.

Jennie and Leandra who were visiting from North California were fascinated by the Falun Gong exercises and wanted to learn them. After trying them out, Jennie said, “Only a few minutes of mediation has given me a peaceful and tranquil feeling. I felt happiness too. I could tell energy was flowing through my body. To be honest, I tried not to cry, because I was deeply touched, and happiness came from the bottom of my heart.” She said she would like to learn more when she gets back home, because she truly felt the energy and happiness of practicing Falun Gong.

Leandra added that they had been discussing universal values and how to live a more fulfilled life. “When we saw the [Falun Gong activity], the information turned out to be similar to our discussion. We could feel energy throughout our bodies after trying [the exercises] just a little while. We certainly want to learn more about it and try to do the exercises at home, because we definitely felt the energy.”

A practitioner teaches the Falun Gong exercises.

A woman named Florence told a practitioner that she was from a Chinese-Indonesian family, and her friends had personally experienced the CCP’s persecution of Christians. This was the first time she had heard about the persecution of Falun Gong. “The persecution is so wrong!” she said. “People should experience freedom of belief. [Falun Gong is] so peaceful. I’ll pray for Falun Gong.” 

Elsa, a local resident, said after hearing a practitioner’s introduction to Falun Gong, “It’s a cultivation practice which gives people more clear thinking and deeper viewpoints, but people in China live under a government that wants to control their thoughts, because it’s an atheistic government. They don’t want people to have any spiritual belief. It’s wrong and against human rights. It’s evil!”

Passersby sign a petition calling for an end to the CCP’s atrocity of organ harvesting.

Sona Baghdasaryan, a local violinist and conductor, praised practitioners’ exercises and the art exhibition about Falun Gong. She said she liked Falun Gong and would find out more about it.

Yuqing, a Falun Gong practitioner who has recently come to the US from China, attended the anniversary activity overseas for the first time. She said, “After I sat down for the candlelight vigil, the music brought me back to July 20, which was 25 years ago.” Yuqing explained that she and her fellow practitioners had tried to go to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong, but were intercepted by the local police. “Many Dafa practitioners have lost their lives under the persecution. Some were killed for their organs. I can’t help breaking out in tears when thinking of them,” she said.

A candlelight vigil in San Diego mourns Falun Gong practitioners who have lost their lives in the ongoing persecution perpetrated by the CCP regime.