NEW YORK — As tensions rise against Falun Gong adherents halfway around the world in Singapore, local adherents of the peaceful meditation practice showed up at the Singapore Consulate on Manhattan's Upper East Side on Wednesday to deliver their heartfelt message.
"We want to urge the Singapore government to say 'no' to the Chinese Communist Party," said Ms. Rong Yi, a Falun Gong adherent who helped organize the demonstration in front of the consulate.
Falun Gong is a meditation practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist regime since 1999. Now adherents in the United States are worried that smaller Asian countries like Singapore will also arbitrarily arrest Falun Gong adherents to appease the regime.
"We hope that the Singapore government will not follow the Communist Party's persecution of Falun Gong," said Ms Yi, who said she has met many adherents who faced torture and death in China for simply refusing to give up their practice. Singapore police brought charges against nine Falun Gong adherents on July 14, for "illegal assembly," producing videotape evidence of the adherents handing out flyers on the street. The charges came a week after Chinese Communist official Mr. Li Lanqing visited with Singapore officials. Mr. Li was formerly in charge of the state organization—the "610 Office"—in charge of persecuting Falun Gong.
The nine adherents, however, say they were only handing out flyers to bring awareness to the general public about a persecution that has claimed thousands of lives in China. They could face up to six months in jail and a fine of $5,000.
"Shame on the Singapore government, they only recognize money and power," said Judy Chen, a local Falun Gong adherent.
About 20 practitioners assembled and held banners that called an end to the persecution. One banner read "Falun Gong is Good." Those same words would easily get you arrested in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, according to Ms. Yi.
Local Falun Gong adherents say they will continue to appeal to the Singaporean government until all charges are dropped.
Additional reporting by Amir Talai in New York
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