September 25, 2001

Three of seven Falun Gong supporters demonstrate their exercises Monday. The group passed through Ventura County on their walk to San Francisco protesting China's Falun Gong crackdown.

Ming Jing Xue is walking from Los Angeles to San Francisco to remind the world that following the teachings of Falun Gong should not be a crime in China.

The 52-year-old native of Dalian, a city in China's Liaoning Province, is marching 20 miles a day to remind Americans that thousands of Chinese who practice Falun Gong are being tortured.

She is one of seven Falun Gong supporters making the trek.

"There are thousands and thousands of people who want to practice their beliefs," she said. "I want the kindness of Americans to help us stop this persecution in China."

Falun Gong is a type of traditional Chinese exercise that promotes truthfulness, compassion and forbearance, supporters say. It does not have any political agenda.

The group was in Thousand Oaks on Monday morning to hold a one-hour demonstration in front of the Thousand Oaks Civic Plaza. They held posters and wore yellow T-shirts saying "Falun Gong" in English and Chinese, along with the three principles of Falun Gong.

Ming was detained twice for a total of 104 days for practicing Falun Gong.

Falun Gong supporters blame Chinese President Jiang Zemin for triggering a crackdown on Falun Gong observers in July 1999.

The Chinese government considers the group an [Jiang Zemin government's slanderous term omitted]. On June 10, a law was passed that made passing out information about the Falun Gong a crime punishable by death.

Since then, more than 100,000 practitioners have been arrested, according to data collected by Falun Gong supporters. Chinese officials have also sent 20,000 to labor camps and 1,000 have been sent to mental institutions. At least 278 have died.

One prisoner is Dr. Chunyan Teng, 38, who runs [a clinic] in New York. She was recently sentenced to three years in prison for allegedly passing information to a newspaper reporter about the treatment of Falun Gong supporters.

The peaceful march began Friday outside the Chinese consulate in downtown Los Angeles and is to end Oct. 18 at the Chinese consulate office in San Francisco, said Hang Zhou, 26, of San Mateo.

"We hope people will get involved," he said. "People have to know the truth."

The group will hold another press conference today at 10:30 a.m. at Plaza Park in Ventura, in the 600 block of Thompson Boulevard.

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