Huishar Chen doesn't look like much of a threat to the Chinese government, but the former university teacher knows she'd be in danger if she ever returned to the country of her birth.

She's one of Edmonton's 60 to 100 practitioners of Falun Gong, a meditation and spiritual-development movement banned by the Chinese government in July 1999 as a threat to the country's social and political stability.

Friends who practised it have been tortured to death and sent to labour camps for re-education, says Chen, who emigrated to Canada a month after Falun Gong was outlawed.

Amnesty International reported in November that tens of thousands of practitioners have been arrested and pressured to renounce their beliefs.

"Many of them are reported to have been tortured or ill-treated in detention. Some practitioners have been detained in psychiatric hospitals," said the human-rights organization.

"Those who have spoken out publicly about the persecution of practitioners since the ban have suffered harsh reprisals."

[...]

Chen, a practitioner since 1996, believes Falun Gong improved her health and mental outlook and made her a better member of the Communist Party.

Now a landed immigrant, she doesn't dare return to China.

"It's useless for me to go back because they won't give me any chance to speak out my ideas. They will send me immediately to jail. It's better for me to stay here, where I can help more people to know the truth," she says.

Zhang Kunlun, a Montreal practitioner with dual Canadian and Chinese citizenship, was arrested and sent to a labour camp for three years when he visited China last November.

The university professor was released in early January only after vigorous protest from Canadians and diplomatic pressure from the Canadian government.

Rob Anders, Alliance MP for Calgary West, wants Prime Minister Jean Chretien to speak out on the crackdown and on other human-rights issues when he visits China on a trade mission Feb. 9 to 18.

Anders has been an advocate for Falun Gong followers in Calgary, including businessman Kai Liu, who claims the Chinese consulate there has pressured other business people to avoid dealing with him.

"I think there's a number of things Canada can do. China is our largest recipient of foreign aid, receiving $103 million in 1998-1999," says Anders.

[...]

"If China's going to be a large recipient of Canadian foreign aid, then we should be able to say, 'let's see an end to the persecution of Falun Gong.' [...]."

Chen says after she began studying Falun Gong in 1996, various illnesses she had went away and she developed a new peace and strength.

"The teacher told us you have to follow the principles of truthfulness, compassion and forbearance. Especially in dealing with conflict you should try to first think about others before you think about yourself.

"After I began taking this positive attitude toward life, things changed greatly.

"Everything changed around me. I try to work harder, to be a good worker, a good teacher, a good wife, a good mother and to try my best."

So when Falun Gong was outlawed July 22, 1999, she was shattered.

A friend who actively promoted it was tortured to death, she says. "He was taken to the local police station and beaten on the head and he was sent to the hospital for several days."

When his wife visited him, a police official took her aside for a few minutes. When she returned, her husband was gone. She was told he had just died and his body had been removed.

"His wife believes that when he was taken to the crematorium, he was still alive," says Chen.

"Ever since I was young I learned that the government is always right, that I should believe in the government, in the Communist Party.

"I don't think communism has any disagreement with the principles of Falun Gong because the party also teaches people to be good, to consider others first."

Chi-Yao Yeh, 44, an accountant, who was born and raised in Calcutta, India, began practicing Falun Gong several years after emigrating to Canada in 1986.

"They call us [Chinese government's slanderous words]. We're not.

"We're not even a religion. In a religion you have a place of worship, a temple and all these kind of things. Falun Gong has none of these.

"What we do is we gather every week to practise the exercises and we follow the principles of truthfulness, compassion and forbearance.

"In China they see us as a threat because there are too many people practising it and it's becoming too popular. It was estimated that 70 million people practiced Falun Gong every day.

"Among the 70 million were a lot of high-ranking government officials, military people and others. The Communist Party membership is only 60 million.

"They thought it became too big. It became a political threat to them. So they decided to get rid of it, and in order to do that they fabricated all kinds of horror stories."

WHAT IS FALUN GONG?

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, combines meditation, moral teachings and hand and arm movements intended to free the body's vital energy.

It was introduced in China by Li Hongzhi in 1992 and spread by word of mouth. By early 1999, some estimates put the number of followers at 70 million to 100 million.

- Li's teaching is outlined in the book Zhuan Falun (Revolving the Law Wheel) and on the Web site www.falundafa.org.

[...]

A video demonstrating the hand movements says they are supposed to "purify and open the body's energy channels, enhance energy levels and strengthen and improve the circulation."

-Local practitioners meet Tuesdays from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. in Function Room 1 of the Students Union Building at the University of Alberta and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the Gazebo at 104th Street and 83rd Avenue.

- A lecture series runs until Feb. 9 in rooms 327 (English) and 306 (Mandarin) at the Education Building on the U of A campus.