The Epoch Times

Feb 12, 2005

A banner displayed at a vigil outside The Associated Press headquarters in New York. Vigil participants say that AP ran an article that closely resembled Chinese Communist Party propaganda and raised questions about the credibility of AP reports from China.

NEW YORK -- Blasted by the winter wind off the Hudson River, they calmly stand on 33rd Street outside the headquarters building of AP. Falun Gong practitioners from Houston, London, and elsewhere have been standing vigil there on the sidewalks since Jan. 25.

The vigil results from a Jan. 21 AP article that "follow[s] the Chinese Communist Party's script so closely as to be almost indistinguishable," according to "An Open Letter to the Associated Press" that the watchers are handing out.

The AP article quotes alleged victims of a Jan. 23, 2001 incident in Beijing in which several people apparently set themselves on fire. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has claimed that the victims did it because they are practitioners of Falun Gong, but the open letter and a video the watchers are showing outside AP's headquarters provide evidence that the "self-immolation" event was a show staged by the CCP.

Last month's AP article ran in dozens of newspapers.

Those who are standing vigil say that the article has swayed people in China, who still are unclear about the true nature of Falun Gong, and also unclear about the CCP's massive persecution campaign of torture and killing targeting anyone who practices Falun Gong in China.

Spokespersons for the Falun Dafa Infocenter Levi Browde and Gail Rachlin said they have delivered letters requesting an appointment with several top executives of AP to discuss the issue. So far they haven't met.

The peaceful vigil outside AP will continue, they say.

Source http://english.epochtimes.com/news/5-2-12/26409.html

Posting date: 2/14/2005
Original article date: 2/14/2005
Category: News & Media Reports

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