PHILADELPHIA, Pa.—Several dozen Falun Gong practitioners from the Greater Philadelphia area held a rally in Philadelphia’s Chinatown on July 15 to call for an end to the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) 24-year persecution of Falun Gong, a meditation practice in the Buddhist tradition that is centered on the tenets of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance.
People from different backgrounds came to speak up against the persecution, including those who had been tortured in China.
Lichun Shen had been illegally imprisoned by the CCP for a total of nearly 11 years, just because she practices Falun Gong in China.
Lichun Shen (right) shared her personal story at the Philadelphia Chinatown rally on July 15, 2023. She had been illegally imprisoned for a total of nearly 11 years in China because of practicing Falun Gong. (William Huang/The Epoch Times)
“From 1999 to 2017, I was kidnapped 9 times because of my faith. All of this was because I believed in truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance, and I wanted to be a good person,” Ms. Shen spoke at the rally….