Tribune de Genève: China and Falun Gong Confront Each Other at Geneva

Place des Nations

The peaceful demonstration made way for a lively press conference.

(Tribune de Gen ve, 20 March 2001)

One thousand Falun Gong practitioners gathered together yesterday morning at the Place des Nations. They practised their morning exercises opposite the UN. This spiritual practice on Geneva soil was used to protest the repression against the practitioners in the People's Republic of China. It was thus that Falun Gong was informed at the last moment by André Hediger that they could assemble - as well as this afternoon and tomorrow morning - at the Place des Nations. The activity is to take place alternately with that of their opponents, the representative committee of Chinese students.

On this Monday morning, the discipline of the Falun Gong members is faultless. A public order team, composed mainly of local Chinese, draws attention to respect for the pedestrian crossings. At the centre of the Place and on the surrounding areas of the Rigot land, 1,000 people have aligned themselves in ranks. They practise the exercises of the method to the rhythm of Chinese music which is animated by vocal instructions. Arms unfurl; bodies become as pliable as a reed in the breeze. Some have formed national groups. A strong Taiwanese team holds aloft its placard. Communication is in English or by hand signs. A Swede in mandarin costume lends his exercise mat to an elderly Parisian Chinese. There is an innocence in the air. But the gaze directed towards the United Nations remains serious. A wreath has been posed to face the Palais des Nations, "in memory of the 162 victims of the Chinese repression."

To explain the purpose of the demonstration, a press conference is taking place at the Vieux-Bois Restaurant on the avenue de la Paix. The President of the International Committee for the Human Rights of Falun Gong is the principal guest. Erping Zhang has a gentle manner but knows how to be firm. A Chinese man calling himself a journalist is barred from the meeting. The man argues his right to information. Four strong organizers deftly accompany him to the exit. Last year several employees of the People's Republic had disturbed the Falun Gong press conference, effectively preventing dialogue between speakers and western journalists. The next day, at the Chinese Embassy, members of Falun Gong had been excluded from the outset from the official discussion. This year the account is settled swiftly. The "troublemakers," assisted by "bodyguards," left while shouting insults.

"The Chinese Government continues its brutal repression initiated 19 months ago against the members of Falun Gong. As well as deaths through torture we have a count of 50,000 imprisoned practitioners", Erping Zhang explains. Victims and specialists witness to these facts before the gathering. They detail the abuses: "Falun Gong practitioners undergo humiliations, psychological torture and the electric baton", says Dr Sunny Lu of Cincinnati University. Supported in this struggle by Amnesty International, the movement has thrown itself into an awareness-raising campaign for the general public. Since last year Geneva has become the focal point for one of its peak activities. For the next three days practitioners will go to practise their exercises in small groups in the communes around Geneva. They will share the Place des Nations equally with the anti-Falun Gong. Yesterday afternoon the latter amounted to only several dozens.