PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES

Hundreds of Falun Gong practitioners and followers gathered in Taipei last night to light candles and watch artistic performances to observe the third anniversary of the ban of the group in China.

Chinese President Jiang Zemin officially announced the ban of Falun Gong and all information about the group on July 20, 1999.

The group's worldwide branches held memorial activities simultaneously yesterday.

DPP Taipei City Mayoral candidate Lee Ying-yuan also participated in the ceremonies.

"We can't keep silent while Beijing oppresses Falun Gong, because the concept of human rights and freedom should be applied to every corner of the world," Lee said.

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He said yesterday that Taiwan had moved from darkness to brightness in terms of human rights. "In the past, we were a country which imported the concept of human rights, and from now on, we should export this concept to other countries," he said.

In addition, Vice President Annette Lu , in a videotape played in the ceremony, said that "religious freedom and human rights cannot be oppressed," adding that, "China cannot walk into the international community if it continues to oppress such groups."

Premier Yu Shyi-kun showed his support with a statement saying that religious freedom is a universal value, which should be a part of daily life.

Chang Ching-hsi, [spokesperson] of the group's Taiwan branch, said that since 1999, the latest record showed that 437 [practitioners] in China have been tortured to death, thousands have been forced to go to psychiatric hospitals and take mind-altering drugs, and hundreds of thousands have been deprived of job opportunities and had their property confiscated by Chinese authorities.

"Every day, torture and persecution takes place all around China. We call for efforts to save those who simply seek to abide by the moral principles of truthfulness, benevolence and forbearance," Chang said.

"Falun Gong is a practice that benefits human health. It has absolutely no political purpose, contrary to China's allegations."

The group's practitioners also recited poems, danced, sang and staged plays to protest China's oppression.

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http://www.taipeitimes.com/news/2002/07/21/story/0000149081