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International Cultic Studies Association
Article News Summaries
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Vol. 1, No. 1, 2002 |
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| News Summaries |
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News Summaries: February 01-15, 2002
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Group: Falun Gong,
Research Society of Falun Dafa, Falun Dafa |
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Founder: Li Hongzhi |
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Category: Religious: eastern |
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Topic: government |
Falun Gong
Foreign Protesters Detained / China
An American and a Canadian were detained in early February while protesting China's effort to blame the banned Falun Gong sect for a fiery group suicide attempt last year. The two men unfurled a banner on Tiananmen Square in the center of Beijing and shouted the group's name. Within seconds, police rushed over, tore down the banner, and pushed
the two men into a nearby van as scores of curious Chinese tourists watched. The men identified themselves as Levi Browde, 29, a software expert from New York, and Jason Loftus, 22, an engineering student from Barrie, Ontario, Canada. Falun Gong activists abroad deny the people involved were followers and suggest Chinese officials staged the event. (Reuters, 1/22/02. Internet;
AP, 2/11/02, Internet)
Hunger-Striking Falun Gong Member Dies / China
Wan Guifu, 57, a member of the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement, died Dec. 18 at the hospital of the Dashaping labor camp in the city of Lanzhou, according to authorities. Falun Gong says that 335 detained members have died of abuse since the group was banned in 1999. The government denies mistreating detainees, and says followers have died
of ill health or committed suicide. Wan was detained for distributing Falun Gong materials in Lanzhou, according to Falun Gong, and the retired autoworker stopped eating Oct. 15 to protest his confinement. (AP, 1/2/02)
Falun Gong Detainees Brainwashed? / China
Reports that Falun Gong followers were being tortured in Chinese jails prompted Teng Chunyan to risk all and come home from New York City. Now she, too, is in prison, but insists she cherishes every moment there. Teng said she has undergone a radical "mental transformation.'' No longer a crusader, she says Falun Gong is a cult that brainwashed
her. "I really treasure each day of my time here,'' said Teng, dressed in a blue prison uniform. "I think it's all the start of a new life. It's given me many opportunities to learn things that I didn't know before.'' Her friends are shocked. They suspect that 38-year-old Teng, who lived in the New York City borough of Queens and ran a successful acupuncture clinic on Manhattan's Fifth
Avenue, has been abused and forced to recant. (AP, 1/6/02, Internet)
Meanwhile Trinity College (Dublin) student and Falun Gong practitioner who has been imprisoned in a Chinese labor camp for more than two years will be freed in March, according to the Department for Foreign Affairs, which said that Chinese authorities agreed to release Zhao Ming during Irish government minister Brian Cowen's trip to the
country. Zhao was studying computer sciences in Dublin when he was arrested during a visit to China in 1999. The government agreed to release Zhao because he has been sufficiently "re-educated." His supporters in Ireland say that the 30-year-old student was forced to undergo "brainwashing" sessions and forced to stand still for up to 18 hours a day. Both the Taoiseach [prime minister],
Bertie Ahern, and President Mary McAleese raised the case with Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji during his controversial visit to Ireland last year. (online.ie, 1/25/02, Internet)
Falun Gong Called "Terrorist Cult" / China
China's government considers Falun Gong, which involves exercises and meditation, a dangerous cult that undermines Communist Party authority. Police have detained thousands of Chinese followers in Tiananmen Square. "Faced with the cult's attacks, we must stay on high alert," said the party-run People's Daily in an editorial. "Only when it is thoroughly rooted out can social harmony and tranquility come in exchange." (Reuters, 1/22/02. Internet; AP, 2/11/02, Internet)
Beijing is trying to legitimize its two-year crackdown on Falun Gong by placing it in the same category as terrorist organizations. In a three-day national conference on religion that ended on Wednesday, leaders repeatedly said Falun Gong was not a religion but an evil cult, with some members practicing violent and terrorist
acts. The state propaganda machine reinforced the conference's message by broadcasting that a fanatical Falun Gong practitioner in Hainan was arrested on Tuesday for killing his uncle with a kitchen knife so they could attain salvation.
