Rescue March to City Hall

Swabian Danube Newspaper (Germany), Southwest Press Online, January 9^th, 2002

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Along their SOS-rescue march for Falun Gong, two members of the group stopped in Ulm/Germany for an interview with the Lord Mayor of Ulm, the Honorable Dr. Goetz Hartung. The two women marchers are Ms. Lu Yang zum Brook and Xiaozhu Chen. They related the brutal suppression of their fellow Falun Gong members in China. The mayor signed an appeal to uphold human rights, saying that, as far as the [Swabian] Landestag [that area's state governmental body] is concerned, Falun Gong seems to be a religious movement with similarities to Buddhism. He added that the Chinese government outlawed Falun Gong in 1999 and its followers have been persecuted, arrested and tortured.

Ms. Lu Yang, however, characterized Falun Gong rather as a "harmonious exercise practice," centered on "Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance." She is pleased about the many acts of support that have been shown her and the fellow marchers in this SOS undertaking, stating that the police authorities in the City of Koblenz even assisted the group to find an overnight stay.

Asked about possible negatives in her efforts for Falun Gong, Ms. Lu Yan zum Brook replied that one simply has to muster the courage to undertake something like that.

Because of inclement weather, this march, which began December 13^th in the City of Dortmund and was originally planned to lead all the way to Munich has come to a halt in Ulm.