July 16, 2009

Xiu Hua Wu demonstrates some of the movements associated with the practice of Falun Gong during a rally at the Liberty Pole on Wednesday afternoon.

About a dozen local people rallied at the Liberty Pole on Wednesday, the 10-year anniversary of when the Chinese government began persecuting people who practice Falun Gong.

Falun Gong, a Chinese spiritual practice that is Buddhist in nature, started in 1992 and quickly spread by word of mouth, said Weidong Huang, a local practitioner. Huang said that once tens of millions of people were practicing Falun Gong, the government felt threatened by its large influence and started arresting and physically abusing those who practiced.

During Wednesday's rally, three people shared their personal stories of being held in labor camps in China for a few years because they were practicing Falun Gong.

Dr. Shengyong Wu and his wife, Ling Feng, told a crowd of about 20 on-lookers about how the Chinese police broke into their home in China in 2001 and sentenced them to three years in intensive labor camps, where they were forced to work from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. and sometimes midnight.
"I often suffered because I protested the long work hours," Wu said.

Feng said she suffered similar consequences for not resenting [sic] her belief and practice of Falun Gong, which values truth, compassion and forbearance. The couple were able to leave China three years ago and now reside in Brighton and continue to practice Falun Gong.

Huang said that there are about a dozen active local practitioners that get together to practice, but they are not a structured organization so anyone can join them, he said.

After Wednesday's rally, some of the people in the group drove down to Washington, D.C., for a larger rally.

Source:http://rocnow.com/article/local-news/2009907160331