She was supposed to be married more than a year ago but before Yeong-Ching Foo could get married to Charles Li, a doctor she met near San Francisco in 2001, he flew home to China.

When Li's plane landed at Guangzhou Airport, Chinese police were waiting to arrest him.

That was one year and four months ago.

Foo said the Chinese government detained her fiancé because he followed Falun Gong, a meditation and physical movement practice.

Li remains in Chinese custody charged with intent to sabotage television and cable systems.¹

Foo said Li was beaten, tortured and forced into a labor camp before he was charged with a crime.

"They find you guilty first," said Steve Ispas, another protester.

Foo gathered with other Falun Gong practitioners Wednesday on the Capitol's west side. The group plans to visit 21 cities before stopping in Chicago.

The Chinese government cracked down on the practice of Falun Gong in 1999.

"They wanted to control it, but they really wanted people to stop practicing it," Ispas said.

The Falun Gong movement started in 1992, and it is estimated that millions of Chinese are practitioners.

[...]²

As part of their Lincoln demonstration, the group showed three types of torture that the group says the Chinese government has used on Falun Gong practitioners.

The demonstrators believe that 429 Falun Gong practitioners have died from mistreatment or torture at the hands of the government [note: the number of deaths is at least 960 at present].

Former President Jiang Zemin is facing 16 lawsuits filed in several countries by Falun Gong, the protesters said.

At least one of the suits alleging torture, genocide and crimes against humanity was dismissed by a U.S. District Court judge, who cited Jiang's diplomatic immunity.

That case has been appealed. A hearing has been scheduled for May 27 in the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago.

Falun Gong practitioners plan to gather there before the hearing begins.

The Lincoln demonstrators plan to be among them.

Reach Chris Aponick at 473-7120 or caponick.com.

1 Refers to Charles Li's intent to tap into the TV network to broadcast the facts about Falun Gong and the persecution. Factual information about Falun Gong is not accessible to the Chinese people due to a government censorship policy and strict blockade of any news via TV, radio, or the Internet on topics that do not follow Jiang Zemin's persecution policies.

2 Misleading and fabricated comments from the Chinese counselor have been removed.

http://www.journalstar.com/articles/2004/05/20/local/10049783.txt