China's president, Jiang Zemin, has tacitly acknowledged international criticism on the issue, telling the meeting that China should "strengthen propaganda" on "the reality of the situation". China must seek to counter international criticism of its policies towards religion, he said. He has long been seen as the prime mover behind the
two-year crackdown on Falun Gong that has resulted in the jailing of tens of thousands of followers without trials. (South China Morning Post, 12/14/2001, Internet)
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___________________________________________^ |
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International Cultic Studies Association
Article News Summaries
|
|
|
Vol. 1, No. 1, 2002 |
|
| _______________________________________________ |
| News Summaries |
|
| |
News Summaries: February 01-15, 2002
|
| |
Group: Falun Gong,
Research Society of Falun Dafa, Falun Dafa |
|
|
Founder: Li Hongzhi |
| |
Category: Religious: eastern |
|
|
Topic: government |
Falun Gong
Foreign Protesters Detained / China
An American and a Canadian were detained in early February while protesting China's effort to blame the banned Falun Gong sect for a fiery group suicide attempt last year. The two men unfurled a banner on Tiananmen Square in the center of Beijing and shouted the group's name. Within seconds, police rushed over, tore down the banner, and pushed
the two men into a nearby van as scores of curious Chinese tourists watched. The men identified themselves as Levi Browde, 29, a software expert from New York, and Jason Loftus, 22, an engineering student from Barrie, Ontario, Canada. Falun Gong activists abroad deny the people involved were followers and suggest Chinese officials staged the event. (Reuters, 1/22/02. Internet;
AP, 2/11/02, Internet)
Hunger-Striking Falun Gong Member Dies / China
Wan Guifu, 57, a member of the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement, died Dec. 18 at the hospital of the Dashaping labor camp in the city of Lanzhou, according to authorities. Falun Gong says that 335 detained members have died of abuse since the group was banned in 1999. The government denies mistreating detainees, and says followers have died
of ill health or committed suicide. Wan was detained for distributing Falun Gong materials in Lanzhou, according to Falun Gong, and the retired autoworker stopped eating Oct. 15 to protest his confinement. (AP, 1/2/02)
Falun Gong Detainees Brainwashed? / China
Reports that Falun Gong followers were being tortured in Chinese jails prompted Teng Chunyan to risk all and come home from New York City. Now she, too, is in prison, but insists she cherishes every moment there. Teng said she has undergone a radical "mental transformation.'' No longer a crusader, she says Falun Gong is a cult that brainwashed
her. "I really treasure each day of my time here,'' said Teng, dressed in a blue prison uniform. "I think it's all the start of a new life. It's given me many opportunities to learn things that I didn't know before.'' Her friends are shocked. They suspect that 38-year-old Teng, who lived in the New York City borough of Queens and ran a successful acupuncture clinic on Manhattan's Fifth
Avenue, has been abused and forced to recant. (AP, 1/6/02, Internet)
Meanwhile Trinity College (Dublin) student and Falun Gong practitioner who has been imprisoned in a Chinese labor camp for more than two years will be freed in March, according to the Department for Foreign Affairs, which said that Chinese authorities agreed to release Zhao Ming during Irish government minister Brian Cowen's trip to the
country. Zhao was studying computer sciences in Dublin when he was arrested during a visit to China in 1999. The government agreed to release Zhao because he has been sufficiently "re-educated." His supporters in Ireland say that the 30-year-old student was forced to undergo "brainwashing" sessions and forced to stand still for up to 18 hours a day. Both the Taoiseach [prime minister],
Bertie Ahern, and President Mary McAleese raised the case with Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji during his controversial visit to Ireland last year. (online.ie, 1/25/02, Internet)
Falun Gong Called "Terrorist Cult" / China
China's government considers Falun Gong, which involves exercises and meditation, a dangerous cult that undermines Communist Party authority. Police have detained thousands of Chinese followers in Tiananmen Square. "Faced with the cult's attacks, we must stay on high alert," said the party-run People's Daily in an editorial. "Only when it is thoroughly rooted out can social harmony and tranquility come in exchange." (Reuters, 1/22/02. Internet; AP, 2/11/02, Internet)
Beijing is trying to legitimize its two-year crackdown on Falun Gong by placing it in the same category as terrorist organizations. In a three-day national conference on religion that ended on Wednesday, leaders repeatedly said Falun Gong was not a religion but an evil cult, with some members practicing violent and terrorist
acts. The state propaganda machine reinforced the conference's message by broadcasting that a fanatical Falun Gong practitioner in Hainan was arrested on Tuesday for killing his uncle with a kitchen knife so they could attain salvation.
