Oneida Daily Dispatch: Falun Gong walkers pass through Canastota

October 19, 2001 CANASTOTA - Wind-driven rain clicked against the bright, yellow raincoat of Ying Zhu about noon Wednesday as she continued her path down Route 5.

The small group has carried the signs since their walk began in Montreal Sept. 14. They will continue to walk and test the elements until Nov. 5, when they expect to reach the United Nations building in New York City.

"We have a long walk but it's worth it," said Zhu, who described the trek as being designed to raise awareness and garner support hoped to eventually lead the U.N. to call upon the Chinese government to end its "crack down" on practitioners of Falun Gong.

Falun Gong, she described, is not a religion but a philosophy of refining the body and mind through exercises and meditation. She said more than 100 million people in 40 countries practice the form, which is based on the principles of "truth, compassion and forbearance."

According to Zhu, Chinese officials began targeting practitioners with a ban on the practice in July 1999. She tells of recent incidents in which two practitioners were thrown out of the fourth floor of a building by police officers and another movement in which more than 100,000 people were placed in a forced labor camp.

Walkers contend that after the U.N. Human Rights Conference failed to pass a resolution condemning China's human rights record, the killings continued. Campaign organizers say 74 deaths have been reported in the past three months.

"Along the way, we gather signatures and we will give them to the U.N.," Zhu explained. "We are asking the U.N. to stop China from doing evil."

Zhu said the people she has met on the walk have been supportive.

For example, in the Oswego County village of Sandy Creek, Zhu said, village trustees passed a resolution of support for the cause. During a stop in Syracuse, Zhu said, a number of signatures were collected on petitions at Syracuse University, and Syracuse Mayor Matt Driscoll was also supportive.

Zhu said food and even shelter has been offered along the way.

"In Sandy Creek we asked for a place where we could set up a tent and a priest came out and said 'Why don't you stay in the church?'," she said. "We really appreciate the support."

On Friday, Zhu said, the group plans to stop in Utica for a press conference in front of city hall.

"We just want the truth to come to people all over the world," Zhu explained. "We are sure this power can end persecution."

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