BY Mara H. Gottfried

May 13, 2002

Most city proclamations -- American Legion Poppy Days, Save a Life Week, Tourism Awareness Month --don't get much attention because they're perceived as routine, "feel-good" measures. But recent proclamations for Falun Dafa Week have sparked the scrutiny and ire of the Chinese government.

Eagan and Inver Grove Heights have declared Falun Dafa Week beginning today, and St. Paul Mayor Randy Kelly plans to do the same today. Falun Dafa, also called Falun Gong, is a Chinese meditation that combines exercise with teachings on how to become a better person. The Chinese government has outlawed it and prosecuted people who practice it.

Other metro cities, including Minneapolis and Chanhassen, are weighing proclamations. And at the state Capitol on Friday, Falun Gong practitioners testified about abuses in China before a Senate committee. The committee approved a non-binding resolution, asking the governor to convey the concerns of Minnesotans about human rights abuses in China during his upcoming trade mission to China. The issue now goes to the full Senate.

[...]Last year, when the cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis recognized Falun Dafa Week, [China's consulate office in Chicago] sent letters to both mayors, asking them to revoke the proclamation [...]. The U.S. State Department doesn't accept the Chinese government's characterization of Falun Gong as a cult, said Paul Martin, acting director of the department's international religious freedom office.

[...] Today is World Falun Dafa Day and local practitioners have approached at least 16 metro-area cities recently asking for weeklong proclamations -- though many cities declined to issue them. John Nania, of Minneapolis, practices Falun Gong and has been active in the effort to obtain proclamations.

"This is an effort to show that Falun Dafa is something good that contributes to every community," he said. "We're trying to recognize that it makes people healthier and contributes to their moral character."

In Eagan, Mayor Pat Awada doesn't view the City Council's approval of the Falun Gong proclamation as a foray into the realm of international politics.

"A proclamation is mostly for the benefit of the group requesting it because they're trying to raise visibility for their cause," she said. "This proclamation was the very simple act of honoring a request from a group."

During a recent Falun Gong practice in Minneapolis, a recording of Falun Gong Master Li Hongzhi giving instructions in Chinese came softly from a stereo. Seven women, ranging in age from 40 to 81, held their palms in front of them and then moved their hands up and down, in an exercise aimed at strengthening and purifying the circulation of energy.

Karen Johnson, who was practicing Falun Gong for the third time, said she enjoys the "cultivation" aspect of the exercise.

"It's like cultivating a garden, you remove the rocks and the things you don't want and you bring the good energy into your body," said Johnson, of Minneapolis. "When I first came, I was a little afraid because I heard Falun Gong had political undertones, but I've found that there's no agenda at all. It teaches Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance. What can be wrong with that?"

http://www.twincities.com/mld/pioneerpress/news/local/3251248.htm