China's president, Jiang Zemin, has tacitly acknowledged international criticism on the issue, telling the meeting that China should "strengthen propaganda" on "the reality of the situation". China must seek to counter international criticism of its policies towards religion, he said. He has long been seen as the prime mover behind the
two-year crackdown on Falun Gong that has resulted in the jailing of tens of thousands of followers without trials. (South China Morning Post, 12/14/2001, Internet)
_____________________________________________ ^ |
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|
___________________________________________^ |
| |
|
International Cultic Studies Association
Article News Summaries
|
|
|
Vol. 1, No. 1, 2002 |
|
| _______________________________________________ |
| News Summaries |
|
| |
News Summaries: February 01-15, 2002
|
| |
Group: Falun Gong,
Research Society of Falun Dafa, Falun Dafa |
|
|
Founder: Li Hongzhi |
| |
Category: Religious: eastern |
|
|
Topic: government |
Falun Gong
Foreign Protesters Detained / China
An American and a Canadian were detained in early February while protesting China's effort to blame the banned Falun Gong sect for a fiery group suicide attempt last year. The two men unfurled a banner on Tiananmen Square in the center of Beijing and shouted the group's name. Within seconds, police rushed over, tore down the banner, and pushed
the two men into a nearby van as scores of curious Chinese tourists watched. The men identified themselves as Levi Browde, 29, a software expert from New York, and Jason Loftus, 22, an engineering student from Barrie, Ontario, Canada. Falun Gong activists abroad deny the people involved were followers and suggest Chinese officials staged the event. (Reuters, 1/22/02. Internet;
AP, 2/11/02, Internet)
Hunger-Striking Falun Gong Member Dies / China
Wan Guifu, 57, a member of the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement, died Dec. 18 at the hospital of the Dashaping labor camp in the city of Lanzhou, according to authorities. Falun Gong says that 335 detained members have died of abuse since the group was banned in 1999. The government denies mistreating detainees, and says followers have died
of ill health or committed suicide. Wan was detained for distributing Falun Gong materials in Lanzhou, according to Falun Gong, and the retired autoworker stopped eating Oct. 15 to protest his confinement. (AP, 1/2/02)
Falun Gong Detainees Brainwashed? / China
Reports that Falun Gong followers were being tortured in Chinese jails prompted Teng Chunyan to risk all and come home from New York City. Now she, too, is in prison, but insists she cherishes every moment there. Teng said she has undergone a radical "mental transformation.'' No longer a crusader, she says Falun Gong is a cult that brainwashed
her. "I really treasure each day of my time here,'' said Teng, dressed in a blue prison uniform. "I think it's all the start of a new life. It's given me many opportunities to learn things that I didn't know before.'' Her friends are shocked. They suspect that 38-year-old Teng, who lived in the New York City borough of Queens and ran a successful acupuncture clinic on Manhattan's Fifth
Avenue, has been abused and forced to recant. (AP, 1/6/02, Internet)
Meanwhile Trinity College (Dublin) student and Falun Gong practitioner who has been imprisoned in a Chinese labor camp for more than two years will be freed in March, according to the Department for Foreign Affairs, which said that Chinese authorities agreed to release Zhao Ming during Irish government minister Brian Cowen's trip to the
country. Zhao was studying computer sciences in Dublin when he was arrested during a visit to China in 1999. The government agreed to release Zhao because he has been sufficiently "re-educated." His supporters in Ireland say that the 30-year-old student was forced to undergo "brainwashing" sessions and forced to stand still for up to 18 hours a day. Both the Taoiseach [prime minister],
Bertie Ahern, and President Mary McAleese raised the case with Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji during his controversial visit to Ireland last year. (online.ie, 1/25/02, Internet)
Falun Gong Called "Terrorist Cult" / China
China's government considers Falun Gong, which involves exercises and meditation, a dangerous cult that undermines Communist Party authority. Police have detained thousands of Chinese followers in Tiananmen Square. "Faced with the cult's attacks, we must stay on high alert," said the party-run People's Daily in an editorial. "Only when it is thoroughly rooted out can social harmony and tranquility come in exchange." (Reuters, 1/22/02. Internet; AP, 2/11/02, Internet)
Beijing is trying to legitimize its two-year crackdown on Falun Gong by placing it in the same category as terrorist organizations. In a three-day national conference on religion that ended on Wednesday, leaders repeatedly said Falun Gong was not a religion but an evil cult, with some members practicing violent and terrorist
acts. The state propaganda machine reinforced the conference's message by broadcasting that a fanatical Falun Gong practitioner in Hainan was arrested on Tuesday for killing his uncle with a kitchen knife so they could attain salvation.
China's president, Jiang Zemin, has tacitly acknowledged international criticism on the issue, telling the meeting that China should "strengthen propaganda" on "the reality of the situation". China must seek to counter international criticism of its policies towards religion, he said. He has long been seen as the prime mover behind the
two-year crackdown on Falun Gong that has resulted in the jailing of tens of thousands of followers without trials. (South China Morning Post, 12/14/2001, Internet)
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News Summaries - group