Summary of the speech by Erping Zhang, Falun Gong spokesman.
Rome, 19 July 2002.

“After three years of continuous persecution by the Chinese regime, the number of practising members of the Falun Gong movement continues to increase because the fundamental rights and the freedom of conscience, expression and association are firmly rooted in the conscience of the Chinese people. The Falun Gong movement is the symbol of the struggle for this freedom.
China is a source of international terrorism: it signed an agreement with the Talebans before 11 September; it funds and supports North Korea; it continues to supply dictatorial regimes with weapons of mass destruction.
The Chinese dictatorship may seem to be very strong, but its foundations are weak. This is why it wants to silence every critical voice. The Transnational Radical Party can now launch a campaign for the freedom of conscience, expression and association, a struggle for freedom in China.
For the first time in the history of China this struggle has become nonviolent. I believe that the Transnational Radical Party is a creative, pioneering party which can create an international coalition for the nonviolent struggle for democracy and freedom. We need a leader, and I think that the Radical Party, with its tradition of nonviolent struggle for democracy and freedom in Italy and Europe, can be the leader of a movement to make freedom in China a tangible reality.”