Mercury News: Bay Area Falun Gong Holds a Peaceful Appeal

Accompanied by the low hum of meditation music, a tranquil sea of about 135 protesters silently practiced Falun Gong exercises in front of China's consulate in San Francisco on Saturday to demonstrate the beneficial effects of the teaching outlawed in China. Liping Yang, a strategic business analyst at Fairchild Semiconductor, said he organized the march to encourage "the Chinese government to not follow the orders of President Jiang Zemin to persecute the Falun Gong practitioners." The gathering was a response to recent reports that the Chinese government, which considers Falun Gong dangerous and a threat to its political stability, has intensified its crackdown on the movement. The Hong Kong-based Information Center of Human Rights and Democracy reported that police have detained 600 Falun Gong members. Three practitioners died in detention last month, raising the toll of such deaths to at least 52 since the government launched its campaign in July 1999 to suppress the movement, according to the center. Hong Kong media also reported that 10,000 followers were expected to converge in Beijing for today's celebration of National Day, the anniversary of the Communist Party's takeover in 1949. In San Francisco, Falun Gong adherents began their peaceful appeal at 11 a.m., when followers from throughout the Bay Area marched along Geary Street from Union Square to the consulate near Japantown. Organizers called it a "parade," but there was little fanfare. The marchers wore yellow T-shirts and carried banners that touted the Falun Gong principles of truthfulness, benevolence and forbearance. But they chanted no battle cries. They sang no inspirational songs. And, unlike most protesters, they didn't appear angry. Instead, the practitioners -- filling up the bus lane for an entire city block and spilling over into the intersection -- strode the two miles sedately and with minimal chit-chat. But they did thank passing pedestrians and motorists for taking fliers denouncing the Chinese government's brutality against Falun Gong members. The consulate could not be reached for comment. Falun Gong, which has millions of followers worldwide, does not have a political agenda, its adherents said. Rather, it promotes mental, physical and spiritual health through a program of exercises, meditation, Buddhist and Taoist philosophy and the teachings of founder Li Hongzhi, who came to the United States two years ago.