descend on the Bush Library & Presidential Museum Centre next week to protest [the] persecution [against Falun Gong in China] during a visit by Chinese President Jiang Zemin.
The demonstrators plan to gather at the library to meditate, said Dianna Roberts, spokeswoman for a Houston-based Falun Gong organization. [...]
"We hope that if [Jiang] senses beauty and positivity and benevolence, it will rub off on him," she said.[...]
The movement was banned in July 1999 by the Chinese government, which contends that Falun Gong [...] threatens Chinese law.
But Falun Gong adherents say that their practices only serve to promote mental and physical well-being, and that thousands of followers have been imprisoned and hundreds more tortured and killed because of their beliefs.
"All we want is for the persecution to stop," Roberts said.
Jiang is scheduled to tour the museum and then meet with former President George Bush on Thursday.
University Police Director Bob Wiatt said he has been working since last week with local police agencies, as well as the U.S. Secret Service and Chinese security, to prepare for the protesters.
Wiatt is expecting between 1,500 and 3,000 Falun Gong followers and another 300 Jiang supporters to converge on the library.
[...]
http://www.theeagle.com/region/localregional/101802falungong.htm
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