March 6, 2002

By Nicole Talley

"I ran. When they caught me, they beat me down and stomped on my head, telling the people passing by, 'This is what happens to Falun Gong practitioners.'"

Jared Pearman

Four Orlando men, including two UCF students and one alumnus, arrived back in Central Florida Feb. 17 after being expelled from China.

Court Pearman, a recent UCF graduate, Cory Lee, a doctoral student, Jared Pearman, a business major and Chris Jasurek returned three days after their participation in a peaceful demonstration.

The four joined other practitioners of Falun Gong Feb. 14 in Tiananmen Square to protest the Chinese government's ban on the group. About 40 protesters from America, Germany, Canada, England, Finland, Belgium, Switzerland, Sweden, Poland and France came to lend support.

Along with others, the four Orlando men were arrested, detained and questioned by Chinese police following the protest.

The Orlando Sentinel reported that Chinese authorities issued a statement saying they had treated the protesters well. "They were reprimanded and admonished according to law but were treated humanely," the New China News Agency reported.

After previously endorsing Falun Gong, the Chinese government banned its practice in 1999 [...]. Practitioners say the government banned the ancient qigong exercise when its followers began to outnumber [the] party members.

The Falun Dafa information center reports that 370 Chinese practitioners are confirmed dead as a result of police torture and brutality. The center states it suspects thousands more have died unreported.

Falun Gong gained popularity after its 1992 introduction by Li Hongzhi.

In an essay responding to the Chinese government's [persecution], Hongzhi wrote: "Falun Gong is simply a popular qigong activity. It does not have any particular organization, let alone any political objectives. We have never been involved in any anti-government activities. I am just teaching people how to practice cultivation."

President Bush has called the persecution of Falun Gong in China "unworthy of all that China has been and unworthy of all that China should become."

Articles written about China and the ban on Falun Gong have appeared in the Orlando Sentinel, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, The Wall Street Journal and the Associated Press.

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