Letter from Members of the Minnesota House of Representative to the Governor of Minnesota

March 26, 2002

The Honorable Jesse Ventura

Governor of Minnesota

Dear Governor Ventura,

During your upcoming trip to China, we ask you to take note of the persecution of millions of followers of a traditional Chinese practice called Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa. Falun Gong is not a religion, nor does it conflict with religions.

Falun Gong teaches that the fundamental principle of the universe is composed of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance. Practitioners of Falun Gong here in Minnesota and elsewhere perform five gentle exercises (including meditation), study these principles, and strive to live by these principles in their daily lives.

Falun Gong was declared illegal by the Communist Party in July 1999, after a Chinese government survey showed there were 70 million practitioners. That's more than are in the Communist Party. Tragically, after Falun Gong was banned, thousands of its followers have been put in prisons, slave labor camps, and mental hospitals.

Official persecution of Falun Gong practitioners is epidemic. A special nationwide, extra-constitutional bureau accountable to no one but the president, the "6-10 Office," was created to persecute and "eradicate" Falun Gong. Government sources in China report that at least 1600 people have died as a result of torture, including a young mother and her 7-month old baby.

This unrelenting persecution campaign has affected people throughout China and the world, including Minnesotans. In China, family members of practitioners are threatened with loss of jobs or housing, school children are forced to sign papers and sing slanderous songs. Airwaves and print media are saturated with lies through the government-controlled media about the true nature of this peaceful practice (they say, for example, that Falun Gong is illegal in the U.S.). The mother of U of M student Chen Wan was arrested in her home in China for possessing a flyer promoting Falun Gong. She is serving a three-year sentence in a slave labor camp. Cheng's phone calls to his father are tapped.

Freedom of belief is dear to the heart of Minnesotans. Persecution of people for their beliefs is wrong, and we ask you to mention this to officials that you speak to in China. Please tell them that Falun Gong is practiced freely in Minnesota and that it does not pose a threat to Minnesota's government or to any other government in the world.

Sincerely,

(Signed by 47 members of House of Representatives)