Huntsville Times: Readers Rite Religion once called a strength now outlawed by government

11/04/00

While attending the History Forum 2000 lectures about China and the West at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, one could notice three young Chinese, wearing bright yellow T-shirts with red Chinese characters, standing near the entrance door to distribute flyers about Falun Gong.

The Chinese characters on their shirts read "Falun Gong" in front and "Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance" on the back. While chatting with them, I learned they were students of Vanderbilt and the University of Alabama at Birmingham. I also learned that one of the students' mothers has been in detention for over a year, arrested while practicing Falun Gong at a park near Beijing, China. As of this day no one was allowed to visit her.

As I see it, Falun Gong is described as a "cultivation practice" and represents a combination of religious ideas with slow-motion exercise. It provides high moral standards and virtues for individuals to act well in society.

It was first introduced in China in 1992 by Li Hong Zhi. In the early days of 1992 and 1993, the Falun Gong was warmly supported by Chinese authorities for significantly improving people's health as well as upgrading their spiritual and ethical beliefs. The Chinese government even honored Mr. Li with the title of "Qigong Master most acclaimed by the masses."

However, by 1999, with 70 million Chinese followers in addition to members worldwide in over 40 countries, the Chinese communist leaders became increasingly uneasy and nervous. So they declared the Falun Gong a [] and "a threat to stability."

They ordered the Falun Gong to be outlawed and banned in China. The Chinese government issued an arrest warrant and an extradition request for its founder, Li Hong Zhi, who now is hiding somewhere in the United States for fear of his life. Tens of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners and sympathizers have been harassed, arrested, and beaten.

Thousands were sent to labor camps without trial. Many lost their lives after being brutally tortured. The world community led by Amnesty International, the United Nations, Canada, and the United States has condemned China's inhumane behavior, but so far to no avail.

Hopefully China's communist leaders would weigh heavily the outcry and criticism of the international community and immediately seek a peaceful resolution toward the Falun Gong.

http://www.al.com/news/huntsville/Nov2000/4-e15345.html