DATE=4/24/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=CHINA / FALUN GONG (L ONLY)
NUMBER=2-261649
BYLINE=ROGER WILKISON
DATELINE=BEIJING
CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO:  Chinese police have detained at least three 
adherents of the Falun Gong exercise and meditation 
group in Beijing's Tiananmen Square on the eve of the 
first anniversary of the demonstration that prompted 
the government to ban the movement.  VOA correspondent 
Roger Wilkison reports Tiananmen Square has been 
filled with both uniformed and plainclothes police for 
the past two days, as Beijing prepares for any sign of 
protest by followers of the sect that refuses to go 
away. 

TEXT:  It is almost a daily occurrence, in spite of 
the tough campaign against Falun Gong.  Suddenly, a 
small group of people will unfurl one of the 
movement's banners and raise their arms in one of the 
meditative postures it teaches them.  And with equal 
swiftness, plainclothes police appear out of nowhere 
and hustle the demonstrators away.

Tuesday marks the first anniversary of the day when 
the world first heard about Falun Gong.  About 10-
thousand adherents of the group staged a sit-in around 
the leadership compound in Beijing to demand official 
recognition of their movement.

That demonstration startled China's leaders, who 
immediately determined that the organizational skill 
shown by the group constituted a threat to Communist 
Party rule.  What especially incensed the leadership 
was the discovery that thousands of active and retired 
members of the military and security forces belonged 
to Falun Gong.

Three months later, the crackdown came.  Falun Gong 
was branded an evil cult.  And a campaign that has 
seen thousands of people sentenced to hard labor 
began.  Human rights groups say many members of the 
group have been given severe beatings, others have 
been forcibly drugged, and at least 15 have died in 
police custody.

The government says Falun Gong has caused the deaths 
of 15-hundred people who either committed suicide or 
refused medical treatment for illnesses.  Foreign 
Ministry spokesman Sun Yuxi -- speaking through an 
intrpreter -- says the group was banned to protect the 
rights of Chinese citizens.

            /// SUN / INTERPRETER ACTUALITY ///

      Falun Gong is a cult.  It has done harm to the 
      Chinese people.  The ban on Falun Gong is 
      carried out in accordance with law.  And this is 
      a protection of human rights in the maximum 
      sense.

            /// END ACTUALITY ///

Despite the government's efforts to eliminate Falun 
Gong, its adherents keep popping up to stage sporadic 
protests in Tiananmen Square and elsewhere.

The Communist Party is frustrated.  A commentary by 
the official Xinhua news agency, played prominently in 
the state-run media, recently said the government has 
won a decisive victory over Falun Gong.  But it 
complained that the group has not recognized its 
defeat and continues to make trouble.

Seizing on international sympathy for the group, the 
government's latest tactic is to accuse Falun Gong of 
being a willing dupe for what it calls anti-China 
forces overseas.  (Signed)

NEB/RW/FC/KL 



24-Apr-2000 06:41 AM EDT (24-Apr-2000 1041 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America
.