November 13, 2001

On Thursday, Nov. 8, Christine Loftus, a second-year Brock child and youth studies major went on a very long walk.

Loftus will be walking for five days in order to raise awareness about the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China.

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa is a combination of meditation and exercises. Although Falun Gong is not an organized religion, its practitioners try to live according to the practice' three guiding principles of "Truthfulness, Benevolence and Forbearance," according to Loftus.

Her walk will see her visiting the campuses of McMaster University in Hamilton, along with the University of Toronto and Toronto's Ryerson University. In addition to trying to raise awareness amongst her fellow students, Loftus will be meeting regional MPs and mayors, to make them more aware of Falun Gong persecution, and will also be speaking to local media.

The modern form of Falun Gong was introduced in China in 1992, and was initially embraced by the Chinese government.

"In the beginning, the (Chinese) government was very supportive," said Loftus. "They said their health care costs went down, thanks to Falun Gong...but then in 1999, they did a survey and found that there were 70 million practitioners. It had gotten too popular too fast."

With Falun Gong having overtaken the [party's name omitted] Party as China's largest voluntary organization, the government banned the practice and began a campaign to defame Falun Gong in the state controlled media, according to Falun Info Net, a Web site dedicated to raising awareness of Falun Gong persecution. Since 1999, 307 Chinese Falun gong practitioners have dies in police custody.

Despite the oppression in China, Falun Gong has received praise in the rest of the world.

"The founder [Li Hongzhi] was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize two years in a row now," said Loftus. "More than 600 mayors and government officials have issued congratulatory letters."

Loftus is not the only person walking to raise awareness of the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, but is part of a global movement called SOS! Global Rescue Walk. There are currently walks taking place in more than 25 countries around the world.

"Brock University Students' Union, (BUSU) has penned a letter of support," said Loftus. "In this letter, BUSU encourages other schools to inform their students."

Loftus will also be receiving help from students at other universities. At McMaster, a Falun Gong awareness day has been organized to coincide with her arrival.

Loftus wants to increase awareness of Falun Gong persecution amongst Canadian students "In the hope that students can show their support by signing petitions, writing letters to MPs and to pass the word on. Let more people know what's going on in China."

- With files from faluninfo.net and CNN.com