04/26/2000

The Toronto Star

1

NE18

BEIJING - A year after a protest that prompted an official crackdown, the Falun Dafa meditation sect showed it was still a force yesterday with a demonstration by more than 100 members in the heart of Beijing.

Police detained dozens of protesters who evaded heavy security to unfurl banners and meditate on Tiananmen Square. Officers rushed from one part of the vast square to another to stop the scattered protests. More than 100 people were taken away.

Falun Dafa, also known as Falun Gong, has remained active despite a nine-month-old crackdown and thousands of arrests. Members stage small protests daily in Tiananmen Square - an unusual feat in the tightly controlled Chinese capital.

U.S. President Bill Clinton's administration, which is pushing for a trade pact with China, told Beijing yesterday to stop the crackdown.

State Department spokesperson James Rubin said China has violated its commitments in international human rights and that arrests of peaceful protesters are a matter that "profoundly disturbs" the U.S.

"We call on the Chinese government to cease its crackdown on the Falun Gong, release all those in custody for the peaceful expression of their beliefs and guarantee the rights of citizens to freedom of speech, conscience and association and peaceful assembly," Rubin told a news briefing.

The crackdown imposed nine months ago was prompted by a massive protest on April 25, 1999. At that time, police stood by as 10,000 members meditated in silence outside the leadership compound in Beijing to protest official harassment.

But President Jiang Zemin, alarmed at the group's ability to mobilize followers, ordered a crackdown that ended in an outright ban in July. Sect leaders were arrested and members told to recant.

Yesterday, one group of 15 people sat down to meditate and were pulled to their feet and pushed into a minibus. Police tackled four people who unfurled a banner, punching one man in the face. They muzzled a middle-aged woman and pulled her backward as she tried to yell. At least six other women, all carrying children, were bundled into a van.

Arresting peaceful protesters `profoundly disturbs' the U.S.

James Rubin, U.S. State Department spokesperson

Police confiscated film and videotapes and detained at least eight foreign reporters, including an Associated Press photographer and a producer for AP Television News.

Since last year's demonstration, 35,000 followers have been detained and 5,000 more were sent without trial to labour camps, a spokesperson for Falun Dafa said. At least 16 are said to have died in custody.

Falun Dafa attracted millions of followers with its blend of traditional beliefs, slow-motion exercises and the ideas of founder Li Hongzhi, a former grain clerk who now lives in New York. The government says it is evil.

Copyright (c) 2000 The Toronto Star