12/14/00 19:19 (New York)
Washington, Dec. 14 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. State Department today protested China's destruction of at least one Christian church and efforts to stamp out the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement.
"Coming at the eve of the celebration of Christmas around the world, it seems particularly cruel,'' State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told reporters in Washington. "We're appalled.''
The State Department has "independent confirmation'' that China destroyed a church in Wenzhou, Boucher said. China has also recently jailed Teng Chunyan, a U.S. national, for exposing China's practice of holding Falun Gong followers in mental institutions.
China banned the Falun Gong in July last year, calling it [] that was plotting to overthrow China's socialist system. The crackdown came after more than 10,000 followers of the spiritual movement gathered in central Beijing in April last year.
No spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington was available for comment.
"We've urged China to cease the demolitions, to respect fundamental, internationally recognized human rights, the free exercise of religion, belief and conscience,'' Boucher said. "These are issues that we are concerned about that we do continue to push, and we will continue to push.''
Teng, who emigrated to the U.S. eight years ago and is married to a U.S. citizen, was convicted at a three-hour, closed-door trial in Beijing in November, the Hong Kong-based Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy said.
Some 20,000 Falun Gong members have been temporarily detained, 10,000 placed in labor camps and 600 sent to mental hospitals. Some 59 have died in police custody, the Information Center said.
Falun Gong members follow a mixture of Daoist and Buddhist doctrines and say the movement is not a political organization.
--Emily Schwartz in Washington (202) 624-1927 or eschwartz@bloomberg.net with reporting by Morag MacKinnon in Sydney
Story illustration: For information on Falun Gong click http://www.faluninfo.net
Category: Falun Dafa in the Media
