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Police foil cult motive at Games
The Daily Post (Fiji), July 3, 2003
http://www.fijilive.com/
Thursday July 03, 2003
Sidebar: About the Falun Dafa followers in China
Police have foiled an alleged religious cult attempt at the South Pacific Games in Suva.
But those involved said that they are evangelists of the group.
Nancy Chen, Yan Liang and Ruowei Yang are in the country to introduce the faith of Falun Dafa.
Falun Gong, (pronounced fah-luhn goong), literally means “the Practice of the Wheel of the Dharma.” Falun Gong refers to five sets of exercises, done to Chinese music and involving lotus postures and hand movements. Falun Dafa is the spiritual movement that practices Falun Gong. Increasingly, the movement itself is being called Falun Gong.
Police Games spokesman Mesake Koroi said their investigation was to determine the truth and otherwise of the allegations bearing in mind the all-important issue of national security.
This caused police to beef up security at the Games venues after the three women managed to enter as spectators and distribute pamphlets to young people at the Games.
Mr Koroi said police were investigating the women since they had entered the country from Australia last Friday.
Mr Koroi said police action followed after a section of the Chinese community living in Suva had filed a complaint.
A Chinese official last night said that the women were of a “dangerous group that could cause mass deaths.”
The spokesman claimed the group had been involved in large unexplained deaths.
Ms Yan Liang alleged the Chinese Embassy in Suva were the cause of the investigations as her sister has been imprisoned because she was a follower of the faith.
Ms Liang claimed her sister is unable to walk properly as a result of the torture while imprisoned.
“We understand that the Chinese Embassy officials here wrote a letter of complaint to CID officials alleging we are cults … this is not true and we believe the Chinese Government has been applying pressure on the Fiji Government defaming us and saying we are dangerous and our intentions are bad,” she claimed.
Mr Koroi said the organisation was outlawed by the government of China towards the end of the last century following complaints that some members of the organisation were involved in mass suicides.
“As a result of the complaint, detectives moved into the hotel where the women stayed and seized several cartons of printed and reading materials, banners and phamplets about Falun Dafa,” he said.
“At the same time the three women were taken in for questioning on Friday night and again on Saturday morning.”
“Allegations were made that these women were distributing pamphlets with the view to establishing a branch of the religious cult in Fiji,” he said.
“Our investigations also took into account whether the women had breached conditions of the visitors visa granted to them by actively and publicly campaigning for their faith”.
About the Falun Dafa followers in China
The Daily Post (Fiji), July 3, 2003
http://www.fijilive.com/
Thursday July 03, 2003
About 10,000 Falun Dafa members engaged in a peaceful gathering outside the Communist Party headquarters in Beijing on 1999-APR-25. On 1999-MAY-9, three students were fired from a university in Dalian City, China for practicing Falun Gong. One student was expelled. In subsequent months, practitioners were harassed in various areas of the country, as they were performing group exercises. Some practitioners were told that their phones were being monitored and that if they continued, their retirement pensions would be terminated. Police and other officials started to break into practitioner’s homes and confiscate Falun Gong material. Some followers have been arrested and have disappeared from sight. 12 Thousands of members demonstrated peacefully in about 30 Chinese cities.
The group was outlawed on 1999-JUL-22. The government accused it of “spreading fallacies, hoodwinking people, inciting and creating disturbances and jeopardizing social stability.” 9 On JUL-23, Master LI called on “all governments, international organizations, and people of goodwill worldwide to extend their support and assistance to us in order to resolve the current crisis in China.” 11 On JUL-29, Chinese authorities issued an arrest warrant for Master Li. According to the official Xinhua News Agency, the Ministry of Public Security in Beijing said sect founder Li Hongzhi “spread superstition and malicious fallacies to deceive people, resulting in the deaths of many practitioners.” He is also accused of organizing demonstrations without first applying for permits. 16
In an apparent violation of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which China recently signed, the government has arrested hundreds of Falun Gong practitioners and is proceeding with show trials. Some have been sent directly to labor camps without trials. A spokesperson for the Falun Gong Practitioners in North America has stated that: “lawyers in China have already been told not to defend these innocent civilians unless they agree with the government propaganda. Also, no legal representation on behalf of them from the concerned international community is allowed to be present at the trial.”
The U.S. House and Senate unanimously passed resolutions on 1999-NOV-18 and 19 which criticized the Chinese government for its crackdown of the Falun Gong. “Both resolutions urge the Chinese government to honor the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that it has signed, to stop arresting, detaining and persecuting Falun Gong practitioners, to release all detained dissidents, and to respect the basic human rights such as freedom of belief and freedom of speech.” 13 Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Sun Yuxi commented that Falun Gong is not a religious organization. It is not simply a Qugong group. He sees it as a destructive cult that harms Chinese society and its people. He regards the resolutions as a gross infringement of China’s internal affairs.
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