[Sweden] Dagens Nyheter: Falun Gong Threatens China's Dream of Olympic Games (Excerpt)

The leading morning newspaper in Sweden, "Dagens Nyheter", ran a short article, but with important issues, in the tuesday edition with the headline reading: "Falun Gong Threatens China's Dream of Olympic Games". It covers the following issues:

* The present visit from foreign delegates in Beijing to evaluate Beijing's apply for the Olympic Games in 2008, and how the hosts does everything possible to control Falun Gong practitioners during this visit.

* How the negative publicity abroad regarding the Chinese government's "merciless campaign" against Falun Gong threatens the chances for China to get the Olympic Games : "The risk is obvious that China's way of handling human rights once again can overturn Beijing's chances of being approved". The article contains a statement from the mayor of Beijing who clearly expresses that they are against human rights being the reason for denial of their application.

* The writer also mentions the recent self immolation incidents: "The circumstances surrounding the incidents have raised suspicions that they were staged by the authorities to hurt the movement". The article refers to how foreign journalists have found information which indicates that the woman who died from the self immolation on Tiananmen square was a bar hostess who had never been near Falun Gong. The article also mentions the most resent self immolation incident (a shoe polisher from Hunan) and how that persons suicide letter contained phrases which were "unfamiliar to Falun Gong".

* Lastly it mentions that because of the problems with human rights, the President of the United States, George W Bush, will "feel obligated to support a proposal for a resolution against China when the United Nations Commission on Human rights assembles in March."