Denver Post Religion Writer
Dec. 10, 2000 - Local Falun Gong practitioners will observe Falun Gong week beginning today, something that wouldn't be allowed in their native China, where communist leaders oppose it as a public menace and a threat to their rule.
Beijing police this morning seized at least two dozen Falun Gong followers who unfurled banners and chanted slogans in Tiananmen Square in the latest protest against a brutal crackdown on their [group].
Members feel safe in Denver, said Jie Sun, a computer programmer who practices the meditation and exercise movement. And they'd like to spread what they see as the healthy benefits of Falun Gong.
"It has powerful effects on physical, mental and spiritual health," said Jie. Because of that, he said, it has spread around the world since its founding in 1992.
People gather in Denver each week in Washington Park to perform the Falun exercise program.
Today's event will include a short ceremony at 11 a.m. in front of the Denver City and County Building and free workshops from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. in meeting room C of the downtown Denver Public Library. Other workshops are scheduled in libraries in the metro area.
A Denver man said his mother was held in a Chinese detention center because she and he had talked about Falun Gong during an international telephone call.
"I don't know what they did to her, but I know they often beat members they arrest," said Young Yang, who is a partner in Little Ollie's restaurant in Cherry Creek. He asked that his parents' names names not be used for fear of reprisals in China.
He said he is careful not to ask his mother what happened to her and never discusses Falun Gong with her or his father, "because I can tell the calls are monitored."
Jie said the Chinese government once supported Falun Gong, when the organization was first formed, thinking it was good for people. The organization has been called a religious [], but Jie said it isn't a religious movement.
The group says 83 practitioners have died from police brutality, more than 50,000 have been jailed, 25,000 have been sent to labor camps without trial, and 600 have been abused in mental hospitals.
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