FALUN DAFA INFORMATION CENTER -- Contact: GailáRachlin 212-501-8080, Erping Zhang 646-533-6147, Adam Montanaro 917-405-4507, or Feng Yuan 646-523-5676. Email: faluninfoctr@nycmail.com, website: http://www.faluninfo.net
FROM THE EDITORS: Falun Gong Condemns the Terrorist Actions that Harm Humanity
NEW YORK, Sept. 11, 2001 (Falun Dafa Information Center) -- [Regarding the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, DC -- excerpted] ... We are against all acts of violence and hate. We also express our outrage and condemnation towards this kind of evil terrorist activity that does such harm to humanity. We deeply regret and mourn the innocent lives that were harmed in this disaster, and extend our heartfelt condolences to their families and friends, particularly those who reside in the state or city of New York, and Washington, D.C. The world needs peace and living beings need sincerity, kindness, and tolerance. Best wishes to the United States and the people of America that we will quickly recover from the shadow of disaster.
-- Falun Dafa Information Center
FALUN GONG FOUNDER NOMINATED FOR SAKHAROV PRIZE FOR FREEDOM OF THOUGHT
NEW YORK, Sept. 15, 2001 (FDI)- Mr. Li Hongzhi, the founder of the Falun Gong spiritual practice, has been nominated for the European Parliament''s Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, an Associated Press release said. This prize will be given out in Strasbourg on December 12th. This nomination takes its place among several other awards and nominations for Mr. Li Hongzhi in the past two years. These awards include the Religious Freedom Award from Freedom House (Spring 2001), two consecutive nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize (2000 and 2001), as well as proclamations and honors from major cities around the US. These honors point to the growing global recognition of not only the teachings of Falun Gong, but of how its practitioners are employing Falun Gong''s principles during difficult times. Falun Gong practitioners, numbering in the millions worldwide, have embraced nonviolent and peaceful means in their appeals against injustice......
CHINESE CONSULATE OFFICIALS ENFORCE PERSECUTION POLICY ON U.S. SOIL
Newsday, Sept. 6, 2001 -- ... The Chinese government's relentless drive to beat down the popular meditation movement echoes, faint but chilling, in New York. Government officials have appeared at "seminars" in Manhattan ... In one session, the consul-general told his audience that immigrants who have not become U.S. citizens were expected to obey Chinese laws, which ban Falun Gong. Further poisoning the atmosphere for local Falun Gong practitioners, powerful organizations in Chinatown -- which had expressed no concern about Falun Gong before the government crack.down started in July 1999 -- began holding countermarches against the group, their charges echoing the government's virulent accusations. Even small details have not escaped the government's hawklike attention: The New York consulate contacted a councilman in Queens when he issued a routine proclamation praising Falun Gong. It is a highly unusual attempt by a foreign government to tackle a spiritual movement within U.S. borders -- complementing a campaign inside China that the State Department and human rights monitors say includes widespread brainwashing and torture. "It just shows how desperate, in my experience, the PRC [People's Republic of China] really is," said Gail Rachlin, Manhattan-based spokeswoman for Falun Gong...
City Councilman Sheldon Leffler, a Queens Democrat, said he recalled issuing a proclamation on behalf of the council in support of Falun Gong practitioners on a Thursday. On Saturday, he went to his district office and found a two-page letter with a book and a videotape from the New York Chinese Consulate. "It was basically saying they were disappointed I had presented such a proclamation," he said. Leffler didn't consider it threatening, but added, "When you get something from [party name omitted]party in China saying you shouldn't have done this ... it's a bit of pressure." But because of China's importance in international trade, officials in some U.S. cities, including Seattle, have rescinded proclamations. More than a dozen mayors have reported pressure from Chinese officials who often mention the importance of China-U.S. trade, the Associated Press reported. In a speech in New York, Consul-General Zhang Hongxi even suggested that China's ban on Falun Gong was binding on Chinese immigrants living here if they have not yet become U.S. citizens......
