Monday, September 1, 2003

They say it is an injustice half-way across the world that brought them to Eastern N.C. Monday afternoon, friends and supporters of U.S. citizen Dr. Charles Li hit the streets of Greenville. They say Li is in a Chinese prison for his role in the Falun Gong controversy. They say Falun Gong is a practice, similar to yoga, preaching truthfulness, compassion and forbearance.

Several lawsuits allege former Chinese leader, Jiang Zemin was responsible for the torture and genocide of scores of Falun Gong practitioners.

Supporters say Li went there to expose the genocide, and ended up in prison. Now they are on the City Hall steps in Greenville, hoping to collect thousands of signatures to pressure the U.S. government to do more to help. "He's in a Chinese prison, he's been sentenced to 3 years in prison, the American consulate in China has told us he's been beaten, he's been tortured, and he's been forced-fed," said supporter Al Whitted. Supporters have made stops like this across the nation, and plan to take the signatures to the state department in Washington, DC on Sept. 13th.