From Tiananmen Square to Heritage Square -- a spiritual group traveled to Waco Thursday to announce plans to demonstrate during Chinese leader Jiang Zemin's upcoming visit to Central Texas.
About 20 practitioners of Falun Gong gathered in front of the Waco City Hall to announce they would be in Crawford during Jiang's Oct. 25 meeting with President Bush. The group has reportedly been the subject of repression by Chinese police since the government began a crackdown in 1999.
Human rights organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have routinely condemned the Chinese government's actions. According to Falun Gong records, at least 400 practitioners have died in police custody and tens of thousands have been arrested. In its 2002 annual report, Amnesty International documented the deaths of at least 200 members in 2001.
Dakun Sun, a Dallas resident who led Tuesday's press conference, said the [Jiang regime] labeled the group a [Jiang's slanderous word] and used that as a pretext to repress members. Dakun said members eschew religious definitions for the group, instead saying they practice a series of exercises designed to improve the body and mind. Their guiding principles are truth, compassion and forbearance.
Dakun said he hopes the upcoming demonstration will draw the attention of both Bush and the international media.
"We will be asking President Bush to bring up the issue during his meeting with Jiang," he said. "We are hoping he will put pressure on Jiang to release all those detained in China. This is the beginning of a national family rescue campaign in the U.S. There are so many here who have family members being held and tortured by the Chinese government."
Danielle Wang, a civil engineering student at the University of Texas at Austin, said she knows the pain of having a family member arrested by Chinese police. Wang's father was imprisoned in 1999 for practicing Falun Gong. [Editor's note: he was sentenced for 16 years in prison.] For months she had no word about her father's condition, until she saw a satellite broadcast of his trial.
"He seemed so much older," she said. "His hair had turned gray. He looked like he had been beaten up. His face was swollen. We found out later he had been tortured in jail. I cannot imagine how much he suffered.
"I've tried to get the U.S. government involved in his case, but nothing has happened so far. I believe if we can get the word out, if everybody in the world can learn about what's going on, the Chinese will free my dad and others like him."