October 28, 2001

Falun Gong is a practice that has had its share of controversy, and followers will explain their plight Monday in Albany.

Li Hongzhi founded and introduced his beliefs [...] across the nation in 1992. Practitioners of Falun Gong say Hongzhi's philosophy teaches people how to live their lives with sincerity, kindness, and peace.

His theory also teaches how to obtain a wellbeing of the body, mind and sprit. The practice includes a regular performance of meditation and exercises. His beliefs are orchestrated throughout North America, Asia, Europe and Australia.

Falun Gong practitioners say they inject truthfulness, compassion and tolerance into their daily living. [...] And so, practitioners across the nation are doing a global walk to raise awareness about what they say is a following of "truth and compassion." Shirley (Xuyuan) Wu, spokesperson for the global rescue walk, explains that people will walk 750 miles, from Ottawa, Ontario, to the United Nations in New York City. Thereafter, they will urge the Chinese regime to end state-sanctioned terrorism and release innocent and illegally imprisoned practitioners of Falun Gong. The walkers will stop at Albany's City Hall Monday at 11:30 a.m. Afterwards, they will have a press conference to bring awareness to the public about their U.N. destination.

Wu adds, "The [party's name omitted] feels threatened by Hongzhi's 100 million followers. But we only practice peace and serenity of the mind and soul."

[...] Wu explains that since the ban, citizens have been arrested at their homes and have been detained in prison for months for continuing to practice.

Wu says, "My mother, Lingwen Zeng, who still lives in China, is a retired university professor and practices Falun Gong. She was taken from her home and was detained in prison for three months. It is things like this that we are doing the global rescue walk. We want to bring awareness to the practice and what is happening to the citizens in China."

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