THREE PRACTITIONERS RETURN TO FRANCE AFTER DETENTION BY CHINESE
Sept. 12 (South China Morning Post) -- Three French-based Chinese members of the Falun Gong movement detained by mainland authorities have returned to France following their release, AFP reported. The three, a couple and their teenage daughter, were seized in a security raid on August 7 while visiting relatives in Inner Mongolia. Jian Chi, 46, a researcher at Pierre Mendes University in Grenoble, his wife, Fenglong Sun and their daughter, Yifan Chi, 15, were greeted at Lyon airport by about 20 friends and supporters.
CHINA THREATENS ANY OLYMPIC PROTESTERS ON TIANANMEN SQUARE
BEIJING, Sept. 3 (Washington Times) -- The "spidermen" of Beijing were poised to net their first villain: Should a dissident disturb the World University Games that wound up over the weekend, police in the Chinese capital were ready with a trick from the hooded hero's comic book. Rather than chase Falun Gong disciples and other protesters across Tiananmen Square, the officers were ready to entrap any miscreants with newly issued "net guns" that could fire sturdy 10-foot-wide mesh nets. The new toys were not needed in the end because the expected dissidents failed to appear. But human-rights activists have promised an invasion for the 2008 Summer Games that could make dissident-netting an unofficial Olympic sport......
TAIWAN PRACTITIONERS BEGIN PROTEST WALK AGAINST PERSECUTION IN CHINA
TAIPEI, Sept. 11 (Agence France Presse) -- A group of 20 Falun Gong followers Tuesday embarked on a two-week walk in support of fellow practitioners being suppressed in China. Some 400 Falun Gong followers rallied behind the walkers outside the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in downtown Taipei, where photos showing Chinese suppression of the [group] were also on display. The protest group wore white T-shirts bearing Chinese characters reading "SOS emergency rescue of Falun Gong members in China."The purpose of the activity is to highlight our belief that people should not live amid sentiments of terror and bloodshed," a spokesman for the organizers told AFP... [Editors' note: similar walks have also begun in Europe, Australia, and North America. The longest one is a 3,000 mile walk from Washington, D.C. to Los Angeles].
FALUN GONG ASKS BUSH FOR HELP IN RELEASE OF TORTURE VICTIM
Sept. 8 (Washington Times) -- American Falun Gong practitioners are calling on the Bush administration to help secure the release of a 38-year-old U.S. member who has been held captive in Beijing since May 2000. Chunyan Teng, a medical doctor base in New York, was sentenced to a three-year term for passing evidence of psychiatric abuses of Falun Gong members to foreign journalists. Erping Zhang, president of Falun Gong International Committee For Human Rights is leading efforts to prod the Bush administration to help free Dr. Teng. However, the Chinese Embassy in Washington has denied that Dr. Teng was ever arrested. According to Mr. Zhang, she was picked up by Chinese police at the Beijing International Airport and is believed to be the only American Falun Gong member who is currently held in China......
China: Anhui Province seizes half million copies of illegal publications
BEIJING, Sept 11. (BBC) -- Text of column by reporter Wang Zhengzhong: "Anhui attains initial results in rectifying illegal publications market" by official Chinese news agency Xinhua (New China News Agency) Hefei, 11 September: Anhui's news and publication departments have made earnest efforts to rectify order on the publications market, conducting secret visits and on-site investigations at the same time, and thus far seizing half a million copies (pages) of illegal publications of all descriptions, including... more than 15,000 copies (pages) of "Falun Gong" publications, and 400,000 copies of feudal and superstitious publications, aside from banning nearly 200 unlicensed mobile publications businesses. This has facilitated healthy and orderly development of Anhui's publication sector......
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT THE FALUN DAFA INFORMATION CENTER -- Contacts: GailáRachlin 212-501-8080, Erping Zhang 646-533-6147, Adam Montanaro 917-405-4507, or Feng Yuan 646-523-5676. Email: faluninfoctr@nycmail.com, website: http://www.faluninfo.net