| Impact of Global Rescue on Mainland China Shenli Lin As part of clarifying the truth to all countries and regions, Dafa disciples outside of China have been appealing to all governments and people to rescue practitioners being persecuted in Mainland China. This has greatly encouraged practitioners and the general population in Mainland China. It has also sent a stern warning to the police and their accomplices who have undertaken the task of persecuting Dafa practitioners. On July 22, 2001, a malicious policeman rushed to the labor camp where I was incarcerated and informed me that my sentence had been extended for another six months. The assistant chief of police of the labor camp tried to bribe me by telling me that as soon as I wrote a letter of repentance, I could leave the labor camp. Without that, I would never get out. When Jinyu learned of my illegally extended sentence, she spread the news. Right away, another rescue campaign started in Canada. Dafa practitioners did everything to inform the general public to win support for my release. Mr. Irwin Cotler, Member of Parliament, personally met with the Chinese Ambassador to demand my release. At a news conference on Parliament Hill, Mr. Scott Reid, Member of Parliament, Mr. Alex Neve, Secretary General of Amnesty International in Canada, as well as internationally renowned human rights lawyer, Mr. Cotler, openly criticized the Chinese government for persecuting Falun Gong. They also called on the Foreign Affairs Department of Canada to ask the Chinese Government to release me. Additionally, both Mr. Reid and Mr. Cotler joined Jinyu in her hunger strike in front of the Chinese Embassy. Also, there were three large-scale signature-collecting campaigns in Canada organized by Amnesty International. These activities shocked all levels of the Chinese government, including the police stations and the labor camps. The police were very afraid that I might not be able to endure the extended sentence, so they asked me not to participate in forced labor. They went out of their way to find three people to accompany me and asked them to teach me how to play poker. They told me, “This is the decision of the police department. It has nothing to do with us. We are part of the justice system. We only take charge of the inmates. We would rather have people of your kind leave here. What benefit are you to us here? You also affect other people.” Once, the police brought us a watermelon. The situation just kept getting better. I found that the police were very cautious with me. Regardless of what they did, either talking to me or doing whatever else, they became very gentle. There was a policeman in charge of recreation. He told me, “Whenever you feel like it, you can take my place.” The head of the inmates dared not be mean to me either, to such a point that when he blamed other Falun Gong practitioners for things that he did wrong and I pointed out that it was his fault, he did not dare to bully me. I was released on afternoon of January 23, 2002. Usually, when someone is released, they would search his or her luggage. But the assistant chief of police avoided doing this, because he did not want to offend me. So he made up an excuse, and had another policeman do the checking. This policeman smiled at me and talked to me while checking my stuff. He was extremely careful when he did the checking. He did not even ruffle my clothes. He only touched my stuff to finish checking. Ordinarily, they would make a complete list when they do the check. As soon as I arrived in Canada, the Xinhua News Agency published an article titled “Humanitarian Compassion.” In this article they said that they “gave me more blankets in the winter when it was cold.” As a matter of fact, that was true. It was my last winter in the labor camp. That was precisely at the height of the campaign by Dafa practitioners of Canada, all members of society, Amnesty International, the media, Members of Parliament and other levels of Canadian government. At that time, I had two blankets under me and two on top when I slept. That was almost impossible in the past. I remember the first winter in the labor camp. It was really freezing during that period. The labor camp is located in the north. Even the police said that it often was very windy. I was often awakened by the sound of frozen electric lines blown by the wind in the middle of the night. At that time, many people, including all three inmates that lived with me, put on more clothes and more blankets, but I had nothing except a thin sheet and one blanket on my bed. My hands and feet were cold all the time. Later, the criminal sleeping beside me felt so badly that he offered to share his blanket with me. Only then was I able to make it through that winter. The environment at that time was both severe and evil. They treated people like cattle. Even the criminals would yell at you whenever they felt like it. The drastically different treatment that I received later in the same labor camp was closely related to the rescue efforts of the practitioners overseas. Because of the persistent efforts of practitioners outside of China, more people, including the governments, realized the truth and so they started to call for an end to the persecution and the release of Dafa practitioners. That made the rescue efforts much more powerful and lent them much more influence. This is the most effective means of support and encouragement to the practitioners in China. Many Dafa disciples learned of worldwide Dafa activities through many different of channels, including TV, radio and the Internet, including the slanderous propaganda by the Chinese Government. Of course, the Jiang regime always tried to slander Dafa, but what we saw was completely the opposite of what they wanted us to believe. I saw images in the Chinese Central Television’s “Focus Slandering” program of a Dafa parade in North America, the group practice outside of the Olympic Stadium in Australia, as well as the protest in Geneva. All these really motivated us and we were greatly inspired by these events. We saw through these the enormous strength of Dafa in the world. To a practitioner whose sources of information were completely blocked, being able to see the spreading of Dafa in the world is equivalent to seeing the Fa rectifying the whole universe. Whether it was due to our understanding of Dafa or the severe environment, we all knew what to do. Many practitioners that were cheated and stopped practicing Dafa came back to practice Dafa and started to clarify truth to people through our efforts and the efforts of overseas practitioners. So, those things were really galvanizing. I know that Dafa activities outside of China have a great impact on practitioners in China, especially the success of our rescue efforts. It can do even more to validate the Fa. Since this is not only a matter of saving a few people, it also demonstrated the power of Dafa and showed people that truth and justice are invincible. Consequently, we were always very inspired by such reports. All practitioners and those people that do not yet practice Dafa, became very encouraged by such news. In fact, even the evil, rogue government sensed this. For a long time after this exposure, they