Aug. 18, 2006

LIMA -- Gesturing and speaking through an interpreter, a 73-year-old Chinese woman known as Auntie Xu describes the beatings she took for practicing a traditional Chinese self-improvement exercise.

Annie Chen, 10, of Troy, holds up a sign at the Lima Municipal Center Thursday supporting Falun Gong practitioners in China. (Lima News photo by STEPHANIE J. SMITH)

"I was sent to another place, a jail, and was beaten up really severely and interrogated," said Auntie Xu, now of Detroit. She would not give her full name out of fear for family still in China.

The woman was among a dozen to come to Lima on Thursday afternoon in hopes of receiving help for Falun Gong practitioners, who are beaten and killed for their beliefs and so their organs can be taken. The group gathered with banners in front of the Lima Municipal Center.

Falun Gong (also called Falun Dafa) is an ancient Chinese meditation practice promoting the moral principals of truthfulness, compassion and tolerance. It was re-introduced in China in 1992, and then banned by the Communist government in 1999.

There are two groups spending the week traveling the state. The group that came to Lima was in Toledo and Findlay on Thursday and is heading to the eastern part of the state today. Members are from Ohio, Michigan and Canada.

"I feel it is my obligation and duty to reveal what is going on in China," said University of Findlay Professor Corey Lee, who coordinated the tour. A native of Taiwan, he has been in the U.S. for nine years.

Lee said thousands of Falun Gong practitioners have been arrested and sent to prison camps, where it has been confirmed that almost 3,000 have been killed. It was discovered in March that the government was killing practitioners to harvest their organs. This has happened to an estimated 5,000 to 6,000 people. Lee said the number of organ transplants in China have increased dramatically since 2000.

Lee hopes the group's travels around the state will help raise awareness of what is happening in China. He encourages people to let their elected officials know what is happening there.

"Compared to Canada, the United States has been kind of quiet," he said. "We wonder if the Congressmen are not aware of what is going on. ... We hope the Bush administration can form an investigation committee to go to China to do an in-depth, comprehensive investigation."

http://www.limanews.com/story.php?IDnum=28629