DPA: Falun Gong Protests Mar Jiang Visit to Germany

Apr 11, 2002

DRESDEN, Germany, -- (dpa) Protests by the banned Falun Gong movement continued to mar Chinese President Jiang Zemin's state visit to Germany Thursday which resumed in the eastern city of Dresden.

Human rights activists and members of Falun Gong - which is forbidden in China - have staged a series of demonstrations marking Jiang's presence in Germany.

Despite a huge police presence in Dresden a Falun Gong backer who joined a cheering pro-Jiang rally suddenly broke out of the crowd and approached Jiang shouting the group's name.

Officers restrained the woman and forced her away from the Chinese leader. Falun Gong members in Berlin were even more inventive: They rented rooms in the Hotel Adlon were Jiang was staying in order to directly confront him.

While Jiang was passing through the hotel lobby on Tuesday one of the group's members shouted: "Stop your crazy persecution otherwise you'll go to hell," reported Berlin's Tagesspiegel newspaper.

A Chinese security guard wrestled the woman to the ground and covered her mouth, the paper said.

German officials swiftly ejected a group of suspected Falun Gong backers from their rooms and forced them to leave the hotel. A group of Americans staying at the hotel lodged a protest with the United States embassy in Berlin over this treatment of the Falun Gong, said the Tagesspiegel.

But apparently not all Falun Gong members were thrown out of hotel because on Wednesday the Chinese leader was confronted with a banner in the breakfast room with the words: "The Falun Gong is good."

A furious Jiang complained about the incidents to German President Johannes Rau, said the report.

China banned the Falun Gong movement in 1999. Falun Gong members say the group, known for its slow-motion exercises, is aimed at moral living and spiritual health. About 200 Falun Gong members took part in a protest over Jiang's visit in Berlin on Monday. [...] http://www.europeaninternet.com/china/news.php3?id=1784963§ion=default