From the multi-award winning international veteran investigative journalist Danny Schechter comes the first complete and objective look at FALUN GONG, a non-violent, anti-materialistic spiritual movement drawing on Buddhist and Taoist traditions; its 100 million followers in over 40 countries around the world; and the tremors it's practitioners are causing in the corridors of power in the People's Republic of China today by way of their peaceful protests in the tradition of Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. and Bishop Desmond Tutu in support of freedom of conscience and freedom of association.
In one of the most bizarre cases of political repression in modern history, the People's Republic of China has banned a spiritual practice built around traditional exercises and meditation. On April 25, 1999 15,000 FALUN GONG practitioners quietly surrounded the government leadership compound in the heart of Beijing in silent protest against what they considered an inaccurate, slanderous attack on FALUN GONG in a state-sponsored magazine. Since then, FALUN GONG practitioners have stepped forward repeatedly to appeal to their government for the right to practice their faith.
The Chinese government has responded by banning FALUN GONG, branding them an "evil cult", arresting more than 50,000 practitioners to date (including a number of foreign nationals), killing at least 193 of them (with thousands of detainees as yet unaccounted for) while torturing thousands more (battering, rape, forced-feeding of high doses of salt water, denial of food, sleep and toilet use, exposure to extreme hot & cold weather, burning with cigarettes and heated metal, shocks with electric batons, induced abortions), and burning nearly 8.2 million books written by FALUN GONG founder Li Hongzhi, recently nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, who is now living in exile.
Countries with FALUN GONG practitioners: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Brunei, Canada, China, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Germany, Guam, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Malaysia, Mariana Islands, Netherlands, New Zealand, Russia, Saipan, Scotland, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Ukraine, United States, Vietnam.
In one of the most bizarre cases of political repression in modern history, the People's Republic of China has banned a spiritual practice built around traditional exercises and meditation. On April 25, 1999 15,000 FALUN GONG practitioners quietly surrounded the government leadership compound in the heart of Beijing in silent protest against what they considered an inaccurate, slanderous attack on FALUN GONG in a state-sponsored magazine. Since then, FALUN GONG practitioners have stepped forward repeatedly to appeal to their government for the right to practice their faith.
The Chinese government has responded by banning FALUN GONG, branding them an "evil cult", arresting more than 50,000 practitioners to date (including a number of foreign nationals), killing at least 193 of them (with thousands of detainees as yet unaccounted for) while torturing thousands more (battering, rape, forced-feeding of high doses of salt water, denial of food, sleep and toilet use, exposure to extreme hot & cold weather, burning with cigarettes and heated metal, shocks with electric batons, induced abortions), and burning nearly 8.2 million books written by FALUN GONG founder Li Hongzhi, recently nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, who is now living in exile.
Countries with FALUN GONG practitioners: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Brunei, Canada, China, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Germany, Guam, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Malaysia, Mariana Islands, Netherlands, New Zealand, Russia, Saipan, Scotland, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Ukraine, United States, Vietnam.