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Reuters: U.S. Falun Gong members start 900-mile protest march By Scott Hillis SEATTLE, Aug 22 (Reuters) - A dozen members of the
banned Chinese spiritual movement Falun Gong started a
900-mile (1,440-km) trek from Seattle to San Francisco
on Wednesday amid a chilly rain to protest China's
campaign against the group. The protesters planned to march to the Chinese
consulate in San Francisco to demand the release of
Falun Gong adherents who have been jailed as China
seeks to stamp out the movement, which it has branded
an "[Jiang Zemin government's slanderous term omitted]" Falun Gong supporters highlighted Teng Chunyan, a
permanent U.S. resident who was sentenced last year to
three years in a labor camp and whose case has been
raised with Beijing by the administration of President
George W. Bush. Beijing accused Teng of spying, but Falun Gong
supporters say she was jailed for passing evidence to
a foreign reporter in China that police were torturing
the movement's adherents. "In a sick twist of fate, Dr. Teng is now subject to
the same abuses that she sought to document and end,"
Falun Gong supporter Ten Truong told a small gathering
outside the U.S. federal building in downtown Seattle. "We fear for the lives of Dr. Teng and countless other
practitioners in China. They are clearly in grave
mortal danger," Truong said. Moments later, about a dozen adherents set off on the
trip to San Francisco. Participants said only a few of
the walkers would walk for the entire 50 days the trip
was expected to take, but others were expected to join
along the way. [...] Falun Gong maintains it is not political and says more
than 50,000 adherents have been sent to prisons, labor
camps and mental hospitals. Human rights groups
estimate some 200 followers have died from torture
during detention. "We want to reach out to the public and tell what is
happening in China and to say that we, as Falun Gong
practitioners, say there is nothing wrong with
practicing your beliefs," said Wang Tongwen, a
34-year-old biologist who plans to walk for two days. HUNGER STRIKES The Seattle march was the latest in a string of
protests. In Washington, D.C., two more people joined a hunger
strike in front of the Chinese embassy, bringing the
total camping out on Wednesday in the small downtown
park to 10. The strikers, who are drinking water but refusing all
food and sleeping in vans, aimed to call attention to
the plight of 130 practitioner that Falun Gong says
are on a hunger strike in a labor camp in China's
northeastern Liaoning province. So far any attempts to communicate with the embassy or
deliver petitions have failed, said Amy Cheng, a
housewife and mother of two who came down from Rhode
Island on Sunday. On Tuesday, Falun Gong followers wrapped up a five-day
hunger strike in front of the Chinese consulate in New
York calling for Teng's release. About 15 people took
part, with each fasting for about 48 hours. Teng, a New York-based doctor who taught traditional
Chinese medicine, is one of several U.S.-linked
academics detained in China whose cases have been
raised by Washington. In the past several weeks, three detainees have been
freed, and some China watchers have said they expect
other cases to be settled before Bush makes a
scheduled October trip to China. Posting date: 8/24/2001
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To Fellow Practitioners
on July 30th
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