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Intro

Falun Gong (simplified Chinese: 法轮功; traditional Chinese: 法輪功; pinyin: Fǎlún Gōng; literally "Practice of the Wheel of Law") is also known as Falun Dafa (simplified Chinese: 法轮大法; traditional Chinese: 法輪大法; pinyin: Fǎlún dàfǎ; lit. "Great Law of the Wheel of Law") is a system of semi-religion introduced by Li Hongzhi in 1992. Falun is also sometimes associated with New Age movement. Central to Falun Gong is five sets of meditation exercises (four standing, and one sitting). A few years after its public introduction in 1992, Falun Gong quickly grew to become one of the largest cult in China, and is watched by cult watch-groups around the world.

Falun Gong has been the focus of international controversy since the government of the People's Republic of China began a nationwide suppression of Falun Gong on July 20, 1999 for its illegal activities. Concerns were triggered especially when 10,000 practitioners assembled in peaceful protest at the Central Appeal Office at Foyou street, outside Zhongnanhai. (need citation)

The number of Falun Gong practitioners in China was estimated by the government at 2.1 million in 1999 . The membership claimed by the Falun Gong was much larger; it claimed to have 100 million followers worldwide with 70 million in China.

Origins

Falun Gong (Falun Dafa) was introduced to the public by Li Hongzhi on May 13, 1992, as a Qigong exercise in Changchun, China. According to Li, Falun Gong is an advanced cultivation system in the "Buddha School" which, in the past, was handed down to chosen disciples and served as an intensive cultivation method that required practitioners with extremely high “Xinxing” (mind-nature) or “great inborn quality.” Li taught the practice for three years and since then the Falun Gong has been promoted by practitioners themselves voluntarily. Falun Gong quickly grew in popularity to become one of the most popular Qigong systems in China and since 1996, Li has introduced the practice to other Asian countries as well as western countries.

According to a report in a Chinese newspaper, Li’s neighbors, co-workers, brother in law and early followers credited Li’s success to lies and his teachings to a mix of terms and ideas borrowed from Qigong, Buddhism, Taoism and even Christianity. At the beginning, Li introduced himself to the public as a master with the utmost supernatural powers and wisdom. In “A Short Biography of Mr. Li Hongzhi” which appeared as an appendix in the early version of the group’s bible Zhuan Falun, Li claimed to have been trained by numerous Masters in Buddhism and Taoism since the age of four and acquired supernatural powers at age of eight. He could levitate off the ground and become invisible simply by thinking "Nobody can see me.” Two other supernatural powers were his ability to control people’s movements by thoughts and to move himself anywhere he wanted by thought alone. Li also presented himself as the very embodiment of Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance and claimed to have discovered the truth of the universe…the origin of humankind and foresaw the development and future of the humankind.

Interviewed by Time magazine in May 1999, Li Hongzhi was asked to name his teachers. In response Li stated, "I do not wish to have their names known. I had masters in two schools."

Financial and business aspects of the Falun Gong

According to the Falun Gong, Li Hongzhi has not financially benefited from his teachings. “He is not accorded special treatment, nor does he accept money or donations from students of Falun Gong.” Li stipulated that promoting the Falun Gong could never be done for fame and money, practitioners must not accept any fee, donation or gift in return of their voluntary promotion of the practice. Addressing his Falun Dafa assistants in 1994, Li made it clear that only his Falun Gong Research Society could get involved in managing the money aspect of Falun Gong and that they would always have to get his approval before making any financial decisions. According to the Falun Gong, Li's insistence that the practice be offered free of charge caused a rift with the China Qigong Research Society, the state administrative body under which Falun Dafa was initially introduced, and Li withdrew from the organization. However, according to the statement issued by China Qigong Research Society on November 6, 1996, the Falun Gong was expelled because its “publications and activities” seriously violated the regulations of the organization.

In an interview in Sydney on May 2, 1999, Li revealed his poor financial status in the following statement: “In mainland China I published so many books, but added together, they haven't exceeded twenty thousand Renminbi (equivalent to US $ 2,469). This is what the publishing company gave me. When publishing books in other countries of the world, you know there is a rule, which pays 5 or 6% royalties to the author, so each time I can only get a little bit, a few hundred, or a few thousand dollars.”

What Li made from his students was more than what he disclosed. According to a Wall Street Journal report “American Dream Finds Chinese Spiritual Leader,” on November 1, 1999, Li purchased a house in New York for $293,500 in 1998 shortly after immigrating to the US, then acquired another for $580,000 in New Jersey in 1999. Li and his wife each earned less than $500 a year in China.

