ALBANY, N.Y.—A group of assemblymen gathered in Albany Wednesday to support practitioners of Falun Gong on the date when this traditional Chinese spiritual practice first seized the world’s attention.
On April 25, 1999, more than 10,000 practitioners gathered peacefully outside the Central Appeals Office in Beijing to protest the arrest of 45 practitioners in the nearby city of Tianjin. The incident was widely reported throughout the world, as it was the first large-scale peaceful protest in China since the 1989 student movement, which ended with the Tiananmen Square massacre.
“We’re subsidizing the inhumane treatment of your fellow countrymen,” said Assemblyman Mark Johns of Monroe County at a bipartisan press conference. Johns points to the $300 billion that goes to China annually from the United States in unbalanced trade.
Falun Gong (also known as Falun Dafa) has been persecuted in China since July 20, 1999. The Falun Dafa Information Center (FDIC), the official press office for the group, has recorded over 63,000 accounts of torture and over 3,000 deaths during a systematic and brutal campaign. Court cases filed in at least 13 nations against the leaders of the campaign in China, which includes recently ousted top official Bo Xilai, have characterized the persecution as involving crimes against humanity and genocide.
“We would like to send a message to the president of the United States, that we as a country should call on China to put a stop to this persecution,” said Assemblyman Eric Stevenson of Bronx County. “It’s about doing righteous things in life, and being upright, and helping the world to become a better society.”
In 1992, the practice was introduced in China, and by 1999, between 70 million and 100 million Chinese citizens were practicing Falun Gong, according to a study conducted by the state. People from all walks of life reported health benefits and inner peace from following Falun Dafa’s teachings of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance.
“I remember in Changchun, my mom would be excited to go outside to practice [the exercises],” recalled Dr. Wenyi Wang, a practitioner from New York City. “There were time slots for practicing in the public square, with about 5,000 people at one time.”
Video footage of practitioners in China prior to 1999 shows thousands regularly gathering in public places to meditate, even filling large stadiums on special occasions.
At first the Chinese regime supported the Falun Gong practice, but by 1996 it began turning against it. The state banned sales of the main Falun Gong text, “Zhuan Falun,” which had been a runaway bestseller. State-run media began attacking Falun Gong, and state security began harassing and spying on practitioners, according to FDIC.
