Mr. Speaker, Falun Gong practitioners promote the cultivation of mind and body and encompass the universal principles of truthfulness, compassion and forbearance. However, the Falun Gong are persecuted ruthlessly. In China, freedom of belief is non-existent, and the Falun Gong are subject to arbitrary arrest, torture, lack of medical attention and, most disturbing, live organ harvesting.
I am proud to serve as the chair of the Parliamentary Friends of Falun Gong, and as such I spoke at a rally on Parliament Hill on Wednesday that was attended by hundreds of Falun Gong observers. The Parliamentary Friends of Falun Gong call on the Chinese government to put an end to the ongoing persecution of the Falun Gong. Falun Gong are peaceful, law-abiding citizens, and there is no excuse for the human rights violations they have endured.
As the great civil rights leader Martin Luther King said 50 years ago, “Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable... Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals”. I am inspired by the passion, the sacrifice and the struggle exemplified by the practitioners of Falun Gong.