More than 1,000 members of Falun Gong gathered yesterday evening at Taipei's Ta-An Forest Part in memory of those who they claim have been killed in China since a crackdown on the group began two years ago.
Sitting on the ground at the park, the members of the meditation group held fluorescent glow sticks in their hands and pictures of members of the group who have been killed or tortured to death in China.
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
The gathering included prominent local figures, politicians as well as human rights activists.
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
"Falun Gong over the past two years has chosen to stand for justice. Standing for justice is a lonely choice, but we believe that history will prove that we are right," said Li Ching-mei (
DPP Legislator Chien Hsi-chieh said that despite China's brutal oppression of the group its practice was helpful in promoting democracy there.
"Falun Gong practitioners are not only cultivating their own spirituality but they are also cultivating China. How Falun Gong has been treated in China is a reflection of the state of human rights and democracy in China," Chien said.
Political commentator and social critic Chin Heng-wei (
"The world believes that because China will host the Olympics it will improve its human rights record. But China's record since [the Tiananmen massacre] shows that it has very little ability to change or improve," Chin said. "Their handling of Falun Gong is unlikely to change either, it will just be carried out in a more quiet manner."
Falun Gong says at least 250 followers have died from police brutality since July 1999, more than half of them in the past six months. The Hong Kong-based Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy says it has confirmed 153 deaths in the crackdown.
Tens of thousands of followers have been detained for protesting in Tiananmen Square in that period.
China claims Falun Gong cheats its members and is responsible for the deaths of 1,800 people by suicide or refusing medical treatment.
In Beijing, meanwhile, five Falun Gong followers were put on trial for their alleged role in a fiery group suicide attempt in Tiananmen Square in January, the Beijing Daily reported yesterday.
Also yesterday police detained at least six people in Tiananmen Square in central Beijing.
It wasn't immediately clear whether those detained were Falun Gong members, but the square has been the site of repeated protests by the group, especially on key anniversaries.
Those who went on trial on Thursday for "using an evil cult to organize a homicide" included a survivor of the Chinese New Year's Eve self-immolations that resulted in two deaths.
The Beijing First Intermediate People's Court heard the case of survivor Wang Jindong, as well as four others who were accused of plotting the fiery Jan. 23 suicide attempt by five alleged Falun Gong adherents, the newspaper said.
One woman died shortly after the self-immolations and her 12-year old daughter died seven weeks later. The badly burned girl was the centerpiece of a government campaign to discredit Falun Gong and its US-based leader Li Hongzhi (李洪志).
Falun Gong, which is based on elements of Taoism, Buddhism and traditional Chinese meditation and exercises, has denied that the five self-immolators belonged to the movement.
The group says it does not condone suicide.
In Hong Kong yesterday, Falun Gong followers marked the second anniversary with demonstrations that demanded an end to mainland China's campaign to eradicate the group.
"The suppression is evil and unjust," said Kan Hung-cheung, a local Falun Gong spokesman.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
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