Monday, September 12, 2005

Supporters seek to raise awareness of persecution

Falun Gong supporters - one just 11 years old - spoke out Sunday against the Chinese government's mistreatment of practitioners at Big Spring International Park in Huntsville.

"I really wanted to go to my friend's house," said Ashley Wei, 11, of Memphis when asked why she was with the group. She paused for a moment, then added, "But I really think saving orphans is more important than playing."

"I'm lucky to have my daughter with me," said her father, Edward Wei. "If she were in China, she would be expelled from school."

According to Falun Gong supporters, more than 2,700 practitioners of the Tai Chi-like exercises and meditation may have died in China since the Communist Party started its persecution campaign in 1999.

Those who died often leave children behind, some of whom have also been persecuted, Falun Gong supporters say.

When Ashley was 6 years old, she was still in China, her father said. She was told Falun Gong "was not good" and ordered to denounce her parents, who are Falun Gong practitioners.

"How can you do that?" asked the computer engineer. "It's like brainwashing."

Fortunately, the Weis were able to move to the United States.

Several youths and their parents participated in the Rescue Falun Gong Orphans Van Tour, which began Saturday in Birmingham. The tour stopped here Sunday and was scheduled to end Sunday night in Nashville, according to Jason Wang, a Huntsville Falun Gong practitioner who helped organize the event.

Alabama A&M Professor Wade Yang of Huntsville has personal experience with the mistreatment of Falun Gong practitioners.

His mother, 68, was sent to a forced labor camp, but she continued to try to practice the exercises and meditation. Yang said his mother, as punishment, was forced to squat for 18 hours without a break.

After two years in the camp, Yang's mother was released. Four months ago, she was able to get a visa and is now in Canada, Yang said.

"If some practitioner doesn't cooperate, they get into this type of plight," he said.

Judy Li of Atlanta was filming the tour for New York-based New Tang Dynasty TV. She's been following the group for the past two days. The NTDTV "reports lots of these human rights issues," she said.

A little after 10 a.m. Sunday, a press conference began. The audience consisted of Li, a newspaper reporter and occasional passersby.

The youths spoke about Chinese mistreatment of children and their parents who practice Falun Gong. There were quotations from Anne Frank, who died in a Nazi concentration camp, and comparisons to the Holocaust.

Joe Johnson of Huntsville and several others walked by the dozen or so parents and children. They stopped to listen. Johnson hadn't heard of the Falun Gong before, but he was sympathetic.

"I think they need support," he said. "It's kind of sad this type of stuff is going on in this world."

http://www.al.com/news/huntsvilletimes/index.ssf?/base/news/1126516665168260.xml&coll=1