According to Deseret News article on January 15, 2002, Falun Gong claimed that Gov. Mike Leavitt changed his original decision on proclaiming January 8, 2002 as Falun Gong Day in State of Utah after meeting with Yafei He, minister and deputy chief of mission at the Chinese Embassy, who openly said he would vent China's concerns about Falun Gong to Leavitt.

The article says, "The group has been banned in China since July 1999 , a date which, according to its members, coincided with its membership outpacing the number of registered Chinese in the ruling[party's name omitted] .

Since that time, Falun Gong members say, the government has undertaken a smear campaign against the movement both inside and outside China.

He's comments to Leavitt are part of that campaign, they say.

It isn't the first time a member of the Chinese Embassy or consulate has attempted to sway a U.S. leader about Falun Gong.

Stan Bogosian, the former mayor of Saratoga, Calif., told the Associated Press last year that a few days after he signed a proclamation declaring a week in honor of Falun Gong, two officials from the Chinese consulate urged him to rescind it.

When he refused, Bogosian said the Chinese asked him to remain "neutral" on the issue.

Salt Lake Mayor Rocky Anderson, who declared Jan. 22-28, 2001, Falun Gong week, also met with He.

Falun Gong, also called Falun Dafa, was a topic, and He expressed Olympic safety concerns, which Anderson forwarded to the police department.

It was Anderson's administration that granted the Falun Gong permission to protest during the Winter Games.

Members, who insist they are a peaceful group, say they will use that time to conduct their yoga-like spiritual movements and distribute literature about Chinese persecution.

They say thousands have died from torture at the government's hands."

Excerpted from the original article at http://www.deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,365007991,00.html ]

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Category: Persecution Outside China