DATE=1/31/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=CHINA-EXERCISE GROUP (L-O)
NUMBER=2-258610
BYLINE=STEPHANIE HO
DATELINE=BEIJING
CONTENT=

VOICED AT:


INTRO:  The Chinese government is cracking down on 
another meditation sect - calling it evil. And as V-O-
A's Stephanie Ho in Beijing reports the government 
continues its supression of against the Falun Gong 
spiritual movement. 

TEXT:  The newest group to come under fire from the 
Chinese government is Zhong Gong - an offshoot of 
qigong.  The traditional health practice uses 
breathing exercises and meditation to channel unseen 
forces into the body, which is said to promote health 
and bring followers supernatural powers.

The Hong Kong-based Information Center of Human Rights 
and Democratic Movement in China says authorities have 
already shut down more than 100 Zhong Gong study 
centers around the country since November.

The Information Center's Frank Lu says Beijing, 
initially supported groups like Zhong Gong - which was 
founded in 1988 and espoused traditional Chinese 
culture.

/// LU CHINESE ACT - IN FULL, FADE OUT ///

Mr. Lu says Zhong Gong is now alarming to the 
Communist Party because of its size, its organization 
and because it has a great deal of money. He says 
Zhong Gong has about 10-million followers in more than 
20 provinces.  Reports say authorities have already 
confiscated more than six million dollars worth of 
assets.

One official at China's State Council said she had not 
even heard of Zhong Gong.  Another official took 
questions on the issue, but had no immediate response.

The Associated Press quotes a Chinese government 
official as confirming that Zhong Gong has been 
branded an evil cult.  The official also confirmed 
that a crackdown against the group has been ordered, 
but not publicized.

Another well-known qigong group, Falun Gong, shot to 
notoriety when more than 10-thousand followers 
surrounded the Zhongnanhai Central leadership compound 
in Beijing last April.  The Chinese government saw 
Falun Gong as a threat to Communist Party authority 
and banned the group in July.  Since then, it has 
ordered police checks on other popular qigong sects 
and their often charismatic leaders.

Last month, a court in central Zhejiang province 
sentenced a leading Zhong Gong member to two years in 
jail for illegally practicing medicine.  This was the 
first indication the crackdown had expanded.

The Information Center's Frank Lu says he thinks the 
campaign will continue, and that it will not be long 
before several other qigong groups find themselves on 
the wrong side of the law.  (signed)

NEB/HO/FC/JO



31-Jan-2000 05:50 AM EDT (31-Jan-2000 1050 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America
.