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AKASHIC BOOKS ANNOUNCES PUBLICATION OF THE FIRST INSIDER BOOK ON ONE OF THE WORLD'S MOST PRESSING HUMAN RIGHTS EMERGENCIES: CHINA'S CRACKDOWN ON THE FALUN GONG NON-VIOLENT SPIRITUAL PRACTICE

Sept. 7, 2000



Award-Winning Investigative Reporter Danny Schechter's Report and Reader, "Falun Gong's Challenge to China: Spirtitual Practice or Evil Cult?" To Be Published This Month:

For more information and an excerpt, visit the Akashic Books site: http://www.akashicbooks.com/falungong.html

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ABOUT THE BOOK

Hundreds of practitioners of a meditation- and exercise-based spiritual movement were rounded up in mid-July as they non-violently marked the first anniversary of a Chinese government crackdown that has led, according to human rights groups, to more than 24 deaths, 50,000 arrests, pervasive torture, and the burning of as many as 7.8 million books written by the controversial founder of Falun Gong, Li Hongzhi.

Tiananmen Square, in the heart of Beijing, where protesters demanded their rights in 1989, is once again the scene of a dramatic challenge that has perplexed the world.

Why is this happening? What is Falun Gong and how has it attracted an estimated 70-100 million practitioners? Why has the Chinese government declared it an "evil cult" and sought to "smash it", unsuccessfully so far, despite the involvement of thousands of police and government officials. What is it that China's leaders fear? What role has been played by the Internet in this crisis? What is the real story behind the story?

This timely non-fiction book presents the inside story of China's crackdown on Falun Gong. Based on the last interview given by Li Hongzhi before he went underground, as well as information supplied by scores of practitioners and various independent third-party sources, human rights journalist Danny Schechter describes the rise of an enigmatic and sometimes mystical movement that has captured the imagination and loyalty of millions of members of the Communist Party itself.

"Falun Gong's Challenge to China" relates these recent developments in the context of the current crisis in China, providing an informative look at a dramatic, under reported and unfolding story. In China, Falun Gong's point of view has been banned. Now it can be heard.

Schechter's report is followed by an extensive reader offering documents on all sides of the controversy including government studies, propaganda reports, and Li Hongzhi's own writings. Schechter's careful monitoring of the situation cites experts, studies, human rights activists, intelligence reports, and original research to make sense of a story that has only been told episodically, and with little depth. He documents and details what has happened and why.

"This is a fascinating story that challenges all of us, Americans and Chinese alike," says Schechter. "Horrible abuses against people who have committed no crimes have occurred with little condemnation, because money, not morality, defines US policy towards China."