A Letter to The Irish Times

Sir, - It is shocking to read of the arrest in China of Ms Yang Fang, Mr Zhao Ming and Mr Liu Feng for practicing and advocating Falun Gong. I came to know all three in Ireland and nobody could be more inoffensive and respectable, quietly practicing their exercises in Merrion Square.

Falun Gong is entirely non-political, aiming at self-improvement through exercise and study. The underlying philosophy is difficult for many Westerners to comprehend, but these three people, all model citizens, are certainly good advertisements for it.

It is true that Falun Gong has a mystical side which might not be liked by believers in Marxist materialism. However, the inability of the Chinese Government to tolerate this, as well as its persecution of Tibetan Buddhism over the years, exposes that materialism as the gross and brutal thing it is. Empires based on it are evil empires. Ronald Reagan was derided for pointing this out, but it is the sober truth, as the last tragic century proved. - Yours, etc.,