Birmingham Weekly: What is Falun Gong

September 29, 2000 UAB (University of Alabama at Birmingham) graduate student arrested in China for following banned meditation practice On September 8, UAB microbiology graduate student Xiaoxu (Shean) Lin and his wife Xiaohua Du landed in China's Fuzhou City to attend the funeral of Lin's father. Customs officers detained the couple after searching their luggage and finding literature about the spiritual practice Falun Gong. Lin and Du were arrested immediately. Shean's uncle posted bail for the couple on September 10 and they managed to attend the funeral of Lin's father. But they remain on probation and are now under house arrest. Their crime was carrying books that describe an apolitical spiritual philosophy that emphasizes truthfulness, benevolence and forbearance. It's a spiritual practice banned by the Chinese government. Practitioners describe Falun Gong, also called Falun Dafa, as a "cultivation practice" in which mind, body, and spirit are cultivated by the incorporation of teachings from the book Zhuan Falun and five gentle exercises, including meditation. The Zhuan Falun encourages those who practice to "always display compassion and kindness and think of others before doing anything." Although Falun Gong borrows from both Taoism and Buddhism, the practice is not a religion: it has no membership and no formal rituals or worship. Volunteers teach the classes and no donations are accepted. Ironically, when Master Li Hongzhi, who now lives in New York, introduced Falun Gong to the public in 1992, the Chinese government praised him for upgrading morality in society and improving people's health practices. In the ensuing seven years, the number of active practitioners in China grow to more than 70 million, including government officials, members of the Chinese Communist Party, members of the military and the police. The totalitarian regime felt threatened enough by the numbers to begin what one pamphlet calls "a full-scale suppression" and "a relentless persecution." Since the spring of 1999, hundreds of Falun Gong practitioners have been arrested and beaten and millions of Falun Gong tapes and books have been confiscated and destroyed. Amnesty International has documented several reports of arrested practitioners being tortured. As the United States prepares to grant China permanent trade relations, the Chinese government continues a defamation campaign against Falun Gong that apparently violates the Constitution of the People's Republic of China and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights recently ratified by the Chinese government. On the same day that Shean Lin and Xiaohua Du were arrested, the U.S. State Department released its annual report on worldwide persecution, which listed China as a problem country because of its persecution of Falun Gong and other spiritual groups. A group that included Shean Lin has practiced Falun Gong in Birmingham for several years, meeting every morning at seven in the UAB Mini Park. Lin met Xiaohua Du at a meeting of Falun Gong faithful and the two married in February. Wei Wu is a friend to the couple, a fellow practitioner and a graduate student in chemistry at UAB. "From Shean's brother-in-law I have learned that they are under house arrest right now and not allowed to go anywhere," Wu says. "They have been in contact with their family, but all phone calls are monitored. When they do call, there is so much loud background noise that they can't be heard well or hear well." According to family members who have had contact with the couple, the Chinese government has possession of their passports and airline tickets. Lin and Du have been ordered to stay at home in Fuzhou City so that the police may question them at any time. Family members say that police have questioned Lin twice and Du once. Falun Dafa practitioners in Birmingham, Atlanta and New York continue to demand the safe return of Lin and Du, both of whom are Chinese citizens who were legally studying and working in the United States. Alabama congressmen have already been sent a petition letter with 198 signatures and efforts continue to reach Chinese ambassadors. The office of U.S. Representative Spencer Bachus (R-Vestavia Hills) has contacted the State Department and the U.S. Embassy to China. Senator Terry Everett has also been working on behalf of the couple. When asked if the couple's arrest has affected the local practice, Wu quickly answers no. Local practitioners of Falun Gong continue to meet daily Monday through Friday from 7 to 8 a.m. at the UAB Mini Park on University Blvd. and 14th Street. "We also meet every Saturday from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. at the Community Center in Homewood and every Sunday in the Japanese Garden at the Botanical Gardens," he says. "Americans seem to like this late time better." Wu still encourages people to attend the practices, "Tell them to come," he says. "Tell them it's free."