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| Ms. Wang Weixing, shown here in a 2007 photo, is a painter who graduated from San Francisco's Academy of Art University and now lives in Queens. Ms. Wang was physically assaulted in Flushing, New York by a member of a pro-Beijing mob. |
The mob violence in Flushing, which began on May 17th and is believed to be orchestrated by the Chinese communist regime, has created a climate where nearly anyone who self-identifies as a Falun Gong adherent is surrounded, heckled, and sometimes threatened with violence by ethnic Chinese mobs.
Wang Weixing, an artist from Queens and a practitioner of Falun Gong, was in Flushing Monday observing the events. At approximately 3:30pm, she picked up a Chinese newspaper whose lead story illustrated the connection between the Flushing mobs and the Chinese consulate in New York. Within seconds of picking up the paper, Wang found herself surrounded by hecklers.
"I was just reading a newspaper, and one guy, [with his] whole body pushed me on the ground," she recalls.
One witness claims she also saw the man punch Wang in the chest, where she reported suffering severe pain.
The man quickly fled the scene, attempting to evade a police force that is now ubiquitous in the usually calm neighborhood. He was stopped, however, and when police approached, the man curiously dropped to the ground and feigned unconsciousness. The man and Wang were told simply to disperse.
Wang is just one of the Falun Gong victims in Flushing. On May 21st, Edmund Erh, a Falun Gong adherent who was taking photos of the mob, found himself surrounded, with some men attempting to strangulate him.
On May 17th, another Falun Gong adherent whose two sons are currently on tours of duty in Iraq, was physically assaulted and threatened. Judy Chen recalled that the mob cursed at her, calling her a traitor who deserved to die. When she attempted to photograph the scene, a woman grabbed her camera and beat her.
"She hit my head, grabbed my neck, pulled my hands, and hit me with a fist...my hand was injured, and my mouth bleeding," says Chen of the incident. "[The woman] then walked away saying 'You better be careful, I will kill you. I want to see your face clearly. I want to kill you.'"
Dozens more Falun Gong adherents have received similar threats, and many have reported being pummeled with stones, eggs, and plastic beverage containers.
At least six arrests have been made by New York City police of members of the pro-Communist mob, with charges ranging from assault to resisting arrest. No arrests have been made against Falun Gong adherents, who have been congregating peacefully in Flushing since the attacks began.
NEWS - May 30, 2008
Falun Dafa Information Center, www.faluninfo.net
Background
Founded in 1999, the Falun Dafa Information Center is a New York-based organization that documents the rights violations of adherents of Falun Gong (or "Falun Dafa") taking place in the People's Republic of China. In July of 1999 China's autocratic Communist Party launched an unlawful campaign of arrests, violence, and propaganda with the intent of "eradicating" the apolitical practice; it is believed certain leaders feared the influence of the practice's 100 million adherents. The campaign has since grown in violence and scope, with millions having been detained or sent to forced labor camps. The Center has verified details of over 3,000 deaths and over 63,000 cases of torture in custody (reports / sources). Falun Gong is a traditional-style Buddhist "qigong" practice, with roots in the Chinese heritage of cultivating the mind/body for health and spiritual growth.
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