Click on this link to watch the VIDEO -
http://ntdtv.org/en/news/world/north-america/2012-07-12/interview-with-us-congressman-at-falun-gong-rally-in-dc.html#video_section
Congressman Christopher Smith of New Jersey speaks at a rally at Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. to call for an end to the persecution of Falun Gong in China.
(http://youtu.be/ALONGEuax4o)
[Ben Hedges, NTD Reporter]
“Well, I’m here with Congressman Chris Smith. He’s been an avid supporter of this rally over the past few years. Congressman Smith, why is it so important for you to support this kind of event?”
[US Congressman Chris Smith]
“Well, I think this kind of overwhelming show of support by Falun Gong practitioners, and those in Congress and men and women of different faiths, we’re all in solidarity of aspirations for the people in China to be free, and the people of Falun Gong to practice and engage in their spiritual exercise as they see fit.
These are universally recognized human rights and I think the persistence of coming here for this big rally, right in front of the Capitol, and all the other meetings that occur throughout the year just keeps that pressure on. [It] keeps the pressure on our government, the U.S. government, to do all within its power to bring about freedom and democracy in China. To raise individual cases of people who have been maltreated by the dictatorship in Beijing, but it also gets back to the people in China that have hope.
It is a matter when, and not if, China matriculates from dictatorship to democracy. I remember when people thought there’s no way the Soviet Union would ever become free; there’s no way [that] East Germany, for example, or Romania will ever have democracy. Well, the wall came down in Berlin and these dictatorships are not forever. They do not maintain themselves in perpetuity as long as there is serious and sustained pressure.
Falun Gong has done so much to bring the message of hope to people using the internet, using other means, to get that message out. Brilliant means to destroy the Chinese firewall, which seeks to propagandize internally [to] people about what’s going on inside and around China. What Falun Gong does is just tell the truth and let people make up their own minds.
[Ben Hedges, NTD Reporter]
Now there has been a lot political upheaval in China over the past few months with key officials who participated in the persecution actually getting removed. With these changes in light, what do you think could be the future for Falun Gong in China?
[US Congressman Chris Smith]
Well, the future will be to live in freedom, to practice one’s belief as you see fit and I think that’s what governments are supposed to do. Respect fundamental human rights, lay down bright lines in the sand that people have rights.
It’s not about the government, it’s about the people. One of the nice things about our founding document was that it said that the government, in all that we do, is of, by, and for the people. It’s not for us, it’s not for Congressmen or Presidents, it’s for the people. We’re servants and we hopefully are public servants that lead. Nevertheless, serving at the pleasure of the people. If they don’t like us, vote us out.
No such, currently, option exists in China but that day will come and there will be robust elections, men and women will compete for high office, lower office, [and] mayors. That’s when that competition will lead to greater economic situation to the people of China. Freedom is like oxygen when it comes to doing great things in the economy and everywhere else.
[Ben Hedges, NTD Reporter]
Thanks very much for talking to us today Congressman Smith.
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Why Jiang Zemin and CCP Persecute Falun Gong?
[VIDEO] Why Jiang Zemin and CCP Persecute Falun Gong?
