Thousands Gathered in Taiwan for Tradition Now Banned in Mainland China

Chinese Soldiers Make First Appearance Amid Hong Kong Protests, Clear Debris From Street

Chinese state media outlets have portrayed the ongoing protests as “riots,” and have repeatedly threatened that the PLA could be sent in to crush the movement. Late afternoon, locals were cleaning up bricks and barricades on a road near Hong Kong Baptist University in Kowloon Tong, when around 50 PLA soldiers from the nearby barrack arrived with buckets and brooms to clear the remaining debris, according to Hong Kong Free Press. A cameraperson, who accompanied the soldiers, filmed the exercise, the outlet reported. Chinese troops have appeared on Hong Kong streets only once since the 1997 handover to help clear up after a typhoon in 2018. Pro-democracy lawmakers have condemned the incident, saying the PLA troops’ actions could have violated the city’s laws restricting Chinese military involvement in Hong Kong. In a…

TAIPEI, Taiwan—A giant world map appeared at Taiwan’s Liberty Square in Taipei on Nov. 16 after three days of intensive labor and preparation.

The map and seven Chinese characters were assembled by about 6,500 adherents of the Buddha-school spiritual discipline Falun Gong, some of whom traveled to Taiwan to join in the spectacle.

Dressed in either blue, yellow, or white, they took up seats on color-coordinated mats that made up an outline of the image.

About 6,500 adherents do a meditative exercise together following a character formation in Taipei, Taiwan, on Nov. 16, 2019. (Gong An-ni/The Epoch Times)

Above the map were the words “truthfulness,” “compassion,” and “forbearance” in traditional Chinese characters. The words summarize the moral teachings of Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa. Above the characters were rays of yellow light.

Beneath the map were four other Chinese characters, which translate to mean, “The Great Law spreads vast and wide.” The short phrase is to point out how people from over 110 countries have taken up Falun Gong since it was first introduced to the public in China in 1992.

About 6,500 adherents of Falun Gong take part in a character formation in Taipei, Taiwan, on Nov. 16, 2019. (Chen Po-chou/The Epoch Times)

The character formation, which has become an annual tradition for Falun Gong adherents in Taiwan, has always drawn support from other countries. This year, about 1,150 adherents came from 18 countries and regions all over the world, including Canada, Israel, Germany, Argentina, the United States, Ukraine, Spain, Brazil, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, and Indonesia.

Over the last three days, hundreds of adherents manually placed the colored round mats in Liberty Square in preparation for the character formation.

About 6,500 adherents do a meditative exercise together following a character formation in Taipei, Taiwan, on Nov. 16, 2019. (Chen Po-chou/The Epoch Times)

Huang Chun-mei, event organizer and deputy chairman of the Taiwan Falun Dafa Association, explained that the annual character formation has been a very good for supporting persecuted Falun Gong adherents in China, as those in Taiwan share about the physical and spiritual benefits of Falun Gong, as well as the truth of the reason behind the persecution in China with passersby.

As for why the event was being held at Liberty Square, which is named for its role in the island’s transition from one-party rule to democracy, Huang explained that the public space draws a lot of international tourists, particularly those from mainland China.

She said that the large-scale character formation at this location has helped people understand the extent and crimes of the ongoing persecution suffered by adherents at the hands of the communist regime in China, in stark contrast to Falun Gong in Taiwan.

During the annual character formation, adherents gather to remember the freedoms enjoyed by the group in China before the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) began persecuting the practice in mainland China in 1999. Prior to the persecution, adherents in China would hold similar large-scale character formations. There were about 70 million to 100 million adherents in China, according to official estimates.

Falun Gong practitioners practice a meditation exercise in Beijing, China before the persecution began on July 20, 1999. (Minghui.org)

Then, former CCP leader Jiang Zemin, feeling threatened by the practice’s enormous popularity, ordered a nationwide persecution beginning on July 20, 1999. Since then, thousands have been thrown into prisons, brainwashing centers, and labor camps in an effort to force the adherents into give up the practice.

Mr. Liu, a Chinese tourist visiting Taiwan for the second time, told The Epoch Times that he admires Falun Gong adherents in China since they are able to uphold their faith in the face of the CCP’s persecution.

Liu added that some Chinese citizens hold biased views of Falun Gong adherents due to the CCP’s propaganda. He said that initially, he also did not believe reports about the CCP harvesting organs from prisoners of conscience—particularly adherents of Falun Gong.

He elaborated that he had filmed the character formation and will bring the video back to China to let other people see how popular the practice is outside the country.

Huang Tzu-ling, a Falun Gong adherent and first-year student at the Department of Radio, Television, and Film at Taiwan’s Shih Hsin University, told The Epoch Times that she has taken part in many character formation events over the year.

Huang said she always felt happy seeing members of the public take photos of the character formation and learn more about the practice beyond the CCP’s propaganda.

The Taiwan bureau of The Epoch Times contributed to the report.

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Kavanaugh Cites Litany of Friends as Source of Strength During ‘Ugly’ Confirmation Process

Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh says that he never felt alone during the tense confirmation battle last year, citing his faith and slew of friends as sources of strength during the process. On the cusp of being confirmed, Kavanaugh’s nomination was derailed by multiple women accusing him of sexually assaulting them while he was in high school or college. Several accusers later recanted their allegations and the others lacked corroboration. Kavanaugh was ultimately confirmed by a narrow vote in October 2018. In his first public speech since becoming a justice, Kavanaugh told a crowd at Union Station in Washington: “I never felt alone.” “I signed up for what I knew would be an ugly process—maybe not that ugly—but my friends did not,” he said on Thursday, reported USA Today. “And…