On April 25, 1999, about 10,000 Falun Gong practitioners surrounded the Zhongnanhai headquarters of the Communist Party, a few hundred metres from Tiananmen, to protest official harassment. The massive show of strength deeply shook China's leaders and prompted the outlawing of the group, which combines Buddhist-inspired teachings and meditation, as an "[slanderous term omitted]" three months later.
In the past two years practitioners have marked the date with sporadic protests on Tiananmen, the spiritual heart of the communist regime, and security was stepped up in central Beijing ahead of this year's anniversary. Scores of uniformed civilian and paramilitary police as well as plain-clothed officers could be seen patrolling the vast square Thursday. [..]
Most demonstrations over the past months have been by overseas Falun Gong sympathisers who have flown to China specifically to protest at the Chinese government's brutal repression of the group. In the largest incident of its kind so far, an estimated 59 foreigners protested on Tiananmen in February.
Since the banning of the movement, rights organisations estimate that hundreds of Falun Gong practitioners have been given jail terms and tens of thousands sent to labour camps without trial. The group claims that about 400 members have died due to police abuse since the ban.
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/020425/1/2ojfd.html
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