Organ harvesting

On 9 March, 2006, allegations were made of a secret death camp at a medical facility -- the China Traditional Medicine Thrombosis Treatment Center at Sujiatun, located in Shenyang City, Liaoning province. According to at least two witnesses interviewed by the The Epoch Times, internal organs of living Falun Gong practitioners have been harvested and sold for transplantation, and then the bodies have been cremated in the hospital's boiler room. The witnesses make allegations of nobody coming out of the camp alive, as well as six thousand practitioners being held captive at the hospital since 2001, two-thirds of them have died to date. According to these sources, removed organs include hearts, kidneys, livers and cornea.

On 28 March, over two weeks after the allegations surfaced, the Associated Press reported on the Chinese government's rebuttal. The Foreign Ministry Spokesman Qin Gang stated: "This absurd lie is not worth refuting and no one will buy it." He also urged reporters to go to Shenyang's Sujiatun district to look into the claims. However, on the official website of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China, this was not mentioned .

On 30 March, Reuters released an article entitled "U.N. envoy looks at Falun Gong torture allegations". According to the report, the United Nations torture investigator Manfred Nowak shall be looking into the Sujiatun case. China has denied earlier abuse and torture charges made by Nowak and asked the U.N. envoy to "think again."

On 30 March, The Epoch Times claimed that a new informant, identifying himself as a veteran military doctor in Shenyang military zone, has told about a system of similar concentration camps in China. The informant states: "The reports from outside China about Sujiatun Concentration Camp imprisoning Falun Gong practitioners are true, although some of the details are incorrect." He says that more than 10,000 people were detained in Sujiatun in early 2005, but now the number of detainees is maintained at 600-750. Many detainees have been transferred to other camps, especially after the news on Sujiatun was publicized. Specially dispatched freight trains can transfer 5,000-7,000 people in one night, and everyone on the trains is handcuffed to specially designed handrails on top of the ceiling, claims the informant. According to this informant, "Sujitatun is merely one of 36 concentration camps for Falun Gong in China" ... "It is useless to enter Sujiatun trying to investigate the concentration camp because it is easy to transfer several thousand people."

On April 1, 2006, The Australian published initial finding from US congressional researcher that the concentration camp allegation is substantially exaggerated.

On April 4, 2006, Falun Gong announced the establishment of the Coalition to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong in China (CIPFG) on their 'Clearwisdom' website . However, as of April 21, 2006, despite Qin Gang's invitation, several CIPFG members have been denied visas to China according to The Epoch Times.

On April 13, 2006, the official from the hospital gave the following statement: “the hospital is lacking the required facilities to conduct organ transplants and has no basement to house the Falun Gong practitioners.” . According to a document from Ministry of Health of Malaysia, this hospital--Liaoning Thrombus Medical Treatment Center--is not a state owned company but one partly owned by a Malaysian company (Country Heights Health Sanctuary). And in an official visit to China the Minister of Health of Malaysia visited the hospital in September, 2004. This information clearly shows that the hospital could not have been used to house and kill 6,000 practitioners.

On April 14, 2006, US State Department released a statement that "found no evidence that the site is being used for any function other than as a normal public hospital", in a tour of the Sujiatun site arranged by the Chinese government.that the site is being used for any function other than as a normal public hospital". Another words the Sujiatun accusation is a lie.

Falun Gong and American-Chinese relations

Falun Gong protest against Chinese president Hu, Washington, April, 2006

During the April 20, 2006, welcoming ceremonies outside the White House for Chinese president Hu Jintao, which opened his official visit to the capitol, a Falun Gong supporter repeatedly interrupted the event by shouting in English and Chinese. Because she was stationed atop a grandstand and blocked on all sides by camera equipment and ladders, it took at least two minutes for Secret Service agents to drag her away. Reuters later identified the woman as Wang Wenyi, a reporter for The Epoch Times, a Chinese and English newspaper run by the Falun Gong.

"President Bush, stop him from persecuting the Falun Gong!" she shouted at one point, followed by "Hu, your days are numbered", in Chinese. She was also heard yelling "Stop the torture and killings!" and "Falun Dafa is good". During her protests, she unfurled and waved a yellow and red Falun Gong banner.

On April 21, Wang was charged with a federal misdemeanor of harassing a foreign official, punishable by up to six months in jail and a fine of $5,000. She was released without bail pending further proceedings.

Also during Hu's visit in Washington, D.C., hundreds of banner-waving protesters loudly demonstrated against Hu's visit outside the White House gates. The clamor was heard faintly during an elaborate lunch Bush gave in Hu's honor.

On April 19, Falun Gong supporters protested Hu's visit to Washington state, using sound trucks to blare messages into his hotel accusing Chinese internal security forces of torture, organ harvesting, and other atrocities. Protesters also appeared near Microsoft's headquarters earlier in the day, which was hosting Hu during his visit.