Tue Jul 9,11:09 AM ET

By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN, Associated Press Writer

BEIJING -- [Defamed] in the press and [forced to be] underground by relentless police pursuit, Falun Gong is turning to a new tactic in its [truth clarification] against the Chinese government's [repression] on it: phone calls.

In a pair of identical phone messages received Tuesday evening at The Associated Press office in Beijing, a recorded woman's voice denounced the [persecution] and called the spiritual movement a force for good in the world.

"Please remember that Falun Gong is about truthfulness, benevolence and forbearance," the voice said.

It wasn't known where the call originated or how many people received the message Tuesday night.

Levi Browde, a Falun Gong spokesman in New York, said he had heard of individual Falun Gong [practitioners] making such calls before, sometimes using recorded messages.

"They are trying to tell a little bit of the truth, because, we all know we're not going to get much airtime within China," Browde said in a telephone interview.

[...]

Browde said he had no information on the source of the broadcast.

China's [...] government banned Falun Gong in 1999. [...] Falun Gong says it is a form of spiritual cultivation drawn from Chinese tradition and promotes health and morality.

The Chinese leadership has arrested and imprisoned hundreds of Falun Gong [practitioners] during a [oppression] in which Falun Gong claims over 400 of its members have died from torture and maltreatment while in police custody.

[...]

The phone message repeated Falun Gong's claims of brutal repression and accused the government of staging the January 2000 self-immolation of Falun Gong [practitioners] in Beijing's Tiananmen Square. [...]

"Never before has there been a tragedy like this in 5,000 years of Chinese culture," the voice on the message said, rising for dramatic effect.

The message also gives listeners an option of hearing more information about the [persecution] or listening to a song about the group.

"Please remember Falun Gong is good and thank you for listening," the five-minute message ends.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020709/ap_wo_en_po/china_falun_gong_3

Posting date: 7/10/2002
Original article date: 7/9/2002
Category: News & Media Reports

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