Toronto Sun: Falun Gong supporters head to Hill

September 8, 2001

Five women began a 20-day walk from Toronto City Hall to Ottawa yesterday to draw attention to the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China.

The women will deliver a petition with 20,000 signatures asking Prime Minister Jean Chretien to pressure Chinese officials to release members of the spiritual movement when he visits Chinese Premier Jiang Zemin next month.

Independent observers say about 100,000 Falun Gong members are imprisoned in labour camps in China. Another 270 have been killed.

WORSENING

"The situation there is only worsening," said Cindy Gu of Toronto, spokesman for the walkers.

The Chinese government began a crackdown on Falun Gong in 1999 after its membership ballooned to 70 million people in a seven-year period.

The government claimed [Jiang Zemin government's slanderous terms omitted].

Others, however, said the government feared that Falun Gong followers would soon outnumber members of the [party's name omitted] Party.

The five Toronto-to-Ottawa walkers include Danielle Zhu, Cathy Hu, Lily Wang, Caroline Jin, Yuxue Li, all of Toronto.

The 1,000-km walk coincides with similar walks around the world.

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