STAFF WRITER
09/07/2000 Newsdayá

At times, nothing is louder than silence.á

More than 1,000 demonstrators decrying the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China marched solemnly to the United Nations yesterday and meditated across the street from where world leaders, including Chinese President, were gathered for a week- long international summit.á

The silence of the Falun Gong demonstrators, who packed 47th Street from First to Second Avenues, was in sharp contrast to the shouts of protestors in nearby police pens calling for the downfall of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.á

Dressed mainly in bright yellow T-shirts bearing the message "China: Stop persecuting Falun Gong," the supporters of the spiritual discipline walked from the Chinese Mission on 35th Street to the United Nations with the accompaniment of Chinese folk music. Their numbers were enough to stop passersby who remarked at the peacefulness and discipline the demonstrators showed, lining up in rows and keeping their formation throughout the march.á

Though the demonstrators said little, the message was clear: The support for Falun Gong in China and around the world is a force with which the Chinese government must contend.á

"We practitioners of Falun Gong gather today from across the globe...to express our indignation over China's continued persecution of Falun Gong," said Gail Rachlin, a practitioner in Manhattan as she read a statement from the group. "As [Chinese] President meets this week with world leaders, we remind China that it too must be held to the same human rights standards as all UN member states."á

The protestors, who convened from as far as Australia, carried white flowers in remembrance of the nearly 50 people who have allegedly died in Chinese police custody over the last year after being arrested for practicing Falun Gong.á

Zhang Yuanyuan, a spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington D.C., said the government's stand remains consistent.á

"We believe the cult is a very bad thing in China," Zhang said. "The Chinese government was urged by the religious communities to do something about this."á

While pegged as a cult by the Chinese government, Falun Gong practitioners insist that they are instead a spiritual discipline that draws from Buddhism and Taoism and incorporates meditation and martial arts movements.á

"I want the world to know Falun Gong is a good thing, and that the Chinese government suppressing this is wrong," said demonstrator Frank Lee, 33, of East Brunswick, N.J.á

[Chinese leader's] spokesman could not be reached for comment, but it was clear by the Chinese President's speech before world leaders yesterday that China would not welcome international pressure. "Matters that fall within the scope of sovereignty of a country should be managed only by the government and people of that country," he said in his UN address.áá