(Clearwisdom.net) Switzerland's Zurich Heights Carrier reported on August 17, 2002: In order to support their fellow practitioners on trial in Hong Kong, Swiss Falun Gong practitioners held a hunger strike for two days and information sessions in Bern. Silvan was one of the practitioners.

The calls to Silvan kept coming in yesterday. He and more than a dozen Falun Gong practitioners held a hunger strike for two days on Tuesday and Wednesday to express their support for the practitioners who are being persecuted in China.

The recent case in Hong Kong involved four Swiss. "The Chinese (Jiang) government wanted to use this case to show his political power in Hong Kong, where British law is still enforced and Falun Gong is legal." Silvan said.

The Falun Gong practitioners in Bern first held a press conference in the Cathedral in front of the railroad station. Then, they held a hunger strike at the Federal Square to support the protest. Meanwhile, Falun Gong practitioners in Hong Kong also held a hunger strike to protest.

Silvan is an ordinary member of society. He has a regular job, family, and kids. After work, he practices the exercises and holds some activities for the Falun Gong practitioners who are persecuted in China. In the past he had smoked excessively. He said, "This cultivation benefits me a lot. My will has become stronger, and my attitude towards life is much more optimistic."

Silvan believes that "The public should pay attention to the issue. The fewer people care about it, the more brutal the Chinese (Jiang) government will persecute Falun gong."

AvU: Mr. Schmid, is Falun Gong a cult?

Schmid: From the point of the tradition of Buddhism and Taoism, Falun Gong is an ordinary and influential exercise for meditation. It has a basic structure similar to Tai chi. Its outward exercises are combined with inner transformation. Falun Gong practitioners do not teach religion, so their organization is relatively loose. From the structure of their organization, Falun Gong has no characteristics of a cult. It does not denounce or reject western society. Falun Gong practitioners can take criticism. They do not have the tendency of fanaticism. In conclusion, we cannot view Falun Gong as a cult. Falun Gong practitioners are persecuted in China, while in the West, we have more and more people joining it. We definitely side with Falun Gong. The West contains the developing countries in the aspect of spirituality, while the Orient can help us in this regard. The religions and means of meditation from the remote Orient have been spread here since 19^th and 20^th centuries; Buddhism and Yoga are especially popular.

After the USSR fell apart, the spiritual movements, such as Falun Gong, Christianity, etc. were encouraged in order to restrain people. However, the communication between the communist party and the religions became more and more difficult. The Chinese government (Jiang) somehow felt that Falun Gong was anti-Beijing. After Master Li moved to the United States, the authorities in Beijing thought that their feelings were confirmed. Besides, many communist members practiced Falun Gong, too. The Chinese government (Jiang) claimed that they thought this movement might have a political tendency.

Falun Gong is banned in China, but not in Hong Kong, because it is still a special administrative region. So the organization often holds activities to protest.

A Swiss practitioner who stood trial said, "The verdict put on display the pressure from Beijing again. Hong Kong is also starting to persecute people." Human rights activists and the legislators of the opposition party have accused the Hong Kong authorities of succumbing to pressure from China."