By Tsai Ting-I and William Ide

UNHAPPY ANNIVERSARY: Members of the group gathered in Taipei and elsewhere two years after China began its suppression, while Beijing put five followers on trial

More than 1,000 members of Falun Gong gathered yesterday evening at Taipei's Ta-An Forest Park in memory of those who they claim have been killed in China since a crackdown on the group began two years ago.

Sitting on the ground at the park, the members of the meditation group held fluorescent glow sticks in their hands and pictures of members of the group who have been killed or tortured to death in China.

The gathering included prominent local figures, politicians as well as human rights activists.

"Falun Gong over the past two years has chosen to stand for justice. Standing for justice is a lonely choice, but we believe that history will prove that we are right," said Li Ching-mei, a practitioner from Taiwan.

DPP Legislator Chien Hsi-chieh said that despite China's brutal oppression of the group its practice was helpful in promoting democracy there.

"Falun Gong practitioners are not only cultivating their own spirituality but they are also cultivating China. How Falun Gong has been treated in China is a reflection of the state of human rights and democracy in China," Chien said.

Political commentator and social critic Chin Heng-wei expressed his doubt of China's ability to change its ways, even after it recently won its bid to host the 2008 Olympics.

"The world believes that because China will host the Olympics it will improve its human rights record. But China's record since [the Tiananmen massacre] shows that it has very little ability to change or improve," Chin said. "Their handling of Falun Gong is unlikely to change either, it will just be carried out in a more quiet manner."

Falun Gong says at least 250 followers have died from police brutality since July 1999, more than half of them in the past six months. The Hong Kong-based Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy says it has confirmed 153 deaths in the crackdown.

Tens of thousands of followers have been detained for protesting in Tiananmen Square in that period.

[...]

In Hong Kong yesterday, Falun Gong followers marked the second anniversary with demonstrations that demanded an end to mainland China's campaign to eradicate the group.

"The suppression is evil and unjust," said Kan Hung-cheung, a local Falun Gong spokesman.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/news/2001/07/21/story/0000095016

Posting date: 7/24/2001
Original article date: 7/21/2001
Category: News & Media Reports