Alligator (University Of Florida, Florida, US): Falun Gong Car Tour Comes To Gainesville -- Meditation Practice Is Illegal In China.

By Mark Berman
Alligator Contributing Writer

Practitioners of Falun Gong arrived in Gainesville on Friday as part of a nationwide car tour to raise awareness of the situation in China, which has seen thousands imprisoned - including two Americans.

About a dozen Falun Gong practitioners gathered in front of city hall, including three people who have traveled around Florida for the past week. Falun Gong is a school of meditation and exercise that is banned in China by the Communist Party for its immense popularity.

Falun Gong, also called Falun Dafa, stresses self-improvement, peacefulness and respect.

?It caught on in China like nothing else ever had," said Jared Pearman of Orlando, who has practiced Falun Gong for almost three years.

The immense popularity of the exercises, where thousands of people gather each morning in Chinese town squares to practice, led to it being seen as a threat to the Communist leadership. However, Falun Gong followers have no organized group, do not worship anything and do not have political cares. Despite being non-religious, they have fallen subject to religious persecution.

Charles Li, an American citizen from California, was arrested in January as he stepped off of his plane in China. He is being charged with intent to sabotage TV signals, because Falun Gong practitioners have often [intercepted] the government-run TV broadcasts, attempting to spread the truth about it.

Beijing police seized Li Meizi, a Palm Coast resident, in November 2002 because she had a Falun Gong book in her possession.

?This is not a Chinese issue, this is a worldwide issue," Pearman said. ?This is an American issue now."

The United States has verified that Li has been tortured and beaten while in prison, while Meizi has been held without communication, so no one is certain of her condition.

?It?s unfair that they were arrested and put in jail," said Jenny Wu, a UF business management student. ?They are trying to be good people, and they were arrested."

The national car tour will last a month and travel from California to Washington, D.C.

http://www.alligator.org/edit/news/issues/stories/030922china.html

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