TAIPEI, July 20 (AFP) - At least 1,000 Taiwanese Falun Gong practitioners marched Sunday in the southern city of Kaohsiung in protest at what they said was Beijing's "genocide" against their Chinese counterparts.

The group marched through Kaohsiung, Taiwan's second largest city, while holding photos of Falun Gong practitioners killed by [Jiang's regime] and carrying banners accusing former Chinese president [Jiang] of a harsh crackdown on followers.

"We want to tell the world the crimes committed by Jiang Zemin," Chang Tsing-hsi, head of the Taiwan Falun Gong group, told AFP from Kaohsiung.

"It's our hope their suppression of religion, particularly against Falun Gong, will become better known to the world.... We felt they would somewhat restrain themselves once their evils are made public," Chang said.

The Taiwan Falun Gong group filed a lawsuit against Jiang in a court in Illinois in October 2002 over the alleged offenses of "genocide," "crime against humanity" and "torture."

Separately in Taipei, a memorial service is to be held in the evening for the hundreds of Chinese Falun Gong practitioners allegedly falling victim to Beijing's suppression.

It is not clear how many Falun Gong followers there are on the island, but organizers said the group has been expanding at a rapid pace and now numbers at an estimated 200,000 people.

[...] http://www.ptd.net/webnews/wed/ca/Qtaiwan-china-sect.Ruwe_DlK.html

Posting date: 7/22/2003
Original article date: 7/21/2003
Category: News & Media Reports

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