Chinese advocates seek local backing drive for freedom [of belief]

Three Rahway workers of Chinese descent asked the City Council Nov. 7 to support their campaign against persecution in China.

They are concerned about the persecution of practitioners of Falun Gong by Chinese authorities, said Jane Xu, an employee at Merck & Co. pharmaceutical firm. Falun Gong is a peaceful spiritual practice that originated in ancient China, involving putting the mind, body and spirit at peace, she said.

Xu described the practices of the Chinese police as crimes against humanity, similar to how the Taliban in Afghanistan are said to treat their own citizens. State terrorism is not acceptable, she said.

According to a flier on the religion they presented to the governing body, the practice was introduced to the public in May 1992 by Li Hongzhi. It has spread around the world to over 40 countries. More than 100 million people around the world have been drawn to become healthier people though Falun Gong.

There are many Falun Gong practitioners persecuted in China, she said, with approximately 260 dead from torture and beatings. Over 20,000 sent to labor camps without trial with more than 1,000 forced into mental hospitals for torture and abuse. More than 500 sentenced for up to 18 years without due legal process.

Apparently, the number of Falun Gong practitioners simply grew too large for the communist government in China, according to Xu. The teachings go against the doctrine of communist ideology.

Roger Thomas Reyes, who runs Tiger Martial Arts in Rahway, said Falun Gong involves a series of stances, including folding the legs quickly [sitting meditation]. Doing that helps with concentration and makes it easier to communicate with other people, he added. Religious persecution is widespread in the large Asian country. Reyes said Christians and anyone caught with a Bible are also arrested, tortured and killed by police.

"People have to know what's going on overseas, that they're killing people," Reyes said. "I don't think it's right for anybody to kill anybody for holding a Bible or a Falun Gong book."

Reyes wants people to be made aware of the suffering that is going on in China, so that something will be done about it.

Xiujuan Jia, also an employee at Merck, asked the council to pass a resolution condemning the Chinese government for their treatment of those who practice Falun Gong.

Jia, who has lived in Edison since 1999, said many local residents there got to know about the practice and love it. Other area residents in Jersey City, Newark and Westfield developed an interest as well. Many towns have exercise classes based on Falun Gong practices, according to Jia.

"Since 1999, the Chinese president, Jiang Zemin launched a brutal suppression of the practice," Jia said. "That's not fair."

The persecution of those who follow a peaceful practice does not make any sense, she added. The persecution is escalating, and more people are getting killed. Jia spoke of a practitioner who was beaten and thrown out of a window to her death.

Even though she does not live in China, Jia believes she had an obligation to tell about the mistreatment of people in that country. By asking municipal and county governments and state representatives in New Jersey to help by passing a resolution denouncing the persecution, perhaps this abuse can be fought, she added.

Copies of the resolution can be sent to the Chinese consulate in New York, the Chinese embassy in Washington, D.C., and to officials in China.

Governing bodies in Edison, Woodbridge and other municipalities have passed similar resolutions condemning the brutal repression of the Chinese government. Copies of the Woodbridge resolution were forwarded to U.S. congressman Robert Menendez and other federal and state officials, according to Jia.

City merchant Jim Pekarofski, who has spent time in Asian countries, said meditation brings scope to the heart and spirit and is better than high blood pressure pills.