NEW YORK—On May 24, 2008, more than 2000 Falun Gong practitioners from around the world marched down Canal St. in Manhattan's Chinatown. Participants said they wanted to "display the beauty of Falun Gong", and "expose the evil nature of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)." One speaker likened the current Chinese regime to the Nazi regime. They were cheered by some onlookers, and jeered by others—the result, parade organizers said, of the Chinese regime's propaganda assault.
In the parade Falun Gong adherents held banners condemning the Chinese authorities for taking advantage of the Sichuan earthquake to incite hatred towards their practice. The recent violent mobs in Flushing, Queens, were found to have been orchestrated by the Chinese Consul General , as revealed in a recorded phone conversation.
The parade in Chinatown included the "Divine Land Marching Band"—a band composed of Falun Gong practitioners—several floats, and fliers about Falun Gong handed to the public. Some onlookers took photos and cheered the procession on, while others, thought by parade organizers to have been instigated by the Chinese Embassy, shouted abusive language.
Chu-Cheng Ming, a professor from the Department of Political Science of National Taiwan University and a Falun Gong practitioner, said he was honored to participate in the parade, but expressed his disappointment at some of the responses he received. "On my way here by subway, I wore clothing bearing the words, 'Falun Dafa is good.' Many Chinese people saw us and made negative comments. These people believe the CCP lies, thinking that Falun Gong 'does not love the country.'"
"The truth," he said, "is completely different." He thought there were similarities between the current rule of the Chinese Communist Party and that of the Nazi regime in the 1930s. "If somebody said the Nazis were bad at the time, nobody believed it. Today when I walked around, I saw exactly the same situation with the Chinese communists.
"The pro-communist citizens who criticize Falun Gong have not seen clearly that … Falun Gong practitioners follow the principles of truthfulness, compassion, forbearance. Those who are against Falun Gong have been overwhelmed by the heated nationalism that the CCP propagates. … Remember the lesson of the Nazis, see clearly that history repeats itself."
Lili, a Chinese artist who witnessed the attacks against Falun Gong in Flushing, came to Manhattan to show her support: "I didn't know much about Falun Gong, but when I saw the CCP violently attack Falun Gong in Flushing, I knew that the persecution it faces in China must be much worse." She applauded throughout the parade, and said she hoped other Chinese Americans can stand up to the regime in China.
Some Chinese condemned the persecution and signed to the tuidang campaign on the spot—the act of renouncing the CCP is called tuidang (退黨) in Mandarin. Mr. Ye, a restaurant worker, spoke out against the persecution and quit the Party as well as the Communist Youth troupe. He said he is a reader of the Chinese version of The Epoch Times.