Canada: National Post Suggests Athletes Practice Falun Gong Exercises During the 2008 Beijing Olympics

On December 13, the National Post (Canada) published an article which suggested athletes practice Falun Gong exercises during the 2008 Beijing Olympics to show support for Falun Gong.

The National Post said, the government in Beijing wants the 2008 Olympics to do for China what the 1964 Olympics did for Japan: Display the country's best qualities and prove that it deserves a place in the family of nations. This means that the Olympics offer a once-in-a-century opportunity to anyone hoping to nudge China toward freedom. Assuming that Chinese human rights remain at their present level, international activists could make the Olympics an occasion to reveal all the grim details. [...]

The Post said, members of Falun Gong are the most famous among the several classes of officially persecuted Chinese. Falun Gong members have been beaten, tortured, sent to work camps, and imprisoned in mental hospitals. All over the world they stand silently outside Chinese consulates and embassies, living symbols of opposition to a regime that smugly believes it can get away forever with arbitrary cruelty. In their vigils the Falun Gong appeal, peacefully, for help from the part of humanity that's free.

The Post said, Falun Gong practitioners deserve support. Why shouldn't the athletes of the world, who will probably contribute to China's prestige in 2008, adopt the Falun Gong as their personal cause? They could begin by indicating sympathy through frequent visits to Falun Gong vigils. They could write letters of support to members imprisoned in China, request talks on the Falun Gong with every Chinese diplomat in the world, and raise the subject whenever meeting Chinese officials for any reason.

The Post proposed, athletes could announce that if China doesn't change its ways, they'll march into the Beijing Olympic Stadium on opening day in 2008, congregate on the field, and perform slow-movement meditation in the style of Falun Gong while several billion TV viewers look on. They could start practicing it at athletic meets right now, as a sign of solidarity. [...]

http://www.canada.com/national/nationalpost/news/comment/story.html?id=73