stopped showing news slandering Falun Gong. This has helped curb and suffocate the evil. During my last days in the labor camp, there were more Dafa practitioners arrested and confined in the same cell with me. One of them told me, “You are really famous, even Jiang Zemin knows about you.” He gave me a thumb’s up as he was saying this. I saw that he was really glad about this, as if it were he being rescued. He felt a part of the rescue effort. When he saw that I did not believe it, he added that the world outside was trying to rescue me. I became tearful on hearing this. It was Master that was protecting me! I felt the bliss of the Buddha’s light, and a feeling of peacefulness came over me. While steadfastly safeguarding Dafa, I was not lonely. Actually, it did not matter whether I was rescued or not. The collective efforts of Dafa disciples made me feel indomitable. Some misled or cheated practitioners were worried that I wouldn’t be able to leave China even if I were released. Even the practitioner that told me about the rescue efforts was a bit worried. But before I left China, I sent news to the labor camp of my going to Canada. Also, my brother is still in the labor camp. They will certainly be greatly encouraged by this, and they will see hope for the future from this event. One of my relatives was illegally incarcerated in a detention center and subsequently placed under 24-hour surveillance after her release. In the face of incessant police harassment, she was very depressed. Upon hearing the news of my release due to the rescue campaign oversees, she was greatly encouraged. She saw the extraordinary power of Dafa and was much moved by the persistent rescue efforts of oversees practitioners. She told me over the phone, “The police are very cruel to me. I feel a great danger here. But do not worry about this. If necessary, I will validate Dafa with my life.” Just before January 23, 2002, in order to be able to go to the labor camp to pick me up, my sister phoned the policeman that sentenced me to forced labor and said, “Shenli Lin is being released from the labor camp. Are you going to go pick him up?” He said, “I am not going. Shenli Lin has nothing to do with me now.” My sister then said, “Shenli Lin was supposed to come back on July 23. Because you sentenced him to another six months, his return was delayed. Why does that have nothing to do with you?” The policeman said nothing for a long time. My sister continued saying that if he would not go, then she would. The policeman said, “Sure, you go.” I heard this story from my sister after I got home. I felt really strange, because this policeman was very evil. He dared to beat me in front of other policemen. He dared to torture me to get a confession. In order to trace the source of the appeal letter for collecting signatures, he beat me from the police station to the detention center. In ordinary people’s words, he is a licensed scoundrel. He talked as if he were afraid of nothing in the world. Why had he become so timid and afraid? I found out the answer after coming to Canada. It was because during the process of my rescue, many disciples phoned the police station to talk to him. The purpose was to make him release Shenli Lin immediately. Initially, he dared to answer the phone and talk. Later, he became afraid and dared not answer the phone. Finally, he asked others to answer the phone for him. When others answered for him, they said that he went on a vacation, and that nobody knew when he would be back. Why did this happen? It was because he committed wrongdoings. When faced with righteous voices from all over the world, he could not take it. Since the evil that controlled him was afraid, each of the phone calls from our practitioners was like shooting out swords. They were always eliminating the evil that controlled him. When there was not as much evil controlling him, his conscious self realized that he had done wrong. A ruthless evil policeman that had always been persecuting Dafa practitioners, when faced with the mighty force of Fa-rectification, became rather modest and disciplined. This was just unthinkable in the past. It can be seen that the whole process of clarifying the truth and rescuing family members is a process of validating Dafa. This evil policeman changed so much in such a short period of time. This is the power of Fa-rectification. After I came home from the labor camp, I talked with many Dafa practitioners. They were all very encouraged by my release. They also realized that it was as Master said, “The next person’s things are your things, and your things1 are his things.” ( From Teaching the Fa at the Washington, D.C. Fa Conference) At this last stage of Fa-rectification, the rescue efforts have been gradually coordinately into a global campaign. More Dafa disciples have been rescued from China. It has produced a greater impact on the two opposite sides in China. Of particular importance is the fact that the Canadian government has successfully rescued a Dafa disciple from a third country. It has established a standard for all democratic countries in the world to protect the virtuous and maintain justice. It also produced immeasurable impact on Mainland China’s politics. To achieve the success in the rescue campaign, in addition Master’s rectifying the whole cosmos with the mighty power of Dafa, the coordination among Dafa disciples is also of great importance. It is still very important to coordinate efforts among all countries, all regions and all groups to steadily increase our success in the future. Master said: “Looking at the overall situation of the Fa-rectification, all of these things that Dafa disciples are doing to rectify the Fa, to save sentient beings, and to clarify the truth are in their final stage.” (From Teaching the Fa at the Washington, D.C. Fa Conference) The work of rescuing disciples is a part of the whole process of Fa-rectification. We are currently focused upon relatives of people residing outside of Mainland China. This is only a part of the whole rescue operation. Our ultimate goal is to rescue all practitioners that are being persecuted. All relatives of Dafa disciples should be a part of the whole rescue campaign. It is just like telling the truth to all governments and Members of Parliament of all countries. I believe this is what we need to focus on now. Of course in the evil environment in China, this work is relatively difficult. But I think that we are not doing ordinary people’s work. We are Dafa dizi practicing cultivation. We are saving sentient beings. Master said, “The Fa can break all attachments, the Fa can destroy all evil, the Fa can shatter all lies, and the Fa can strengthen righteous thoughts.” (From Drive Out Interference) Master also said, “To reduce the losses, and to save sentient beings, put your Dafa disciples’ powerful righteous thoughts to full use! Show your Mighty Virtue!” (From Righteous Thoughts) Let us take the Fa as the guidance from Master, strive hard to cultivate, eliminate the evil and save sentient beings. _________________________________________ 1 The Chinese word translated here as “things” is very broad, and it can also mean “issue,” “business,” “problem,” “task,” “affair,” “difficulty,” and so on. |