February 17, 2002

When Chinese authorities arrested 53 foreign Falun Gong protesters on Valentine's Day, it brought back memories for Leeshai Lemish.

Last November, the 23-year-old Pomona College student, along with 35 other Westerners, was grabbed and detained by Chinese police literally seconds after beginning a meditation protest at Beijing's Tiananmen Square.

The demonstrators were attempting to draw global attention to their claims that thousands, if not tens of thousands of Chinese, have been arrested, tortured and killed for practicing the government-banned meditation.

Falun Gong, which its followers say is neither a religion nor a sect, is based on movement-based meditation - not unlike Tai Chi - and a philosophy espousing truth, compassion and forbearance.

"You try to be a good person in everything you do," Lemish said.

[...]

But Lemish maintains the Chinese simply fear the practice's huge popularity with a following that numbers more than the country's [...] Party.

"They deem it as a threat," Lemish said.

The Chinese government has begun a crackdown on Falun Gong practitioners in which even Westerners have become targets, he said.

During more than 20 hours of detention and interrogation, Lemish said, he and his fellow protestors were beaten.

"One French woman was sexually assaulted," he said.

The treatment of native Chinese practitioners has been far more vicious, Lemish said. "The government has built concentration camps. People have been tortured and beaten to death."

Falun Gong followers in the United States have mounted protests against the Chinese government's policies.

Lemish took part in a sit-in at the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco last August. He's traveled to Sacramento and Washington to speak with governmental leaders.

Lemish and other Falun Gong practitioners staged a peaceful vigil at the Salt Lake Olympics, during which the mayor of Beijing was served with a civil lawsuit alleging torture and crimes against humanity.

Lemish said the Western world needs to be made aware of Chinese oppression.

"They are attacking people who are simply trying to be good," he said.

http://www.dailybulletin.com/news/articles/ProtesterrelivesarrestsinCh.asp