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| World News - updated 9:32 AM ET Jul 17 |
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| Reuters | AP | Canada | Asia | UK & Ireland | Australia & NZ | More ... | ||
China Renews Attacks on Falun Gong
BEIJING (AP) - Anticipating protests by the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement, China renewed attacks on the group Monday, calling its founder ``a running dog'' of foreign powers who was inciting followers to resist the government. A commentary in the ruling Communist Party's People's Daily newspaper carried some of the harshest invective in recent months in a year-old smear campaign against Falun Gong. Its publication comes just before Thursday's anniversary of the government's crackdown and ban on the sect. Last July 20, police arrested dozens of sect followers who they identified as key Falun Gong organizers. Two days later, the government banned the group as a menace to public order. Since then, tens of thousands of followers have been detained for short periods of time, thousands sent to labor camps and nearly a hundred leading members jailed. Followers responded with large protests, and are expected to do the same on the anniversaries. In recent weeks, Falun Gong members have begun streaming into the capital. People's Daily lashed out at U.S.-based founder Li Hongzhi, for ``inciting 'Falun Gong' practitioners to 'come forward' to continue resistance to the government.'' The newspaper took issue with recent comments by Li, an apparent reference to statements posted last month on Falun Gong Web sites. In the comments - Li's first since dropping from public view shortly after July's crackdown - the founder encouraged followers to persevere through what he called ``evil-wrought tests.'' ``Using extremely poisonous words to attack the Communist Party leadership and our country's socialist institutions has totally exposed his ugly face as a running dog of Western enemy forces,'' People's Daily said. The commentary ran through a list of the government's accusations against the group: it said Falun Gong caused 1,500 deaths, cheated followers of money and harbored political ambitions. The newspaper also accused Li Hongzhi of living in a lavish new home. Falun Gong preaches a blend of slow-motion exercises, meditation and self-improvement that practitioners say promote health, moral living and, at advanced levels, supernatural powers. After founding the group in 1992, Li, an ex-government grain clerk, built up a multi-million-member following. People's Daily said the crackdown and public education campaign caused most practitioners to abandon Falun Gong. Li was now trying to stir up a dwindling group of hard-core followers ``to achieve his political goals of disturbing the social order and undermining social stability.'' At different points, the commentary likened Falun Gong to a ``rat crossing the road'' and Li to a ``dog baying for his lost home.''
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