10:30 - 12 September 2002

Stefan Byfield is concerned. Just over two years ago the Gloucestershire photographer took up Falun Gong.

Looking for that 'something' which would help him understand the world a little better, the 38-year-old had a feeling that the Chinese art of gentle physical movement and meditation could do the trick.

However, events in China have cast a long shadow over those who practice Falun Gong, (or Falun Dafa).

On July 22 1999 the Chinese government outlawed the practice. Its phenomenal growth - the Falun Gong Society claim between 80 and 100 million practitioners worldwide - and a number of organized protests in its name so alarmed the ruling Communist Party in China it prompted a draconian crackdown.

In their defense Falun Gong followers in the country have claimed all along they were a peaceful law abiding group following a philosophy and regime of exercises which lead simply to spiritual enlightenment and improved health.

Which is exactly what attracted Mr Byfield to look deeper into the subject in the first place.

[...]

News to the ears of Stefan, who claims instead simple benefits from his two years of practice.

'I have managed to give up smoking cigarettes and drinking,' he said, [...].

Ivan Whittle, another county practitioner and the man who introduced Stefan to the art, said international pressure should be brought to bear on the Chinese Government to stop persecuting its people.

'I have spoken to some Chinese people here. They are frightened their relatives will be targeted in Hong Kong if the authorities know they are practicing Falun Gong here,' said Mr Whittle, who, at 64, has been practicing himself for nearly three years.

'It is not a religion, there is no cult, no sect, not a penny changes hands, which is one of the things that attracted me to it in the first place,' he said.

According to some the Chinese Government became concerned about the popularity of Falun Gong when the number of practitioners exceeded the number of people in its Communist Party.

Falun Gong supporters in China claim thousands of practitioners have been beaten up, detained or sent to psychiatric wards, labor camps and prison just for practicing.

[...]

Stefan said: 'Jaing Zemin is just trying to stigmatize it. The worry is some people will believe him. And if they believe him it might somehow legitimize some of the actions being taken against practitioners.

'Falun Gong has been accepted well in the West. There is no anarchy, they are not against anything. But if I decided to travel to Hong Kong or to China I might get stopped now.'

According to the American news station CNN in January three more practitioners were sentenced to six years imprisonment and 20 were arrested in Shandong.

So to summarize, one minute Stefan, who freelances for publications including the city-based Gloucestershire Today, is quietly going about his business practicing the five exercises of Falun Gong, which are related to the ancient Chinese art of qigong (pronounced 'chee-gong') [...]. The next minute he finds he has been practicing what could be the most dangerous form of meditation on the world, if the stories of torture, imprisonment and beatings are true.

Not that he's in danger of being persecuted in the same manner in Britain, his belief in the practice has given him an affinity with fellow practitioners in China.

His concern is not an effort to justify to the world the words contained within Zhuan Falun,[...] written by the founder Li Hongzhi and a best seller in China when it was published in 1996.

It is with raising the awareness of the plight of the beleaguered Falun Gong practitioners in China.

He is not alone. Amnesty International, the high profile charity which campaigns for human rights, is of a like mind. On one level at least.

Glyn Williams , a spokesman for the charity said: 'Falun Gong is a spiritual movement originating in the Peoples Republic of China, but with followers all over the world. It is described by its adherents as a spiritual practice of body, spirit and mind[...] 'The Falun Gong is one of several unofficial groups that have been banned by the Chinese authorities [...]. The crackdown on Falun Gong has been particularly harsh, probably because of its high popularity.

'Tens of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners have been arbitrarily detained in China since the spiritual movement was banned in July 1999 [...] Some have been charged with crimes and sentenced after unfair trials, while others have been sent to labor camps without trial. Many are reported to have been tortured in detention.

'Amnesty International takes no position on the legitimacy of Falun Gong as an organization or as a belief system. However, Amnesty International supports the right of Falun Gong [practitioners] to peacefully advocate their beliefs and to associate freely with each other in line with their fundamental human rights to freedom of expression and association.'


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